There is a Reason People Come to Branson

 Our main reason for planning this trip 

was to see Joseph one more time.

It is absolutely my favorite show that 

Sight and Sound has produced for the 

large stage.

I truly miss Psalms of David which was 

run at the smaller theatre in Lancaster

but when it comes to the large stage shows.....

This one is at the top of my list.

That is saying something because I love Jonah too.

 Since both Mom and Chelsea work in concessions in the Lancaster theatre

they were quite interested in seeing how things are set up 

in Branson.

They loved it.

 I think they enjoyed seeing product they used to sell once again.

We also met a sweet lady named Peggy who does in Branson

what Mom does in Strasburg.

They really enjoyed talking to each other!

And then we found Goliath!

He used to be in "our" theatre lobby.

The kids look so small compared to him.

That is an accomplishment when it comes to 

Jonathan.  At 6'7" he is accustomed to being the tallest

in the room.

 So, where are we?

Sure looks like Strasburg....

but this is the front of the Branson theatre.

Jonathan, Chelsea and Mom would like one of these at home

because people are always asking them where the box office is.

Apparently it blends into its surroundings so well that people 

often miss it.

I'm not saying this because my whole family works for Sight and Sound

but it is such a wonderful place to visit.

The shows are quality.

The people are warm and friendly.

Coming from the "employee" side of it I can tell you that 

what you see is real.

The mission is to spread the gospel through telling the 

stories given to us in the Word of God.

Mom and Chelsea serve on the Prayer Team.

Those on the prayer team make themselves available to 

pray with anyone after the show

who wants to do so.

They have had some amazing experiences.

What a blessing!

The other part of the mission is to minister to the employees

in any way they possibly can.

It really happens.

We were talking about it on the long drive out here and we

had nothing but good things to say.

We are very blessed to be associated with such a caring

and talented organization.

Maybe one day I will join them.....

as a Sight and Sound employee.

Who knows.

Yesterday we went to Silver Dollar City.

It was beautiful!

 I am not a huge fan of theme parks because

I don't really ride the rides

but here there were many things to do besides rides.

There are many artisans with beautiful items to look at...

and even purchase if one has the spare cash to do so.

Or...you can do what we did and get a card

so that Warren knows where to get that perfect 

Christmas gift for Moi.

Oh, yes I did.

I have a weakness for pottery and they had some amazing pieces.

The decor was gorgeous.

I loved the simplicity of this gate.

My one and only ride, 

other than the train....

Tea cups!

Surprising?

Nope.....

 I could have ridden this one several times.

We were going to try to fit all four of us into one tea cup

but it was too snug.

We had to insist that Warren and Jonathan

"get their own tea cup!".

Tee-hee.

 The fearless ones rode the rocking ship.

I guess I might have liked it too.

They said it was relaxing.

 Hunger found us.

Jonathan had a turkey leg and beans

while Chelsea and I shared strawberries and ice cream.

Yum!

The reason Mom chose to come to Branson this week?

Sons of the San Juaquin.

They were playing in the theatre inside Silver Dollar City.

The old cowboy songs that I remember from my childhood.

Sweet.

The only other ride I was interested in was the train.

There we had a little adventure as two not so brilliant

train robbers "held us up".

We were in the perfect train car to see this performance.

We had eye contact with the "robbers" and it was 

hilarious!!

I won't try to replay it for you.

But if you get out here this is great.

Just be sure to get in car #2.

 Quite the characters!

I made everyone stand in front of the huge cornucopia 

for pictures before we left the park.

Then I made them all get out of the way so I could just get the 

decoration by itself.

Not sure who that guy is....

but he wasn't moving.

Our final stop while in Silver Dollar City was

the Taffy Store.

Grandma treated us.

Chelsea and Jonathan had so much fun

choosing from the many varieties.

We miss our Mikey but are thankful to know that he and Georgia are

keeping things in good shape at home.

