TIOGA                                                                                                                                               Michelle here as your storyteller for August…

We set off on our fateful journey with no inkling how interesting things would get… fast.  We left Colorado in our faithful Suburban and made it all the way to Harlowton, Montana.  Whereupon, the suburban proceeded to throw a rod.  We had to make a quick decision, as we were due in Calgary that night. We have put too many miles on that ol' wagon to justify fixing her at that point, so we looked around the booming metropolis of Harlowton to see what our options were.  The only thing in town that would fit all of us and our gear was Tioga. Tioga is a 1974 Doge camper.  As we were standing there praying about what to do, I remembered that Barry has been praying for an rv for a year now.  I could not stop smiling as we drove Tioga towards the border.  The kids were ecstatic at the lack of seat belts, the bench seating and the table.

I was ecstatic about a potty and fewer stops.  We were less ecstatic on the ride home when she started to leak like a sieve.  And increasingly less ecstatic at the thought of driving Tioga (currently our only family vehicle) to Wal-mart.  Let's all thank God for Tioga and join together to pray for a new vehicle for the Pattersons!

BLUEGRASS                                                                                                                                      Onto the musical portion of this month's blog.We played a house concert with my uncle Al in Calgary and it was a warm and comfortable as a house concert gets. Old school friends came out for it and that set the tone for a "reunion" theme for the whole trip.  We Tioga'd on out to Caroline, Alberta, my hometown, for a Gospel Music Festival.  It was really moving to be playing at the Living Faith Bible College campus where I grew up. I learned loads of Scripture there as a child, how to play volleyball and how to sing. I felt the heritage with many warm fuzzies.  One of the highlights of the festival was getting to hear the Larsgard's play.  They are a family that I grew up with that now has formed there own bluegrass band and it's a hoot to see these kids all grown up and mastering their instruments, actually, kicking their instrument's butts. Brilliant. We also had an intimate house concert with a gal I used to cheerlead with.  It was intimate enough to really get to have meaningful conversation and we loved it. Thanks, Aleta!

 

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VACAY

For the vacationish portion of our trip we did things like ride a roller coaster, go to a small town circus, swim in the creek, visit the Olympic park in Calgary, canoe, mini-golf, fish our brains out and drive around and look at some of the most incredible beauty in the universe.  We stayed with my parents, which was divine.  Gramma and Papa loved up on us hugely and the kids had the time of their lives.

      

LAKE LOUISE

BESTIES
One of the special parts of the vacationish part for me, was reuniting with my two closest childhood friends, Penny Harrison & Leona Dirsten. We have all been in each other's weddings but this was the first time all of our progeny was together at one time.  Please note and commend us for multiplying so well.  (one child is missing due to illness)  There are some friendships that are for life and these girls are lifetimers for me. What a blast to be together again.

  

Oh Canada, we enjoyed thee so much.  What an adventure! We can't wait to come back.

Canada, here we come.  We are starting at the bottom of the rainbow and driving to this far and distant land next week to reconnect with family and friends-the other end of the rainbow.  We are playing three different venues and we want the Canadians to come in droves. So here is all the information you'll need to find an event that will work for you! We still have available dates if any of you Canadians are in need of our services.  Just contact us at ascensionarts@mac.com.

CALGARY, July 15

GOSPEL MUSIC JAMBOREE, July 17-19

for the Jamboree, our scheduled appearances are as follows:
Friday (17th)  10:05 PM
 
Saturday (18th)  2:15 PM
 
Saturday (18th) 9:15 PM
 
Sunday (19th) 9:30 AM Leading worship

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, July 19th                                                                                               When:   7:00 PM
Where: Weslowski's, 6020 59 St.

Here's a fun bit of news for you–Michelle was chosen to be a featured artist at www.rockinmoms.com.  Read the interview here.

Barry has had a solo project in his back pocket for a few years now.  I, as his biggest fan, keep trying to get him to play the songs for folks to give them a taste of what's coming. Much against his will, I got him to youtube this one for ya.  Enjoy!  And locals, Barry is playing a solo set at the Woodland Park Christian Artist's Festival at 1pm this Saturday, at the Ute Pass Cultural Center.  Come on out and support your local art. 

How many Patty-Clegg-Sparks can you fit in your car?

We are entering an awesome new season of availability for concerts and itinerant worship leading and we are trying to get the word out.  We have been full-time arts and worship pastors at our local fellowship, New Covenant Christian Fellowship since 2005 and it has been an amazing experience.  We have benefited so much by putting down roots here in Colorado.  It has been good for our kids to come off of the road for a season too.  By September, we will be working only half-time at New Covenant and to us, it seems the best of both worlds.  Since we have been off the road, we have missed live performance and the adventure and joy that comes from being with new people in new places. We will still be leading worship at New Covenant on a fairly regular basis and pastoring a group of folks as well.  But we can't WAIT to come see you…..

In the past six months we have been experimenting with traveling again and we are loving it. We have been loading up our bambinos and doing a mixture of house concerts, church concerts and worship events.  We love all three of these avenues and are chomping at the bit to do more.  So, tell your friends – the Pattys are back.  If we can serve you, wherever you are, in any of those capacities, please let us know.  We are booking for the summer and fall right now. 

And now to the woman who makes it all possible, Melissa Clegg.  Melissa has been working with us since October 2008.  As you may remember from our blog back then, she gave up her secure employment and took a risk on us.  Her duties have included childcare, admin. and everything that goes with travel and performance.  She has wiped noses, typed memos, practiced for hours, loaded and unloaded bazillions of times, performed and ministered to audiences of all sizes and has done it all like a champ. Her servant's heart is her motivation and in the process, she has become a part of our family.

It is hard for us to convey what she means to us.  It's like duplicating ourselves in so many ways.  With Melissa around, the admin. work is divided and conquered.  The kid to adult ratio goes up and the overwhelmed feeling goes down.  The music sounds better.  She is a huge source of blessing to us and we are stupendously grateful to all of you who have given towards her salary to give the gift of Melissa to us.  If you are interested in giving us some more Melissa, we would be so blessed!  You can do that by either clicking on the donations tab to your right or sending a check payable to Ascension Arts to the mailing address listed on our contact page.  All gifts are tax-deductible.

P.S.  We are touring in Alberta in July, so you Albertans let us know if you want some Pattersons!

We have had the distinct privilege to be a part of leading worship every few weeks for a growing fellowship in Denver and we love it. Our friends, Brian and Jenni Brown are pastoring this fellowship and we are both Christ Fellowship Ft. Worth alma mater We love that they moved to our state. We feel like we are the ones who receive the most as we get to hear the Word come out of our friend, Brian. He keeps Michelle’s attention (a feat in itself) and his words roam around in our hearts. Check out our calendar and come worship with us at Park Church.

Bovee recording week is next week and today we are finalizing song plans. You are gonna like this….we will keep posting updates.