Amazing Day!

Today has been one of the best days I have had in a long time. This morning, Paul Young and his boys stopped by on the way to the beach (from Michigan). Paul and Jill moved away several years ago and we still haven't forgiven them. We shared most of our young married life with them...we had kids together, lived a street a part, went to church together, vacationed together, got tattoos together (shhh!) and laughed and cried together. We miss them so much.


Paul and me

Mack, James, Ella, Maddie, Sam and Champ. Maddie and Mack were inseparable as youngsters.

Lauren came over this afternoon to enjoy pool time. Sam was so glad his "girl friend" was here.

Ella...the diver

Sam

It was about 1000 degrees today. I was so thankful for the cool water!

I have always loved hydrangeas. FINALLY, ours are killer this year!

More back yard beauty

The evening ended with a cook out...awesome kabobs and corn on the cob. Basically, a perfect day. Thank you, God!

MPI Fusion Gala

Check out Sheryl's pics from the Fusion Gala this week... http://www.sherylthomasflorals.blogspot.com

Every Son and Every Daughter

Tonight we added the ZOE kids to "A New Hallelujah". For maybe all of our kids it was their first time to record. With some stacking and some tweaking...they will sound PERFECT! So sweet!

Speaking of kids...Maddie wrote a little piece on angels while she was at my
mom's house last night. I asked her if I could share it with you and she eagerly
agreed. :)

Who Are the Angels?

Angels are people that work with God. Angels are people you
cannot see. But, angels are nice. Some angels are fancy. Some angels are cool.
Some angels are cute and some angels are normal.

The end.

10 Songs Done

Well...we're now 10 songs into our recording project and sufficiently exhausted. Last night was a bit rough. But, we recovered tonight and are back on track! We also celebrated Peter and Lindsey's baby...only a few weeks from being born. I like to call him "Foncho" Wilson. :)

"I Will Rise"

"Hallelujah, We Will Sing"

8 Songs Down

We had a good night in the studio again tonight. We got two more songs MOSTLY done. Later this week we are adding all the ZOE kids to one of the songs we've done. We're probably insane for even considering it, but it will be fun!

Here are a couple of samples...

Jesus Messiah

All Because of Jesus

Sam's Pirate Birthday

Today was Sam's birthday party. He is now a big 4 year old! He had a pirate party and it was a total blast!! Here are some pics from the party. Happy Birthday, Sam!!

Sam, the birthday pirate!

Maddie

Beware of Pirates!!

Meet the new addition to our back yard. Thank you Walmart.

\

Thanks to Amy Westerman for saving lots of her pirate stuff from Luke's birthday!

LOVED Sam's birthday cake! Sheryl got the base cake from Publix and then added the pirate ship

Even Nonnie got into the action!

Sam and Ben Thompson

Kevin and Baby Gracie

Birthday boy and Daddy

Michael Batson, Ben Thompson and Sam

Baby Gracie even enjoyed the party

Michael Batson and Sam...arrrrrrggh

Happy Birthday, Sam! We love you and are so thankful for you!

Inside Out

We've gotten 6 songs MOSTLY completed on the new ZOE record. Tonight Jason McArthur was back with us (seen being his goofy self in the second video down there). It was old home night. Loved it! I tweaked my back a month or so ago and have gotten to a place of incredible pain this week. Tonight was almost unbearable...but having Jason there made me laugh and helped me not think about it as much. Jason and I go back to ACU days. Waaaay before he was a big-wig Vice President of A&R for a record label. I have stories. But, in the interest of friendship and time, I'll save those. :)

Here's a little sample of the latest...



Michael W. Smith's "A New Hallelujah"

"From the Inside Out" (the title cut from this CD)

CMA Fest with Reba / ZOE Recording

Today was the big CMA Fest opening. The booth looked great! Reba (who is new to Big Machine Records this year) came and signed autographs for the first time in 12 years. She had a huge number of fans show up. She was very nice and personable. Thanks again to Justin McIntosh for allowing me to partner with him on designing the booth.

