Christmas already!!!!

Wow...Christmas is right around the corner!! What? four more days?!?!?! It's been a little while since I've updated my blog. Life has been great, chaotic, busy, entertaining and full of snow and ice.


A couple of weeks ago we were in a Salina, KS...a small town. Monday night an ice storm blew in...I have never seen so much ice. Tuesday morning we did not have to go into church because of how bad the ice was. I must confess this did not bother me to much seeing as I was able to sleep in!!! I woke up around 9:30ish to no power and ice cycles hanging from every tree, house, pole, etc...that I could see. I didn't realize how dependent I am on power until it went out. After I woke up I washed my hair. I set everything up to get ready to dry my hair, plugged the dryer in and flipped the switch, after which I remembered we have no electricity. So now I had wet hair, no electricity and very cold weather. Around one we went to a house that had electricity to bake cookies, etc... We came back to our house around 5, there was still no electricity and apparently the fire had gotten out of control ergo there was smoke all in the house; not fun for my allergies. Some friends of the host family came over and we ended up going over there, we picked up two of the boys on the way because their electricity had gone out as well.



The next day, a Wednesday, we headed for Nebraska. (We are making our trek north to Canada now) I thought we would be leaving the ice...which indeed we did to enter snow. The only time I've seen that much snow is when there is a pair of skis attached to my feet. I'm not use to seeing so much snow and not taking a tumble down it. Oh, let me take that back, I did get to take a tumble. In one of the cities in KS...they had a little ice one night. We arrived at the church the next morning and the host auntie told the kids to be careful because there was ice on the ground. I almost turned around to re-emphasize the point. But I decided not to say anything and to take my cup of coffee and get out myself. Upon opening the door I put my foot out and it did not stop moving until my coffee flew in the air and but butt landed on the ground. Glad the kids were safe!



We will be in Nebraska until after the New Year. Next week well actually starting Monday, we will be at a camp in somewhere in North Nebraska. I am looking forward to it. We are suppose to go bowling, maybe ice skating...although that does not look at promising now, to the zoo (it's mainly in door). I think this will be my first white Christmas ever. It will be a new experience!



Some things I've learned on tour: Apparently cooking pans are not microwave safe...I thought everything was. In one host family the Auntie had to leave early so it was my job to make the girls breakfast and get to church. (She let me drive the car) She left oatmeal or cereal out. Well there was no milk so that narrowed the choice down quite a bit. Okay oatmeal...didn't have time for the stove top kind so...I put water in the pan she left out for us and stuck it in the microwave. A few seconds later a brilliant light and a loud pop came from the microwave...I opened the door as fast as I could...they now have a burnt black spot on the back of there microwave. I wanted to leave something for them to remember us by. While I'm on the topic things I've learned on tour let me just add things you don't want to hear on tour: When meeting your host family for the first time..."Oh, I thought we were getting boys..." Or..."hope you don't mind sleeping on an air mattress." (Which honestly I don't mind)...those are just a couple of the popular lines we hear when meeting out host families.


Well we leave for our Christmas camp tomorrow...I'll try to update this after camp...hopefully it will be sooner than a month!

Happy Thanksgiving

November 22, 2007...My first Thanksgiving away from home; it wasn't bad. Granted I did miss our annual football game but as a friend reminded me, "I'm sure they'll be playing next year." Good reminder! I have to admit Thanksgiving day alone was not that exciting but the five days that surrounded it were quite exciting. Week one of tour we all, the entire choir, stayed together at a camp; since then we have been in host families. Until...Wednesday November 21. From Wednesday to Sunday we all got to spend time together at the same place. The first two nights were at the Church we preformed at; we slept on the carpeted gym floor. The second two nights were spent at a church camp, where we saw our first snow...this I will talk about it a little bit.



The day after Thanksgiving my Mom and Grammy came up to visit. It was nice to spend time and visit with them. I was even able to spend one night with them in the Hotel. They arrived Friday afternoon and came to the concert that night. Actually, Beth and I were doing laundry at a laundry Mat and they found the two of us there...as soon as they got settled into their hotel. Side note: Doing laundry for 26 children is quite expensive!!! Mom and Grammy came to the concert that night and Mom bought out the entire product table...everybody knows what they are getting for Christmas now!!



