The Coast of Nova Scotia

Blowing bubbles

I think Nova Scotia might be an extension of heaven

The Children sang with the Canadian tenors

as well as Nikki Ronofsky

One x One pictures

The kids sang with Nikki Ronofsky, an upcoming Canadian singer




The kids on the red carpet!




Matt Damon with the kids at our One by One Event

One X One

The children were asked to sing at a one by one event in Toronto on Monday.I think because we didn't fly there, I didn't really realize how fun and exciting the one by one event was going to be. But, it was fun:) We arrive in Toronto on Sunday afternoon, after getting to go to church. Did I mention I never hardly ever get to actually attend church anymore? Well, during church that day, the Lord breathed some new life into me, so I was feeling refreshed, and better, ready for the event. We arrived at the hotel and immediatly had lunch at the hotel's nicest restaurant. We stayed at the Fairmont, the nicest hotel in the city. All of it was paid for by one by one of course, and so as we arrived and got settled in, I knew it was going to be nice. During lunch, Daddy Ray, the founder of the organization and Julia, another gal who works with the organization met us there. Auntie Amanda and I saw one of the actors from Lost, and heard news that Brad Pitt had been staying in that hotel the night before. The one by one event was part of the Toronto film festival, so there were some celebrities there. After lunch, we took the kids swimming, something they LOVE to do, more then just about anything so it was a nice break for them before rehearsal at 5. We had a one year celebration, yes we have been touring for a year, which is crazy to me. It's amazing that the Lord has brought us this far! The kids then reheased from 5-6:30 in a ballroom where Etta James, Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis had all performed. They also filmed scenes from "Step Up" in that room.Then we had dinner. We put the kids to bed and slept, knowing it was going to be a long day tommorrow!






Peformance Day!
My alarm went off too early, as breakfast was at 8, 6:45 am came too early. I got the girls up, and we had breakfast in a different restaurant. We drove to the venue, and waited around for an hour or so before starting the rehearsal. The children first rehearsed with Nikki Ronofsky, a 14 year old prodogy! She's amazing! I suspected she might not be that great, but in fact, she had quite a phenomonal voice. The children sang two songs with her. The Canadian tenors then came in to rehearse the song they were singing with the kids "Always There." They are a quartet of singers, and are also amazing, so it was pretty fun to be able to sit there and listen to them rehearse, it was beautiful. After rehearsal, we got to go back to the hotel for a couple hours, and the kids napped while we ironed thier costumes, so they were all nice for the performance. The children arrived back at the venue at 4:30 and walked the red carpet once. We then sat in a hot room for about an hour and a half and the poor children were sweating! But then, they were going to walk the carpet again, and this time we were all invited to walk it. So, we lined up and went outside, and just as we were about to go, Matt Damon pulled up in an Escalade. We got to walk behind him! :) We then went back and again, waited, of course. The children walked the red carpet for the third time, and then it was almost time to perform. By now, it was about 7pm... yes long day
The children sang two songs of thier own during the dinner. Which was going at about 2500 a seat. Barb, Jenny and I went back stage and were standing there and then Matt Damon came and stood right next to us. Barb decided to be brave and asked him a question, and we had a conversation wtih him for about 10 minutes! Well, she talked, I said yes, mhmmm and yeah, which i count as communicating!:) Anyways, afterwards, I think I was just proud of myself for being able to act normal around the guy, and he was nice!
After that we waited around for another 3 1/2 hours before the children sang with Nikki and the Canadian tenors. While waiting, I saw one of the actors from Grey's Anatomy. We got tickets to watch the kids perform during the actual performance. Nikki blew everyone away, and the kids were so cute singing I got the music in me, with her! The Canadian tenors also sang one song with the kids, and did a good job. By the time we got out of there, it was about 11:30 and we were exhausted, but everything went well, without a glitch. :)

Peggy's Cove

Nova Scotia's Beauty!
One beautiful morning, we decided to skip school for the morning and took the kids to Peggy's Cove, near Halifax Nova Scotia. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! The rocks come over the ocean, and there is a picturesque little town for touring. We spent the morning taking pictures and the kids played on the rocks, and we were amazed at the beauty! There was an old woman playing an accordian and as she sang "you are my sunshine," the children chimed in. It's moments like that when I know I won't forget tour. Here are some pictures!

Busy Busy Busy!

We are currently in Bangor, Maine. We are beginning to put more rehearsals into our schedule to help the kids prepare for the one by one event coming up in a couple weeks. Matt Damon will be hosting the event, and "his buddy Ben"(Affleck) is supposed to be there as well!They will be singing with the Canadian tenors a song called "With you" as well as potentially will be singing a couple songs with a 14 year old Canadian artist who is up and coming, no, I can't remember her name right now, but she's not famous:) as well as singing a small set of songs. I'm excited for it, they'll be singing in Toronto. Stacey, our music supervisor is also begining the training for the kids to prepare for thier big series of performances at the end of our tour in Baltimore, Maryland. This will be a busy schedule with the kids singing with Sandy Patty every night for a dinner theater. So, the kids are busy busy busy with rehearals, and we are trying to keep up with school as well, so they are ready to take tests when they get home!

My host auntie hid a Jewish girl during the Holocost

The other day, I spent the night at a lady's home. She was an elderly gal, in her 80s. When sitting in the living room, I noticed that she had a certificate on her wall that said "Certificate of honor." I asked her what it was, and she began telling me a fascinating story. She was originally from Amsterdam and as a child, her family hid a jewish girl during the Holocost. They hid the girl for 7 years, and she had many interesting stories to tell me about her experiences during the war. Some of the ones that were of note were, that her neighbors one day were forced by the Nazis to leave for a concentration camp on a train (they were Jews). All of them were on the train, but one of the guys managed to jump off the train and escape. Pretty soon the Nazis realized he was missing, stopped the train, and sent soldiers out to find him. Miraculously, he managed to walk back and escaped into Holland, to freedom. She also told me a story of how all the people had to have ID badges. The Jewish badges had a "J" printed on them, so the Nazis knew that they were Jews. My host auntie's mom managed to switch out her picture for the Jewish girls' picture in the badge. So that Jewish girl's identity became hers. They had to teach her her name, birthday age, and all different details, because she said that the Nazis used to question people in depth, and she had to be ready for any and every question. She also told me how one day, she remembers the soldiers coming in and basically tearing thier house apart looking for Jewish papers, but for some miraculous reason, never checked in her dad's desk, where they were. They tore the house apart, and never found them. If they had, they could have been killed.
It's interesting to me, as I meet so many people, day in and day out. This woman had an amazing story to tell.