Treble in Texas!

Opening Night Kick-off Concert! Premiering "Exceedingly"  - written by Rodney Griffin of Greater Vision, arranged for banjo, piano, bass, cello, triple fiddles and vocal trio by Abigail! 

Opening Night Kick-off Concert! Premiering "Exceedingly"  - written by Rodney Griffin of Greater Vision, arranged for banjo, piano, bass, cello, triple fiddles and vocal trio by Abigail! 

Trick fiddling on Orange Blossom Special 

Trick fiddling on Orange Blossom Special 

Love our backdrop! How fitting for an election year.

Love our backdrop! How fitting for an election year.

Piano Quartet - 40 fingers on 80 keys! While rehearsing this audience favorite, one of the piano benches they were using collapsed without warning! Thankfully we were able to borrow a wooden bench for the concert. 

Piano Quartet - 40 fingers on 80 keys! While rehearsing this audience favorite, one of the piano benches they were using collapsed without warning! Thankfully we were able to borrow a wooden bench for the concert. 

A dramatic presentation of the Family Camp theme  - "Now is the time. Let your light so shine!"

A dramatic presentation of the Family Camp theme  - "Now is the time. Let your light so shine!"

Special tribute to the outgoing president.

Special tribute to the outgoing president.

Col. and Mrs. T - you will be missed!

Col. and Mrs. T - you will be missed!

The resident rodeo clown.

The resident rodeo clown.

Stick Horse Rodeo buckaroos! The HUNDREDS of kids that participated in the rodeo rode their ponies hard delivering Pony Express Mail, barrel racing, and more. 

Stick Horse Rodeo buckaroos! The HUNDREDS of kids that participated in the rodeo rode their ponies hard delivering Pony Express Mail, barrel racing, and more. 

A young Indian makes his way to the rendezvous. 

A young Indian makes his way to the rendezvous. 

Rachel Kane, the gorgeous 2016 Rodeo Queen! She was paraded around the arena to the strains of Yellow Rose of Texas, courtesy of the musical entertainment - us!

Rachel Kane, the gorgeous 2016 Rodeo Queen! She was paraded around the arena to the strains of Yellow Rose of Texas, courtesy of the musical entertainment - us!

The ongoing comedic play between rodeo events.

The ongoing comedic play between rodeo events.

Kidnapped!

Kidnapped!

Ropin' the bad guys!

Ropin' the bad guys!

High drama!

High drama!

Dr. Lew Sterrett from Sermon on the "Mount" with Handsome the horse!

Dr. Lew Sterrett from Sermon on the "Mount" with Handsome the horse!

Gotta love Luke's expression...."are you sure about this tempo"? We performed as part of Community Night with Dr. Lew Sterrett. Giving a concert outdoors is always challenging due to the unpredictable weather, but this one was doubly so! First a rai…

Gotta love Luke's expression...."are you sure about this tempo"? We performed as part of Community Night with Dr. Lew Sterrett. Giving a concert outdoors is always challenging due to the unpredictable weather, but this one was doubly so! First a rain shower rolled in during set-up, necessitating a hurried re-packing of the sound system and instruments in the van, then the humidity descended upon us so heavily, there were drops of water sitting upon our instruments and equipment. Afterward we arrived back at our accommodations, we set the electronic equipment and instruments out to dry overnight!

Photo booth "Wait for it..."

Photo booth "Wait for it..."

"Ta da!"

"Ta da!"

 
Silas in the bow of his and Laura's canoe - capturing second place for their canoe race!

Silas in the bow of his and Laura's canoe - capturing second place for their canoe race!

 
Assisting with the compilation of the Biblical books of John and Romans in the Tamil language for distribution overseas! 

Assisting with the compilation of the Biblical books of John and Romans in the Tamil language for distribution overseas! 

Each booklet is read by approximately 20 people!

Each booklet is read by approximately 20 people!

Can you spot the Karen? Post your answer in the comments! She's watching from the sidelines during a fascinating protection dog demonstration by Dunetos K-9!

Can you spot the Karen? Post your answer in the comments! She's watching from the sidelines during a fascinating protection dog demonstration by Dunetos K-9!

Dunetos K-9 provides service, protection, and tactical dogs. They demonstrated many different skills including search and rescue, dog/handler training techniques, and protection/attack scenarios (pictured).

Dunetos K-9 provides service, protection, and tactical dogs. They demonstrated many different skills including search and rescue, dog/handler training techniques, and protection/attack scenarios (pictured).

Speaker Darren Myers from Freedom Focus

Speaker Darren Myers from Freedom Focus

Special thanks to Maj. and Mrs. H for their coodination of the week!

Special thanks to Maj. and Mrs. H for their coodination of the week!

Special thanks to the a/v crew for your work throughout the week. 

Special thanks to the a/v crew for your work throughout the week. 

TV star and speaker Rick Green from Chasing America's Legends

TV star and speaker Rick Green from Chasing America's Legends

Well that's it for Texas, folks! Hope to see you in person at one of our concerts this year. Special announcement coming tomorrow! 

