Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas is our favorite holiday! There are so many things to be thankful for. We have had a great week in preparation. One of the big surprises of the morning was introducing our kids to the newest member of our family...Cisco. Or as Sam says, "Cisco Scott Thomas". All the kids decided that his full name should be FRANCISCO...because we love the movie "Elf" and as Elf says, "Francisco?! THAT'S fun to say!!"

Francisco Scott Thomas

Our Christmas tradition is to go to Nonnie's house and do gift exchange with her. The kids were ready to go at 8am. Maddie kept giving us the countdown... "Only 8 more hours!!"

My mom at her house with Sam and Maddie

Sam at Nonnie's

Maddie and Ella at Nonnie's

Nonnie gave Sam this AWESOME Star Wars helmet.

We came back to our house and everyone got settled in and waited for Santa to come. The house always feels so warm at Christmas time. I like to just sit in the quiet and watch the Christmas lights.

Our living room

Thanks to my mom, I have a cool collection of Santas from over the years

In the den we have a Santa tree full of only Santa ornaments

The Christmas village on the table in the living room

I snapped this of Cisco waiting with all the goodies from Santa

All is quiet now, but not for long!!

The kids were already up and all piled in Maddie's bed. I brought Cisco in to see them and they were so excited. In true dad fashion I made them stop on the stairs for a photo opp. on the way down to see what Santa left.

The kids on Christmas morning 2009.

Nonnie

Sam is loving his new drum

Sam at Nonnie's

The girls at Nonnie's

Maddie reading the Christmas story from Luke

'Twas the Night Before Christmas read by Ella

The kids discover Santa on Christmas morning 2009

Thank you, God, for your gracious gifts. We thank you for the best gifts in life that aren't bought or acquired. The love of Jesus in our lives and the beauty of each new day with family and friends...for these things we are most thankful! Merry Christmas, friends!

The Sounds of Christmas

I was going through some boxes and transferring some video to DVD. In doing so, I came across several Christmas musicals and concerts that I directed while at Otter Creek. Wow...such great memories and some very special moments. It was so fun to see Bud Arnold. I uploaded some to YouTube. Check them out if you can...it's guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit! Please forgive the quality...I had to record from playback.

JOY--I took the music from Avalon's Christmas CD and turned it into a concert with our worship choir and some special guests. It was such a blast learning that music. The choir rocked it! My buddy Victor Wynn brought his ensemble from Temple Church and joined us. That totally brought down the house! Check out these links.
"Jesus Born on This Day"--Sheryl, the children's choir and the OC worship choir http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z08exYKWrU

"We Are the Reason"--Jon Lawrence and a singer from Temple with the OC worship choir http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqFoccVks4

"Shout to the Lord"--congregational...but the kids are so cute singing this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zclMzaL4BjM

"For Unto Us a Child Is Born"--George Rowe and the Temple Church Ensemble brought the house down! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihi6LoI7qQg

"We Will Worship the Lamb of Glory"--we led this as we ended that night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jq9UVxbo7k




"Two From Galilee"--this might be my all-time favorite musical that we did at Otter Creek. It's a wonderful show that tells the back story of Mary and imagines what it might have been like to be called to walk such a difficult road. I had the cast all read Marjorie Holmes book by the same title and we discussed it. It was such a sweet process. This was a bear to tackle--a full 2 act musical. We had such incredible talent and it was an amazing experience. Bud Arnold was in it too which was extra special for me. We all miss you, Bud!

"Mary's Song and Gabriel's Announcement"--We needed a "Mary". Laura Posey (now Troup) was a college student attending Otter Creek. She was perfect for the role. This was before she and Chad married and had kids. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4go5NUBagk

"Gloria"-- The angels announce the birth of Christ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9khjSNaVws8

"The Marriage of Mary and Joseph"-- Bud Arnold was so awesome! I love, love, LOVE this scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-khxePRNpRc

"The Marriage of Mary and Joseph pt2"-- the rest of the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBl84Nb-jIg

"Finale"--the end of the show (there are so many other great moments...just haven't had time to tape them yet...like the hilarious 3 wise men) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-AeFbTkLgQ




"Christmas Musical 2004" this was the year of Katrina, Bud Arnold dying, Shanon Dickerson dying (both very special Otter Creekers) and a world of other crazy things. It was a difficult year. We began the concert with this song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNlWUfU2YeU
Here's another clip from that night..."Here I Am To Worship" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M98kgom_G6w




"The Power of His Love" --while Two From Galilee was my favorite Christmas musical, this was easily my favorite Easter musical. Korey Risley played Jesus. He was awesome. The cast sounded incredible, the music was good. It was a moving play.
"This is My Body"-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97_wvE5idjY

"Worthy is the Lamb"-- the crucifixion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-wBY6407rg



"He is the King"-- This was the last Christmas concert I did at Otter Creek in 2007. It was an emotional night. The video and sound quality on these two is really awful. Sorry!
"Glory in the Highest"-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYGKxJRoiDo

"Hallelujah, Christ Jesus is Born"-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF1a4Uxgluw


There were other years and other shows..."The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (which was hilarious and the kids ROCKED on!), and a couple of years worth of "Sanders Family Christmas". If I have time I'll post more. But these brought back some wonderful memories. Thank you to all who gave so much time and energy to make them so fun to be a part of!

