Praise In The Park at Julia Davis

We had a very relaxed, fun event on Saturday. The Agape Fellowship Church that we have worked with before holds an annual event in the park aptly titled "Praise In The Park" and they hired us to run the sound this year. From what I understand, this year was far more laid back and "unplanned" than years past, but this just made it easier for us. There was no schedule for groups as far as I could tell, but different groups came and went onstage throughout the day without the pressure of time limits. The Agape Choir sang several times throughout the day. They're always fun to listen to:

This was a girl's dance team:

About half-way through the day they called up all the kids for a hip-hop dance contest with "The Prince":

Gloria was uncharacteristically reluctant until she heard there was a cash prize. . .

She pulled out all the stops and really got into it:

Megan has great rhythm, too:

The guy dancing with them in the red baseball cap is the pastor. He taught them some great, new moves:

The judges on stage had been watching the dancers and were able to narrow it down to four for a dance-off. Gloria was one of the four:

She really got into it and danced with great energy:

The other three were all dancing their hearts out, too:

In the end, the judges called it a four-way tie and the pastor had to fork over $20!! Here's Gloria proudly showing off her five bucks!!

They told the kids to each grab someone else to come out and dance with them. Gloria grabbed my dad and after his initial gasp of fear and desperate protests, he let her pull him out onto the grass. I was very proud of my dad. He really got into and although I didn't get any really good pictures, he really showed us some good hip-hop moves! This is only the second time he has ever danced-

. . the first time was with Gloria out at Nampa Nights last summer:

They make a pretty good team:

Great memory maker!!

My parents came out and spent the afternoon with us- it was really nice.

Zach had a bunch of Lego's out on a blanket and it was fun to watch my dad build stuff with him.

I think my mom and dad had a good time:

Megan spent the day with us, too, and the girls found plenty of interesting things to do:

At the beginning of the day, they asked us if we would be willing to fill a spot and sing a few songs. Toward the end of the day, our turn came. Gary just happened to be at the park picking up Megan, so we drug him up on stage, too. It was fun even though it was a little rough around the edges. They gave us an official invitation to come back next year. With a little practice and preparation, it could be fun!!

Rob has played piano for these two before, so they kept him up on stage for a couple of songs:

They event wrapped up around 6:00 and we took it all down. Lucy was a real trooper all day:

It was a good day and now we have several days to recover from the last few weeks. . .

Sharp event tear-down

It took two days to set it all up and just about 6 hours to take it all down. One more summer event to cross off the list. . .

Last day of VBS, Nampa Nights and Kevin Sharp

After VBS last night, we came up with a plan to get my kids to Thursday's VBS. This plan included having the girls stay at my house while the boys stayed at McConaughey's. The girls promised to serve me breakfast in bed if only I would agree to the plan. I agreed and they followed through on their end this morning. They served me a delicious plate of waffles and bacon with a cup of coffee on the side. They did a great job!!

After Shawn picked up the girls, I headed out to Nampa Nights where Dale and I would set up and run The Blues Brothers. Rob is out in Emmett for the Kevin Sharp concert.

Lori graced us with her presence:

This is Lawson. He's one of my favorite drummers- he's very laid back and easy to work with:

The Blues Brothers are very fun with lots of energy:

We took everything down in record time and headed out to Emmett. I made it there just in time for the last song.

http://www.kevinsharp.com/

After the event, we talked with the guys from Straight Away (Shooter!) for awhile and my ever-so-generous friends the Ritchies brought my kids all the way out to Emmett for me!!!!

We took as much of it down as we could in our tired stupor and the rest will have to wait until tomorrow:

Day 4 of VBS, Day 1 of Kevin Sharp set up

We are setting up for the Kevin Sharp concert at the Gem County Fairgrounds today and tomorrow and it was dusty and hot. We tried to get an early start to avoid as much heat as possible and were up and around by 7:30, but by the time we made another trip to the shop, filled the 3 gas hog vehicles, collected the keyboard at the church and double-checked everything, it was shortly before noon when we started our set up. I made last minute arrangements for the kids so they could go to VBS and NOT have to hang out with us in Emmett, but there aren't many options for little Lucy. I still don't know what we were thinking when we took on this new family member, but I'm already very attached. She's a good puppy and spent most of the day in the shade, sleeping.

The stage set-up went fine- it's just very time consuming to get it all leveled out and to make sure it's safe for the performers. It only took us about 4 hours to accomplish this part of the set-up.

We are also providing the canopy and lights and they have to be completely set up today. Our canopy was in desperate need of new grommets, so that took up a chunk of time.

I had to leave around 7:00 to meet with two customers at the shop before picking up the kids at VBS. I got there just in time to take a few pictures:

I heard that Steph and Alyssa did a great job with the music, so I may have successfully replaced myself as the VBS music director!! Zach and Gloria were begging me to find a way for them to be able to go to the last day of VBS and so a few of us put our heads together and made a plan. I love my friends!!