Thanks to all

Well, tour has been over for a little over a week now and we all just wanted to take this moment to thank everyone who has made tour great for us. It was a huge success and we all had a blast. We had some fun concerts, some great host families, and most importantly, some great fellowship along the way. God has blessed us with such a great experience and we are so thankful to him for the opportunity to spend our summer serving him, bringing the message through song, and strengthening the ties of christian friendship throughout the United States. We want to thank all who have made tour a great time along the way and for making our time traveling one to remember forever. As we all start our summer vacations now following tour, we just want to say thank you and may God bless you all.

On the road in Musictown, USA

Hey there from Nashville, TN. Our journey on tour has led us the the musical city of Nashville and we are loving it. We got to sing tonight at Woodmont Hills for the youth group there and it was a lot of fun. Last night, we were all over the place. Stacy and Sarah got to drive around downtown Nashville and see the sights, Kristen met up with friends who live here from Harding that she knew, Matt got to stay with family friends of his that he has known for a while who used to live in St Louis, and Darnell and Matt got to sit in on a recording session for Zoe Group. Quite the experience for all of us here in the Nashville area. We really have enjoyed our time here.

Prior to stopping in the Nashville area, we were in Atlanta, Georgia. We got to stay with a lot of Darnell's family and we had a blast! Darnell and Stacy however, got to travel back to L.A. on Friday night to go to a wedding of 2 Pepperdine students who we all know. They had a blast. The rest of us got to BBQ with Darnell's family and get to see a fun fireworks show with them as well. It was a great 4th of July for us and a much needed, relaxing break. Saturday night we sang at Burnt Hickory Church of Christ and had a fun time at their outdoor picnic. It was humid and hot outside, but fun nonetheless. Sunday morning we got to sing at North Atlanta Church of Christ and hear a great sermon from Don McGlaughlin. He is the minister there and he always does a great job. After having a fun afternoon in the Atlanta area, we got to sing at Camp Creek Church of Christ on Sunday night. It was a lot of fun and all in all, we had a great stop in the Atlanta area.

After Atlanta we traveled to Florence, Alabama on Monday night. We had a fun time getting to sing at a youth event that the churches in the area have every Monday evening during the summer. We had a lot of fun getting to visit with the teens and then afterward we all went to Chili's. We had about 25 people there and it was a blast getting to hang out with kids around our age! We loved our time there.

I apologize for the long time between posts, but it has been a pretty full week. We have really been having a good time and are looking forward to the last few weeks of tour. Thanks to everyone who has made the last week, as well as tour in general, a great experience for us so far! Blessings to you all.

Hello to all from North Carolina!

Greetings to you all from Camp Greystone in North Carolina. We have made our way up the east coast and in to the Carolina's. Since the last post we have been all over Florida. We got to go to Ft Lauderdale and spend an incredible weekend with the DellaPace family, and by DellaPace family, I mean, ALL of Kristen's family. Her aunts and uncles live no more than 30 minutes away and so it was a party every night. It was an awesome time and we sang a great concert for her church family on Sunday night. The following night on Monday, we traveled to St. Petersburg and got to have a very fun time singing at the church there. We got to eat a neat dinner at a place called Caddy's, which was right on the beach, and it was very fun. After that, we traveled all the way up to Jacksonville and got to sing at a church in the Jacksonville area. There was a really neat guy at the church there, Willis, who was very fun to talk with. He has been directing symphonies for quite some time now and so it was really cool to hear his story. That was Tuesday night. On Wednesday we drove up to South Carolina and sang at Palmetto Bible Camp. It was an awesome time and it was full of energy. The kids there were crazy, but we loved every minute of it. Following that concert, we drove to our current location here at Greystone. We met up with about 6 or 7 of our Pepperdine students who are working the week of camp here and got to hang out till bedtime. It has been great all day getting to relax and hang out with not only the campers at camp but also our close Pepperdine friends. We sang in the morning and had a lot of fun, then have had the rest of the day off to swim, play tennis and just hang out. It truly has been a blessing to have a relaxing time here. Tonight, we head to Atlanta where we will get to stay with some of Darnell's family which should be a blast. We are looking forward to it and are sure we will have a great time. Hope you are all well. Happy 4th of July tomorrow!! God Bless.

