After eating BBQ ribs at Jack’s on Broadway, we took the boys (and the whole crew) to Robert’s to hear some great blue grass music. We all had a great time. Blais especially loved the song “Bubbles in my Beer”

We took the boys to Nashville’s FRIST Center for the Visual Arts. They enjoyed a guided tour of European masters and “HEROES” - Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece Exibit. Dante has read all five of Rich Riodan’s “The Lightning Thief” books. We all took a test “Who Are You Most Like” and here are the results: Blais is most like Helen, Matthew was like Achiles, Evan was most like Athena and Dante and Tajci like Odysseus.

We spent a few hours at their interactive center painting and exploring different techniques of visual arts.

Franklin, KY is a small town of 6000 just north of the Tennessee border. The surroundings are so quiet on a Saturday afternoon that you soon forget you live in the fast, cyber-n-cellular 2010!

We stayed in the beautiful home of Sharon and Steve who raised eight children and lived in Italy for a few years. In the morning they served us the most amazing homemade bisquits and gravy, sweet cinnamon rolls and jam from homegrown strawberries.

That night the church was full. There were people of many different backgrounds - from the neighborhood and from places as far as an hour and a half away. Terry did a great job organizing the event and inviting the community.

The biggest surprise came after the concert - there is a restaurant in Franklin called “Brickyard” owned by three guys from Rijeka, Croatia. They came to the concert and invited us to come over for some old fashioned smoked meat n cheese (and amazing pizzas). It was cute to see the boys fallng asleep next to their Shirley Temples

We drove in at midnight. The little town of 34,000 was asleep and the Christmas lights and glistening snow made it magical. The people, the concert, the after-party, it was all just as wonderful as we remembered it from last year. Ann (the music director at St. Francis) pulled off an amazing event once again. Thank you.

We stayed with Barb and Dick again, who made us an amazing brunch before we had to leave. As we sat down, Dick came around me and placed his hand next to my plate hiding something in it. He said: “You mentioned the story of your golden walnut last night…” he slowly released two walnuts painted with golden paint onto the white tablecloth: “so I painted these for you last night after the concert…” Trully, a pound of pure gold would not have made me more grateful than this 82 year old man’s gift.

I have been wanting to do an All-Croatian Christmas concert for a few years now… Finally this year, I got to do a few - in Pittsburg, Cleveland, Youngstown, Chicago and Milwaukee…

At Blessed Alojzije Stepinac in Chicago, the young singers and tamburica orchestra joined me.  I was so sad my boys missed this amazing event…

I now know what my wish for Christmas and New Year’s is - to finally make that CD with Croatian songs I have been talking and dreaming about…

The boys learned about Jim Davis and made their own Garfield drawings. Our boys get to do so many cool things and learn so much thanks to amazing people we meet as we travel.

Tajci www.idobelieve.com

Not too bad of a kick off. After a really nice Thanksgiving with Grandparents in Kokomo, IN the boys got a chance to play at the Garfield children’s museum in Muncie, IN while the rest of the crew were setting up for the concert.

Tajci www.idobelieve.com

It was snowing in Denver when we left after the afternoon concert. My Dad drove all night some 1100 miles through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana never getting off of I-70 (in Indianapolis we got on I-74 to Cincinnati). My Mom says, with such a nice straight road, if it was Germany we’d be home in 1/2 the time.

Dante www.idobelieve.com