You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather - Blame It on the Rain- Hit the Road Ike, and don't cha' come back no more!

There were so many appropriate musical headlines for this post, I couldn't choose just one! :)

Wow, what a week! Let's see..to start the weekend off, On Thursday, Matt and I met my dad and Donna, Cody-Melanie and the kids, along with Casey and the kids, and her friend Stacey at the 59th Annual Longview Jaycees Gregg County Fair!! Like the Rodeo, the fair is something Cody and I always did as kids. Probably b/c Big Poppa was always assigned to "working" the fair when we were younger, and we were all fans of the corn dogs, cotton candy, and funnel cakes..so it was a must. Now a days, Big Poppa is not much into "working" anything, but he'll take the fair food anyday, so we've kept the tradition alive! It's great to see the kids enjoy it so much too!

**Flashback: I remember as a child, and I mean prob. 10 or so.. being at the fair and rooting on "Big Bertha" the PIG during one of the pig races with Mikki.. back in her younger wilder days, while hanging out at the fair..do you remember this??!!**

Anyways, here are a few pics from the fair..aka. IKE DAY ONE!!

First..a couple of snapshots of split personality girl Addi! I swear, she's so cute I could eat her up with a spoon! One minute she's an angel, then a princess..and then, just like her CaCa!! :)





and a few of Brennan!

you notice how all of Brennan's pics, are him actually riding the rides at the fair..the ones below show to the extent that Addi enjoyed the "rides"..

I don't know if I've ever explained to yall, the love that exists between Matt and Demi before. Matt loves Demi, and Demi LOVES Matt!! It's too cute. Demi has always been Matt's favorite, and now that's she's older..and in Mine and Casey and Mel's opinion has a "crush" on Matt..they are that much more into eachother! ha, when they left the fair Matt said, "how about a hug Demi", and she replied, "and a Kiss??!!" :)

Despite a few raindrops here and there, the fair was great fun this year, and the kids thought the Cotton Candy was too!!

IKE DAY TWO!

I had high hopes for this day. Earlier in the week, Ashley and Philip, Ginger and Seane, and Matt and I purchased tickets to the Lobo Game. The game was regularly scheduled in Nacogdoches, but b/c of oh Ike, they had moved it to Longview to play Shreveport Evangel. I was really excited b/c I don't think I've been to a game since I graduated in 98 , and I just knew we'd have fun with everyone! If you know anything about me, I like to keep up to date with all the happenings going on, so I was well educated on the timeframe of Ike..we had a slight chance of rain anyway for the night, but I stayed optimistic. No such luck! Around 4 o' clock, came a downpour and Matt and Seane vowed not to go! Ginger, Ash, and I still held out hope..but by 6 or so with dark storm clouds looming, and the thought of Ashley and the kids sitting out in the rain, we all decided to forgo the game! HORRIBLE DECISION #1, NO RAIN!! Missed the game! Ugh! So, Matt and I went to eat at Gonzalo's Mexican Restaurant, and we came back and tracked Ike until 2:30 AM, when the eye passed over Galveston. I couldn't believe Matt actually stayed up and watched for that long, I think it didn't have much to do with Ike, but more to do with the hilarious rantics of Geraldo!! Matt kept wanting the wind to blow him away, how rude! :)

IKE DAY THREE!

Ike day three was, no fun. I mean no fun! As previously mentioned, I had my third and final shower this day. Ike began to blow in around noon-ish here in Longview. Rain, wind, more rain. Several people began to call and say they weren't going to be able to make it b/c of the storm. I completely understood everyone's feelings, and by One began to agree. So I called to say how bout we cancel or postpone the shower..but my hostesses still wanted to continue and be there in case anyone showed up. HORRIBLE DECISION #2! So, I grabbed my book, umbrella and headed on my way to Diana. As I blew from side to side on the road, while nearly escaping death by falling limbs (not really) I got the call from Matt that our power had just gone out. Great. I arrived safely to Cody and Mel's and walked in the rain to the door, not happily b/c I had had 2 calls asking when I was getting there, to find several smiling faces of family members ready to throw a shower. awww. I tried to be on my best behavior, and I ended up having a beautiful quaint shower with my hostesses!! :)

my great-aunt Patsy, aunt Teresa, great-aunt Snookie, me, Mel, aunt Becky (not pictured great-aunt Shirley, and silent hostesses g-ma Nini) :)

She made me a little happier, b/c she looked so dang cute!! :)

Around 4ish all the ladies tied their hair up with trash bags, and began to leave. I decided to stick around b/c of course, I had no power at home, and they did. So Mel, Cody, Missy, the kids and I all watched Ike roll in with fury. It was amazing to see the trees sway, the wind blow sideways, and to think we were only getting "tropical force" winds. crazy. One by one the pool furniture blew into the pool and sank. Brennan was especially excited. About that time Matt called to see if we had power. He had gone from our house with no power to Ashley and Philip's house, who soon after lost power, to Cody and Mel's..to what do you know, five minutes before he got there, WE lost power!! fun. So for the remainder of the evening, we chatted amongst eachother and tried anything to keep us entertained. WHAT did people do without electricity. Seriously?!

Here's us playing Monopoly while we still had light.

Here's us playing Clue by candlelight

I do know these few pics are of very poor focus and quality. Not only did we have no power, but I had no battery left in my camera, AND no battery or signal in my phone...ugh, technology!
Around 11ish, Matt and I decided to make our way home. He thought even though noone had power, and it was beginning to get very warm and muggy, he would sleep better at home. As we left Cody and Mel's we begin to survey the damage Ike made. Huge trees looked like they had been plucked from their roots and just tipped over, power lines were down, shrubs and bushes were demolished, and a few houses had even been completely smashed by large trees falling through them. It was a horrible sight, even in the pitch black of darkness. Big Poppa had been called out to work 7-7, and he had been giving us pretty good updates as to the happenings and power outages around town. He claimed the North Side of town was still out, but I was optimistic. From Diana to Bar K was black, then..lights! Matt and I were so excited to think we could have lights..peter's-lights, movie's-lights, juicy's-lights, eden-black! Nooooo! So Matt and I settled into our dark, hot, humid little apartment, and 2 Tylenol PM for me, and 4 for Matt, later we were off to dreamland. We had opened our windows for a little hot breeze, and around 7 or so that morning, I was awoken by a large diesel truck that had parked right in front of my bedroom window, and before I could get annoyed, Boom-Power!! Woo-hoo!

IKE DAY FOUR
Matt and I slept in, and enjoyed the coolness of the AC. We started straightening up the house a little later, because before long, we had the Ferguson Family, Party of Five, over for the afternoon. Cody and Mel were still without power, so they decided to come to CaCa's and relax for the day. We watched football, and I put Mel and Mom to work. I made wedding favor boxes, Mel cut ribbon, and mom glued ribbon..we had a very productive afternoon and I got all of the boxes finished. One thing to check off the list! :)


I can see clearly now the rain is gone! Things are starting to look up again around here. Cody and Mel got their power restored late last night, my RSVP's are starting to arrive in the mail, wedding plans are finally coming together, our engagement announcement and picture will run in this week's Sunday paper, and my Cowboys WON in a Fantastic game last night!! :)


So, Until Next Time- 40 days to go!!