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Wow–what a day.  It was so full and tiring I had to wait until Monday to write this!  lol

Alex was able to record his solo in the Valley Forge Christian College mobile recording booth.

Of course we saw more student entries in different categories.  No Jaymie Bailey sightings for me, though.

Later we caught up with Ryan Forkel and his daughter Allie at Mert’s for lunch.  While we were there Planetshakers came in.  We trust they enjoyed their fried chicken and Mert’s famous corn bread.

We saw Concord First’s youth choir after lunch.  Under the direction of Lindsey Bentley, they did a wonderful job.  I also enjoyed playing cars with Jacob Grissom during his time there.

I encouraged Alex to go sharpen his language skills be observing the Spanish Female Vocal Solo entries.  Claudia Redd thought that was rather amusing.

So while Claudia and I discussed the youth choir performances and the state of FAF in general the kids went off to see the Original Instrumental Composition entries.  Interesting stuff I learned later.

Carlie and I took the hotel shuttle to the local Target store.  Driver Chris was most excellent in getting us there and back in a timely manner.  Carlie was just thrilled to find a Starbucks with a line shorter than 100 people!

We lost track of time in Target and had to hurry back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  I had made reservations at Buca di Beppo for 4:30.  The reality seemed to indicate I had never had that conversation.  Meanwhile, David and Michelle Scruggs and their son Domoinic had arrived on time.  We got there about 5.  Skip and Claudia and their daughter Tambour arrived shortly after.  We had a wonderful time of fellowshipping and remembering.  Oh yes, and eating too.

Eager to get to the nightly service, I sent Alex and Cassie and Carlie off in the van,  Alysia and Ashley got there eventually and the talking continued….

The service seemed to last a long time, as we finally got to the hotel but the kids weren’t there yet.  We later heard Lindsey Grissom had a part in the service.  (http://charlotte08.ag.org/live/ Click the link to the Thursday service, and skip over to about 61:30.)

It felt good to have Alysia and Ashley there with us.

Hey everyone!  It was a long day for sure.  It again started out with me getting up early to reserve a practice room while the kids slept in.  Such sacrifice!  lol

Cassie’s trombone solo was at 9am.  She did a great job playing “Faith” and ended up getting cards from several college recruiters.  I know her braces were bothering her, but she held on and finished the selection.  I think the Lord help me to realize that next year could be dramatically different….

Sometime since Alex’s solo yesterday the officials in the rooms decided to alternate with the piano solo entries.  That kept folks from playing at the same time, which really helped!

From there we viewed many other entries and saw friends from several states.   And we ay Jaymie Bailey from Solid Rock.

Considering the number of folks attending the event and eating in local restaurants, I decided we should eat early.  So we headed over to College Place for lunch.  I remember eating there with my mom while she was working uptown.  I gotta say–it’s nice eating a decent meal off of real plates using metal utensils and drinking out of a glass.  Sad to say my work cafeteria doesn’t do it that way for the most part.

I got to hear Lindsey from Concord sing her solo–it was tremendous!  Later in the day we heard the Grissom Girls sing a trio.  That also was wonderful.  The kids listened to several Christian Band entries throughout the day.  And we saw Jaymie Bailey from Solid Rock.

Cassie signed up to record her trombone solo in the Valley Forge Christian College recording studio.  I didn’t hang around because Carlie and I went to hear Amy Melton play her horn solo.  (She was the one that beat Alex and Cassie for Merit Award at District.)

The kids reported speaking with Kevin and Amy Lewis.  And I saw Jaymie Bailey from Solid Rock. 

After some rest in the hotel (read “dad took a nap”) we went to Uno’s for dinner.  The pizza was great but the wait was terribly long–even with more than a half-dozen empty tables.  I think the FAF participants have worn out the local service employees!  lol

While waiting I was able to reunite Tambour with her parents.  It seems kids never stop asking for money, right Tambour?  HA HA!  Although Skip took time to chat with us, Claudia completely dissed us.  What’s up with that?  I mean, I know she was talking to some friends and all, but…oh wait…never mind.  lol

Later we walked down to Seventh Street Station to take a crack at the riddle.  We were called away by my buddy Alan who lives here in Charlotte.  He suggested we meet at Wendy’s for some evening ice cream.  So after walking all the way back to the hotel we drove over to meet him and his boys.

Back in the hotel we zonked out watching TV.

Now here’s the bad news.  There was a rule change since last year that we didn’t take the time to learn about.  (OTOH, I don’t remember it being an issue at District.)  This year there are no vocals allowed for instrumental entries.  That means our kids lost points for the performance tracks we used, since there were background vocals on the trax.

I’m angry with myself, but also disapointed with the rules committee.  I mean, if a song is unfamiliar to a listener, how can an instrumentalist really relate the message?  I purposefully had vocals on the trax to enhance the message.  IMHO this change is yet another strike against wind instrumentalists.  Considering the current state of music education in many school districts around our country, it is a sad blow indeed.

