This afternoon the "Isle of Dreams" gathered at New Northside Baptist Church to perform the truncated version of the musical for Christian Music Presenters. Basically, these gentlemen are travelling the country auditioning artists to add them to their growing database of Christian ministers who are available for services, concerts and gatherings.

The performance went really well and the two men seemed very much enthralled by what they were seeing and hearing. Afterwards, they took a few minutes to speak with us about what they had experienced and some of the ideas that they were having regarding possible engagements at events that they might be able to book us for. It was a refreshing time of straightforward honesty and I really liked their attitude and heart for the minsterial aspect of what we are doing.

After everything with the "Isle" was finished, I rushed home to where Lisa was already entertaining our Sunday School class for a Halloween party. When I arrived there were already 6 couples present, almost all of which were in costume. We spent the evening talking, judging costumes and playing video games. Then we played a couples relay which proved to be the hit of the night. One person would bob for an apple, and upon successfully grabbing the apple they would transfer it to their partner who would then run across the room and drop it in a bucket on the floor. If an apple fell to the floor the couple had to get a new apple. The first person was not allowed to bob for another apple until their partner successfully dropped the previous apple in the bucket. The total time it took a pair to gather three apples in the bucket was their final score.

It was a fun day filled with excitment and the company of good friends...

Labor Day Weekend Recap:
Friday
Musical Practice went well.
After practice I met up with Lisa's family at Katrina's apartment. Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We played Catan, which has quickly become a favorite boardgame in the family. Personally, I think it may be the best boardgame I have ever played.

Saturday
Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We met up at Bob and Deb's house with the rest of the family and made a morning trip to the Danile Boone home in New Melle. The weather was perfect for such an outing, not very warm with a slight breeze. After the touring the historic home, we went to a Garden/Nusery/Deli for lunch. It was nice to relax outdoors with good food and good company.
Upon arriving back at home base, we played 2 games of Catan. Lisa and I headed home around 4pm to see about meeting up with her friend Kristen, who was in town from Nashville for the weekend. Plans were made for a Monday morning rendezvous, so we went to Blockbuster and rented "Finding Neverland" and had a movie night at home.

Sunday
Sunday morning after Sunday School we met up with her family prior to going into the auditorium for the church service. Dr. McAlpin preached another great sermon about Jonah, which was the fifth sermon in this series. After the service, we came back to our place for lunch out on the deck (in the shade). We played some more Catan and had an enjoyable evening.

Monday
Monday morning everyone met up at our house and we made our way down to Main Street St Charles to walk around and poke in and out of the shops. Shortly after noon, Lisa and I drove over to the Highland View family picnic and spent some time with my family eating and playing softball, egg toss and baloon pop relays. I'm proud to say that the dynamic duo of Lisa and Christina (my youngest sister) won the second balloon popping race! We then went back to Katrina's for some more time with Lisa's grandparents, where we played (you guessed it) Catan.

It was quite the busy weekend...