Lina and I recently moved back to Houston, Texas (a transfer with Lina's job).  As much as we enjoyed our Newfoundland adventure, it is wonderful to be home again in the United States.  We especially love living in Texas.  It is a magnificent State.  It is sometimes easy to forget what financial straits much of the country is in while living here because it is such a bustling, growing, and prosperous part of the country.  We lived here for a year before we went to Canada and I became so enamored of this unique place that I recently joined the Texas Volunteers to keep all us Texans free for one more year.

I have been passively interested in re-enacting for quite some time now.  I recently obtained my first opportunity to make my dream real by participating in the re-enactment of the Battle of San Jacinto.

The Battle of San Jacinto was the battle where Texas gained its independence from Mexico.  All of you have heard of the Alamo.  On March 6, 1836, Mexican troops under the command of the vicious Mexican President/General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana stormed the Alamo and killed all the Texas fighters bravely defending it.  Three weeks later, Santa Ana's ordered his troops to murder over 300 unarmed Texan prisoners of war.  Less than a month after that, the remaining Texas Army, under the command of General Sam Houston caught Santa Ana off guard without his entire force to defend him.  With shouts of "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad" on their lips, the Texans routed Santa Ana's confused army and captured Santa Ana, the nefarious self-anointed Napoleon of the West.  From that point on, Texas was an independent republic of her own.  Then, in 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th State in the Union.

Here's a shot of the Mexican Army

  With a Mexican Soldier 

                                                                   Three Mexican Cavalryman

                                                  With three soliders from the Texas Army.


The battle re-enactment attracted literally thousands of spectators and was played out near the original battlefield where a monument larger than the Washington Memorial stands (everything is bigger in Texas.  Texas' capitol is even taller than the U.S. Capitol).  It was a wonderful experience, and I thought family and friends might enjoy seeing some pictures and video from the event.

                                                                          With Cannon

Video of Cannon Fire

With musket

Video of musket skirmishing

I also played the drum during the actual attack.  My friend that got me into this re-enacting stuff (Frank McLane, our former Bishop) is the flag bearer.  

Frank and me

With the women folk that cooked mah vittles that day for lunch.  Can you see Lina joining them next year
  : )

                                  With General Sam Houston (notice monument in background)

We also recently went to Boston to cheer on Joe as he raced there by qualifying last year.  He did a good job running in the hottest weather in the history of the Boston Marathon.  It was quite an experience to be there with tens of thousands of people lining the streets cheering the runners on that very hot spring day.  Here are some pics from the Boston trip.  

On the beach at Cape Cod.

                                                           Joe and Julie at Cape Cod Beach

                                                                 On a replica of the Mayflower

                                                   Site of Thoreau's cabin near Walden Pond

       At Salem; in honor of one of the witches hung after the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s.

                                                        Jordan's up next!  (Witch cackle...)

                     At the Boston Temple.  Joe and Julie and Lina and I were able to attend a session.