Unloading.

Chris handed me the Blackberry to blog on this picture, but I really should be helping. We are back at the 'burg unloading the stealthy budget truck, going to sleep in our own beds tonight, and playing at Naz tomorrow morning. And, I'll have you all know, I WAS helping unload by pushing the FOH box and blogging at the same time, thank you very much.

God bless, over and out.

-Laura Mackey

Stoughton WI

Ah, breakfast. Every meal we've had on tour has never left us hungry; this one is no exception. Shelley's church and our host families provided fruit salad, lots of muffins, cereal, juice, sparkling cider, egg bake, and krumkakke (a Norwegian delicacy). Host families ROCK. Though its rainy and glum outside, we are happy and full of food and of the Spirit.

God bless, over and out.

-Laura Mackey

The River Pantry--acoustic style

We totally just got a reality check.

After a fun afternoon on State St. in Madison, we came back to the River Pantry to set up and play. Because of the requests of the management, we had to cut down on volume, trying about three different plans before figuring out our final setup. We didn't bring our soundboard in, using theirs instead, tried using a partial drum kit but ending up just going with djembe, and finally ending up almost fully acoustic. The conflict and frustration was really taking a toll on our attitudes.

Then, in a meeting outside before eating a light suppery snack provided by Shelley's parents, Bryan reminded us why we were here.

Whether we are loud and rocking strong or quiet and more contemplative, we are still worshipping God. Our purpose here is to glorify him and "be transparent," letting Him shine though us to those we serve.

We've nourished our bodies with wonderful soup and stuff; now we nourish our souls and those of the people present with our joyful noise to our Savior, who is mighty to save.

God bless, over and out.

-Laura Mackey

Heading To Madison

Last night we stayed at my house in Elkhorn. After dinner we played an acoustic set in my living room. It was really fun.

We had a lot of time to relax and all got a pretty good night's sleep. We really needed it!

Right now we're on the road to Madison. We're going to eat lunch and hang out on State St. A lot of people haven't been here before so it should be really cool.

Tonight we're playing at the River Food Pantry in Madison. After the concert we'll head to Stoughton where people from Shelley's church will host us for the night.

-Chris

Lunch at MacArthur's

We went to get lunch in Chicago and the principal at Holy Family suggested eating at MacArthur's.

There is SO much food! And it is really good too.

Apparently this is one of President Obama's favorite places to eat in Chicago.

After lunch we'll head back to Holy Family and help out in the classrooms until school is done.

-Chris

Pulling a Randon...

The kids here at Holy Family are awesome, spunky, and seem to like having their arms autographed by the band members, much to the chagrin of Allison and I. We are scorning such behavior in the spirit of our beloved Randon Ruggles who was on the trip last year, in an attempt to be the voice of reason.

Signing skin is not allowed...though it still continues.

Some of the kids here even signed our Wartburg students' arms :)

Off to Chris's house now.
God bless-over and out

-Laura Mackey

Holy Family Lutheran school

We played at the school in Chicago today. To get there in time to set up and run a sound check, we had a 5:30 a.m. breakfast at Dani's house.

We then loaded up, forced Reid to leave the alpaca barn, and listened to upbeat tunes to keep the half-asleep, driving Alex awake.

We set up (as seen in the picture) and did a really quick sound check; then the children started pouring into the gym. I gave at least 5 high fives before we even started, so we could tell that these kids were pumped and ready to rock!

While we played, many kids sang, danced, clapped and definitely screamed! I helped on powerpoint, so I got to see everything that was happening. Some highlights include Alex throwing tees and polaroids to an ecstatic crowd, Bryan and Chris jumping off the drum stand and Meghann feeling well enough to sing! It was all very high-energy and an exciting experience for all.

-Kate

Driving back to Chicago

This morning came WAY too early.

Now we're on the road and since it is Chicago the roads are really busy.

We're supposed to be at the school at 8:30 and I'm not quite sure if that will happen or not.

I'm really excited to play at the school today. The kids are awesome! After we play we get to hang out and help in the classrooms which should be really fun.

Tonight we're heading to my house and hanging out there for the night. It should be fun!