Saturday they came to the camp we were staying at and were able to spend time with the kids for a little bit. Not only did they get to spend time with the kids for the first time but it was the kids first time to play in snow. The night before Mom and Grammy came it snowed...oh about 3-4 inches. They arrived at the end of rehearsals....so...they got to see a bit of rehearsals and then play with the kids in the snow. It was a great time!!! The kids built snowmen...well half snowman half leaf man, they made snowballs and snow angels. I have lots of pictures on my picture site. Then they took, Beth, Rosette and I out for lunch and shopping. We ate at Chili's. Funny, restaurants you take for granted back home become five star restaurants when you do not get to go to many restaurants. After our outing we dropped Beth and Rosette back off at the camp and I stayed with mom and Grammy. They took me out to eat at some fancy, home-style chicken restaurant; it was nice. It was a set menu, so you ate what they brought out and boy did they bring out a lot. Chicken, Mashed potatoes, cream corn, rolls, cottage cheese, fruit, gravy, jelly, and to top it all off ice cream. When dinner was over we went Christmas light looking. There were a few houses that had already put their light up. Then it was back to the hotel. The next morning they came to church with me. This was the first Sunday we have not had a concert. So...the kids sang one song and then went to children's church and all the chaperones plus Mom and Grammy stayed for the service. It was a nice visit, I am so glad they were able to come! After church we headed our separate ways; them to the airport and us on to our next concert.






One more reminder of home came Monday night. My host family went over to another host families house and we had a hot dog roast!!! The Uncle had built a ka small fire and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over it. Some of the kids tell me they ate 26 marshmallows...this I can not believe...but they did eat a lot! I stayed by the fire as long as possible for many reasons. One it was very cold outside!!! Two it reminded me of our camping trips back home...I was wishing Mr. Fordinal, Mr. Urban and Mr. Dillow were all with me and had their guitars. Third it reminded me of our annual girls weekend at the ranch...for that I wished Cassie was there with her guitar. Last but not least reason number four...I love the smell of campfire and I wanted it to sink into my coat as much as possible....oh and it did.
The past few days have been very enjoyable. I had a great Thanksgiving holiday and I hope all of you did as well!




P.S. if you go look at my picture site I am aware that I spelt marshmallow wrong in every picture!

God is good!!!

1 Corinthians 8:6 "yet for us there is one God, the Father from whom are all things and FOR WHOM WE EXIST and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and THROUGH WHOM WE EXIST"


"Auntie my seat belt will not enter." "Okay...keep trying." A few seconds later (Bridget) "God is good Faulanta" (Faulanta) "yes I know" (Bridget) "the seat belt was not entering and the Lord gave me the wisdom (pointing at her head) to fix it."
"Auntie the trees are worshiping God" (Prisca) "What did you say?" "When the trees sway back and forth they are worshiping God." "Yes, you are right."
"Out of the mouths of Babes." How convicting a simple, innocent statement from a child can be. How often do I give God the glory in the big things, much less the small ones. When Prisca mentioned "the trees are worshiping God." I was reminded of my first week of tour. We were driving through Indianna and I looked up at a cluster of trees after I had just finished reading "the trees/creation growns for their redemption." The Lord used that time in my life to remind me how great He is and how we take so much for granted. The trees know the Lord's goodness and cry out while we step over it every day. We exist for God...just think about that statement for awhile!!! I did not create God He created me. I am a bondservant.


I can't believe Thanksgiving is only two days away...my goodness!!! We will be staying at a camp together for a few days, over the thanksgiving holiday. I am very excited. I will miss our annual T-Day football game but hopefully me and the boys will have a place to play our own game of T-Day football. On Friday my mom and grandmother are suppose to be flying up to visit...another exciting event!!! One other exciting event happened last night...I was able to talk to three dear friends on skype...that made my night. I miss you all!
We are now in Nebraska now; we will be heading for Kansas on Wednesday. There is never a dull moment.

HUMMER!!!

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." In this verse "worthy of his calling" is referring to salvation not neccissarily our career in life. I used this verse though because after researching it a bit, I came across a very good quote that fits where my life is right now...“May God fill you with all that good which is pleasing to him.” (Oldshausen). I like the fact it says "all that good which is pleasing to HIM." Not the good which is pleasing to me...the good which is pleasing to me might be an easy way out. The good which is pleasing to the Lord might be placing me in a host home that I might find a bit stressful...maybe they have young kids that want to wake up at 8am on my day to sleep or maybe I'm just not use to the way they do life. Yet during that time I could easily go crazy the Lord is using it to stretch and grow me...that is "the good which is pleasing to him." That's just my little verse for the week. Moving on...






"Hummer! Hummer!" A word wich is all to familiar. Hummers are a big deal to these kids. From the time they have arrived in the states anytime we are driving they are searching for a hummer and when they find one we all know about it. And so it happened we sang at a church where a host family had a HUMMER! Not just one but two. The kids and I'm not gonna lie some of the Aunties and Uncles were excited. The host family that the car belonged to took girls so three girls got to ride in the hummer. Actually 6 girls because she gave my girls a ride to our host families house because of how excited they were. It was all to cute. Okay I can't lie...I still don't see a hummer as an amazing vehicle I see it as a gas guzzler...but I like the fact that the children get so excited. We took all the kids pics infront of the hummer...they loved it!
I want to share a story on the innocense of these kids. Last night the host family I stayed with had a stuffed animal that talked. It was Eore from Winnie the Pooh. You could press his leg and he would talk. When we pressed his leg he said..."go ahead ask me a question." So Julian just steps right up and says "What is your name?" When he didn't respond she asked again "what is your name?" Then I explained that he was a stuffed animal and could not respond back...it was cute! Two months into it and there are still so many things that haven't been seen, heard or done.




