A few weeks ago, Kelley and I went back to California for a nice little visit with Kate.  We figured it was probably the first time in about 30 years that we have taken off by ourselves like that. We enjoy being with the kids so much, but it was kind of nice for it to be just us two...kind of like a second honeymoon.

 

We got into town kind of late so we met up with Katie early Saturday morning.  Since Katie's accident, she has been borrowing a car from Stacey, but she needed it back so Kelley took Kate to get her rental.  Then they picked me up and we went to the swap meet.  We haven't gone to the swap meet for quite a few years.  We have been going on vacation mostly in August when they have the fair going on so there is no swap meet.  so anyway, we thought it would be fun to go.  It was really different that I remembered it. First of all, we got a great parking place, where usually we would have to park out in the boonies and walk a mile to get in.  Then when we got in there, it was pretty empty.  Most all of the same booths were there, but there just wasn't very many people walking around like there used to be.  It was fun though...I found a nice cover for my phone and they put a screen protector on too.  We also got some yummy toffee corn pops this guy was selling...not as good as the ones we make but pretty close.  I ate way too much of that stuff.

We went back to Kate's house and she showed us some of the things she's been working on. She has really got her apartment fixed up cute and has found some neat things at the flea market. 

 This little corner of her place is so cute....beautiful view of the ocean...you can see clear out to Catalina.

 The transformation of the chest...she did a good job painting it...now it goes with all of her other decor.

She had a bunch of these neat air plants that don't need any dirt...you just mist them once in a while and they grow!

It was a really nice day, so we went down to the beach for a few hours, then out to Fashion Island.  Dan and Brenda flew in Saturday afternoon and we met them out at the mall.

Kate took us to one of her favorite places for dinner...Caliente...a tiny Mexican restaurant.  It was really good and we ended up going there a few more times while we were there.

Sunday we got up early to make it to Katie's church at nine.  I love going to her ward.  It seems like they always have a really good sacrament meeting.  It was a lot smaller crowd though than in the summer when all the visitors are there. I was so glad we could be there when Katie was teaching the gospel doctrine lesson.  She really does a great job  I was just so proud of her.  The people in her class were really great too and made lots of comments.

After church, we went back to Katie's house for a bit, then decided to go to this place called Naples up by Long Beach.  Katie's friend Emily told us about it and said it was pretty neat to see.  We didn't know exactly where it was, so we googled it and found it pretty easy.  It was kind of like Balboa but had this waterway with houses on both sides and people were paddle boarding, and boating down it.  We could walk along this cute sidewalk along the water all around the bay.  The houses were so pretty and the flowers and trees were beautiful.  I don't think we actually found the place Emily was talking about, (she said there were gondola rides and restaurants and shops) but this was just perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

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 We have been wanting to go see the place where Kelley's mom and dad lived when they were first married, and since we were down by Long Beach we decided to check it out.  Lisle was in the war at the time and sent letters to Maxine so we had KC look on some of the letters he had written to her to find the address.  KC found several with this same address, so I put it into the map quest ( I love technology!!!) and it told us how to get there!  After a few detours and missed exits, we got there!  We drove up to the house and there was a lady standing out in front.  I think we scared her a little, so we got out and told her the story about this being Kelley's parents house about 60 years ago! She said she was just renting the house.  We talked to her for a bit, then took some pictures and left.  It was neat to think about what their life was like back then.  She had Fred and Pat while she lived here.  The letters Lisle wrote to her while he was away showed me a whole different side of him that I had never seen.  He was very tender and romantic.  He told her to take the money he sent and buy her something pretty.  He said he missed them so much and would give anything to get to come home. Very sweet love letters.

Anyway, it was fun to see the house and try to picture Lisle and Maxine there in 1946.