Birthspoon of Pytter Piers (1766)
    (my great, great, great, great, great grandfather; spoon is no longer in the immediate family)

My maternal grandfather, Benjamin Oenes , and his parents, Oene Klaazes and Sarah Rinzes Miedema

My great-grandmother, Jetske Gerbens Stilma , in Frisian costume
    (Beppe Jetske wore this costume to church and all formal occasions)

My grandmother, Beppe Brechtsje, in Frisian costume
    (according to my father, she rented this costume and normally wore "modern" clothing)

My paternal grandparents, Pieter Meijes Tiersma and Brechtsje Aukes Dykstra

Harvesting hay with horses, early 1950s, Limburg
    (Thea's father is on the far right)

Four Generations of Tiersmas
    (Me, Grandfather Peter, Father Meije, Greatgrandfather Meije)

Peter on milk boat as a boy (Friesland, the Netherlands)
    (This boat took the milk from our family farm to the factory via water)

Helping my father (Friesland, Netherlands)

Heit (Dad) and Mem (Mom), Peter, sister Jitkse (Jude)

Peter and Jude in the tub (Friesland, Netherlands)
    (warning--partial nudity!)

Our first home in the United States
    (San Luis Rey, California)

Fifth grade
    (I thought I looked smarter in glasses, though I only used them to read)

High School graduation photo (Sanger, California)

Working on the dairy during summer vacation from college

Beach bum in St Malo, France

My grandfather, Pake Piet
    Pake (meaning "grandfather" in Frisian) loved to be on the water

At the Taj Mahal in India
    (you would not believe how hot it was that day!)

Justice Stanley Mosk in chambers, with staff, California Supreme Court
    (at the time, Justice Mosk had three permanent law clerks and two temporary clerks--I was one of them--who served him for a year.  There are also some other staff on the picture)

Tiersma clan around 10 years ago

On the Great Wall of China

Young boys dressed as baris dancers at temple festival in Singakerta, Bali
    (the baris dance involves boys dancing with lances)

Our friend, Anak Agung Rai , in her family compound, Ketik Lantang, Bali
    (would you believe she married a Dutchman and is living in the frigid Netherlands?)

Peter and Thea near Jogjakarta (Indonesia) in Javanese costumes
    (we had to rent and put on these clothes to visit the tomb of an important Javanese leader)

Our backyard

In the cactus garden

Cereus cactus flowering
    (this type of cactus blooms for about one day--mostly at night)

Aloe Saponaria flower

Anacapa Island
    (taken from a kayak on the eastern part of the East Island)

Kayaking at Santa Cruz Island
    (west of Scorpion Anchorage)

Thea and Peter
    (around Nov., 1998, 3 months after my bone marrow transplant)

Peter at 180 days post-BMT, at Santa Barbara harbor

In Prague , Czech Republic, summer, 1999

With nephew Tim , summer, 1999 (Netherlands)

Dutch nephews, Ben and Tim , 1999

Ellwood Shores (behind our house)
    (like so much of the coast, this beautiful area is severely threatened by development)

Monarch butterflies at Ellwood Beach
    (in a eucalyptus grove behind our house is an aggregation site for Monarchs.  The butterflies come here from around the end of October through the end of February.  They then leave to parts unknown--presumably, somewhere in California, or perhaps also Oregon or Washington.  Their grandchildren or greatgrandchildren will be back next year).

My very cute nephew, Mark (Meije) , son of brother Ben and his wife Jeanine 

Kayaking at Santa Rosa Island , 2001.   The trees in the background are Torrey Pines, which grow only on Santa Rosa Island and the Torrey Pines reserve north of San Diego.

Another cute nephew and niece (Luke and Sarah) in our back yard.

Thea on the Tiersma dairy.

Are cows really happier in Californa?  Judge for yourself!

Here I am playing St Nicolas (Dutch: Sinter Klaas), who arrives on the 5th of December in the Netherlands and hands out gifts to children.  The Dutch colonists took Sinter Klaas with them to New Amsterdam (later New York), and he eventually was twisted into Santa Claus.