Jackson Concert Series

 
Our group was privileged to kick off the Jackson Concert Series "Music at 4" 2016! The acoustics were incredible! 

Our group was privileged to kick off the Jackson Concert Series "Music at 4" 2016! The acoustics were incredible! 

 
 
The audience was so receptive - it was a delight to play! Special thanks to Jane for snapping these pictures. 

The audience was so receptive - it was a delight to play! Special thanks to Jane for snapping these pictures. 

 
 
Aren't the stained glass windows gorgeous?

Aren't the stained glass windows gorgeous?

Headed downstairs to enjoy the incredible meal prepared for us by the Seligmans of Musical Hammers Family Trio - thank you! 

Headed downstairs to enjoy the incredible meal prepared for us by the Seligmans of Musical Hammers Family Trio - thank you! 

 
 
 

Day at Disney

A little sparkle glittered throughout and graced our day at Magic Kingdom! I must say, the Disney effect was pretty spectacular! Even intermittent downpours possibly caused by the approach of Hurricane Hermine couldn't spoil our day together. 

 
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Touring the "metropolis". We put many miles on those shoes of ours!

 
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The majestic center of the park. If you look closely, you can see the zip line from which Tinkerbell "flew" during the fireworks finale! 

 
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Ladies in ballgowns galore swirled and stepped throughout the festival parade!   

 
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The fireworks show was a perfect last hurrah to the day!

 
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Dolphins and Seashores

During our last evening vacationing in Florida, we visited Sunset Beach at well, sunset! Laura couldn't let her professional photographer skills go unchallenged on such a beautiful evening. Though I did my best to capture the beauty of the ocean waves, my phone camera doesn't do it justice! Perhaps soon I can post Laura's favorite image of the sunset. 

 
 

While Laura experimented with apertures and f-stops and all that jazz, the rest of us enjoyed shelling on the sandy beach and wetting our feet in the oncoming waves. Luke even found a couple of shells with living occupants! 

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Though this final picture was taken at a harbor in St. Petersburg, the two dolphins that showed up to play were such a wonderful surprise! 

 
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The College Grind!

Seth has begun the college grind and we're finally back from a wonderful Florida vacation! Earlier this week, we snapped this family photo before hitting the road for home...only 17 + hrs away! 

 
 

We teamed up with the Sommer family to move both Jared Sommer and Seth into their new dorm at Pensacola Christian College. We're excited Seth's good friend can be his roommate and mechanical engineering study partner!

 
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South Dakota Trip!

Great Faces, Great Places...and SO MUCH MORE! Even though we didn't capture everything in pictures, here's a taste of our time in South Dakota. 😊 We had fantastic concerts, great fellowship, many wonderful conversations, and were completely spoiled by our hosts during our time on the Quarter Circle D Ranch....Thanks to everyone who helped make our stay relaxing and refreshing!

 
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Ruthie took Silas (the rest us tagged along!) to the Shakespear gardens in Wessington Springs to see the thatched roof on the cottage. If you ask him, thatch is about the best roof you can ask for. 😊 

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Getting ready for an opera house performance...

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While we were in South Dakota, we were thrilled to be able to spend some time with our good friends, Dale and Ruth! They graciously invited us out to their farm, and we had a blast learning about real ranch life on the most beautiful spread west of the Mississipi! 

 
 

We all enjoyed some roping lessons from old hands at the craft, and caught lots of five gallon buckets! Hint: never call a rope a lasso or you'll get labled a greenhorn...

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Wait a minute, boomerangs in South Dakota? That's one of the last places we expected to get to throw them, but the wide open spaces on the plains work great! Dale was an amazing teacher, and really let 'em rip. If you haven't had the opportunity to throw one, you are missing out.  😊 

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Four wheeling was a highlight for us - even though we live in the country, we do not have four wheelers and had not had the chance to go together. 

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Seth's Graduation & Open House!

And...We're back! We have been non-stop busy for the last two months - thus the lack of posting! We will try to bring you all the way up to date soon!

We had a wonderful time at Seth's high school graduation and open house party - some of our good friends were able to drive down to help us get ready and serve all the food at the party!

Getting ready....

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As with most of our events, they include a last-minute construction project - our staircase up to our stage now has a custom railing made from Iowa barn beams!

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Seth will be attending Pensacola Christian College this fall! He is excited to be following in Dad's footsteps, pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Seth picked out all the food (it mirrors his personality well!) - mom made almost 1,000 meatballs!

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Visiting with guests...

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A word from Seth during our performance...

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We are sad to be "losing" Seth to college in Florida (no more concerts with us!), but he's still performing through the end of the summer. :)

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Seth also performed two solo works - Zarabanda and Flamenca by Rogelio Huguet Y Tagell, and Allegro Appassionato by Camille Saint-Saëns.

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What's better than relaxing with friends late at night after the party's over and eating some of the extra ice cream? :)

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Special thanks to Hannah S. for taking these pictures for us!