Reba McIntire

She's seriously like Benjamin Button...she seems to just get younger!

In other news, ZOE began recording this week. We've been doing this now for 12 years. Sheesh! It's so fun being together again and we just seem to all fit together like a hand in a glove. We've gotten 4 songs recorded so far...

Kevin Penna, Peter Wilson and me

Amy Westerman and Karin Hensley

Here's a little taste of "No Other Name". This was our first hearing of what we'd done...it's very raw and still has some parts missing, but is sounding good so far! David England completely cracked me up in this video clip.

Here's a little sample of a song called "Speak O Lord".

CMA Fest

Today was the big load-in for CMA Fest downtown. Justin McIntosh and I partnered together on creating the Big Machine Records booth. It will be a big year for Big Machine. Last year Taylor Swift was the big news, but since then, Reba has also signed with them. She will be signing tomorrow for the first time in 12 years. I'm looking forward to meeting her!

Here are some pics of the move-in process today. I'll post pics of the final product later this week. Thanks again to Justin and all the folks at Big Machine. Thanks also to Jacob and Chris and the Gary Musick crew who did a great job loading in today.

Justin, me, and...well...Reba. Sort of.

The Gary Musick crew at load-in. These guys are so great!

Big Machine crew

We also began in the studio tonight with ZOE. What a crazy week. Tonight went well but I was exhausted at the end. ZOE began recording together in 1997. It's been such a blessing to work with my ZOE friends for so long. I love those guys!

More on all of the above to come later this week...

NCL Majesty

I am waiting in the airport for my flight home after being on the NCL Majesty all week installing the new cast out there and getting the shows up and going.

The Majesty is NCL's smallest ship and has been sold so this is the final cast (the ship will officially close down in October). The stage is smaller and the theater is very different from other ships and what the performers are used to. This cast did a FANTASTIC job of adapting. They are going to blow people away out there.

Garris Wimmer and Kelly Evans and I were the production team this time and we really enjoyed working together! Everyone did a fantastic job! Here are some pictures and video of the week...


Blake Rowden, John-Michael Zuerlein, Andrew Loveridge and me. Blake and John-Michael are two of our singers. Andy is the Band Leader.

Lindsey and Francesca---two of our dancers in the cast finishing up on the Majesty

Matt Atwood and Matt Castano--two of our singers in the out going cast

One of the best treats of the week was that the cast of the Spirit came over to see us. (They were in port in Bermuda as well.) I was so glad to see old friends! Pictured here... Gemma, Kelly, Dani, Garris, Julio, Rusty and Kelly.

Kelly, Dani, Julio, Gemma and I catch up in the theater and hear stories about the Spirit.

One of the most beautiful beaches in Bermuda--Tabacco Bay

On the way to the beach we passed these church ruins...construction on this building began in the early 1800's but because of a church split and a later hurricane, it was never completed.

Here's the Majesty docked at St. George

This bag pipe player was standing on the front of this pirate ship playing the theme to "Titanic" (My Heart Will Go On). I thought it was really funny!

One night we walked over to St. Catherine's beach and built a fire and roasted hot dogs. It was so beautiful! Pictured here are Gary and Amanda Hipperson (two of our dancers) and Matt Atwood

Jasmin Richardson, Paige Salter and I...enjoying the bonfire. Paige and Jazz are two of our new singers on the Maj.

Carissa Bellando and I at the beach. Carissa is one of our new dancers on the Maj (she has worked for us several times before and is the dance captain for this cast)

Blake, Jasmin, Paige and John-Michael pose before one of the costume tech runs

Carissa, Topher, Amanda and Gary

Paige, Blake and Jasmin

Hairspray--costume run

Here are some video clips from one of the dress rehearsals. The old cast came and they were all so supportive!

We send our best wishes to the cast as they open their shows this week! Have a wonderful contract, guys! Meanwhile...I can't WAIT to be home to celebrate Sam's birthday and Maddie's lost tooth and all the things that mean so much.