Gunbarrels Tour + Seattle

ah, the end of touring. josh & heron & i have had grand adventures, but currently we are sighing with relief to be home. long have tasks remained unfinished here in waxhaw; we've been here no more than 3 days at a time over the past 6 weeks. it's taken this past week to catch up on sleep, laundry, and work. and now, finally some moments to post some words and pictures from our recent northwest trip!

: our happy family in vancouver :

what a gift josh's canada gigs have been! for the past two years josh & i have been flown out to perform at trinity western university's annual "spirit of christmas" event, which falls around thanksgiving every year. so this year, just as last year, we were able to spend thanksgiving (& celebrate an early christmas) with our seattle family & friends. every year the indiana gang joins together for thanksgiving dinner, & what a treat it is to join them! this year the meal was hosted at josh's parents' house, attended by gala & zack (ezra & solomon), alli & josh, teal & c.c., my brother jeff & cris (lucas & wren), matt & susan ellenwood (miles & 2-week-old ari), drew & sara billups, sara's parents tom & sue, & lori billups.

: the garrels family, thanksgiving day :

: my brother jeff & heron :

: josh and his sister alli :

: my friend sara :

the day after thanksgiving we drove up to canada with mike & marti for 3 josh garrels/trace bundy shows. over the past few years we have looked forward to our annual reunions/tours with our dear friends trace & becca bundy. such a fantastic foursome are we that we have named ourselves THE GUNBARRELS (bundy + garrels, see?). we had an awesome time together. also, so wonderful to have concentrated time with josh's parents, as much of the rest of our stay with them marti was busy busy busy with teaching. i loved having marti's help at the merch table, too!

: the gunbarrels :

: heron loved trace & becca :

: mom and dad garrels :

becca & trace have a similar lifestyle to us, so traveling with us this time, now with a baby, gave them insight into what a baby brings to touring. mostly, it's tons of fun. challenging, too, though, as this trip proved--heron was denied entrance to a venue for the first time (at backstage lounge in vancouver, bc). marti took over the merch table, & we all took turns walking around the granville island mist for several hours with heron while josh & trace went on with the show. she joined mike & marti on a date, & i moved seats around in the van to create a floor space play area for her! another challenge conquered. i think she has a pretty sweet life for such a youngster. she's already been to 13 states & canada!

during said misty granville island evening walks, i took this shot of josh. it's called "urban warrior two" (see the original "urban warrior" right here!). as many of you know, josh loves all things epic, & i think this picture captures that sentiment...



back in seattle, trace & josh played a final show together at an incredible venue: the triple door! this was an awesome experience, & it was a sold-out show!

what fun to have our family & closest friends at this show! it's the best venue i've ever been to, & josh & trace both played wonderfully. they even played together for an encore. here they are playing "o come, o come, emmanuel":