-Chris

Wednesday Night

We just got back to Dani's house where we're spending the night tonight. We dropped our stuff off at the school this afternoon to save some time tomorrow morning.

Then we went to dinner and had some Chicago-style pizza. After dinner we went to a comedy club near Wrigley field.

The picture here is of us hanging out with the alpacas at Dani's house.

I'm going to keep this short tonight though - breakfast is being served at 5:30...

-Chris

Unloading in Chicago! And the rest of our free day

Here I am, not helping to unload our stealthy budget truck (well, I am working the hydraulic lift). We are in the windy city getting our stuff inside Holy Family Lutheran School.

Though I wasn't on tour last year to see the church the school was in, I have been told this new beautiful brick building is a HUGE improvement.

We'll be playing here for the kids tomorrow at 10 AM, probably making a big hit with them-one student we encountered recalled last year's tour, Jordan's crazy drumming, and even had her autographed Out of the Valley poster! I am SO pumped for tomorrow; I love working with kids, so I know its going to be a blast.

Once we're all packed in for today, we'll be eating dinner in some pizza place presumably, going to a free comedy show that Jensen found out about through a friend, and driving to Dani's house and crashing before getting up for breakfast at 5:30 AM... Oofta.

Got to go-fingers are FREEZING! God bless over and out

-Laura Mackey

Almost there!

I can see the skyline.

As Bryan says, "welcome to Chicago, please wait here."

Traffic...

-Chris

Lunch

Culvers! Yay!

We're about half way to Chicago. As of right now we're planning on dropping off the equipment at the school to save some time in the morning - breakfast is scheduled for 5:30.

We should be at the school around 3:30 and then we'll hang out in Chicago for a while tonight.

-Chris

Driving through St. Louis

Look! The arch!

Heading to Chicago

We had a great time here in st. Louis! We played sardines in the church last night and everyone seemed to find a great hiding place!

This morning we are heading off to Chicago for a free day, which should be a great time! Plus, the weather is amazing!

Then tonight we are staying at Dani's house where Alex is convinced he will sleep with the alpacas!

We shall see how the alpacas feel about this...

Until then,

-Shelley

Heading Back to Shepherd of the Hills

Eating lunch in a soup kitchen is a very humbling experience. We stood in line like any average school lunch, but for those community people that come maybe every day, it's perhaps their only source of a real meal. The thrift store connected to the soup kitchen may be their main resource for clothing-just thinking about this is so strange for an average middle class white college first-year female.

As I type, we are driving the van back through the run-down desolation that is East St. Louis, and I wonder what some people's lives must be like in such a place as this. Then I remember something that Jensen said during the concert this afternoon-Jesus died for all of us, no matter our situations in life-and the faces of the people we played for today, both students and community members, and I know that God worked through us today and gave these people hope through our music.

AMEN, as one of the men in the audience exclaimed.

Off to the church, then Guitar Center for some supplies.

God bless--over + out.

-Laura Mackey

St. Vincent de Paul

So here we are getting ready to unload the truck for our concert this afternoon.

I'm pretty excited to play here. This city is so run-down - it is a place that really needs to know that "greater things are still to be done here."

Not to mention rocking out in a thrift store is one of the coolest things I've ever done.

-Chris

Driving to East St. Louis

We awoke this morning to a great breakfast provided by the pastor. As we get ready to leave I find myself not knowing what to expect when we get to the "eastern" part of town. I have heard horror stories about what we'll see and experience in this run down section of the neighborhood. I am looking forward to the show we get to play there. I have heard that tons of people show up to worship with us at this thrift store. I feel that this is a place where we can truly make a difference in the lives of some of those much less fortunate than me, and that is what our service work is all about.

-Reid

Shepherd of the Hills Worship

We just finished packing up from our concert/worship tonight at Shepherd of the Hills in St. Ann, MO.

Tonight was an amazing worship experience. The people here are incredibly welcoming and so kind to us, and they seem to really appreciate what we do. Even just one person appreciating and coming closer to God through this is enough - but to see a whole church filled with people who appreciate and understand this makes us realize why we do what we do.

