In Santa Cruz @ Walton Lighthouse

I met Betsy Engelman at tennis. She lives on East Cliff, in her newly renovated beautiful house.

Recently Betsy couldn't play tennis because of her knee, but she and I have been going regularly to the Apple Store in Los Gatos for MacIntosh-computer lessons. And then I've gotten to take walks together with Betsy and Holly~dog around the harbor by her home. She showed me where her parent's name lives on on the Lighthouse plaque:

"THE ENGELMAN & JOHNSON FAMILY"

Walking the train tracks back to Betsy's.

Across the way from the tracks is this Harbor. In Winter Christmas lights are strung on the masts 

Betsy's been painting also, she's actually a serious artist and done that sort of art for a long time.
 She was very interested in this painter's gear~

Summer has finally descended upon Santa Cruz. Until the past few days it's been very cool. 

People here are practically wilting in the 90 degree heat this week!

The kids in Japan

And Zen gets to eat the BEST FOOD!

Below he's at our friend's new restaurant cafe ocean

(he's aiming to get a TAN lying on the road in the background?! Well true, grass in Japan is the worst. You can't sit on it. It's always prickly. That's one thing they are terrible at. Growing GRASS~ the lawny type!)

Zen with his sisters Sheon-chan and Naomi- chan!!!

(Taka and I talking with them on Skype, our photo is down there in the corner)

The girls with their boyfriends~

And I don't have any recent photos of my OLDEST BOY~ ISCHIN-KUN!

these pics are compliments of Kahori!

Los Angeles and the final tournament with FRIENDS too!

Taka and I got to drive one of the boy's teams from Las Vegas to L.A. and before I released them from the van I took this photo! At their final location, hotel Anaheim!

Taka represented Santa Cruz (with the shirt!)... these were the courts that had 16 separate courts! The team did well, but the other teams took away the games. LINDA from George School in L.A.!!! Linda Pollock, took time off work and came and got us! Taka and me, we went out for INDIAN CITY food together and talked away for the little time we had. Special!!!! Too short but VERY sweet!

The hotel we stayed at with the boys didn't have real coffee. Taka and I found better (yes, Starbucks) amongs the palms, a walk away at a Marriot Hotel (also the Hilton...but lines of thirty or forty people drove us a little further to the Marriot)
And then finally we got to see Yuri-chan!!! From Japan...well, Yuri and I knew each other, when Taka and I first got together so more than 13 years ago! Yuri and I friends from 14 years ago?!

Yuri came the last night we were in L.A.. The night before we got to see her hubby and son too, but I missed the photographs there! ; (

  Leaving L.A....was a pleasure, and didn't seem a terribly long drive since we got to travel along with Zen's team mate's parents, Debi and Jan St. John.

  The trip was hard in a number of ways, but playing hard, and keeping up good spirits became "the name of the game" I guess you could say!