Receiving all the festive holiday cards and email messages I get this time of year reminds me how grateful I am for all my family and friends. I realize it has been a year since I last wrote a web page. Although our day to day lives seem uneventful, there is much to be grateful for. We love our tiny cottage home on the ocean in Maui. Each morning, we have morning tea on the lanai together enjoying the beauty around us, visits from our little green gecko friends, and chattering birds feeding and bathing. Neil has a youtube channel displaying numerous videos of the geckos eating out of our hands and the birds in their bird bath. It is also that time of year when we are watching for whales as we sip our tea. Geckos Lining Up to Eat From Our Hands

My mom Audrey and her husband Bill have purchased a beautiful oceanfront condo just a mile from us. It’s really a joy to have them so near. Mom and I often meet mid-way on the beach and walk together. They are here part time for now. We will be able to have Christmas together; first time in many years.

We are grateful to have Neil’s mom Jean and her husband Morley still living next door to us. I expect we will gather for the traditional tree trimming soon. We don’t have room for a tree in our small space but I did get some decorations up this year.

My travels this year were two trips to Ohio to visit my dad Bob and his wife Jane. I am grateful to say they are in fair health. Dad had the same back surgery at the end of January that Jane had last spring. He was diligent with his rehab and is doing great. When I went in February, I was lifting the 50 lbs bags of water softener salt into the truck. On my trip in September, he was keeping up with me bag for bag!

Quentin, my great-nephew, just turned 13! He is in 8th grade and continues to be outgoing. He still loves his video games. His sister Sophie was here this summer and will be back for two weeks this Christmas. We look forward to seeing them all on Christmas with their mother Vajra.

Neil’s daughter Mailea has been living on Maui for several months this year. We are grateful for the time we get to spend with her. She has a place of her own and many new friends. I’m sure many of them will be life-long friends. We are glad she is loving Maui. Neil’s daughter Ari is engaged to be married on July 5 to Eric Schultz. They are currently living in Missoula, Montana, where Ari works in Labor and Delivery at a local hospital while Eric is doing his post doctorate. Ari, raised in southern California, is learning what temperatures below 0 feel like. I’m sure her sweet dog Lyra gets Ari outside on a regular basis!

This feels like another year of technology (ok, we are techno geeks.) I moved back to a smartphone after two years with a basic phone. We both got Samsung Galaxy Note II this summer. Then after becoming familiar with that, we decided to try a tablet and got the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. I was very grateful to have it in November when my desktop computer (that Neil had built me 5 years ago) died. I was able to easily keep up with email while waiting for a new laptop to be built and arrive. I was also able to start to prepare for Windows 8. Had I done the OS research before ordering the Toshiba, I might have listened to all my friends who rave about their Macs. But I do continue to do some training and felt I would need to learn the new Windows 8 environment eventually.

We continue to pray for peace on this earth and love for all. We are grateful for our simple life full of family, friends, love, and the beauty of each day and each sunset.
Sunset Time Lapse – 80 Minutes in 80 Seconds