This time of year in Abilene when the weather starts cooling down, one of my favorite things to do when I have some time to myself is hold my wife's hand and walk around our local churches' fall festivals. I am a fan of the food one can find at church festivals because parishioners are typically preparing their old family recipes. For me it's about God, family fun, and food too.

That is exactly what we've done the last couple years - walked around taking in the sights, bidding on auction items, playing some games and, at a couple of churches,  listening to the live entertainment. One of my favorite gatherings is the Sacred Heart Church Fall Festival.

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Last year the tacos were incredible. This year the festival will be featuring both Puerto Rican and Philippine food booths. It felt like we were on a two-day vacation. For the first time in my life, I came to the realization of how much I love spending time with our family, friends, and neighbors from around Abilene.

It's the simple things like the cakewalks, kids' contests, and children's dance performances, along with the great food I mentioned earlier. With the kind of heat we've had to endure the last few months, it's important we come back out and spend time together as a community.

More fall festivals, craft shows, trunk-or-treats, Thanksgiving dinners, and Christmas celebrations are still to come here in the Big Country. We should all be thankful and more appreciative of the people who make up this part of West Texas.

The photos are of a previous Sacred Heart Church's Fall Festival. Something that really caught my attention was the number of children and teens involved with their church's activities. This is truly an awesome community we call Abilene.

The Sacred Heart leaders told me last year's event was the biggest and most successful Fall Festival they've had in years. Watch for other festival information and photos to be posted soon.

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