Wow!  What a day.  It started somewhat early for me.  I had to get in line to get a practice room for Alex and the House of Brass.  It was somewhat of a mess, and my “D” personality was really starting to come out.  But the Lord had pity upon me and I was able to resist the urge to blast the guy in charge.  I figured the other women would get him as it was!  lol

As it turns out, the guy had actually seen the House of Brass on YouTube.  I walked away misty-eyed as I felt the power of God at work in my life.

Alex somehow got the first performance time on the first day.  (Mawmaw said it was because his name is at the first of the alphabet.)  When we arrived in the performance room I saw Dr. Skip Redd and our old pal Boodah Brad.  What a wonderful surprise.  Thanks guys for supporting Alex!

About 9am he was ready to start playing his trumpet solo.  But then the piano solo in the next room began to drown out his track.  Sound levels adjusted ,he carried on.  Then I heard a percussion group start practicing out in the hall.  Oh man.

Alex did a great job of persisting in the face of great obstacles.  I can see how his experiences in life have helped to prepare him for this and many more great things.  I am very excited for him as he embarks on a new phase of life–college and a huge marching band!  lol  Please pray for him (and Alysia.)

At some point we went to see Grace perform her Human Video-Solo entry.  She is the daughter of Joe Hoggard, another old pal from college, who is pastoring in WV.  He and Brad and a few others used to sit up all night playing cards in the dorm lobby.  But the Lord works miracles….

From there we went to lunch at a restaruant featured on the “Diners, Dives and Drive-ins” TV show–the Penguin!  Let’s just say there were no fried pickles left, and the penguin fingers, burgers and fried bologna were delicious.  Or maybe we were just very hungry.

Later in the day the House of Brass performed admirably their arrangement of “You Are Good.”  Skip, Joe, Boodah, and some of the Grissom clan were there to watch.  Mawmaw and  her friend Amy came also, but unfortunately missed it.  Thanks to all of you!

We watched a few other entries during the day–including folks from NC and GA.

The service in Bobcat…er, I mean Time Warner Arena was incredible, from the opening with KJ-52 to the prayers of thousands of teenagers from around the world.  I understand the services have been webcast.  Check www.charlotte08.com for details.

There is no service tomorrow night, as they’ve opened it up for a visit to Carowinds.

But as I write this on Tuesday night, we’re sitting in Steak-n-Shake enjoying some ice cream.  We’ll ride the train back uptown shortly, get in bed, and then start all over again tomorrow.  Cassie plays at 9am.  Maybe we’ll skip the Penguin though.

Well, we made it!  The van is in less than good condition, but the Lord was faithful to get us here without incident.

We were watching gas prices and noticed Spartanburg (exit 75 on I-77) had the cheapest at $3.52/gallon.

We had help getting checked into the event, thanks to the other family from our church.  Thanks Pearsons!

After pizza at “The World Famous Open Kitchen” with Mawmaw and Sue and Julie and Teri we were off to the evening service in the Arena.  (It seems the arena in Charlotte has a new name although there are still many signs around which have the old name.  And don’t even get me started (DEGMS) on the state of sidewalk DISrepair.  Come on Charlotte!  You’ve got visitors from all over the country!)

The full schedule is now available online at http://charlotte08.ag.org/documents/Charlotte08Schedule_WEB.pdf

Alex is THE first wind/brass solo at 9am in the morning.  The House of Brass is on at 4:38pm.  And Cassie plays at 9am on Wednesday.

I’ll have to be up extra early to schedule a practice room for them.  TTFN!

Hey everyone!

I decided to be disciplined and blog more now that we’re headed to Fine Arts Festival.  I want to keep everyone informed, you know?  This year it’s in Charlotte, NC.  Yeah–home!

We found out on Friday that another family is unable to go.  So now we’re down to two families, but this time we’re travelling alone.  (Since our music pastor moved to another church last December Fine Arts hasn’t received as much attention.)

The kids’ musical performances will be on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We’ll find out the exact times and places when we check-in. 

I decided we should leave super early on Monday morning.  But with all the preparations, here it is really late and I’m still preparing.

Needless to say, tomorrow will be a long day.

Ciao!

In case you haven’t heard, Alex has been doing well in school,especially in Spanish.

You may remember that last year he won 1st place in the instrumental music category at the county foreign language fair.  This year he won the merit award for Spanish poetry at Fine Arts Festival.  And he has made it into both the county’s and his school’s language honor societies.

We are very proud of him!  We know God has wonderful things in store for Alex.  Please pray for him as he heads off to Liberty University, with a missions stop in Nicaragua along the way.

Translation courtesy www.freetranslation.com