REFC 2007

Michael Shoe. Awesome fiddle player. He got bit by the swing bug - been playing swing ever since.

The gazebo where Katie and I had Bible study every morning.

In front of Schafer Hall.

Scenery in front of Cisco Junior College.

Katie.

Dale Morris Jr., Rich O'Brien, and Randy Elmore.

Paul Anastasio, Rich O'Brien, and Randy Elmore.

Gene Gimble and Emily Gimble.

Dick Gimble!

Randy's classroom.

Katie!

Left to Right: Allie, Gabriella, Aaron Lawless, Katie, Mrs. Peggy Lawless. Eating breakfast in the cafeteria.

Good pic of Katie.

Dale Morris Jr.'s class. Studying bowing.

Our homeroom teacher, Danny Levin, and kids in the Student Union building.

Paul Anastasio and Randy Elmore performing in the evening.

Crossbows Music Goes to New Mexico

It Takes Two
(to argue)
(nah, not really. that was a joke.)

Crossbows Music just returned recently from a trip to New Mexico! Allie's account:

We picked up Katie in Brownwood sometime the evening before our departure. That took two hours of the evening away, but that's not bad, when you think of how worth it it is to get Katie in the first place!
My grandparents, Daniel and Suzanne New, and Katie and I, left around 7am the next day. It didn't take long to get tired of the car, so Katie and I played "I Spy". That game's been around for forever and a day, and yet, it seem strangely fun every single time you play it. Ha. I guess that if Katie and I can still play the Alphabet Game and not get fed up with that, "I Spy" isn't too different, monotonous-y-wise. :-)
Anyhow, Crossbows had a gig to play at with the Lawless gang in Breckenridge, Texas, which took up all day and was quite a large event. (Though at one point, when we played the second time, they put us in a far away corner and the most listeners we had at a time was, I believe, about 10 people. The least was 2. We later had a great audience - lots and lots of people!)

So at about 6pm we pulled out of Frontier Days and hoofed it towards New Mexico. Barely reaching Hobbs before midnight, we checked out for the night at a hotel in the center of town that looked like it'd been there since the early 60's, and it had. I think the colors were turquoise and pink. Sigh...

Once further into New Mexico, we had previously arranged to buy a van there and trade the current one in for it, so now we were stopping to switch conveyances. The luggage had to be arranged, and by the time that was done, I felt like we should be ready for a trip to Italy or Spain. And back. But the van was nice: Even if you DID feel like you were going to church in a short bus every time you got in. When my grandfather asked Katie how she liked the back row (we liked to sit in the VERY back; lots more room), she responded with, "I feel like a Baptist!" - ouch.

Well, we ended up playing at some pretty interesting places, including Denny's in Carlsbad, New Mexico. After which, we went to the Carlsbad Caverns: Practically the whole reason we went! It sure was amazing, too, even though I'd already seen it. What I did find to be interesting was that there is such a thing as "Awesome Overload", as we called it. You can only take in so much, and towards the end of the 1 and 1/2 hour walk in Carlsbad Caverns, we were not so appreciative of them. Like I said: Interesting.
On the whole, it was an entirely educational and fun experience, and something I hope to be able to do again sometime.

Allie in the back seat of the van.

Hobbs, New Mexico.

The scenery in New Mexico is gorgeous!

God Bless,

Allie & Katie

Buffalo Fiddle Contest

Maleika Nugent

Faith Nugent

Don't know

Allie Billings

Douglas Thompson

I, Allie, just returned from a wonderful day of pure fiddlin' in Buffalo, Texas, home of the bison. :-) I competed in the 0-18 age division and came away $25 richer, but only got 5th place. Of course, that was out of eleven, so that makes me feel a bit better. :-D

Enjoy the pics!

Performances This Year

March 17 -DONE-
St. Patrick's Day Parade, Dublin, Texas.
April 7 -DONE-
Billy the Kid Day & Classic Car Show, Hico, Texas.
May 5
Frontier Days, Breckenridge, Texas. Performing at 1 pm, and 5 pm.
May 17
Heart of Texas Nursing Home, Hico, Texas. 3:00 pm.
September 22, 23
26th Annual Comanche County Powwow, Comanche, Texas. It is not known yet when the girls will play.

The Good, the Great, and the Halarious.

Whoohoo!


Thought THIS was an awesome pic. Bec was jumping in.


Heheh. I'm gonna send these pics to Camden.


We REALLY DID have four people in there at once. Of course, it only lasted for about.. oh, 2 seconds flat, but hey! It was fun.


Mrs. H. wanted to jump in, but she can't really turn and jump at the same time. Deagan was trying to get me to jump in. No way.


We jump-roped afterward. FUN!


No comment. Mr. H. in the background, with me and Courtney jumping rope.


Um. Yeah. That's Deagan. And that's pretty much what he did the entire time. :-D No, not really. He took on a lot faster than I would have.


Gabby just shot the little rocket off that thingy she's holding. That's what Mrs. H. uses to shoot the chickens out of her garden. Funny, huh? It's WORKS!


This picture takes the cake, composition-wise! Beautiful. Isn't Kathryn cute? She and Morgan are twins. (I think she and Erinn would get along VERY well, Rach.)


Mrs. L. would do this 'intimidating' thing where she'd growl at the pitcher and shake her hands... it was HALARIOUS!


The sun was awfully bright!


I say this would have been an awesome pic if it weren't blurry. I can't tell if Camden's catching the ball or throwing it. Morgan and me and (looks like) Courtney in the background.


Mrs. H., running into Bec. :-D Wish it weren't so blurred.


Cute lil' Morgan.


Camden & Gabe pointing the way for Gabby while the game pauses. :-)


Bec, Mrs. L., Courtney, & Deagan.


Pre-game.


Standing around trying to pick team captains.

The Ensemble group got together on Sunday afternoon for a bit of music, supper, then some KickBall! (Oh, and jumproping.)

This is it!! The new one.


Ah, yes. Gabriel (uncle) gave me new sunglasses. I love 'em.

I got a new violin!! It's a Muses Instrument, worth 300 dollars, and absolutely gorgimous.

Dublin, Texas Performance

St. Patrick's Day finally arrived - and found us, Camden Lawless, Aaron Lawless, Mrs. Lawless, and myself, busy in the park of Dublin, Texas. The grounds were set up like a fair, and a baseball game was active on one side of the park. As we practiced the songs we were to play on stage, we watched the baseball game and nearly got run over a few times in the parking lot.
Here are pictures. Enjoy!


Friends. :-)


Some friends smiling for the camera.


Allie, Camden, Mrs. Lawless, and Aaron. We must be playing Devil's Dream - the bows are going the same direction. :-D


Gabriella, dancing in front of us.