Riverboat

After our tour of the Arch, we took a river boat ride on the Mississippe River. The boat was called the Tom Sawyer. The Mississippi River is a huge and fast moving river.

The Arch

On Thursday 22nd May, we took a tour of the St. Louis Arch. It was a real rainy day, but at least it was clear and not foggy.














Here we are waiting to go up to the top of the arch.









Hannah in the very small car going up to the top.


















Here we are at the top!

Arriving in St. Louis again

Because we left Thompsonville late, we did not have time to stop for lunch. So by the time we got to St. Louis, the team was very ready to eat tea.

We found a place called Bandana BBQ. Everyone seemed to really enjoyed their tea.

We had some neat conversations with the waitress there. We sang to her and she gave everyone a bandana for a souvenier.

Ben decided to try his hand at being as cowboy!

Thompsonville to St. Louis

Thought you might like to see some of the garden outside Dad and Mum Sauvageot's house.

The team had about three days to rest up and practice for convention. They also got to do a little shopping and play some basketball.

They got to experience Taco Bell, Sonic and American hot dog!















The boys seem to be enjoying themselves! (even in the car).

On Wednesday, a friend of Steve's from school (who he had not seen in over 20 years) came to see us for the morning. Randy and his wife Lisa spent the morning remembering things that happened in Arkansas when Steve and Randy were in their teens. Randy sings for the Blackwood Brother's Quartet. The kids heard some funny stories about Steve's growing up. We ended up leaving a little late and had to rush to our next appointment.

We were invited to share at a little ACE school in Willisville on the way to St. Louis. They had made a slice in the shape of America that said, "Welcome Aussie Friends to the USA".

Sunday 18th May 2008

We all had the privilege of sharing with the good folks at Unity Freewill Baptist Church. Bro. and sister Carney were gracious enough to have us come and share. We started the introduction with singing, "G'day, g'day". The whole group sang "Open Our Eyes, Lord". Hannah played her clarinet

John Furnivall did a poem about David and Goliath


Steve shared about the work in Hervey Bay. The Carney's and their church were the first to support our work in Austalia. They also came out about 1998 to share with our staff and pick up their son Rusty who had been with us for 6 months.
We had a great quartet sing "It is Well".

Neil and Michelle got special recognition for the wedding anniversary.


All the team ended up joining the choir!

After the morning service, they had a lovely lunch for all to share. The team got to try some real southern dishes and experience some southern hospitality and fellowship.

We also had the opportunity to share in the evening service. We shared the one act play, ensemble, and the quartet sang again.

After church, we congregated at Grans (Bro. Carney's mother) for supper. There is a lot of fun at Grans house.

Aussies are arriving!

On Friday 16th of May, The Aussie team from Hervey Bay Christian Academy were supposed to arrive in St. Louis. But.......somehow they got delayed in New Zealand and did not arrive in time to make their connection in San Francisco. Much to their disappointment, they could not make it to St. Louis until Saturday and would miss the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game!

Well, someone had to make the game so. . . .the Sauvageot family suffered through and watched a very exciting game. We had to rush out of the ball park in the 10th inning to make it to the airport in time. The Cardinals won in the 1oth inning with a walk off home run.

We rushed to the airport to make it in time to pick up our aussie friends. Steve and dad waited by the cars parked on the curbside while the rest of us went in to greet the team. Well. . . .the plane was an hour late. They finally arrived a bit weary and worn. It was really great to see some familiar faces and hear some great talking.

We had about an hour and half to reach Thompsonville, Illinois. We stopped at the church for a quick practice. Here we got a picture of the weary team! They were all excited about finally being in the USA>

Mother's Day Celebrations

On Saturday before Mother's Day, Steve took us all to Joe's Crab Shack. It was quite an experience. Ben has been calling it the Crab Shock. He really comes up with some funny sayings.
Ben really liked this fire hydrant. It reminded him of Australia with the colour! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi,oi!

On Sunday, we had the privilege of sharing at a church in Hampton, Virginia. There was another Australian missionary there as well. He is from Mackay and it was great to hear the Aussie accent once again!!!! He shared during Sunday School and our family shared during the Morning Worship Service. After church, we all went to a Chinese buffet for lunch. Then we hit the road toward Steve's dad and mum's house. We traveled until about 10pm. The next day, we traveled until evening and finally made it back to Illinois once again. We have a few days to rest up before all the Aussie Gang arrives.

More Washington D.C.

We went to the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. When you look out of the memorial, you see the Washington Memorial, the Capitol Building, and the reflection pool.
Here we are by the Lincoln Memorial.















The kids thought this zebra crossing was interesting in that they tell you how many seconds you have to cross the street!

Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery was really interesting. It was made out of the front lawn of General Lee's home (pictured left). Because General Lee switched to the South during the Civil War when Virginia joined the South, the north was pretty upset about this. So...they decided to get back at Lee by burying their dead in his front yard! When Mrs. Lee returned after the war, she was so upset she never stepped out of the carriage and never returned to her home.

