Missouri Tour

What a fun time we had on our tour to Missouri and Iowa! It was great to see so many of our friends/family bands down there that we don't get to see very often. We also enjoyed ministering to churches in both states, in Gospel Bluegrass fashion. We were happy to leave the cold Wisconson weather to go to the beautiful Missouri weather, only to find that when we arrived in Missouri the weather turned cold, and Wisconson's weather turned beautiful. It's funny how that works .....? :) Thankfully Iowa welcomed us with the sun, and altogether we had a really nice time.

Our first concert in Missouri was in Sedalia at Maplewood Church:

Lucas standing with our hilarious host and MC, Duane.

We were so surprised to see our neighbors the Zurns from Wisconson walk in the door! It turns out that they planned their vacation around our concerts in Missouri....How amazing is that!

Lucas standing with some new friends.

Here we are standing next to the Izmail market. Our connection with this Ukranian food market is a long and amazing story. If you're curious, come to one of our benefit concerts that we're doing to raise money for our adoption, or check out our adoption blog (coming soon).

Another concert in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. The nearest town was Cole Camp, the scene of a Civil War battle. The little village was called Brauersville, and the only thing in this village is the church! Our host, Harry Brauer, shares the name of the village (his ancestors named the town.)

This is when the people started filing in. It ended up getting packed! What a sweet time we had with these folks in Brauersville.

Our beautiful mom, Denise, poses in front of the neat little church in Brauersville.

Isaac starting the long process of setting up. It takes us about 90 minutes to do all the setup, and about another 60 minutes to tear down and pack up the van. Dad has an exact place for ever piece of sound equipment and instrument, or it would not all fit!

The instruments are getting nervous waiting for the concert. (They learned that from our dad)

Our family sign, made by the sign-maker at the Minnesota State Fair (Heritage Square). He did the lettering free-hand. We think he does beautiful work.

Our CD table at work. The fabric lettering and table skirt sewing was done by our friends, the Froiland Family.

Tessa and AnaLise have begun to make jewelry, and sometimes sell their handiwork at concerts. Here is a sampling.

Two homeschool families traveled all the way from near Kansas City to see us play at Cole Camp. They also play Bluegrass together. We had a nice time of fellowship with them.



Here are a few of the families we stayed with during our trip:

Our good friends the Nobles, who just recently moved from Wisconsin, now live near Springfield, Missouri in Billings (in south Missouri near Arkansas). We hadn't seen them sense the move, so it was a blessing to be able to see them again!

Isaac, Jill Noble, Denise, AnaLise, Lucas, Tessa, Brook Noble, Jonathan Noble, Wesley Noble, and Austin Noble. We miss having them as our neighbors. The dad, Jon Noble, had already left for work at 3M Corp, so he isn't pictured.

Some more of our wonderful friends, the Bontrager Family Singers, in Kalona, Iowa.

AnaLise and Tessa playing Dutch Blitz with Chelsey and Allison Bontrager.

Lucas and Isaac played a LOT of chess with the Bontrager boys. It gave the Bontragers a break from their farm chores, as they have a dairy farm to take care of when they are not on tour singing and ministering with their wonderful music.

AnaLise jamming at the Curry's house.


The Curry Family, (otherwise known as 'CurryCorn' in their family band.)

We actually first met the Currys in Silver Dollar City located in Branson Missouri. It was at the time of Silver Dollar City's Bluegrass and Barbeque Festival. We were both playing in their Youth and Bluegrass Talent competition. It was fun to get to know them better at their house!