Hi guys. Sorry it's been so far between posts! Wifi has been horrible since we left Houston. I'm going to work on uploading a bunch of pictures but I'm not sure I'll finish before we leave this flea market. (Interesting place to get wifi, eh?) So, just in case I don't, we are still alive and we are in southern Texas!

Greetings y’all! We have some blogging to catch up on! : )

We are in Houston! Yay! We traveled along bumpy route 10 through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana Monday and Tuesday and reached the place we will be staying this week. Our next concert is Wednesday, the 23rd. That was just recently confirmed and added to our on-line schedule.

On Saturday evening we sang at a little church in Fairhope, AL. It was a good service. We used our new stage lights. They are bright and HOT. : )

We had an invitation that night from Pastor L. to sing, particularly for Bonnie to sing, the next morning. It was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday and Bonnie’s song was very appropriate. The ‘facts’ about abortion are staggering - 4,000 babies are killed every single day. Horribly sad.

Papa decided to take us out to Chinese so the next stop after church was the Chinese restaurant. While the rest of us were finishing our food some children were slightly bored, as you can see from this photograph.



Food was great and the hostess was receptive to a cd.

A few prayer requests; Victor and his constant health/pain battles, those of us dealing with a colds, and traveling mercies. We added two new drivers this week and hopefully another will be added in the shot future. Hold on to your seats!! :D

January 19th
Time: 2:35pm
Place: Fairhope , AL
Munching on gummy bears - and wishing the wifi reached to the back of the bus


Hm. Ok. Where did I leave off? Oh yes. Florida! We made it safely to Jacksonville and sang at our ’normal’ stop, San Pablo Baptist. Thanks to the Johnsons we met a few new families from Jacksonville. Thank you for inviting them, Stacy!

We set off the next morning to visit and sing at Advent Christian Village a few hours west. We visited our friend who lives there and she gave us some HUGE pine cones.



The weather was very nice. It was fairly warm at night and we ran the fan on the floor in the bunk area. In the middle of the night Bonnie was awakened (from a pleasant dream) by the sound of the fan eating her blanket. Yummy. : P

We arrived at Dinosaur Adventure Land yesterday, after dark. The Myers family asked us over to their house and we enjoyed food, fellowship and lots of stories by Kevan. We can’t wait until the books he is working on is finished!

Kevan, who went to Turkey, (and Greece, and Israel) told us about the way a Turkish man evaluates a potential wife.

1. How good she is at rug making.

It was suggested perhaps the better the rug maker the more money a woman could contribute to the budget was the reasoning…..lol Though, perhaps since a 5” square of rug can take 3 MONTHS to complete maybe it’s to show she has character. Namely patience!

2. How well she could take care of goats.

No comment.

3. Beauty

I suppose that if you’re good at the first two you lose out if you lack in the looks department.

Here’s a real Turkish rug.



This one is made of cotton as compared to silk. They actually have patterns and all with symbols for designs, etc. It was most interesting.

In closing we heard the Myers family sing and then we all sang a song together.

The next morning (that would be today) we started driving to Fairhope, Alabama. It was quite rainy and cold. It’s still cold but we have a nice warm church to sing in tonight! :D Then…..onward to TEXAS!

January 16th
Time: 1617
Place: Jacksonville, Florida


We have arrived in the land of sunshine! We really wish some sun would shine but Florida has it tucked away for now. It’s been drizzly almost all day.

Bonnie did some awesome painting on our bus! The bumper stickers were on when we traveled through South Carolina. It got us a few honks. : )



Before we arrived in Florida we stopped at Flying J. This little pup parked next to us was too cute. ;-)



We arrived at the church we’re at now last night and this morning we heard some funny noises in the near by trees….



Aww! Coons are cute but can be quite the pests.

In other news our afternoon concert was canceled but we're still on for tonight. Till next time!

January 14th
Time: 7:48pm
Listening to: Ron Block songs and various other songs midst of the clatter of siblings.
Place: South Carolina

We’re back to the sights and smells of the road! This is great. (We are seeing lots of Ron Paul signs!!) We had a rough pre-trip preparation time but we’re out and running smoothly now, thank the Lord. We did forget a few things. Nothing serious, thankfully. ;-) No one forgot an instrument!! :pleased:

After a mechanically uneventful trip to NC we checked into the church and then trekked to the beach in Oak Island.

Walking down the road…



Mom and Dad decided to drive down later.



Ouch! Painfully cold water!



Cold feet, warm hearts.



Pretty Bonnie under the pier!



We got some intense practice in that afternoon. No pics or sound clips. :-P Our first concert went very smoothly compared to some first-on-a-tour concerts. We only had to fill 40 minutes so we didn’t have to use all our new material! That gives us more time to practice. (Phew!)

The Johnson family came to hear us that evening. They traveled 3 hours with another family and we got to hang out with them after the concert and the next morning at the beach!



Bonnie, unfortunately, was stricken with what we can assume was food poisoning in the middle of the after concert meal. She tried to help break down the equipment but she was sent out to the bus and threw up about 45 minutes later. L We are so thankful she felt better the next day and no one else has shown as severe symptoms, yet. Some of us have felt a little queasy but I’m, er, we are trying to ignore it. :-P

Our morning at the beach can be summed up in two words. Fun and cold!

Races!



Julia, Emily, Bonnie, Carol.



Digging, walks and wind.



Thank you all for coming and spending time with us!



We’re looking forward to the next 9 weeks of traveling. God is good and continues to grant us grace for each day.

We are eating, packing, cleaning, watching you tube videos about voting fraud, (you all really should see all 9 parts to that!) packing, cleaning, greasing, checking, and more packing. : ) Our family is getting ready to go!! Wooo! Nine weeks is the longest stretch we’ve traveled at a time and we’re going to match that in this trip and exceed it by a few days. Our first singing appointment is Sunday but we’re planning leaving tonight or tomorrow.

Dad and Vincent took a trip to Missouri and picked up a van earlier this week. It looks a lot like our old one, just bigger!! They arrived home early Tuesday morning. We’re very thankful for their safe return.

Dad has been having a very difficult time with his back. Prayers for him are greatly appreciated.

Check out Bonnie’s blog and you can see how our chicken was ‘disposed’ of.

(He looks like good chicken food...)



Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Proverbs 6:6-8 NIV

And, now more packing awaits!

In closing, thank you for all your prayers! We’ll try to keep you all updated with pictures, stories, and news from the road.

Winter

We’ve had snow storm after snow storm…..



Brrrrrr. We are alive, but hoping it warms up over freezing soon. : )