North Texas State Fair and Rodeo

Last week I went to the Fair here in Denton and set up a booth for my office. It was a great opportunity to meet lots of people and make some nice connections within the community.

Jennifer came up and helped me a couple of times. It was a great week. It was so hot though, here in North Texas, that most people didn't come out till really late and at that...not many people came. Anyway, we made the most of the week and went out to see the rodeo at night. Above is a picture from the stands. They got pretty full for some of the bigger events.




The rides like most other fairs were a staple. Jennifer laughed when I used the word "Carnies" to describe the workers who set everything up. She said it was outdated. I still think it fits perfectly. I grew up in a town that the fair came to every summer and without fail...the carnies came back to us every year. The above picture is photo taken in front of my favorite ride of ALL-TIME. Its called 'The Zipper'. I didn't partake this year, but I have some very fond memories of riding it as a child.




Here is some of the live-stock. This is a bull that was going to be ridden. Funny thing is, when they don't have a rope cinched around their scrotum...they are actually pretty polite animals. =)

We love the rodeo. It always seems like their are nice people that you meet at the rodeo. I asked Jennifer if she would ever let one of our boys ride a bull or a bronco. She said, yes, but not a whim. They'd have to prepare and stuff. That's fine with me. I'm too chicken, but if one of our sons wants to, we'd let him. We say that now. It'll probably change. But if its anything like my desire to ride a four-wheeler once I had moved out of my parents house where there was a strict "no four wheeling rule", then I'm sure my sons will find a way to ride ferocious animals if they so desire.

Happy Anniversary! And the Circus.

We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary last week. Two years down. I was in charge of planning so I decided since we were back in the Dallas area to revisit some of our favorite old dating hang-outs and wedding day locations.

We started out at the temple and went through a session there. We actually saw our Sealer Sterling Nebblet who married us that day two years ago. He's a good friend of Jennifers family so its always fun to see him

Then we went out to White Rock Lake where we had our reception. Its been SO HOT here this summer that most days its hard to be outside. But this day was similar to our wedding day, in that it was just a tad bit not as hot, but still hot. So it was nice to be out and walking around.

We then went to Celestial Park in Addison TX. It has a built in 'ellipse'. If you stand on the two focal points, your voice echos all around you. The walls were only about feet off the ground and it still echoed. Very cool.

Then we ended up back our Macaroni Grille for an early dinner. Again, the first place we ate after we were married. Jennifer made me promise I wouldn't attract attention. I 'acquiesced to her request'. (name that movie?........Pirates of the Carribean). At least this time.




We also went to the Circus last month. It was held at the American Airline Center in downtown Dallas. We met up with Jennifer's sister and husband and their two boys and road the train in. Good times. The circus was fun. My brother-in-law and I both agreed, that we thought there'd be more animal action and less human-jumping/bouncing/swinging/throwing/catching etc. But it was great. Thanks Brad, for the tickets!

Its HOT in TEXAS!

This summer we've been to some fun places. For the Fourth of July we went down to see Jennifer's sister Jaime and her husband Kevin. We went to the beach in Galveston and all got really sunburned. It was nice to swim in the warm waters of the Gulf. What we didn't know was that we would see Brigham Young's look-a-like statue on the way back, Sam Houston! This statue stands some 67 feet tall! Its right off of the freeway.

After returning from Houston we decided to buy ourselves two month passes to the local water park. With slides, a lazy river, indoor swimming, and a kid park...its fantastic. As hot as its been, its nice to know that we can hit the water two or three times a week. Sad though, that our passes expire next week.

We also made a trip to Utah for my family reunion. All around great trip. The only bummer: 2 hours in to the 20 hour drive, I got pulled over in Wichita Falls. 73 in a 60. The ticket turned out to be about $140 after training school. It could have been much worse.

We spent lots of time with my siblings and their families. It was BEAUTIFUL up in Heber, Utah where we spent the weekend.

We got to do some fishing as well. There was a nice little pond near by. Jennifer had the best idea though: FIREWORKS! So we purchased some sparklers and had a great time.



The summer is not almost over but we've still got some fun places to go. And how could I forget our latest trip to the mall where we had a run-in with who-else, but.....




Justin Beiber!