Trip to Texas

Last weekend Sheryl and I flew to Abilene to lead worship for the Community Christmas Service at the Abilene Civic Center sponsored by Southern Hills. (We were sad to miss baby Gracie's first birthday party. Check out Kevin and Kiki's blog link for pictures.) It was a crazy whirlwind weekend. For starters, we were sick...and I mean REALLY sick. God is the only one who could have gotten us through the weekend feeling that terrible. But, in spite of that, it was so awesome to be with the Southern Hills team. They were so welcoming and so fun.

The service went well...even with a live donkey (no...not me) and some sheep on stage. Phil Ware did a great job. George Pendergrass sang "O Come O Come Emanuel". Sheryl sang "Breath of Heaven". Mark Perkins and a small group of us sang "Mary Did You Know". The kids sang "Away in a Manger"...it was all so sweet!

One of the best parts was getting to see old friends. We got to visit with my buddy and former college roommate, Craig Fisher and his family. We had lunch at Harold's with Craig and Amy and Grant Boone. Sunday morning I got to see a couple of high school friends (Shannon Crowe Zachary and Matt Moore).

Even though we were in Abilene less than 48 hours, it was jam packed. Here are some pictures...

Sunday morning at the Civic Center.

Lunch at Harold's...the best BBQ in existence.

Riley and Owen Fisher...they're so big now and such great kids!

Beth Ann and Craig Fisher had us over for dinner Saturday night. It was such a great time of sweet fellowship,

We made it home without incident...although feeling terrible. Thank you to Vann and Susan Conwell for allowing us to stay at their Bed and Breakfast. Check out their website. It was a COOL place! http://journeysinn-escape.com/

And thank you to all those who helped with our kids while we were away--my mom, Kevin and Kiki, and the Batsons. (It takes a village!)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I've always loved Christmas...the songs, the decorations, the smells, the excitement! Our kids are at that perfect age for enjoying this holiday. It's so fun to watch them. We took a trip to Macy's last weekend so they could mail their letters to Santa. I love seeing the excitement in their eyes!

Sam had his school Christmas program and party today. It was so fun! He did a great job. He is the one on the back row in the plaid shirt below... (and the girl in front of him in green is Murray Sanderson's daughter!)

Santa and Mrs Claus stopped by Sam's class after the program.

Sam and his buddy Max

Love this smile!

This cracks me up because Sam is obviously so proud of his triangle playing skills!

Love it!

Santa's Coming

Jingle Bells

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Christmas Decorations

This email forward has gone viral...but it's so funny. The text below is the text from the email. The reason this made me laugh so hard is because it's exactly something that my father would have done if he'd thought of it.

“Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize that it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of the many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.”

Singing Santas

Thursday morning I took some of our awesome performers up to Clarksville to the new and gorgeous F&M bank high rise. The guys did 6 sets over the course of the day. Russ Davis played keys. Sam Levine played sax. The singers were Rodney Williams, Gabriel Myers, Kyle Henry, and Paul Vann. They completely rocked and were a huge hit! No surprise! Seriously, they sounded amazing together..all 4 so gifted.

Rodney's wife Claire is one of our choreographers at Gary Musick. I've blogged about her a lot over the last few years. She and I work together on several of our ships. Claire is also the dear friend who came last January and did Ella's ballerina birthday party. They are special friends. Rodney and Claire have their first Christmas this year with baby Jack. Merry Christmas, Jack! He's so cute! Rodney is doing guest artist spots now on ships and other places. His promo is awesome. I truly love his voice. Click here and watch a bit of his promo... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf4hsxfyCBc

Paul continues his work out on the General Jackson...check out their show this season. check the G-Jack website for more info http://www.generaljackson.com/site/cruises-evening.aspx

Kyle leaves next week to go to the NCL Gem. He's going out to replace one of our singers. Thank you, Kyle! He's done that gig before and knows all the shows. He'll be awesome!

Gabriel just got back from shooting a movie with John Schneider. Check out a promo clip of the movie here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV4cKt9lV60 Gabe has worked for us on Celebrity Cruise Line and he and I go way back. His dad is Gary Myers. Gary and I worked together on some of the Max Lucado recordings ages ago with Jeff Nelson. Jeff Nelson is truly the Kevin Bacon of the Christan world...3-4 degrees of separation from ANYONE! :)

Here are some pics and video clips from Thursday--

"White Christmas"

"Jingle Bells"

Rodney strolled through the crowd singing "Winter Wonderland"

Paul performs on the General Jackson (the riverboat/showboat that sails out of Opryland). He is an awesome singer and does a great Elvis impression. Paul KILLED it with this crowd doing his Elvis stuff. They ate it up!

Ella Claus

Ella auditioned for her first part in the Christmas play at her school and was so excited to have some lines and a little solo part last night. It was fun to watch her. She did a great job! Go Ella!!


Here are some pictures and video clips from "A Penguin Christmas"

Ella and Bode Reeves (Bode's big brother Austin is at ACU. He pledged Gamma Sigs this year. Yes, I feel ancient.)

Ella is ready!

Mrs. Spiller directed the program. She is the P.E. teacher but she does this for the first grade at Granbery every year. She is a pretty special woman.

Ella as Mrs. Claus

Ella's class--Mrs. Stark rocks!

Penguin March

Some of Ella's lines

Little duet part

Big finish!!