This picture was a memorial to the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.



We also got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On the tomb it says "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." The changing of the guard was quite an experience. There was to be no talking of sitting while it was going on. In fact a few school kids were whispering and the guard yelled out that there was to be no talking! Our tour guide said he had never heard the guards have to tell the audience to be quiet!

The White House

We did not get to have a tour of the White House because you have to book it about 6 months in advance. But. . . we got to go to the outside gate and see it from afar.
This picture of the white house is neat because you can see the Washington Memorial in the background.
Jacob was enthralled with the squirrels we found walking back from the White House. He especially liked the black one we saw. We had never seen a black one before!

Washington D.C.

We went to the capitol building on Thursday the 8th May. Dad and Mum had arranged for us to have a personal tour of the capitol with their congressman's office. His name was Jerry Costello and his office person was Katie. She did a really good job helping to point out things we would have missed if we had gone on our own! Below you will see a picture of the kids beside a bust of George Washington, the 1st President of the USA. Also, their is a star on the floor that is the very centre of Washington D.C. We met with Katie across the road from the Capitol building where the tour began. Then we got to walk underground to cross the road and into the building. After the tour finished, we got to ride on a train back across the road (all underground!)

On to Washington D.C.

On Wednesday the 7th May, we had a loooooong day of driving to Dunn Loring, Virginia. We left at 6:00 am and thought we would arrive around 3:00pm. We were trying to find our hotel when we passed the exit we should have taken. We finally got turned around and headed back when we missed our exit a second time! We took the next exit which we thought would get us back to our hotel. It did get us there. . . . eventually! We took our bags into the room when we had to turn around and get back into the car because we were supposed to be at Bro. and Mrs. Dryden's house for tea. It was worth the long drive for the lovely home cooked meal. After dinner, we were able to share at Community Church of God for their Wednesday evening service. As you can see in the picture, Susan and Trevor sang their duet "High and Lifted Up." We had a good time of fellowship there even though we were tired. The people here really took care of us. Bro. Dryden took us on a tour of Washington D.C. over the next two days and different people in their church had given things for dinner over the next two nights. We were thankful for God's provision. It was great to have some home cooked meals for a change.

The Shaffer Family

On Monday the 5th of May, we headed to Greenville, South Carolina to be with David and Lori Shaffer (Steve's sister). On Tuesday evening, we had the privilege of going to our nephew's (Joel Shaffer) graduation from grade 12. We only got to spend these two days with the Shaffer family, but enjoyed every minute we had with them.

Below you will see a picture of the whole Shaffer family. Joel, David, Anna, Joshua, Lori, and Melissa Shaffer.

Saturday 3rd May 2008

We are on the road again and Ben's still smiling! We are headed to Union, South Carolina.
We arrived on Saturday and met with Pastor Chuck Parrott and his family for tea. The sign out in front of their church gave us a huge welcome. They also had a promo from radio Rhema to play on their radio station about our coming to their church services. It was great to hear the Aussie accent again!!!!


On Sunday, we went to Covenant Baptist Church in Union, South Carolina. We were able to share in Sunday School along with Steve's dad and mum. We were going to sing "I'll fly away" during the morning service, but since the congregation was going to sing this song we decided to sing "Just a Little Talk With Jesus" as a family (along with Dad & Mum Sauvageot). Then we sang "If This is What God Wants", Trevor sang "I Will Go On", and Steve preached the morning service. They also had a lovely potluck lunch for us to share with the fellowship. During the evening service, Trevor sang "Forgiven Again", Steve preached, and Steve & Jennie Sang "God Never Moves Without Purpose or Plan."

As some of you Australians may remember, Pastor Charles Parrott came to Fraser Coast Baptist Church in 1995 and again with his wife in 1997. This year, he plans to come again in July. He is hoping to bring a team from his church for a missions trip. Pray along with him for the people God wants to bring out to Australia with him. He is very excited about coming to Australia again. Below is a picture of Pastor Chuck, his wife--Renee, and children--Chase and Joshua.

video of Williamsburg

More Williamsburg

More pictures of Williamsburg. Here is a man in the court room. A lady in front of one of the shops. Susan got to see how they did sewing by hand.




















The boys also wanted to get a picture with one of the Captains of the army. We saw a production of these two preachers talking about the issues of the day. They were quoting Scripture. It was great to hear Scripture in a public place. We enjoyed our day seeing a bit of history.

Williamsburg

We went to Colonial Williamsburg where they dress in traditional dress and do things like they did a long time ago.




















We had to restrain some criminals while we were there!

Yaggi Cheese

We had to visit the Yaggi Cheese House on our way through southern Ohio. The Sauvageot's have bought cheese from them for 3 generations. It is a family tradition!!

We traveled on through southern Ohio and saw all the places where dad lived as a boy.