When you wish upon a Star!

Hello to all of you. We are writing to you after a fun filled day at Disney World in Orlando, Fl! We got to have a day off on Thursday and go to Disney. We met up with a guy who worked Public Relations at Disney who was so gracious to give us passes for the day. We started at Hollywood Studios and had a blast riding on the Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster, Toy Story Ride, Star Tours, and the Great Movie Ride. It was fun to hang out in Hollywood. Next the guys went over to the Animal Kingdom and the girls headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Shortly after, it rained, and rained, and then stormed, and then rained some more. However, we still had fun. The guys saw a Lion King show and it was spectacular. The girls got to ride some indoor rides as well as do some shopping in downtown Disney! We then met up at the Magic Kingdom and had some fun. It stopped raining so we got to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and had a blast! The girls then went back to the van to call it a night and the guys decided to stay for the fireworks, then got to go on Space Mountain. This was definitely the high light of the day for the boys! All in all, it was a great day and we vastly enjoyed the day off as well as the free Disney Passes! Thanks to all who helped with that, it was a huge blessing.

Tonight, we drove to Central Florida Bible Camp in Eustis, Fl. This is the camp that Kristen grew up going to so it was a lot of fun for her to be back. She got to see a lot of her old friends and family and the rest of the group had the chance to meet lots of new, fun people! We got to sing a concert for all the camp in the evening and had a BLAST getting to do it. Camps are always way fun to sing at because the kids are always hyped up on sugar and super excited to be there. We had a really fun time and Kristen really enjoyed getting to see her old pals. Tomorrow we travel to Kristen's house in Ft. Lauderdale and then get to spend a few days in her neck of the woods. I'm sure we will have a great time.

That's it for now. Blessings to you all. Goodnight from Central Florida!

Funnest game EVER!

So when we were all in Tallahassee, the guys stayed at a guy's house from the church, Chris. Him and his son, Chase, love to play this game called Heroscape. Now this is, as best as I can summarize it, an interactive risk game, where the characters are actual game pieces, not just the normal little canon, infantry guy, or horse. The game has characters like archers, dragons, dragon killers, and like the occasional Marvel character. I got to use the Incredible Hulk!! Needless to say, this game was awesome! We had such a great time and stayed up probably way too late, but it was super fun. We want to personally thank Chris and his son Chase for teaching us the game and playing with us. It was quite the experience. Here are some pictures from the BATTLE!!

Us having the time of our LIVES!

Here is Darnell deciding which character to use on his next turn

Hey there from Tallahassee Florida!

Well, we have moved through the south all the way into Florida. We got to have a fun day in New Orleans on Saturday, checking out the French Quarter and getting to see the craziness of Bourbon Street. It was a fun opportunity as most of us had never been. Sunday morning we sang at a church in New Orleans and it was great. We got to sing praise team and then do a concert afterwards. Immediately following church, we had to high tail it out to Montgomery Alabama. It was a 4 1/2 drive, and we had about 5 hours to do it!! Needless to say, we made it safely there and had a lot of fun. We all got to meet some of Darnell's old friends, the Powell's. Grey Powell used to be Darnell's youth minister back in the day and so we got to have a lot of fun hanging out with him and his family. The boys stayed at his house and the girls stayed at a family's house from the Landmark Church of Christ in Montgomery. It was a fun night. Today we traveled to Tallahassee and got to sing at Meridian Woods Church of Christ. We had a good concert and enjoyed getting to fellowship with those at the church afterwards. We got to go to dinner with the minister, Chris, and his wife and son. It was quite the time! We are heading to the Orlando area tomorrow and will be in Florida for the rest of the week. We are looking forward to possibly heading to Disney World on Friday, which should be a nice break and a fun time for the group. That's it from our end. God Bless you all!

