This past year, we have had many joys: my Mom Audrey turned 90! Mailea and Daniel got married and bought their first house! We had multiple visits with Ariann, Eric, and our grandsons! and We loved traveling and having wonderful times visiting friends and family.

Through sorrow, we find peace: my father Robert passed away in March before his 91st birthday. We still miss Neil’s Mom but are happy to have Neil’s stepfather Morley living next door. We are sad that Ariann’s hospital closed its labor and delivery unit where she has worked as a nurse for over 10 years. We are happy she is enjoying time with her boys before she embarks on a new position in 2026.

At the beginning of 2025, I spent two winter months in Ohio with my Dad as he completed his life’s journey, passing away at home. I am so grateful for the precious time with him and with all my siblings who are currently living in Ohio. My Dad was alert and mindful to the very end. Such a blessing to be with him.

Another blessing was spending Mom’s 90^th birthday week in Hawaii along with her husband Bill plus my sister Pamela. Both my Mom and Bill are doing well and he wanted to gift her a trip to Hawaii for her 90th birthday, just like her 80th birthday. We had a fun birthday week celebrating Mom’s, Quentin’s and my birthdays all in the same week! We were thrilled to have a visit from my cousin Scott and his wife Sandra coincide with our join birthday lunch celebration.

Neil has had several family construction projects this year. He started designing a catio (cat patio) as soon as Mailea and Daniel made the offer on their house. Their house is in the newer area of Wailuku Heights and still needed the outside landscaping and concrete work done before catio construction could begin. In the meantime, Ariann and family wanted to replace the top boards on their back deck in Missoula. Neil and I flew there at the end of March and Neil’s high school friend Jeff drove up from Iowa to help. The repair became an unplanned complete rebuild of the deck when they found the wood underneath needed to be replaced as well. Neil extended his trip to work with Jeff, Ariann, and Eric to complete the project while I flew home to work.

Back home on Maui in April, Mailea and Daniel’s contractor backed out at the last minute, and Neil got recruited for help with concrete; a new experience for him. Mailea flew Jeff out from Iowa (bless his heart) and the 4 of them (along with the help of Daniel’s firefighting buddies on concrete pour days) transformed the yard into concrete patios, black rock pathways, and beautiful lawns in four weeks. All the experienced workers were amazed at how much they accomplished so fast.

Then the catio construction could finally begin. Neil and Jeff built an amazing pergola and enclosed it in wire for the enjoyment of our fur grandbabies. Mailea and Daniel and their 6 cats and kittens could finally move into their new home in June. Neil’s vision of the catio wasn’t complete yet, still needing interior perches, ramps, and walkways, but it was time for our summer travels.

We headed to Thailand to finally get my crowns on my upper molar implants. It is wonderful to be able to chew fully again! Neil also had some dental work done while there. We had two mini-trips planned between our initial and follow-up appointments over that 3-week visit. The first was to a hot springs resort on the River Khwae Noi, located between two national parks northwest of Kanchanaburi. The second was going to be a short jaunt into Laos.

For the first mini-trip we took the train on the route that became known as the Death Railroad. It got that name during World War II when the Japanese used allied POWs and Thai citizens as slaves to construct a railway route to Burma. Most of the 4-hour journey was through lush agricultural land, with the last hour or so becoming scenic along the river and among the hills and low mountains.

Finally, after a half-hour ride in the back of a pickup truck, we arrived at our resort villa with our own private hot tub overlooking the River Khwae Noi. We loved it. Beautiful, serene, relaxing, and many other things Bangkok is not. We are definitely nature people, not city people.

Sadly, while sightseeing I missed a step and twisted my ankle so badly I let Neil push me around in a wheelchair for a few days when needing to go to and from the room. It was much improved after a few days of alternating cold and hot water soaking. It was just as well because I needed more low-key time to recover from my dental procedures. It didn’t stop Neil though; he explored the nearby jungle and found an ancient Buddha cave along the river and someone’s pet elephant in a large corral near an indigenous community.

Dental work the following week was hard on both of us so we canceled our plans to visit Laos and instead we returned to our hot springs villa for another 4 days to relax and recover before our final appointments. I thought my work was finally done but then the dentist said my molar crowns are only temporary, and I would need to return for the permanent ones, sigh.

We returned home to Maui for a week and then headed to the mainland for our six-week trip, visiting my family in Ohio, Neil’s family in Minnesota, and Neil’s daughter’s family in Missoula, Montana. My Mom flew out to Ohio at the same time, and we had a large reunion on her side of the family. She has an older sister and younger brother still living in Ohio. Neil’s sister Cindy lives in Hastings, Minnesota, and her three children are all nearby. It was wonderful to spend time with each of them and their partners.

Our final mainland stop was in Missoula, where we got to spend fun days with Ari and Eric and our grandsons Patrick and Connor. Also, there was another unexpected construction project on the agenda. Ari spontaneously bought a metal storage shed from someone on Facebook, so Neil dug out a lot of dirt from the slope beside the garage and leveled the area with stones before he added a small wooden retaining wall and floorboards. We also helped Eric build a shade roof over a portion of their new deck.

