Hey, howdy, hola, how’s it goin’? I know, it’s been a little while. I debated on whether to catch y’all up in one post or in a few. I’m going to do it all in two posts, so get some snacks, a cold beverage, and prop up your feet! It’s going to be a long one!

Our last post ended after Christmas, so I’ll start this one in January.

January 2023

January began with another visit from Mom! We love it when she comes for multiple reasons, but her visits allow us to act like tourists and visit places we haven’t gone yet. She left Colorado when it was snowing and 25 degrees, and landed in Corpus to 86 degrees and sunny!

Mom discovered her coffee pot had a straw holder!

We went to San Antonio again. Every time we go, it’s a new adventure! When Josh and I visited San Antonio on our honeymoon trip, we took the GoRio Riverboat Shuttle. They also offer a tour, but when you take the Taxi, they take you from one end of the Riverwalk to the other. Most of the taxi boat drivers also run the tour boat so they will share history and fun facts along the way. The tour boat ride is only about 30 minutes, but going from one end to the other takes about an hour and a half. It had been shut down during Covid, so we were delighted to see it back up and running! If you ever visit the Riverwalk, I highly recommend you do one or the other. Do both if you have time!

Josh loves to buy me kitchen gadgets I’ve been eyeing. The most recent surprise was the pasta roller/cutter attachment for my Kitchenaid.

I tried it the day it arrived by making spaghetti noodles.

Since Mom was here, I wanted to challenge myself to make something special with her. We made cheese tortellini!

These rank up in the top things I have really enjoyed making and eating! They were so delightful!

Since I made my very first apple pie with homemade crust for Aunt Jeannie and Aunt Marian’s visit for Thanksgiving, I’ve made several other pies, including a chicken pot pie. But my favorite is still the apple pie. I made another apple pie for Mom’s visit.

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Mom. Her visits always go by so quickly. It seems like there is never enough time! We are so thankful she is able to visit often.

February 2023

Ranger, at ten months old, is huge. He is such a big baby, but is growing into a wonderful LGD. He and Frostee love to play together, but also do a great job of protecting their chickens and sheep.

We have to be careful while mowing the lawn. Mama bunnies feel so safe on our property, they make their nests in the lawn often. We have found hundreds of baby bunnies in the short time we’ve lived here! Josh is able to easily spot them, I don’t know how he does it!

For Valentine’s Day, I made a heart-shaped meatloaf 😁 My Aunt Shelly is famous in our family for her heart-shaped meatloaf!

The Today Show was featuring warm-weather escapes, and they chose our favorite spot, Port Aransas, as one of them! We heard on the news that if you got there early enough, you might be featured on The Today Show. So, I took the day off work, we got up bright and early, and headed down to the South Jetty. We were among the first folks there; it was still dark!

If you look at the bottom right photo, in the far background on the right side, you can just barely see our Gray Marlin flag 😁 There were a ton of people there, and they were much more motivated to be on TV than we were. People were pushing and shoving their way to the front, it was pretty ridiculous. We did not make it on The Today Show, but it was fun to meet some of our local news anchors!

March 2023

All of the sheep are doing great. Everyone is healthy and happy.

Hard to believe, but it’s been a year since Biscuit and Dakota were born! They are so entertaining, I love having them close to the house.

Every March, in the next county over, the World Championship Rattlesnake Races are held. Naturally, we were very curious about what this entailed. So, on one of the coldest days of the year, we bundled up and headed to the San Patricio County Rattlesnake Races.

We talked to the snake handler for a while. He said most of these snakes were found in one den on a nearby ranch. He said he’s only been bitten once. This, my friends, is why I no longer wear flip-flops and rarely wear tennis shoes at home. 99% of the time, you will see me in boots! We have only seen about 4 rattlesnakes since we moved in. Two were babies. There is a common misconception that baby rattlesnakes are more deadly than adults. That is not true. See this article for more information on the topic. Like I mentioned before, it was freezing that day. We got there as soon as the gates opened, 8:00 am. The races started at 1:00 pm. We decided to call it a day, and try again next year knowing not to show up first thing in the morning!

I think I’ll wrap up the first part of the year here. I’ll leave you with these shots of the beach. Yes, the day of the rattlesnake races, it was cold, high of 54. But just a few days later, we went to the beach where it was a high of 84. See you in the next one- we’ll pick up in April!