We were glad that Mikey wasn't with us at the Dutton Show last 

night.  He would have gotten so many crazy ideas.

Mom and I went alone because everyone else needed 

a break from "shows".

We laughed so hard.

If you come out here I recommend you make time 

to see The Duttons.

They are a family ....a large family....

and they are great!!

The mother, Sheila, told a story that many of 

my church friends will appreciate.

She said when the children were small...

four of them, ages four and under....

a man at the grocery store turned to her and asked 

if she had ever heard of family planning.

She informed him that indeed she had heard of it 

and was halfway through her plan.

Ha!

Go Sheila!!

We were saddened to wake up yesterday to the news

that Andy Williams had passed away at his home here in Branson.

His theater is beautiful and I know he impacted this area 

for many years.

Praying for his family in this time of grief.

More to come....

at some point.

But, for now, I have to run and get ready for 

today's adventures.

Hope you have a blessed day.

It Took Two Days

It took two days and a boatload of gasoline

to get us to our vacation location.

Branson, Missouri.

Along the way I saw names of towns

to which I have shipped candles

and where my many friends live.

Bloggy or Etsy friends.

How I wished we could have stopped

and met up with these dear people.

But time was limited.

The weather has been great.

Other than a pretty serious wind storm

during the time I was driving it was 

smooth sailing.

Mom said, 

"Welcome to the midwest!"

When I was too young to remember we

lived in Nebraska.

She said it was often quite windy out there.

On our way around St. Louis

we accidentally took a detour which gave us a 

great view of the Arch.

 

I had a blast taking pictures of

this famous structure from our moving vehicle.

We are finding Branson to be a wonderful 

place to visit.

On our way into Branson on Sunday we met up 

with some dear friends who used to live in Lancaster.

We went to Lambert's.

"Home of the throwed rolls".

That is what they say.

And it is true.

All the way across the restaurant.

They toss HOT rolls. 

If crowds and  large amounts of food are not

your thing you won't like this place.

But, if you are interested in all you can eat 

for a great price you'll probably like it.

Bring cash or your check book..

They don't take credit cards.

We are saddened at the damage that is still very 

evident from the February tornado along The Strip

here in Branson.

It didn't occur to us right away that this was what 

we were seeing.

Mom noticed that her favorite grocery store was 

no longer open....

in fact it is demolished.

Still standing but the roof is gone and 

the cinder blocks just

crumbled.

As we drove in my first thought was that Branson 

must be in horrible disrepair but the contrast between

the stuff that wasn't harmed and the storm damage 

quickly became obvious.

What a shame.

So glad to know that it isn't because this area is failing.

Far from it.

We saw two shows yesterday.

Six.

This show is put on by six brothers who do everything 

with just their voices...or weird mouth noises that little 

kids get in trouble for making.

There are no words to express how awesome this is.

For me it was a little slow getting going but after a while

their personalities let loose and you are hooked.

So much fun...and so much talent.

We adored their tribute to their parents and

their honoring of our armed services.

Those who have served and who are serving now.

We also greatly enjoyed the return to their roots.

Hymns.

Wow...the harmonies.

Truly worth your time and money.

 Shoji.

Not my favorite.

The best thing I can say is 

that the father, daughter

and the band

are crazy talented.

There were many distractions for me.

I wouldn't go back....

although it would be tempting to see them 

when they come to Lancaster in February

because nearly everything I hated about the show had to do 

with the theater that they own.

I felt that if only I could get in touch with 

"my inner tacky" 

all would be well.

That sounds so harsh but it is the truth

for me.  Others seemed to have the time of their lives

so I may be willing to 

 give them a second chance outside of that venue.

Well, enough for now.

We have another full day planned.

I'll see when I get around to logging more of it

here for our memories and your "enjoyment?".

Road Trip

We are leaving town.

Some of us.

I will try to post as we go

but absolutely no promises.

 

Chelsea and I lost our way a bit today on some

back roads right here in our own countryside.

It was delightful.

