Jeff and Sheri Easter June 2024

Hey Friends

This is Odie checking from the beach cottage. Thanks for stopping by to visit with me. 

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad

First things first, today is my parent's anniversary! I want to wish Mom and Dad a Happy Anniversary!

Congrats on making it to number 39! I love you both so much! I pray this is your best year yet!

Jeff and Sheri Easter June 2024

Today, I am here to tell you about some fun from the first Friday of June. Jeff and Sheri Easter were scheduled to be in Hillsboro, Ohio.

I heard about this concert in March and quickly told my friends, the Stansells. They are big fans of Jeff and Sheri Easter’s music, too, and they immediately planned to attend the concert. 

The Stansells invited me to tag along with them if my schedule allowed. I was able to work my trip to visit my family in Hillsboro into that week. I met up with my dear friends for dinner and the concert and then rode back to Waynesville with them. It worked out great for me! 

Dinner consisted of another trip to Ponderosa! Yes, the Hillsboro Ponderosa is good enough to have twice in one week. Yet, I failed again to snap any food pictures!

After dinner, we headed to the Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene. We wanted to get there early enough to get a good seat. This was the second concert that the Stansells and I had attended at this church.

The doors opened at 5 p.m. We paid the admission fee and made our way into the sanctuary. We found great seats and settled in to wait for the 6 p.m. start time.

Here is a picture of me, Jeff Easter, Stephanie and Timmy Stansell.

 

This is Timmy and me, ready for the concert to start.

The setup. Before the concert, a Gaither Jeff and Sheri Easter video was playing. It was neat to look back on some of their older material that I had not heard in a long time!

Me, Stephanie, Timmy and Rick. These are my awesome cousin friends, and it is always fun spending time with them!

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Jeff and Sheri Easter.

The amazingly talented Sheri Easter.

Jack Carter now plays drums and sings background vocals. Fun fact: Jack's parents met when they worked for Jeff and Sheri years ago.

I enjoy Jeff's singing. He is one of the most underrated singers in southern gospel.

Sheri was singing from the heart that night. It was special!

The whole gang.

Jeff 

Sheri read us an excerpt from one of her devotionals.

This year, Tanner Duckworth is a new addition to the Jeff and Sheri Easter full time lineup.

Here is another fun tidbit of info for you. Jeff and Sheri celebrated 39 years of marriage this month. They were married several days before my Mom and Dad in June 1985.

Tanner is a guitar-picking machine. You can look him up on YouTube to hear some of his incredible picking.

Timmy, Me and Stephanie were able to grab a quick picture with both Jeff and Sheri Easter.

Soon, it was time for the night to end. I was so glad to be in attendance at this wonderful concert. It was a fantastic night of music, singing and fellowship with friends.

Thanks to the Nazarene Church for hosting the evening! Thank you to Jeff and Sheri Easter, Tanner Duckworth and Jack Carter for the awesome music and singing! We thoroughly enjoyed being in service with you! 

I want to thank the Stansells for allowing me to tag along with them! It was fun making more memories with my dear cousin friends! I love you all so much! 

That wraps up this concert recap. See you next time.

Odie

Odie's Weekend Dispatch 6/10

Hey Friends, 

This is Odie here with a recap of my weekend in Ohio. It was good to spend some time last week with the Morgan side of my family. I will share more pictures later, but today, I have a few for you.

Let us start the weekend on Thursday. I was able to spend some more bonding time with my cousin's kids. They make me so happy!

Jackson Lee Daniels is 4.

 

Karleigh Jo Daniels is 2.

This is Kolby Lee Yeager. He will be 6 weeks tomorrow.

 Friday was my final day with my Hillsboro family. Gran and I enjoyed spending a big part of the day together. Papaw was able to join us for a little bit. Soon, it was time to say farewell.

I love my grandparents! Spending time with Gran and Papaw is always excellent, and I hope to see them again soon!

Friday evening had been part of my loose plans since March. Jeff and Sheri Easter were scheduled to be in Hillsboro. My dear friends Rick, Stephanie and Timmy Stansell were going. They invited me to join them for a night of fun. I worked my schedule to meet them and ride back to Waynesville after the concert.