Like I said two months into it. It's hard to believe that two months ago today I landed in Indianna to prepare for my adventure. It seems like it's flown by and yet it also feels as if we've done about six months worth of work in the last two. I would not trade it though...I love it all..the hecticness (if that's not a word it is now), the traveling, meeting new people, seeing new houses, the kids and the other chaperones. I just want to end with one verse...Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."

Travel...Travel...Travel

In the last 45 days I've stayed in about 25 different cities...is that not crazy?! I've met so many different people and been in an array of houses. I've stayed in houses where I sleep on the couch, I've spent the night in houses where they have allowed me the entire bottom floor to myself. I've slept in small houses, new houses, old houses, just last night I stayed in a house that was built around 1890...that was an interesting house. I've been to Chicago, Indianna, Iowa, Minnasota, North Dakota and now South Dakota. It's been an amazing journey thus far and I'm only 5 or 6 weeks into it.


Traveling so much we spend a good amount of time in our bus. The kids pass the time by singing, reading books, talking...(my goodness for kids who have only been learning English since April...these kids can talk)...while others braid their Auntie's hair. Anna my seat mate is obsessed with my hair. So she likes me to put my head on her lap while we drive so she can play with my hair. Of course I don't mind because it puts me to sleep. The other day she was playing with my hair and began to rub my face, she said, "Auntie you have dusites on your face." I laughed! I explained that the "dusties" as she liked to call them were freckles. She also informed me that my head was very white. I'm suprised she has not noticed the rest of my body is white.

The kids aren't use to animals. The last host family me and three girls stayed with had cats. Well Jackie said she did not fear cats so the host family let them out. We were all sitting around the table preparing to eat and the cat walked by and touched Jackie's foot and up in the chair and onto the table she went. I guess she does fear cats.
Those are just a few of the little adventures I get while on tour. We also have stopped at parks to let the kids play. We stopped at a swedish park in Minot, N.D. one day and let the kids play. It was more like a museum outside. Always something new and always something exciting. Things I would not think to be exciting end up being quite interesting with 26 kids.

Just a little side note. I realized the other day that I am in a church everyday. Everyday I am at some church or another but I realized I have not been to church since I left home. So if ya'll think about it you could pray that the Lord speaks to me in different ways. Pray, as a friend of mine said, that I will get "drinks from the Lord!"




P.S. As you can see we are a close team. This is Auntie Beth, Uncle David and Uncle Vic

Laughter

Psalms 95:1 "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!" I know there are many different types of joyful noises but I do believe one noise that falls into the joyful category is laughter. I have been surrounded by laughter. I love to hear the children laugh, it makes my heart glad! Anna Banana has pretty much one of the cutest laughs I have ever heard. Granted sometimes I have no idea what she is laughing about but when she laughs it is contagious.



Last night we went to a water park...that's right I said Water Park. We are in North Dakota. We walked into the water park with coats and hats then we prepared to swim. The kids loved it. There was a slide that would spit us out into a giant circle and we would spin around about three times and then be shot out the rest of the way. The kids loved it. The Aunties would take turns taking a child down. They were two man tubes.
Today we had about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive. So... we treated the kids to a movie... one of my favs...The Jungle Book. It was a hit! They were laughing at the movie as well as imitating different scenes. I was still getting questions about the movie tonight after the concert. We might be singing the Bear Necessities for awhile now. Maybe it can become one of our concert songs... I wouldn't mind that.



I have to say the past month or the past five weeks has been a joy and a blessing. I've never been so sure I am where the Lord wants me for the time being. He has given me the strength, patience, understanding, and everything else I need. He is my supply and of that supply I will never run out. I'm not saying I am always raring to go and exploding with energy... oh no, no, no... But when I'm tired I soon get rest. The mornings might be the hardest for me, having to wake up and all... but then I am greeted by the kids with hugs and smiles and I remember where the Lord has me and the purpose of my life right now.
I have a couple of food stories. Before concerts churches prepare us meals. We were all eating our meal before concert and I looked at Joseph, who was sitting across from me, and he said, "I can not finish." I asked "why" He replied "it is to good." He then took a piece of meat enough for one bit and turned it into 7. I laughed and turned to tell Beth who said, "Yeah, that's what you do back home because you don't know when you will have another meal like that." I stopped laughing and began to think. We take so much for granted here in the U.S. Nothing we have really belongs to us nor did we do anything to deserve the luxuries we have. Then Christine was asked if she wanted to go back for more to which she responded, "The heart is willing but the body if full." I love this answer!
The picture below is Auntie Rosette and Auntie Beth. I just thought it was a cute picture. Now when some of you here me say names you can have faces to put with them.

Nathan and Ryan...this is for you. I miss you both. I also miss frisbee golf so whenever the next time I am home is you both better be there so we can go play.