Archie's Nemesis

When we bought our house four years ago I was excited because we had a big tree in our front yard.  It was the tree that was planted when the house was built.  Little did I know that the tree that I was excited about would become Archie's nemesis.  Anytime a storm would come through or the wind blew a tree limb of some sort would end up in the yard.  It went from a big beautiful tree to a broken, horrible looking tree.  Over the years, Archie has tried a few different techniques to kill the tree from cutting out roots to cutting off limbs.  Well he finally decided to get the a quote from an arborist to cut down the tree and grind the stump.   Well when it came down to time to cut down the tree the arborist found this......

The tree was sick with a fungus.  It would have eventually died so he was glad he got it taken down. My request with cutting down the tree was to replace the tree with another since that was the only tree on our property.  Below is a picture of our cute new oak tree.  Like my dad said, our house looks a lot younger now.  I must say that I like our new tree!

Garden Tea Baby Shower

The Saturday before last, I helped host a baby shower for my dear friend Bethany.  Bethany and her husband are adopting a beautiful baby girl.  Her friends Lauren, Meredith and I helped to host a garden tea.
Lauren was the creative mind with the vision of how she wanted the backyard to look and I must say that I was impressed.  The event was elegant and fun.  It was a glorious morning and loved friends gathered to shower Bethany with toys and books.
 

The backyard

Inside the tent

The Table

The super cute place settings

Bethany and I 

Fredericksburg

This past weekend we went to Fredericksburg, TX with my in-laws (Jennifer and Jerry).  We left early on Friday morning with the plan to stop in Llano, TX.  We stopped at Coopers BBQ which is supposed to be some of the best BBQ in Texas and I must agree it was pretty yummy!  They have huge smokers with lots of meat and you get to choose what you want and how much you want.

We got to Fredericksburg, checked into the B&Bs and head out shopping.  There are 100+ shops on Main Street and we hit a bunch of them.  Archie was a trooper checking out a bunch of different shops.  We found a new print for the house, t-shirts, gifts and some foods.  That night we went to Crossroad Saloon for some good food. 

Saturday morning Archie and I got up to go on a jog/walk on Main Street.  We went to breakfast at Mahaleys where they had a good breakfast.  We headed to Wildseed Farms where they grow wildflowers.  It was beautiful with so many different types of flowers.

I think that giraffe would look great at my in-laws' house

Flowers

Rows and Rows of flowers

 

Red and Blue Bonnets



Then we head to Becker Vineyard for the Lavender Festival.  Everyone participated in the wine tasting and we enjoyed it.  Then we went to see all the different tents and Jennifer, Archie's mom is able to pick up a bunch of lavender items.

Jennifer & Jerry at the Lavender Fields

We then went to Pedernales Cellars at the recommendation of my friend Jennifer.   Archie, his mom and I did a tasting and then headed to Torre Di Pietra and Messina Hof.  We had a great time and tasted some good wine.  We took some home with us as well.

Archie & his Mom

We then drove into Fredericksburg so we could show Jennifer some of the items we saw shopping that we thought she might like.  Plus stop at the Fredericksburg Pie Company because it was an option on the Pie Tour that Jennifer and Jerry wants to check out, we got a little pie to enjoy.  Then we headed to the B&B to rest a little before we headed to an early dinner at Navajo Grill, which is my favorite place in town.  We had a fantastic dinner and then just went back to the house and had an early night.

The B&B 

Sunday morning we got up and went to breakfast.  Then we headed home, this time a different route.  Our first stop was in Marble Falls at the Bluebonnet Cafe.  We stopped so Jennifer and Jerry could try some pie, they had heard about this on a "Pie Tour."  We then headed further down the way to the Dutchman's Hidden Valley in Hamilton, TX so my mother-in-law could pick up some peanut brittle.  We continued on our way to my requested stop at the Koffee Kup which was a recommendation from my co-worker, Lindsey who stops there on most trips to South Texas.  We got some good chicken fried steak and some more pie.  Afterwards, we continued on home.  We got home and then Jennifer and Jerry headed home to Wichita Falls.  



