Our last night in Corpus, we had a party to welcome Chipper and Christian to town in addition to partaking in typical Christmastime revelry. And who better to show up than Tío Noe and Tío Arturo, as well! These are my grandpa's two youngest brothers and some of the most musically talented men in our family. My grandpa used to call them mocosos, or snotty-nosed kids, because they used to play guitar all day on the porch while he worked on the ranch. Either way, these two tíos can kill a ranchera, huapango, huasteca, bolero, or corrido unlike any other Mexican cowboy.

The night continued with long lasting Flores fiesta traditions as Grandpa watched over us-music, tamales, tequila, Jalisco, and Grandpa's favorite songs. Nothing will ever beat this tradition and I'm so glad that all of us crazy cousins are keeping them alive...even if we do need 20 pages of music to look at!

Props to my dad for grabbing some sweet shots of my accordion-playing, Frida the dog, and his sweet iPhone shot. Good job, old man!

On Christmas Day, we drove out to our family's cemetery, Santo Niño, in Duval County to wish my grandpa a merry Christmas. The cemetery is now a Texas Historical Landmark and was established in June of 1908. My grandma, who should be a docent, told us stories of our ancestors up to my great great great grandparents. This humble cemetery has so much history in it and is the resting place to veterans, ranchers, and educators to name a few professions. My grandma is an avid genealogist and has traced parts of our family back to the year 608 with names and dates and is currently in the 500s with her tracing of another branch of the family (yes, that far back...1500 years ago!).

She told stories of our family's history, how my great grandma got grazed by a rifle at the ranch, how my grandmother and sisters spent her summers at her family ranch in San Diego, Texas, how her family survived the Texas City explosion in 1947, and how my great grandmother moved her family to Kingsville to run a boarding house so they would have the money and the opportunity to go to school at Texas A & I (now Texas A&M Kingsville). I suggested my grandma start recording all her stories as they are so full of Texas and Mexican American history. Hopefully we can make this a reality in the coming years!

Our family cemetery was recently deemed a Texas Historical Landmark and we are raising money to post the sign and have a dedication ceremony (it's that official, y'all). If you're interested in donating, contact me and I'll pass you along to the right people.

Prospero Año Nuevo!