The Tale of The End of Branson, Spiders, Brad, Surprises, Vacations, and Guns...

Dad on stage one of the last nights...

This will not be a long post… But I just wanted to give you all a quick update on the last couple weeks of our Branson run! The shows all went great. I can’t even tell you how many friends came into the show to support- and I definitely can’t tell you how much that meant to me! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

Yes, a couple of strange things happened in our last weeks there… One thing was a spider on stage. And I am not just talking about a small spider wandering around the back of the stage. I was sitting down to sing, and I saw a very big spider sauntering past my chair! It was about a silver dollar size. But then I lost track of it! I had no idea where it had gone. Some of the other guys in the band had seen it too and were trying to squish it, but no one was successful. I have to say it is a little weird and distracting to be singing- and not letting on to the audience about what is happening, when you know the spider could be anywhere and possibly crawling on you. And in closing on that topic- the spider is still on the loose…

Pumpkin Patch adventure with some
girlfriends on the day of my last show.

The last week of shows were all a bit wild. We kind of just did whatever we wanted. Even I threw a few changes at the band while we were on stage. And my Dad was throwing curve balls constantly. We were really having a great time out there! Just enjoying all of it! I have included some clips of my part of the show in this blog… One is a clip of my song, “Silk Flowers” that Gabe and I wrote (which is quickly becoming a favorite song for everyone I know!). Another clip is of the band and I doing our longer- more fun, version of “Give Me One Reason”. And the last clip is of me singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (at the beginning of the video I mention the importance of that song to me). Just thought I might as well share a few show clips with you guys! All the clips are at the end of this post…

The last show was a bit tough; it was sad to close! But it was a fun run, and we all had a great time! I wish all of you could have been there for the last few shows when we were really just doing whatever we wanted- in my opinion, those are always some of the best shows! On our closing night, we all got together at my Dad’s house to celebrate. It was a good time! A few drinks, a couple pizzas, and a lot of laughs!

Heather and I.

The day after we closed, Dad, Mom, my friend Stephani, and myself got in the car and drove down the road about an hour and a half to Downstream Casino. (Which for those of you who keep up with my blog- you will be hearing more about that place very soon, because we are working there this month! But this time we were there for a different cause…) Our friend Brad Garrett was working there that night! He was actually doing a benefit for Joplin. After a lovely meal, we watched Brad’s show, and he was amazing as always! He is one very funny man! And after the show we went back to the steakhouse to have a late dinner with Brad and his lady. It was so much fun to get the chance to catch up a bit! It was a great night! Then Dad, Mom, Stephani, and I all drove back to Branson the next morning. It was a perfect way for us to celebrate our closing in Branson!

Michael shooting.

However, I had a few other tricks up my sleeve. I had already planned a few different ways to celebrate closing in Branson. Aside from seeing Brad, I also went on a mini vacation of surprising my cousin Heather in Texas, and making my way out to California for a couple days too… I needed to see that ocean again! All of the trips went better than could be imagined, and I got back to Missouri just in time to see our Cardinals win the World Series! And I got a surprise when I got home, I got to go out with some friends- The Wood's and Michael and shoot guns for the first time! Yes, it was my first time ever shooting a gun, and I loved it! My how things have changed since I moved from California to Missouri! It was amazing! Thank you so much again to The Wood's! So yeah... Pretty awesome couple of weeks! But don’t worry; I will have some fresh tour blogs coming up in the next couple of weeks!