We had a wonderful night together. First, we visited the Ponderosa in Hillsboro. It was a great meal! Then, it was off to the church for a fabulous night of music and fellowship.

 

All of our crew have been long-time fans of Jeff and Sheri Easter. We were anticipating a fabulous night, and we were not disappointed at all!

Saturday was my day to get settled after a few days away from home. It is always great to come home to the beach cottage. I did not take any pictures to share on Saturday.

Sunday was dedicated to both services at DRPC. Our pastor preached powerful messages in both the morning and night services. I did have time to get a good nap in between. A nap always makes a Sunday much better! Below are my pictures from church on Sunday.

That wraps up a terrific Ohio weekend. I hope you had a good weekend as well! Thanks for stopping by to visit with me. Come back tomorrow to see us again.

Odie

Coming Wednesday

Praise Report And Karen Peck And New River May 2024

 Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in from Ohio. It is excellent to see you here today! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are doing well. I am doing great. I do have a praise report this week! God has been great to me! I am blessed!

My long time friends know that I have had eye issues for a long time. Here is a quick synopsis for any new readers. Since 2006, we have been keeping an eye on things. My optic nerves are misshapen, and I have been classified as a glaucoma suspect. This is all probably a result of Cerebral Palsy.

Ten years ago, I suffered nine days of blindness in my left eye. God gave me a miracle. He gave me my vision back gradually. I had no promise of its return or the amount that it could come back. My vision is great today! I do still wear glasses. I can tell the left eye is a little worse. I am so thankful for my vision!

I have been seeing my current eye doctor for ten years, and she has been fantastic. She is very concerned for me, yet she cheers me on in every victory. Doctor Miller has told me my case is a miracle.

Wednesday afternoon, I had a regular checkup at the eye doctor. I had to go through a whole series of tests to check on everything. All the reports were excellent. Dr. Miller said I am a good, boring patient. She was thrilled that everything is staying the same.

Karen Peck And New River May 2024

Dad told you Thursday about our detour earlier this week. I was thrilled to see our precious family members again. They have been faithful in praying for us and checking on us.

I have missed George and Dianne Boggs. They are so sweet! It was fun to surprise them. They have often invited us to meetings, but it had never worked out for us to go. This is a picture I snapped before service.

A highlight of the night for me was seeing and hearing Karen Peck and New River sing. I knew it would be wonderful.

Karen

It was great to see my KPNR buddies one more time this year. This date was not really on my radar. I had seen that Ohio was on the schedule for the weekend, but I knew it was farther from home. 

Susan

Grant

My interest peeked a lot when Dad mentioned Cousin George's invitation text to us. I was not going to turn down a chance to be in service with Karen, Susan, Grant, Matt and Kari. I was extra happy Monday when he decided to take a small detour home from Kentucky.

Matt

From the beginning note to The God I Serve to the ending notes of the night of I Wanna Know How It Feels. Their parts of the service were so good.

Kari

Many people in the crowd that night were touched and helped. The lyrics to many of my favorite KPNR songs encouraged me, too!

I left there with KPNR songs stuck in my head for days. That is not a bad thing at all! They have many great songs in their catalog. I have been listening to Karen since her days with the Nelons. I think I was 8 or 9 when I was gifted my first New River project. Their music has been part of my life's soundtrack for a long time!

Once the service finished, it was time to head home. First, I stopped by the KPNR product table to see Karen for a moment.

Then, it was time to bid our cousins farewell. Hopefully, we will see them again soon! Thanks to George and Dianne for inviting us to be in service with you. Thank you for your hospitality and friendship! We love you!

See you all next time. I hope you enjoyed my praise report and the latest KPNR sighting.

Odie

Karen Peck and New River and Triumphant Quartet April 2024

Hey Friends,

Odie is reporting today. Thanks for checking in for this Saturday! I am happy to have my faithful readers, and welcome to any new readers!

