April 2008 - Texas State Capitol

On Friday, April 4, 2008, my entire family made a trip to the state capitol in Austin. The Texas Department of Agriculture held their Family Land Heritage ceremony on this date and my dad and his sister were honored for their ranches being in existence since 1901. The majority of their individual ranch is located in Throckmorton County. I completed a lot of the paperwork for the application, which was mind boggling at times, but extremely rewarding. I learned so much about my ancestors and their way of life. My parents were proud to tell anyone that would listen that their grandsons (Kade & Layton) were fifth generation ranchers and would be back at the capitol for the 150 year ceremony in 2051. It was an exciting day!

While we were in Austin we went to see the largest urban bat colony in North America fly from underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. I have heard about them most of my life, but have never been in Austin at the right time--from mid-March to November. We had to get there early, in order to get a good seat on the lawn. The wait was worth it, though. It was a spectacular sight!