Mark Staples and his wife, Theresa Walker, are building their green dream home on the West End of Galveston. They’re aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, an Energy Star certification on the build. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Galveston couple Ashley and Michael Cordray are on the DIY Network with their show “Big Texas Fix,” which can be seen weekly at 8 p.m. on Saturday nights. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Tyler Allaun walks his steer, Rango, toward a barn in Santa Fe. This is Allaun’s first year to raise a steer. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
John Scales works in the barn on his property in Santa Fe. Scales through the years has let students raise animals at his barn. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Western belt buckles belonging to Will Wright, chief creative officer at the Galveston Historical Foundation, and his family are a testament to his family’s love of riding and Western sports. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Winemakers Gladys and Raymond Haak show off some of the championship belt buckles their winery has won over the years. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Ernie Deats still uses the spurs his father gave him, a simple-looking pair with worn rowels, the spinning part used to prod a horse forward. Deats is a fourth-generation rancher. His great-grandfather settled near Dickinson in 1872. Photo by Kelsey Walling
Tim Goggans, chief cook of the Noisy Boys, shows off some of the meat members prepared for the World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The group has participated in the cook-off for 20 years. Photo by Kim Christensen