Last weekend I headed down to Springfield, Missouri for my buddy Clifton’s bachelor party. It really wasn’t one to tell tales of – we went to a AA St. Louis Cardinals minor league game (Springfield Cardinals), headed over to take in some of the best ribs in the country from Rib Crib, and then ended the evening back at Rob’s apartment for some intense action on the Wii.

It was the first time in about four years that my old band (autumnSoul) was back together. Scott, Clifton, Rob, me and Clayton (occasional sound guy and brother of Clifton) … and come to find out, everyone but Scott is on their way to married life. Me already, Clifton on Saturday, Rob in December and Clayton next summer. Scott’s never been much serious about anything, so it doesn’t surprise me.

There was a bit of fun happening in the midwest last weekend. Wow is the drive from St. Louis to Springfield boring!

One of my good buddies and former drummer, Clifton, is taking the plunge into marriage.

They didn’t send out traditional invitations, but instead we got a CD in the mail with documents and this slideshow video.

One of my first experiences with Clifton was spending a week on a mission trip with him, his brother Clayton and my former electric guitar player Scott McNew. This wasn’t your typical mission trip. We were in Playa del Carmen (Cancun-ish), Mexico. We stayed in a hotel on the beach, bused into inner-city Cancun to work, then bused back in the late afternoon … then spent time at the beach and in the ocean – we were suffering!

Anyway, we all four stayed in the same room in our cushy beachfront hotel. One of the most memorable times from the trip were at night when we would watch Sony Entertainment Television, which aired sitcoms like Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show and Third Rock from the Sun … all overdubbed in Spanish. It was a blast!

Clifton, Scott, Rob and I (occasionally Clayton ran sound) spent the next 4 years traveling around leading worship and playing concerts and festivals all over the place until Jen and I moved to Kansas City. We’ll still get together for some events here and there, but now that the crew is getting picked-off one by one, all that free time is getting ready to go away.

Rob is next. He’s getting hitched in December. Clayton, Scott say when.