Living the Small Town Life: Life as a Texan

This has been a record summer here in Texas, and I am proud to say we survived it. It was the hottest summer on record for any state in the US. Dallas also had the most temperatures over 100 degrees compared to the previous Dallas record (which was 69 days). So, I didn't really want to endure that record, but since we did, I am happy to have a "medal" for it. :) We are very excited about the fall and have loved having temperatures in the 80s or low 90s lately. We also have been in a drought here in Texas. The last real rain I remember was around June 20th. We had maybe 2 days of 30 seconds of srinkling in late August, then last night we had a real live thunderstorm which poured rain for a couple hours! Thanks the Lord for rain! I feel so bad for the farmers around here, especially in West Texas... their whole livelihood was destroyed this summer with the drought, heat, and wildfires which is something I just can't imagine.

We have been staying busy figuring out David's new job, my more permanent part-time job, and having a very-energetic toddler who loves to talk and be outside (even if it is 100+ degrees). There are alot of festivals around the DFW area starting in September with the biggest being the Texas State Fair all of October (I am counting down the days!). This weekend we went to the Plano Balloon Festival which we have been to every year since living here. It is such a fun family, friendly festival the requires very little money. We have always been at night, but this year we went in the morning. This required waking up at 5am, driving the the bus station, and getting to the balloon field at 630am. It was worth it though. We bought Shipleys and chocolate milk for a special breakfast. We went with our friends the Swindles. The balloons actually had a delay because it was cloudy and had rained the night before. The balloons did not get to glow because they were delayed until sunlight and they did not fly because of the winds. They still blew them all up and let everyone go walk through a sea of balloons right up to the wicker baskets. We were disappointed they didn't launch, but loved the up close view.

Saturday night we went with some other friends, the Edsons and Marineaus, to the Oktoberfest in Addison. The festival was pretty crowded and the main atttraction is the German food and beer which was of course expensive, but the fellowship was fun! (Sorry, for the absence of pictures there).