Now we're going to sit down and talk about the week and how we think it has gone so far. There's a lot of amazing things to talk about.

Tomorrow morning we'll eat breakfast here and then head over to East St. Louis to play at the thrift store.

-Chris

Dinner at Shepherd of the Hills

We just got done eating dinner at the church. It was awesome! It was also really cool talking to some of the people before the concert and getting to know some of the congregation.

We were really worried because right before dinner Laura's bridge on her violin broke. Everyone was really worried and we were searching all over for a place to find a new one.

Luckily we found a place that had them and someone from the church was kind enough to take her to get a new one, so she should be able to join us tonight! She just got back and is eating dinner now, so we'll start soon.

We're staying at the church tonight and we'll be playing in East St. Louis tomorrow.

Until after the concert...

-Chris

Unloading in St. Louis

Here's a few people unloading at Shepherd of the Hills. We got set up really fast and the sound check went, oddly enough, rather smoothly.

Now we're getting ready for dinner provided by some members of the congregation. It all looks really good! :)

I'm really excited to play here tonight. The people here are so welcoming and really seem to appreciate our ministry.

-Chris

On the way to St. Louis

We didn't have cell phone connection last night, so the blog from last night just went up.

There was a lot of cool history with the building and the town it was in. So even though the hype of the "haunting" got a few of us a bit shaken up, it was still really interesting.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you talk to) we didn't hear or see anything weird.

This morning a few of us went for a walk around the town. We got to see the sunrise too. Bentonsport is a really beautiful little town on the Des Moines River and it was really cool to see it early in the morning.

We also wrote a song this morning. We were all jamming out in the living room of the bed and breakfast and all of a sudden we were playing a new song. We had acoustic guitars, banjo, and violin so maybe we'll add it to our fun "bluegrass" set.

We just stopped at a small town called Cantril where we grabbed some lunch. We're now on the way to St. Louis and should be there by about 4 o'clock or so.

Shepherd of the Hills Church was by far the best worship experience last year, and it sounds like they are very excited to have us back.

I know we're definitely excited to be stopping there.

-Chris

Bed and Breakfast

So apparently we're staying at a "haunted" bed and breakfast tonight. Its really creepy.

There's a whole mix of emotions going on right now. Some people are terrified, others are a bit skeptical. I, personally, am exceedingly excited.

We're gonna sit down in a bit and talk with the owners (Hans' in-laws) about the place.

Depending on the amount of creepy over the next 8 hours we may or may not post again.

I'd say count on a few posts.

Assuming we make it through the night, we'll be heading to St. Louis tomorrow.

-Chris

Kid's Club at Kirkville

This is a picture of us playing for the kids in Kirkville. We went to the little county building in Kirkville to interact with the kids from the area.

We weren't really sure what to expect, then we found ourselves singing, playing, dancing and acting silly with many enthusiastic kids ranging from 4 to around 12. Their smiles were so bright! The youngest, JoJo, was so shy at first, then by the end she was dancing and jumping around more than any of the other children.

The entire experience was beautiful and a blessing to be a part of! Now we're on the road, on our way to Bentonsport where Hans has family we will we staying with. After a long day, I think we're all ready to sleep! :)

-Kate

Lunch and Loading out in Oskaloosa

This morning we worshiped at Allison's church in Oskaloosa, Iowa. It was such a beautiful church and a great congregation!

After the service we ate lunch here at the church, yummy food!

Now we are going to have a quick rehearsal and then we are going to head off to Kirkwood to hang out and play some games with kids at a kid's club! I love games!

Talk to you later!

-Shelley

Central United Methodist Church - Oskaloosa

We just got done playing at the first service here in Oskaloosa. The first service here is more traditional and tends to be a bit more reserved. However, we had a lot of compliments and people seemed to really enjoy us. It is really good to know that we are able to bring hope to all types of people through our music.

The second service is supposed to be generally more awake, so we're going to do a few more high energy songs. It should be a lot of fun.

After that we'll pack up and we'll be heading to Kirkville to hang out at a kid's club.

At the moment a few people are jamming out to Amazing Because It Is by the Almost. I think I'm gonna go join.

-Chris