April 1, Sat./Sun.

I told you I was going to write this blog on the first Saturday of the month but since April 1 is tomorrow I thought I would do the blog today while things are still fresh in my mind (sort of).

Our dear Sister Lois Spain went home to be with the Lord a little over a week ago. If you know Lois, you know that she was a hard-working lady and I believe we all enjoyed her blog posts every Thursday morning. She will be missed, but as Paul the apostle would say, "We are not like those who have no hope". Our hope and trust is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Can I hear and amen?

Our daughter Sarah and her husband and kids came to San Diego for a week and they just left this past Tuesday. We had a really nice time. I promised Lilly, their oldest daughter that we would eat our way across San Diego from one Mexican restaurant to another and we did. We didn't get to try them all, but we kept everyone well fed.

My plan was to feed them breakfast each morning before we went on the outing so I set the dining room table as you can see with all the important things as Harriet would and I of course added the Mountain Dew for breakfast nothing like that hits the spot.

The kids all wanted to go to the ocean, so we drove up to Del Mar and drove north on the old Pacific Highway. We ended up having lunch at Las Olas which of course is a Mexican restaurant almost across the street from Cardiff state beach.

Going around the table starting from the front left side is Madeleine, then we have Lilly who is the oldest, Morgan who's next oldest and Aunree who is the youngest. At the head of the table is our son Daniel, then we have Hans and Sarah. After lunch we went to Cardiff and the kids got to put their toes in the water. Really the water was too cold for them to go in because they're not used to 58° water temperature. 

The next day we had lunch at Sarah's favorite Mexican restaurant. It is called Ponce's and it's in Kensington. She grew up eating this food and she really loves it. We invited on the right-hand side of the table you will see Larry, Diana and her husband Bob whose just starting to grow beard. Great food!

 Last Saturday, I had all the kids over to my house and we had movie time at grandpas. I usually take Samuel and Ethan who are at the right end of the sofa and I thought it would be fun to add the cousins. I made Natchoes for them and they ate and ate and loved it along with popsicles and cherry coke. Do I know how to spoil these kids are what?

 Later on that day we met at Marietta in Santee. Unfortunately I did not get a picture. Joe and Hilda and the boys met us at Marietta's. We had a really nice time. I really enjoyed having them here and I thought the kids were just fantastic! Now I know everybody thinks their grandkids are the best,  right?

My only regret, as I told Sarah is that her mother was not here to enjoy seeing her and the entire family. It's hard to do family things when your spouse is not here anymore and we used to do all these things together.

Okay enough of that emotional dribble. Here's a picture of my favorite wife. Boy I was really a porker in this picture. But you'll notice Harriet is looking good!

 That's it for this month, I hope that you'll be able to go to church tomorrow morning, it is Easter and if you only go once or twice a year this is your time. Reflect on what Jesus did and because of the hope that we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be alive with him.

Frank

3-3-18 Sat.

Good morning everybody! Things are going pretty well. I don't think I've mentioned this but before I went to Hawaii in November my primary physician talk me into getting a flu shot, which I've never had before. I guess it's working because so many people have gotten sick with the flu and this is the first time I've dodged the bullet. I don't know how you feel about those shots, but not sure how well they work.

I made a number of surf videos earlier this month and then the waves went flat. From 0 to 2 feet, very small. Looking forward to a winter swell. Larry and I have been going up to Cardiff during the month of February. I miss my friends from Del Mar. I surf with my friend Ken for over 20 years, he's really a good guy and I miss those mornings where we'd paddle out together and sit out in the lineup at dawn. Now we're going up to Cardiff state beach and we get up there about 9:45 AM. It's completely different videoing with the sun shining, we've not had to deal with that because we would go so early in the morning. But, I will say that it is a lot nicer to video when the sun is out, shining on the water and look so beautiful and Larry & I are not freezing.

Today I get to go and pick up Samuel and Ethan. I'm bringing them over to my home this morning. We will watch an episode of The Flash, superhero on Netflix. There's no bad language or nudity, so it's safe for my boys. I've got of couple of pictures from the last time they were at my house. I feed him Natchoes, popcorn and a cherry coke. Today after our little outing I will take them to In-N-Out hamburgers, one of Ethan's favorite places to eat, isn't it everybody's?

 I was looking through my work computer which I brought to my home after I retired last year and I found some pictures that I can't remember if I've used these before, but if I did it was early on a few years ago so I'm using them again. When Harriet and I stayed in Waikiki, one of our earlier trips we found this little park that's about a 10 minute drive on the other side of Diamondhead in Kahala. Most of the times when we would go there there was hardly anybody around. We would take our books and read and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

 As you can see from these pictures looking down the beach in either direction, there's nobody around. It was a really nice place of solitude and beauty and we spent many hours there enjoying it.

Often times when we get there at the end of summer they would have a surf contest and Harriet enjoyed going down to the beach with me and watching the tandem surfers. Very talented and it was always amazing what they could do on the waves.

This is a picture of Harriet and her mother at my father's 94th birthday which would be in April 2008. I sure miss my girl! I really try not to dwell on it, because it makes me sad that she's not here. And I don't want to go down that dark hole. The good news is that we are not as those that have no hope, as Paul the apostle would write. This past Wednesday we had the funeral for my good friend Larry and Judy's mom died and went home to be with the Lord. Larry and Judy asked me to do the service and it's always a reminder of how fragile and short-lived our lives are, with no guarantee that will be here the next day.

The big news for the month of March is that our daughter Sarah, Hans and the entire family are coming to visit us for a week at the end of the month. So, I should have lots of pictures for you next month when I do this blog.

There is one more thing I want to say, Maranatha!
Frank