The Last Post for the Coral Ambassador's 2008 Blog.

This years tour to California was a great ministry to the people, and a blessing to the choir as well. There are many leaving, seniors, choir parents, and choir families (the Tatums). But despite all the sadness that this tour ended with, this tour was an amazing trip that we will remember for the rest of our lives. When you travel and live so closely with 48 people, you grow a bond that is unbreakable by distance or time. I hope that this blog will stay active, as a memory of the tour.

personal note:

This is the first time the blog has ever been done by members of the choir, it was an interesting experience trying to fit in practice and concerts while also trying to update the blog. But, despite many obstacles, the blog was written, pictures were uploaded, and concerts were performed. 

This is Kyle Curran, and personally, I can't wait until next years tour, and I hope I'll be able to help with the blog then too.

This Blog was a Group effort by three members of the Coral Ambassadors.

Joshua Sorensen - genuis and picture uploader

Buddy Chamberlin - another genuis, and picture uploader

Kyle Curran - not quite a genuis, but blog writer, creator, and picture uploader.

(with help from Katie Meyers and Mr Q.)  

Slideshow of Pictures from Tour!

Slideshow created by: Katie Meyers

Carmel Pictures!

The Happy Ending of Coral Ambassador's 2008 Choir Tour.

The Banquet went beautifully: compliments, appreciation, stories, and tears were shared, skits were enjoyed, and the senior song was a big hit.  After the Senior Banquet, we went out to the bus and grabbed our luggage, (which our bus driver (Reggie Jones) unloaded for us!) and brought it to our hotel rooms. The following morning (the last morning of this tour) we woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, loaded up the bus, and headed to Carmel. 

Carmel is a beautiful little beach town, filled with small tourist shops, cute cafes, and many antique stores. Once we arrived at Carmel, we walked down to the beach and had our devotions right on the beach. During this unique devotion time, we sang all acapella, and worshiped God with our voices right there on the beach. After the devotions, we walked down to the beach for a few pictures. We were then given a time limit and sent off to explore the town. After our little Carmel adventure, we headed for Covenant Village, Turlock, California.  Upon arrival we brought out the costumes and performed "Celebrate Life" for the last time on this tour. Almost immediately after finishing the concert we headed for San Fransisco Airport.

The Senior Banquet is about to start!

As of right now, I'm sitting in the meeting room we have reserved for a special banquet dedicated to the seniors. This banquet is a longtime Coral Ambassador Tour tradition, some of the things we do during this lovely banquet include: Skits (short brilliant plays planned by chaperones and students alike.), Recognition (a time where we honor the seniors and what they mean to all of us), and special time of senior skits and songs. 

Once the banquet is finished, we will say our goodnights and then head off to bed, most will be tired, some will be crying, and all of the seniors will be missed.

About to do a concert in Santa Barbara.

Yet another rushed post, this time its because the concert is actually in 20 minutes, but I finally got an internet connection! But the summary of what has been going on is this:

Yesterday morning we left Trinity Presbyterian, and headed towards Murray Family Farms, where we stopped and picked fresh-off-the-tree-fruit and ate it, after some eating and shopping, we headed for Frazier Mountain High School, where we quickly set up the sound area, the props, and the changing rooms. Then we practiced and jumped in the bus (Still The Amazing Mr. Reggie Jones) for a short ride up the mountain to the pastors house for a great meal prepared for us by the pastors family and friends. After finishing dinner, it was back to FMHS for the concert!

After finishing the concert, cleaning everything up, and loading the bus, we all jumped on the bus for the excursion to the dorms at Masters College, where we spent the night. In the morning, we had some quick showers, a great breakfast, and then started the walk to Placerita Baptist Church.

Once we arrived at PBC, we warmed up and sang through a few of our songs so that the worship leader could pick out the ones he wanted us to sing. We sang for both services and then walked a little ways to the sunday school classes. After a great lesson (plus bagels and coffee) in the sunday school class, we walked back to the dorms to pack up and head for El Montecito Presbyterian Church. We arrived around 3:30-4:00 and started the unloading. We practiced for a while and then ate an amazing dinner. Almost immediately after dinner, we began to get dressed for the concert (or in my case write this post), once the choir was dressed and ready, the concert began, and according to my host family, was a "First Class Performance" 

We are currently in Santa Barbara, California!

I'm sitting off to the side during rehearsal to write and upload this, but what I've done with the pictures is to just upload as many as I can to show you how the choir is doing. They may not be in the correct order.... but I thought you might like to see some of the choir.

(also, you may be confused as to the locations of many of the pictures, thats probably because I haven't updates the blog in a few days, hopefully I will be able to tell you about the last few days later tonight.)

Some Pictures from the previous few days!

Our apologies on the late pictures, some of the guys in charge had low batteries and minimal internet connections.

A Water Park before a Concert!

Today was a beautiful day in Clovis, California. The sun was bright, the breeze was cool, and the water was cold. We were given an extra hour this morning to get to the church, so when everyone arrived at 9:00 we started praise and worship, and then devotions. Soon after that we were back on the road headed towards Wild Water Adventure Park. Story time ensued soon after we started driving, and after telling and hearing many stories, the bus quieted down, and we had a mostly quiet ride the rest of the way. Upon arrival at the water park, we were given instructions and tickets, then led to a private pavilion located on a small peninsula. After talking about meeting times and food, we went our separate ways to the rides we each thought looked best. It was a great day, the entire choir seemed to enjoy the water park, and not many of us got sun-burned. (Thank the Lord for Chaperones and sunscreen) We departed from the water park around 3:00, and headed to Trinity Presbyterian Church, were we would be holding that nights concert. After a short practice, a wonderful dinner, and a wardrobe change, we finished our day with a concert that hopefully made an impact. 

Today we visited the stunning Yosemite National Park.

This morning we met at the church around 8:00, had our praise & worship and then devotions. After that we then proceeded to pack up the bus and leave for Yosemite National Park. The ride was long but fun, we had the tossing (chucking) of candy around, the singing of old pop songs, and the wonderful story time. We were forewarned that when we went through the mountain tunnel that leads to YNP, what we would see when we came out on the other side would astound us flat-landers (Floridians)... even with that warning, what we saw still blew us away. (hopefully we will be uploading pictures of what we saw later tonight or maybe early tomorrow.) After seeing the waterfalls and mountains from far away we got back into the bus and headed towards the closest waterfall. Once out of the bus, we ate lunch together at picnic tables under the mountains, and then headed for the trails that lead to the waterfall. We took some pictures and then hurried back to the bus to stay on schedule. After re-loading the bus, we headed towards a beautiful hotel that we walked through and around. Then, it was off to the next waterfall... this one was particularly gorgeous, and we were able to scale a less steep part of the mountain to get right underneath it... which then soaked us. Once the entire choir (mostly wet) was back on the bus, we headed towards Trinity Presbyterian Church, upon arrival we were greeted by the patient host families, which then welcomed us into their homes.