Apologies!!

I just want to apologize that it has taken so long to get a new post online! We have been away from Internet access for quite some time now and so it has been tough to write to you all! We are now in Lafayette, Louisiana! Crazy how time and distance travels. Following the Dallas area, we drove to West Monroe, LA and got to sing for a Church there that Won By One hadn't sang at in over 9 years! It was so much fun. The Church packed their fellowship hall and we sang a great concert for them and had a great time getting to get to know many from the church. Following West Monroe, we headed to Baton Rouge where we got to sing at Camp Smiling Acres. This was a ton of fun! We got there in time for dinner with the campers, then sang out concert and had a blast. The kids were nuts and we really had a fun time singing for them. Teen crowds are always more fun cause they are so full of life and energy. It was a great time. We ended up staying the night and got to hang out some more with the teens at the camp. The following day on Friday, we got to stay the day at the camp and play sports with them. We added to their counselor soccer and volleyball teams as the staff battled the campers. Not gonna lie; we helped the counselors own in both! It was a fun day and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with all those who were at the camp. It was a great treat for us and we really were blessed to get to spend time there. After we spent the day Friday at the camp, we drove to Lafayette where we were tonight. We had a lot of fun singing tonight considering we were pretty worn out from the long day of summer camp we had, haha. We got to go out to dinner with the minister and his wife as well as the guys host dad, Mike, and we had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we are getting to go to New Orleans and have a free day. It should be quite an experience and we plan to have a fun time together as we explore more all that the US has to offer us on this tour.

Sorry again for not posting in a while, but I hope you are well and God Bless you guys. Thanks to all who have made tour so much fun thus far. You have truly been a blessing to us.

Onto Dallas, TX!

Hello there from Dallas, TX. We have since driven through Abilene as well as into Dallas and are now staying at a house from the Church in Coppell, TX, Riverside Church of Christ. We had an amazing weekend in Abilene. We got to see John and Tracy Calhoun and see John's parents for a while. It was a lot of fun to get to hang out without having to sing. It also was STACY'S BIRTHDAY!!! Happy 20th Stacy! We got to have a very fun dinner at Olive Garden for her birthday and it was great to be together as a group on her special day. On Saturday night we stayed in a hotel just outside of Dallas and woke up early to head over to the Highland Oaks Church of Christ. We sang a concert for their teen class and then got to have a great time of worship with the congregation there as we sang praise team with the worship minister at Highland, Chad. Now Highland Oaks for me was quite an experience. It is a HUGE church in Dallas. I'm talking like, 2000ish members and the biggest building I have ever seen!! It was crazy.

Sunday afternoon we met up with Clint Loveness, a former Pepperdine student, and hung out at his apartment all day and rested. Sunday night we headed to our current location in Coppell and sung a concert for the congregation at Riverside Church of Christ. We had a great time and sang a good concert. Stacy had her aunt and uncle and cousins at the concert tonight and so that was fun to get to see them and for her to get to spend time with her family.

We have a day off tomorrow to sleep in and have a fun day off. It should be a great time and we look forward to the rest of our stay in the Dallas area. Thanks to all who have made the past few days great for us! You truly have been a major blessing!

From San Antonio, TX, hello to you all

Sorry for the delay in posts, we just have not had Internet in a few stops. Anyway, after having a great time in Midland, we drove all the way down to Houston, TX where the girls stayed with the Hooten family who have a daughter currently a Pepperdine, Skylar, who most of the group is friends with. The guys got to stay with family friends of Darnell and his family, the Soper's, who have two daughters, Morgan and Alex, as well as the youth intern for the church that they go to staying at their house, Leslie. Both the guys and the girls had a lot of fun getting to stay at those homes and we loved the good times we were able to have. On Sunday morning, we sang at the Sugar Grove Church of Christ in Houston. We led worship with Josh Kasinger for the early and late services, and also were able to give a concert for the teen class. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time at the church. It was quite the early morning however, as both houses were about 40 min away from the church and we needed to be there by 7:45! We were up about 6am. After church we went out to lunch, then had 45 minutes to nap and rest, only to head up to the West Houston Church of Christ to sing a concert. The Soper family as well as the Hooten family attend the church there. We had a lot of fun at that concert and then afterwards went out to eat with some of the youth group and friends from the church. It was a good day on Sunday.