Last Friday was a terrific evening. The weather was very cool, windy and spitting rain much of the day, but the yucky weather did not stop us from having some fun. My cousins Lisa Isaacs and Stephanie Stansell picked me up around 4 in the afternoon. We were ready for a girl's night out. All three of us were finally able to coordinate our schedules.

The first item of business for us was food. We headed to one of our local Skyline Chili restaurants. We knew we could get a delicious meal and be on our way to the main event promptly. Skyline did not disappoint!

Local news has been abuzz lately. Skylines are changing from Pepsi products to Coke. Mountain Dew just pairs perfectly with a Skyline meal! Lots of people are sad about this drink change. The changeover was scheduled to start on April 1st. The Centerville location on Main Street still had the Dew last week! It sure made me happy!

Then, it was time to point Lisa's car toward First Baptist of Kettering. Strictly Gospel Concerts was hosting a concert to celebrate 20 years of bringing Southern Gospel Music to the Miami Valley.

We were excited to attend this concert featuring Karen Peck and New River and Triumphant Quartet! Doors opened at 6. We quickly entered the sanctuary. The promoter helped us find seats that would accommodate my chair.

KPNR was brought on stage shortly after 7PM.

We were blessed with wonderful singing from the beginning to the end of their set. 

Matt Gooch jamming out.

Grant Gibson recently celebrated his 6th anniversary with the group! He is a highly talented vocalist.

I was thrilled to see my buddies of KPNR one more time!

The evening featured both old and new favorites from the group. I have too many favorites to hear them all in one night, but they hit the highlights of their hits!

You know it is time for the song Dance when Susan breaks out her pink tambourine. 

I am always happy to hear them live in concert. I also had good friends to enjoy the night with me. It was great to have this concert close to home.

Karen Peck Gooch.

Kari Faith Gooch Balcoum.

Karen, her husband Ricky Gooch, and her sister Susan Peck Jackson started New River 33 years ago. They are still going strong!

KPNR are industry and fan favorites. 

Then, It was time for the Triumphant Quartet to take the stage. They have been voted the favorite male quartet and group of the year many times by Singing News subscribers,

David Sutton is their tenor singer.

We heard many of the Triuphant hits, and the songs that they have introduced to Southern Gospel and made them their hits.

Sean Barber, the lead singer, joined the group last year. This was my first time hearing him. He replaced Scotty Inman. Sean was a great addition to the group.

Triumphant will continue to be a fan favorite! I will go see them again!

Clayton Inman and Eric Bennnett have steadily held their baritone and bass parts for all of Triumphant's history!

The addition of Sean gave them a piano player. He played for several songs of the night.

On one song, Eric Bennette came down and greeted the crowd.

It is impossible to have a Triumphant concert without Clayton singing Old White Flag. It is always a crowd favorite and gets the crowd on their feet. It was a happy note to end the night on.

After the concert, I got the chance to say hooty hoo to the KPNR gang. I put on my Night Owl Diaries hoodie. I was glad to be repping the KPNR Owl Nation. It was Friday night, which meant there was a Night Owl Diaries episode live from the road later that night.

It was good to see my buddy Matt again. 

Kari and Grant were busy working the table I did not get pictures with them. Susan wanted to get a picture with me. 

We got a group selfie with Karen to remember our fantastic girl's night out.

Then we headed to visit the guys from Triumphant. I caught a break in the crowd. I added selfies with the guys to my photo collection. They were so friendly to me!

David Sutton and Odie.

Sean Barber and Odie.

Eric Bennette and Odie.

Clayton Inman and Odie.

Here is another picture with Stephanie and Lisa. 

We made it back home, and it was time to say bye until next time. We gained many great memories on the girl's night out. I am so glad we go to spend a wonderful evening together! They are both not only my cousins but also my dear friends! I am thankful to have them in my life!

I purchased a bag of freshly roasted coffee from Matthew Gooch at the concert. I wish all of you could smell this goodness!

Saturday morning, I was ready for a good cup of coffee. You can check out Solid Ground Coffee online by clicking here.

That wraps up this concert recap. We are already on the lookout for the next adventure. Stay tuned, we will give you a full report when it happens.

Friends, I will see you next week.

Odie