Went to the chapel...

My younger sister, Lynnlee, is now hitched! She married Thomas Crow on December 20th in Wichita Falls. It was a beautiful wedding and a joyous occasion for our family! Lynnlee looked stunning, and she beamed with happiness! So happy for them :)

These are just a couple of pictures from my camera...I'll be sure to upload the professional ones when we get them :)

Lynnlee and Mom

Thomas and Lynnlee at the reception, so happy (and giddy)!

My youngest sister, Maggie, and I were honored to be a part of their special day. As maid and matron of honor, we were so proud of her! She surprised everyone by being so laid-back during the pre-wedding activities...she was the polar opposite of a bridezilla!

She was even helping us with OUR hairstyles...very composed, to say the least!

Signing the shoes (Vans in Lynnlee's case :)...getting to be a Stewart gal tradition!

It was a very touching ceremony, with Thomas' dad doing the honors. He gave a very personal and sweet sermon. Lynnlee, being so good with words, wrote their vows, which they read together. It was very moving (not a dry eye in the house)!

First Dance

And the reception was a blast! With good eats (including her cupcake wedding cake that she, yes the bride-to-be, thought of and made herself along with the help of Thomas, who made the tier), great music, and some roasts/toasts thrown in, it was a very memorable night spent with our family and friends!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Crow!!

Babies Abound!!

In the last two weeks, three babies have been born to our friends and family members. And what's even greater is that they arrived safely and healthily. Praise God!

Last Monday, Camden Ray Hopkins entered the world, with proud parents, Kim and Nathan, ever-so-ready for him to get here! I was able to drive up to Frisco Tuesday night before we headed out for Thanksgiving to meet him. He's a cutie!

This Tuesday, Adam Hunter Cross made his debut. Mommy Brenda and Daddy Stephen have a handsome boy on their hands! We hope to get out to Abilene to see them very soon.

And the newest addition to the Winters clan was also born this week. Ruby Kay Winters, the second girl for Jessica and Cade, gave us all something to smile about. She's a beauty!

Proud Uncle Brett

And our other niece, Riley, seems like she's ready to take on the role of big sister. We headed out to Rockwall as soon as we could to see her and her proud mom and dad, Granny and Papa, and uncles and aunts!

Granny admiring Ruby

What an exciting weekend (and past two weeks) it has been witnessing these tiny miracles!

Thanksgiving in West Texas

For Thanksgiving we headed out to way West Texas to meet up with many of the Turnbough clan. We flew to Midland and carpooled with Brett's cousin, Philip, and his wife, Bekah, to Balmorhea.

It was a wonderful get-together, as usual...great food, games (dominoes, cards, and football, oh my!), and memories. I think there were roughly 45 of us there at one point! Brett's parents both grew up in the area, so it was really neat getting to see this place that I've heard so much about. GiGi was definitely a great hostess! Although Brett and I have dated/been married for 7 years, this was my first trip there! It was beautiful driving to and around the Davis Mountains ...Some of the clan (below, L-R): me, Jared, Brett, Bryn, Jackie, Holly, Bekah, Ben, and PhilipThere was a family tradition (when all of the grandkids were younger) to have a pinata full of candy to add to either Thanksgiving or Christmas festivities. This year, the tradition was reinstated for the great-grandchildren (with the help of Brent). Nathan, Landon, Lauren, Ethan, Autumn, and Kaelen all took several tries at the thing...here is Autumn in action.

Jackpot!

Kaelen was even so sweet to share some of the pinata with GiGi.

On Thanksgiving Day, we headed to an old, Catholic mission church for a devotional. The church is almost a 100 years old, and it was a beautiful building (that barely fit all of us :) with amazing acoustics. It was a very memorable part of our time there!

Gotta love some college football!

Two weekends ago, we were able to get tickets to the Tech/OSU football game. Brett and I drove to Lubbock with his brother, Cade, and we stayed with Memaw and Pappy in Plainview Friday night. As usual, we had a wonderful time seeing them (we were fed well :) and did not want to leave!

We met up with Brett's younger brother, Jared, and his wife, Bryn, who drove in from Oklahoma. We headed to the game early to experience some good 'ole tailgating before kickoff.

And, sure enough, we watched a great game as Tech went on to win 56-20. We had a wonderful time cheering them on and visiting Lubbock/campus again!

In with the second-string!

Wreck 'Em Tech!!

Go Tech!!

How 'bout them Red Raiders! Number two in the nation, and fresh off a win again previously-ranked number one, Texas. What a game! We are attending their next match-up against Oklahoma State in Lubbock this coming weekend. We are so excited and hope they keep on winning!

P.S. Harrell or Crabtree for the Heisman!

Boomer and Marlie

For the time being, we are the proud owners of two labs, Boomer and Marlie. Boomer is a black lab, and he is seven-years-old. I adopted him in the summer of 2005. He stayed at Brett's house in Lubbock (since I had an apartment) until we got married and moved to Dallas, with Brett's parents taking care of him until we bought our house in Rowlett. He is the most laid-back and obedient dog there is!

Since Boomer was all alone while we were both at work all day, we had talked about how we needed to get another dog to keep him company. After much thinking and talking about it, we added Marlie, a yellow lab puppy, to the mix by adopting her back in March from Tassie's Hope in Carrollton.

She just turned one, and she sure does keep Boomer company (maybe to the point that he gets a little annoyed :) Well, I take that back, because I took Marlie for a couple of hours one night, and Brett stayed back with Boomer. He said that Boomer was beside himself the entire time without Marlie :( He was so distraught that he wouldn't even eat; and if you have seen Boomer, you know he does not skip many meals!

Our two dogs have provided us with some comedic relief, practice on patience, dog-proofing skills for our house and yard, and, most of all, having them makes me feel a lot safer when Brett is away traveling. Oh, and they also take some great pictures!

This was Marlie's first attempt to swim (Lake Ray Hubbard, shown above). She's pretty strong, but she freaked out when she jumped in. This was her trying to climb back into the boat! We lifted her back in, and she went for a dive again. Gotta love labs!

Watching Brett mow

They both sleep under things (coffee table, bed, etc.), so we don't how responsive they'd be in the middle of the night as watchdogs.

Cozying up with me

Watching Brett go into the gas station as I stayed in the car

Lake Travis (no attempts at swimming were made that time :)

Anticipating food crumbs...they are good at that!

Waiting for the ball, playing fetch in the backyard

Synchronized sleeping

Scoot over Brett!

Our niece, Riley, going for a ride!

Sleeping on the back patio...they did not know we were home yet.

Hard to make out (because I took the picture through the screen door), but it shows they really do get along!

Beware of dogs!!!

(Brett's screensaver)