Recent visits

I've been back in SoCal for three weeks now and have already seen quite a few people who aren't native to the area. I'm so happy that Lem came down for a weekend to welcome me back and see his other friends down here. We went out and had ourselves a photo day at Long Beach and Huntington beach. It was a lot of fun and I got a few shots that I'm happy with. Here's a few from that:

Long Beach.

Looking up the stairwell, overseen by a saint.

Peeking through the church doors.

Lem takes a moment to laugh at traffic.


Bicycles by the beach.

Elijah supervises the boys playing.

Just this past week brother Nathan and his wife, Carol, came out to California to visit. They came over for a couple meals and it was nice to sit and talk. I hadn't seen them since a Thanksgiving a couple years ago, and their kids have definitely grown. They're such a nice family, and Carol was the most eager photo-album admirer I've ever met, which was a joy for Grandma (who has some wonderful photo albums indeed). I hope it isn't so long before I see them again.

My brother and his daughters.

A niece!

Looking over Gma's photo albums.

My sister-in-law Carol!

Nathan with Grandma and Grandpa.

Great-Grandparents with great grandchildren.

I acquired a mandolin. I've tried learning guitar before and did well enough to pass a class. This mandolin is fun, but I've only had it for about four days. The action on it is quite high (the string are somewhat high above the fretboard) which makes it harder/more painful to play. Not sure how I'd lower that. Practice is coming along and I'm learning to play basic major chords. My fingers.. don't fit well yet. It has a rather narrow neck. I'll just finish this post abruptly here. (c: