This October 2016, Quentin turned 16, I turned another Big-Oh year, my mom turned another year younger, and a new great-nephew was born. That is four great-grandsons born to my mom and dad in the last year and a half. (Mom is still waiting for a new great-granddaughter for the little dress she is saving.)

Will Jackson Levy was born to Meghan Plumb and Will Levy IV (Melanie’s son) on October 5, 2016, in Maryland 3:52am at 7lbs 20.5 inches long. They plan to call him Jackson and he is a precious little bundle of joy.

Jesse Blue, born June 30, 2015 to Hailey McAllister (Warren’s daughter) and Blue Harrington, just turned 15 months old as October began. I have so far only gotten to see him grow through Facebook photos.

Madden James Shelton born September 9, 2015, to Madison (Melanie’s daughter) and Dennis Shelton turned 13 months old. I visited him at 1 month old in Maryland. On the same day that Jackson was born, Madden’s parents signed the papers to purchase their first house. I just found out they made the move to their new home the Saturday before Thanksgiving after major renovations. I am still waiting for photos!

And Patrick Hayden Schultz born January 9, 2016, to Ariann (Neil’s daughter) and Eric Schultz turned 9 months old. I wrote about Neil and my June visit in a previous post. Until our next visit, we love seeing him grow through videos and photos that Ari sends us.

Raven, a friend of Quentin’s, had a surprise beach party for him the Saturday before his birthday. We guests were hiding on the boardwalk to the beach when we saw him coming. I think he didn’t have any idea until he was walking up and saw all the food and coolers around, then everyone jumped out. Raven had invited several of his friends, ordered the cake, and got Quentin out of the house for a beach day early on a Saturday morning (impressive), but had a lot of help from Vajra and Nadia who organized food, games, and cake pickup! I also went up to the house on the night of his 16^th birthday for a family/friends dinner and birthday cake. Quentin enjoyed all the attention but inbetween was busy working on has advanced math homework. He did get all A’s on his first quarter report card so his work paid off.

Quentin requested a new computer for his birthday (and Christmas) asking if the family could help with some funding, Great grandparents, grandparents, and aunties came through with some solid funding, and Quentin has a job a few days a week for the rest. He waited till Cyber Monday and ordered a great machine to the specifications he wanted. He told me it just arrived last Tuesday and it is perfect! He will be busy over the winter school break setting it up the way he wants. He said his last computer lasted him 10 years (was running Vista and SLOWWWW) and he expects this one to last him as long. Yes, he is a gamer but he is good about checking his email now and communicating with Grandma Beamer and his dad!

My birthday was a wonderful but quiet day. My good friend Robin took me for a special lunch and had a beautiful lei ready for me at the restaurant. Morley and Jean came over and sang happy birthday and I had many calls and wishes from family and friends. We had a delicious dinner at home. Neil and I had plans to go out but to make a long story short, he had been cut off by a jeep while riding our scooter weeks before and was still recovering from deep road burns. The Friday after Thanksgiving we went out for our “birthday night” activity to Warren and Annabelle’s Magic show in Lahaina. I laughed and laughed and was thoroughly entertained by the two comedic illusionists. It is a small intimate theater and the illusionist were amazing; I can’t figure out how they did any of it.

Neil spent time looking for birthday gift ideas for me. Life is simple and I don’t need much. He was looking at a food processor that has the bread dough mixing option but I said my processor is still fine. I finally realized that what I wanted was to get my teeth worked on. Once that decision was made, within two weeks I was in Thailand. That’s a story for another post!

Quentin turned 15 on October 18. He is a sophomore in high school and becoming a mature young man. (How would I define mature? Maybe that he is willing to have conversations with adults, ha) He has grown tall enough to look me in the eye! He used to hate to have his hair cut but 6 months ago when great-grandma and I took him for a hair cut, he requested a new short style. He moved to Hana last month with his mom Vajra and her fiancé Tane (pronounced Taa-nay).

Last Sunday, Neil and I drove over to Hana to celebrate Quentin’s birthday with him. He requested a beach day at Hamoa Beach but first we stopped to see their new home. They are living up a steep, steep driveway that needs a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get up to the house. We parked at the bottom and walked up! They also have to walk it themselves every day while Vajra is repairing her truck. They are all getting good exercise, especially on grocery day. They are cleaning up the house and doing repairs as part of their work/rent exchange. Quentin has his own room downstairs with his x-box and his keyboard. Only problem right now is no connectivity: no cell phone reception, no land line, no internet. They are working to get a wireless service which will provide a phone and internet but right now we leave messages on a cell phone that they can pick up when they go in to Hana town.

We were fortunate to have a gorgeous sunny day after they had 3 prior days of rain. We moved down the beach to a grassy area past groups of visitors and locals enjoying the sun and the surf. Tane headed to the waves with his surf board while Quentin went out on his boogie board. I got a couple of telephoto shots of him on the water waiting for a wave. We put candles in the chocolate cupcakes I made him and we sang him happy birthday. Quentin shared his birthday cupcakes with nearby people on the beach rather than have the ant population swarm them! Very thoughtful of him.

Once everyone had enough sun, we dropped them back at their driveway for their walk up the hill. Neil and I drove back the winding road known as “the road to Hana.” From our convertible we enjoyed the green hills and valleys and ocean views and eventually the sunset colors in the clouds as we made the 2 hour drive back home.

We celebrated Christmas this year with Mom and Bill at their new condo. Vajra, Quentin and Sophie joined us for the afternoon. What a feast we had: SO good. After the meal, the kids had some pool time. Then it was time to open presents. Definitely a wonderful family fun filled day.