Thanks to my brother-in-law, Joey, and his brother, Beep, I was able to go to the Dallas Cowboys game this past Friday night with Joey, Jack and Darryl. America's Team played and beat the Houston Texas 23-22 as Crayton and Barber both scored touchdowns in the first half. It was fun watching Romo, Owens, Witten, Barber and Crayton live, while it was also a treat to get to see a Cowboys game in Texas Stadium during the farewell season. Next year will find the 'Boys playing in a new billion dollar stadium while Texas Stadium will most likely be torn down and turned into a parking lot or a giant Starbucks.

Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see highlights from the game.

Thanks to the marriages of two of my buddies, Gregg and Wes, Jess and I have had the pleasure of seeing several of our friends this summer at various wedding showers and weddings. We celebrated Wes' wedding/marriage with his new bride, Amy, last weekend at a beautiful ceremony by the lake topped off with a fun reception afterwards. Brian, Brooke, Ainsley and Braxton were in town as well as countless other friends--many of whom we had not seen in quite awhile.

I hope to have more pictures soon of some of our hang-out times this summer, but for now, here's a quick glimpse at the Butlers:

In 1897, H.G. Wells wrote "The Invisible Man." Since then, other authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling have invented ways to allow their characters, Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter, to achieve similar invisibility.

Has fiction become reality?

Has a real cloak of invisibility been invented?

Read this article and let me know what you think.

Tonight, Jess and I went to eat dinner at her favorite restaurant (which shall remain anonymous). As we were finishing our salads, I went to check on another part of our dinner that was still not ready. When I returned to the table, Jess looked at me and said, "Promise me we'll still come eat here after I tell you what I'm about to tell you." Somewhat unsure, I replied, "Ok." Then, she dropped the bomb:

"There are bugs on my broccoli," she said.

I looked very closely at the broccoli stem on her fork, and sure enough, there were about 10-12 little gray bugs just moving around like they owned the place. I had already eaten one piece while Jess and eaten three or four. As calmly as possible, I went to check out the rest of the broccoli in the salad bar and found that the majority of the pieces were covered by these disgusting bugs that we now know are Aphids--translation: Plant Lice!! That's right, we ate Plant Lice! I almost threw up right there at the salad bar.


Instead, I quietly showed the manager Jess' discovery. He was as appalled as we were, though his mild outrage didn't also contain a great deal of nausea, because he didn't have to eat the little Aphids. He took away the broccoli, apologized a million times, told us how mad he was at their produce supplier, and gave us our money back for our dinner.

On the way home, my science teacher-wife brilliantly explained to me that hydrochloric acid in our stomach would kill the Plant Lice and that we'd be Ok. While she convinced me not to take us to the hospital to get our stomachs pumped, I still feel like they're all over me. I'm going to take a shower.

I have not written a blog since our second anniversary early July. So, before we get too deep into August, let me catch you up on the rest of our July.

Following our Second Chance Prom, Jess and I celebrated our anniversary with a weekend getaway to Galveston. We stayed in a great hotel on the beach. It was a relaxing weekend that allowed us a variety of dates together by the ocean and downtown Galveston. Also, Jess was able to get some fantastic pictures of some crazy violent seagulls who fearlessly entered our balcony in search of wheat thins.



The very next weekend, we were blessed to be able to spend some days with Brooke, Ainsley & Braxton. Although it had only been a month since our last visit, our adorable niece, Ainsley, and our ever-joyful nephew, Braxton, seemed to have grown-up so much. We played and laughed and enjoyed a day at the Wiggles play center in Frisco where Wags the Dog proved to be just a little too much for Ainsley. Their trip to Texas also gave us the chance to spend time with my buddy Danielle and his family. We miss Brian, Brooke & the kids when we're not together, so we were incredibly thankful to get to hang-out that week.



We finished July with a vacation with Jess' family to Kentucky where we hooked-up with about 30 of her relatives in one of the most beautiful settings ever. Jess went to this spot every summer growing up and upon our arrival on the first day, Jess looked around and said, "I'm home."

Driving golf carts from lake house to lake house in between hours and hours on the boat--skiing, tubing, jet skiing, and fishing--we spent the whole week just catching-up with the family, eating delicious food, playing soccer, basketball and cards, and passing around Jackson and all the other babies currently extending the family to yet another generation. Jess has an amazing family who lovingly welcomed me in as though I had been part of the family all my life. We caught some fish, saw three deer swimming in the lake, witnessed breathtaking sunsets, swam in the lake, and simply enjoyed conversation and friendship with friends and family. It's our desire to return as soon as possible.

Click here to see more pictures from our Kentucky Vacation.