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New Additions to the Stewart Family



 

We have ants!  For Christmas I got Archie an ant farm (we also gave them to our nephews as well). It took a month and a half for the ants to arrive due to the cooler weather.  They have provided some good entertainment and as you can see they have been busy.  What can I say, we are nerds. 

January Highlights

January is gone in a flash!  I figured I would share some of the highlights of the month. 
The first weekend in January I headed down to south Texas to help host a baby shower for my friend Melissa.  She is pregnant with baby #3 who is a boy.  She of course only had pink items since her first two kiddos were girls so we showered her with gifts of boy clothes and gifts.  My other friend Melissa drove in from Katy to attend the shower so I got to spend time with my Melissas.  Below is a picture of the three of us (not the best picture but it is still a picture right?) 

The Melissas

Melissa & I

 

The next weekend we celebrated our friend Mindi's birthday at Papasitos.  It was a surprise dinner party which is always fun.  I love surprises!  It was time to spend time with friends and some delicious food.  Mindi is such a good friend and I am glad that she is part of my life.

 



The birthday day girl with her birthday tiara

Over MLK weekend I left Archie on Saturday morning and headed to the ranch.  It was a glorious weekend of spending time with my family, enjoying the beautiful weather and getting time away in the country.  We drove the mule, shot guns, had a cookies and more adventure and I almost got eaten by a horse.  Below is a picture of my crazy nephew pretending to drive the mule( yes he is on top of the steering wheel).

Last weekend Archie and I took the two older nephews to Main Event for a activity filled morning.  We started off bowling.  Logan beat me the first game but I came back in second round.  Brody did great keeping up with Logan and I.  Archie of course beat us.

Then I took Logan to play Lasertag.  Unfortunately, Brody was a little too short to play lasertag but he told Archie that is okay and they play miniature golf.  Then we played arcade games and then went to McDonalds.  It was a busy day and we wore those boys out. 
Sunday sister and I made some Valentines Day crafts for our houses.  Check out the crafts below:

Canvas for the mantle

 

Wreath for the front door

 

January was a fun, busy month.  I hope you had a great first month of the year!

December

December has been a busy but fun month.

The first weekend in December I went to the annual Advent Brunch at church.  Mom usually hosts the table and we get to enjoy good food, time with friends and listen to a speaker.  Emily also won a gift basket  in the raffle this year which was pretty exciting. 
The next weekend we went to the Fielders' house for a "Trailer Christmas Party".  Their parties always have a fun theme!  Below is a picture of Archie and I from the party. I was sporting a fantastic shirt from the Walmart and some fake tattoos while Archie was rocking a mullet wig, trucker hat, camo shirt and some fake tattoos.  We had fun catching up with friends.  I had a little too much fun....

This past weekend on Friday night we drove up to Oklahoma to the Winstar Casino.  Our friend Joshua turned 30 and we were going to a concert with The Band Perry.  We got there a little early so we were able to play some blackjack before the concert.  The concert was only an hour but the band played all of their hits and we had fun.  Afterwards the boys played a little more blackjack before we headed home.  Archie ended up winning $900 and I won $200.  It was a good night at the casino for us.  Below are some pictures from the evening.  I purposely took a picture with Joshua and Caleb since I was going to see their sister the next night, I was pretty luckly to spend my weekend with the Ward siblings!

Archie & I before the concert



The Birthday Boy Joshua



Caleb & I

Saturday morning we headed to the UNT Coliseum for our friend Kevin's graduation.  We cheered him on through graduation and then head to lunch afterwards.  We got to catch up with friends and enjoy each others' company during lunch which was fantastic.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures :(

Saturday night I went to a cookie exchange at my friend Lauren's house.  I got to spend a relaxing evening with some great ladies and walked away with some yummy cookies.  I also got to spend some time with one of my best friends - Bethany.  Below is a picture:



Bethany & I

This weekend we are doing the Infinity AVS Christmas Dinner tonight and then head to Wichita Falls in the morning to begin the Christmas celebration.  Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to all!