Falfurrias

So our second thanksgiving (apparently having more than one is also traditional) was held on Matt's family ranch in Falfurrias (cool name) - South Texas.  It's about 4 and a quarter hour drive from Houston.  We arrived at about 7 pm on Friday night and enjoyed a feast of various Mexican foods that Rhonda had prepared for us.  She even made some Tamales, which are sort of like a fajita but with these sort of cornmeal based paste instead of a tortilla that is wrapped in a corn husk and steamed.

Saturday saw the main event, which was a re-run of Thursday's meal with some slight twists in preparation - no offence Matt but I think your mum's Turkey was better (and she had a kick-ass glazed ham to nibble on).

We also got put to work feeding cows and moving firewood around the farm.  Sunday saw us driving back up North to Houston but not before we reigned down some fire on the Stockton square of desert....Rhonda and Mark very kindly took us out into one of the fields and let us fire some of their guns:

This is Billy, Matt's uncle (one of Rhonda's brothers)

We all took turns at firing Rhonda's .45" pistol (CSI cop gun in Laura's words), Mark's .357 Magnum revolver (cowboy gun in Laura's words), a .22 rifle and a couple of 12 Gauge shotguns that Rhonda recently won in a raffle - only in America!  Everyone did pretty well with only a 'few' stray rounds missing the stick on targets!

Taking out some cactii with a shotgun was particularly cool - if admittedly a little childish.

I did also feel a bit sorry for the tree after we removed the target.....we even managed to find some of the bullets that had been embedded or had hit the ground.

Thankfully the cows didn't seem at all bothered by all of the commotion....I think they've probably seen it all before!

Everyone piled back into the pick up (another classic Texan mode of transport for many people) to head back inside before the long drive back home.

Thanks to Rhonda and Mark for putting up with us - and our silly gun comments!  We really enjoyed spending the weekend with you guys and appreciated both being invited and being made to feel so comfortable - like extended family members.  It's especially nice when you're so far away from your own family!