On Monday, we got to spend the day hanging out at our host homes. The guys hung out at the pool and played tennis with the Soper kids and the girls spent the day running and catching up on sleep. We had a great time. On Monday night we got to sing for the Summer Youth Series in Houston. They held it at Memorial Rd Church of Christ and there was over 600 teens and parents there! It was a lot of fun leading worship and singing a concert for those there on Monday night and we had a great time. Overall Houston was a great stop for us.

Today we traveled to San Antonio, TX. Matt Baker knows a family here, the McNabb's and so we get the pleasure of staying with their family and then singing a concert tomorrow night at their church. It should be a great time. Tonight we will get to go down to the river walk and see the Alamo in downtown San Antonio. Hopefully we will also watch a Laker win tonight. Should be a fun time but as always, we will keep you posted on what is going on from the road! God Bless.

Midland, TX

Well, tonight we are in Midland, Texas. We drove all day from Tucson, Arizona and made it here around 9pm. We got to eat dinner with our host family, the Boone's, and had a great time getting to know them. The guys got to watch Game 1 of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals series, and although the Lakers couldn't pull it out, it was a fun game to watch. On Tuesday night we sang in Mesa, AZ, and got to hang out with the teens from the church afterwards. We took them out to Chili's and had fun just getting to know them as well as spending time just hangin' out. On Wednesday night we sang in Tucson, Arizona and had a great concert. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Jesse Warren, the Campus Minister at the church there as well as some students from his group and from the church there. It was fun getting to fellowship with other college-age students and to get to have a fun dinner. We look forward to having a fun day tomorrow in Midland and then singing a concert tomorrow night at the Golf Course RD Church of Christ here in Midland. It should be a fun time and we are looking forward to it.

More to come from the road later. Blessings to you all.

Greetings from Anthem Arizona!!

Hello all. We are writing from Anthem, Arizona. This being our third day of tour, and we are having a blast so far. We started on Sunday Morning singing in LA at Darnell's home church, Culver Palms, and had a great concert as well as some great fellowship afterwards at lunch. The Brisco's along with the Stivers and some other family and friends joined us at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for a fun lunch. After that we drove to Palm Springs and had a lot of fun on Sunday night. We sang a great concert and got to have some great time of fellowship with the church there. We were able to go to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen with our host family the Johnson's, as well as the minister Dave and his wife and kids. It was a fun evening and we loved getting to sing there. Yesterday on Monday, we traveled here to Anthem where we sang a fun concert outside in the park for the Canyon Church of Christ here. It was a lot of fun getting to sing outside and then we had a great time eating out with our two host families.

A funny story;Matt Baker was dared by one of the host dads, Tim. Matt ordered hot wings and was misled by the waiter to thing that the "hot" wings weren't THAT hot. However, they were HOT for sure. As Matt finished his wings, the host dad said, well so those weren't that hot were they. And in Matt style, he obliged and said nope, I sure wish the cooks here knew how to do hot. So Tim then dared Matt to try one of the "suicide" wings. As guys are guys and pride is on the line, Matt tried one. Needless to say, he immediately regretted his decision to try it. It was super hot! I guess Matt learned his lesson. lol.

Tonight we travel in to the Phoenix area, into Mesa, Arizona. We should have a lot of fun and get to enjoy some great fellowship. Continue to look for posts as we continue on with tour this summer. God Bless.