We are so blessed to live here.

I saw the most adorable goats

who were all behaving admirably 

as we passed by.

I pointed it out to Chelsea

and she made the strong point that this

was just one moment in time.

Undoubtedly those goats have broken out 

or at least tried to break out of their 

safe home at some point.

We've had just enough exposure to those critters 

to know these things.

In my dreams we have a farmette 

and I have a couple of pygmy goats.

They are very well behaved...

in my dreams.

I couldn't help but think as we meandered through 

the countryside that tomorrow we would be 

in unfamiliar territory.

Seeing views that are taken for granted by someone else.

And I can't wait.

I'll bet we will see some very interesting things.

It might not be cows and goats.

There might even be a city or two to gawk at.

But we live in a wonderful country and I am 

excited to see more of it.

 

The photos in this post are revisited because I happen to love them.

I took them in Mom's back yard a couple of years ago.

 

What is happening in your world today?

We are prepping, packing, shopping, doing laundry, finishing final candle orders,

making bulletins for church and getting chicken food and two new tires on the van.

Oh!  And just a little blog post

in the mix.

See you later.

Hopefully with things of interest.

Hugs,

Becky

Note Card Party - September Edition

Vee, at A Haven for Vee, hosts this monthly note card party.

The object is to find four photos each month that we have used

on our blog that would make good note cards.

They do not have to be from the past month.

So, I am going to take advantage of this fact and share

some of my favorite photos from our last visit to Williamsburg, Virginia.

It was in February 2012.

We loved being there when it wasn't hot and crowded.

Perfect.

 

It was so hard to choose just four.

Thanks for visiting.

Guest Posting at CASTTEAM Blog....

Hi There.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

We did but now I feel as if I need a weekend

to recuperate from my weekend.

Crazy, I know.

I should be working right now, 

but I'll get there.

Just wanted to share

this link to a devotional I wrote for one of 

my Etsy teams.

Just click the photo to go there.

Now, I need to go and heat up my melter.

The first fund raiser order of the season is 

in and due back out the door on Thursday.

So....I'm off.

Have a wonderful day!!

Sometimes....

Sometimes you just want to disappear into the background and not be noticed.

Sometimes you enjoy being held safely in the hands of the one who feeds and cares for you.

Sometimes my readers get what they ask for (Vee)....the view across the street without the corn. 

Sometimes you just get something unexpected....the pretty basket and plant on Georgia's picnic table.

My brain may or may not be just this scrambled right now.

But if it is you'll never know because maybe this is just a clever 

way to show you a bunch of random photographs. 

LOL

Sometimes....that is how I roll.

Things are Changing Around Here

Well, time has come for the harvest.

It is not ours to harvest and yet we enjoy the process

every year.

Last evening we came home after dark and I noticed

two eyes glowing in the field across the street.

Then it occurred to Warren that the corn was gone.

While we were out for a few hours they cut down an 

entire field of corn.

I love it!

Now we have an entirely different view than we had 

just yesterday.



 

 

I noticed that while the corn grew some sort of 

purple flowers also grew against the stand of trees 

across the way.

Now that the corn is not blocking the view 

I get to enjoy the purple in front of the trees.

Mom's decorative grass is showing off.

I loved the texture against the 

rough wood of the bluebird box.



 

 

Not that the bluebirds used this box...

no they chose a mailbox instead.

You should have heard the conversations about that

among the neighbors. 

Yikes.

Georgia even called the post office and made arrangements 

for them to leave the momma and babies alone.

Small towns.

You have to love them!

The photos seen above were taken over the corn just hours

before it was chopped up into tiny pieces to 

feed animals over the winter to come.

Who knew it was growing on such borrowed time?

Yep, things are a'changing.

The nights are cool...

the mornings, nippy.

It is time to cut back the Hosta and maybe find 

a hay bale or three.

Definitely need to get our annual pumpkins pretty soon.

Ahhh....

I love Fall.

How about you?