Austin

On the first weekend in December, Newel and his co-worker, Clark, flew to TX for a planning meeting with their company.  The wives were also invited to attend the Austin Christmas Party.  After making arrangements and dropping off the children at Kristen's house, I drove to the airport and flew to TX.  The guys had flown to TX a few days earlier.  They picked up Judy and me from the airport and quickly drove to Lockhart, TX.  This small town is famous for their barbecues.

The first barbecue house we went to is called Smitty's.  It was amazing.  I loved the smoked walls and the fire pit right in front of you. The place was so cool.  Its claim to fame is that the fire has not gone out in 100 years.  I believe it. This place was not just totally awesome, but the food was so good.  We gorged on so many yummy meats. I liked how our food was weighted and served in butcher paper.  Easy clean up.

Smitty's

Even thought we were totally full, we went to Smitty's sister store, Kruetz.  The food was really good too.  We really liked their smoked prime rib.  It was to die for. 

The Protheros at Kruetz

Checking out the map at River Walk

Remembering the Alamo

Since we were in Austin for the weekend only, we had to make the most of it. After Lockhart, we drove to San Antonio and went on the River Walk.  That was really nice.  There was music and performances all around.  Also, we checked out the Alamo.  Even though our pants's seams were about to rip, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for chips and desserts.  The desserts were so delicious. 
Another thing we really enjoyed was the fabulous weather. The temperature was just perfect, although it rained all weekend long and my hair got really frizzy due to the humidity.
The following morning, after going to the hotel's gym to work off some fatty meats I had eaten the previous night, Newel and I drove to the capitol building. It was pretty nice and I noticed there were stars every where in Texas. Texans are really proud of their state because even their Christmas lawn ornaments were in the shape of the state.

Don't mess with TX

After checking out the capitol building, we drove to the outskirts of Austin to visit with the McDonald family.  It was nice to see them again.  We haven't seen them since we last visited Stanford. Their children had grown so much. Then, we drove to Lake Travis to check it out.  It was kind of cool, although the lake was pretty dry.

Lookout point at Lake Travis

Checking out the girl band.

After our visits, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the company party. It was a great party.  There was a live band and they played so well.  The food and desserts were good.  We had a lot of fun.  After the party, we headed to the main music/party street (our party was on the same main street) and watched Newel's boss and Judy ride a mechanical bull.  That was pretty cool.  I wanted to ride one too, but I didn't have the proper attire.  I was kind of disappointed. After bull riding, we  walked to another bar where a girl band was playing music.  They were really good and I don't usually like girl bands.  Austin has a lot of great musicians. With our party group, we headed to another bar, where we listened to another band, but we didn't stay for very long, since they wouldn't let Judy in because she forgot her ID....it was kind of funny and silly they wouldn't let her in, since she's like 45 years old. Anyways, we were getting tired, so we made one more stop to eat some wings and then took a cab back to the hotel.  We were out late, pass midnight.  I can't even remember the last time Newel and I were out that late...it has been years.
The following morning we headed to a Singles Ward and met up with my friend Debbie.  It was so nice to visit with her.  She's such an awesome girl.  Debbie and I headed out right after sacrament and left Newel at church for the rest of the meeting.  It was Newel's first time at a Singles Ward sacrament meeting. Debbie and I drove to some remote place to drop off some free coupons for some people whose town was consumed by wild fires.  Later, we met up with Newel, Judy, and Clarke at the Salt Lick...another barbecue place.  It was good, but it was not Smittys. 
We had an amazing trip.  I was so glad to go and have that weekend with Newel.  We didn't get to do what we wanted for our 10th anniversary, so for me, this trip was my consolation prize.