Drumming with Daddy

Enough said.

Talking to Santa

As we pulled out the Christmas decorations Jaden found a new best friend. But, for some reason, I guess he felt his friend needed to be cleaned a little bit.

A trumpet playing, jingle bell singing, dancing Santa Claus whose pants refuse to stop sagging!

Oh - and yes, while he was in the washing machine Jaden was telling him stories!

Bus Station Dedication

In the neighborhood near the church the city recently opened a new bus station and asked the mariachi to play for part of the dedication ceremony.I had a doctor appointment that morning so Jaden got to tag along with Daddy until I got there.
He was having a GREAT time because there were buses AND mariachi music!
It is always an amazing blessing to me that the mariachi gets to play both popular and Christian music at public events like this. What a wonderful opportunity to share the message of Jesus!
A new, clean bus was there for checking out. Jaden HAD to climb on and go for "rides" with his trains!

Trumpeter in Training

This fall I have been going to a Bible study every Tuesday night. That means that Jaden has been going to mariachi practice with Stephen. One night, his water bottle that turns into a bell when he goes with me to handbell choir practice became a trumpet so he could play along!
No matter what music is playing Jaden seems to be interesting in joining in!

Mariachi San Pablo Tour - San Antonio & Austin TX

The summer has been in full swing for us for quite some time. Here are a few pictures from our recent travels with the mariachi group! 10 performances for over 2,250 people and driving over 1,200 miles in 7 days. FUN STUFF!

San Antonio – Concordia Lutheran Summer Day ProgramThey had the kids dancing in the aisles
San Antonio - Abundant Grace Daycare - even the kiddos in the cribs were dancing!
San Antonio - a full concert at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran ChurchJaden joining all the kids and adults at the Community Center for a bit of fun music

Joined by a little fan for singing AlabareOf course, a little fun along the way

Remember the Alamo!crusing the river

Packing, unpacking, and repacking...you get used to it I guess.Iglesia Luterana Pueblo de Dios in Austin

Stephen as the mission speaker at the TX LWML Convention in Austin. He had them laughing! Doesn’t he look sharp in the new suit that God gave him just in time for the event? (He hadn’t known just what to pack to wear. His nice suit seemed too formal, less than a suit too informal for a mission speaker. a woman in San Antonio brought this suit the day we were packing up to leave saying she had found it at a Thrift store where she volunteered that was closing and she just had to hold onto it. Can you believe it was his PERFECT – and nearly impossible to find – size, and a really nice brand! AND he just happened to have a shirt that looked nice with it!?!?! God always takes care of His people – even in the little things!

Playing for the TX LWML Banquet – the group had a GREAT reception! The crowd was cheering, applauding, dancing, and snapping pictures like they were rock stars!

Praise God for safe travels and an amazing time sharing His love through music!

Music Men

Here are Jaden and Daddy playing their recorders (or TRUMPETS, as Jaden calls them).

Mariachi San Pablo - Tour St. Louis - Part 2

The next day we went to the St. Louis Arch.  I showed Jaden the little cars that we would ride the elevator in.  He LOVES elevators so he was pretty excited.  Here we are in front of the door waiting our turn to get in.

Once we got in, he was NOT a big fan of the little egg shaped cars.  It was a good thing we had “Pablo” with us.  He was Jaden’s best friend the whole time we were there.

Looking out the windows at the top was a big hit with Jaden.  He especially loved watching the cars and trucks below.

The whole group

Me and my boy

And my man

That evening the group played at Zion Lutheran Church

The next day we had some free time at the Science Center.  This was a cool place but most of the activities were quite a bit over Jaden's interest level.  Although, Jaden did think the dinosaurs were pretty cool!

And he enjoyed looking through the window in the floor that overlooks the traffic passing on the interstate below.

The had a section with numbered blocks where you could build an arch.  Mostly, Jaden loved knocking other people’s arches over.  Oops!  Sometimes BEFORE they were able to get a picture of their work!

He also dug for fossils in the dinosaur exhibit

That night, the Mariachi played at the Concordia Seminary Campus as the opening before a lecture series.

The next day we had a bit more free time at “The Magic House.”  This place is SERIOUSLY cool for anyone under about 10.  The older members of the group didn’t really have much to do since the staff wouldn’t even let them check out the cool things since they didn’t have a child with them.  Sadly, they hadn’t told us that at the entrance and instead just got mad at the group along the way.  SO, if you’re ever in St. Louis with smaller kids this is INSANELY cool, otherwise, not a big hit.

They have all kinds of hands on activities and science type experiments for kids to play with.

One room was a “fairy tale” room with scenes set up from various books that kids could play in.

Beauty and the Beast

Jack and the Beanstalk

W whole town where you can “work” in the various stores.

Here is the mechanic

And even an outdoor construction site where Jaden got to drive the Bobcat with daddy

The next day the group played at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Des Peres MO.  They got to play music during worship and lead the Sunday School hour.

They got all of the kids dancing the “pato” and the “sapo” and had a lot of fun.

And that night we had one more concert in Washington MO.  This was a last minute addition to the schedule and they had over 200 people attend.  Amazing!  They only booked us one week before we played!!!

There you have it.  Our trip to St. Louis.  At least in short!