I love visiting and traveling but it is always nice to get home. I had work booked for the Fall but my schedule wasn’t too busy. Neil figured that gave me plenty of time to help him finish the catio! His vision of more climbing ramps and walkways took form, and I was able to help support the woodworking as needed and do lots of painting. Mailea found the paint that exactly matched the house colors so it ended up looking gorgeously beautiful. The cats were so excited to explore each new addition as we finished them day-by-day. It didn’t take long for them to each find their favorite nap spots.

I enjoyed Mom and Bill’s October visit to Maui so much that I decided to join my brother Warren and visit them in California for Thanksgiving. I am glad I was there and had a good two weeks with them. Had I gotten to Mom’s a few weeks earlier, I could have also seen my sister Melanie and her husband Will, but Neil and I had seen them in Ohio earlier in the summer.

Neil had one more construction project to do this year and this time it was for us. Using nothing but spare lumber left from other projects, He built a deck adjoining the sugar shack. It gives us easier access to our storage area in the sugar shack as well as a nice deck for the BBQs and general use. I wonder what projects he will come up with next year!

Neil’s stepfather Morley still lives independently next door. In November he needed some extra caregiving, so his daughter Marylin came out for the month to help. Daughter Liz also came out to celebrate his 88th birthday in the middle of the month. It was great to spend time with them.

In December, Neil’s daughter Ariann came to Maui and stayed with her sister in her new home. We had a time with her during her five days whirlwind visit including hiking, snorkeling, dinners, and shopping.

Christmas is approaching so quickly. How did that happen? We are keeping gift giving to a minimum and focusing on spending time with family and communicating with friends. We send each of you much love and joy. We pray this world reaches peace that passes understanding, and that love shines brightly through all humanity.

Click into the website and then click on the first photo below and arrow through the album to read more about our adventures with family and friends. There are descriptions under each photo giving more detail.

I can’t believe that it is 2025 already. We are looking forward to a fabulous new year for America and for the world. I pray for peace in this world every day.

This past 2024, we spent a lot of time enjoying our home on Maui. We worked on our cottage and property and enjoyed tending to our various plants. We had a fun excursion ziplining both upcountry in Kula and over on the Lahaina side. Our traveling included trips to visit family on the mainland and going to Thailand for my dental work. We did several web posts about the Thailand trip. I have at least one more trip to schedule this coming year to Thailand to complete getting crowns on the implants.

One heartbreak this year: we weren’t able to go visit Neil’s daughter Ari, Eric, and our grandsons in Missoula, Montana. We are grateful for Duo video calls, and we look forward to an in-person visit this summer with lots of playing and hugs.

We are very fortunate to have Neil’s daughter Mailea, and her boyfriend Daniel live just a few minutes away from us.  We enjoy dinners, game nights, outings, and work projects with them in addition to being kitty grandparents.

My great-nephew Quentin, 24, continues to live on Maui and is currently working in a legal office as receptionist and paralegal. He enjoys it but would like to get back to a technical IT career. I enjoy the few times I get to see him each year. We did have a wonderful Christmas meal with Quentin last week.

I was very happy to get to visit my mom Audrey, 89, and her husband Bill in Ridgecrest for a few days in December. We were having such a great time visiting that I forgot to take photos. I will include one from 2 years ago. They haven’t changed much. They are both doing well in their mature years, but Bill has a cancerous growth on his ear that he is having treated.

My dad Bob celebrated his 90th birthday in April and my siblings put together a great party where nearly 80 friends and family came to celebrate with him. I visited Dad at the beginning of April and again in the summer and this past December. The sad news is he has been diagnosed with Leukemia and it has moved to his lymph nodes; they have labeled the diagnosis as CLL. He has decided to stop the extensive hospital treatments and enter the hospice program. We fully support him in his decision. My siblings Pamela, Melanie and her husband Will, and my brother Warren, all live within 15 minutes of him and they are taking great care of him. I am headed back to Ohio next week to enjoy time with him as he is growing very short of breath and low on energy. Dad’s wife Jane is still in a care home, also on hospice, and has been bed ridden since last April. Dad visits her once or twice a day.

Neil’s stepfather Morley continues to live next door to us. He has slowed down and has stopped driving, but he is still completely independent at home.  We do help with his shopping and drive him to his doctors’ appointments.

Thank you all for your recent cards, letters, and communications. We are grateful to hear from you and hear all your news. Sending you love and prayers for a prosperous new year.

Click into the website and then click on the first photo below and arrow through the album to read more about our adventures with family and friends. There are descriptions under each photo giving more detail. You can look at the previous posts if you want to see more about our international travels.

Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Joyous New Year

We wish you all a wonderful holiday with family and friends. We are going to take a week off to celebrate Christmas with our Maui family. We will continue our trip reports soon. Thank you to all of you for messages and cards about how much you are enjoying our travel adventures. We continue to pray for peace and love in the world.

We are grateful to live in Hawaii during this time of lockdowns. With the sparkling ocean right outside our front door and plenty of time for gourmet home cooking, we adopted the phrase our dear friend Eric used, Sparkling Isolation. Businesses closed, parks closed, beaches closed, but the ocean never closed—the ocean was always open for water sports. Hawaii became un-welcoming to guests in mid-March and the tourist industry died. Hawaii had one of the highest unemployment rates in the US since tourism is the main industry. On the plus side, traffic was light, beaches were not crowded, and the skies were quiet.

Although the 14-day quarantine requirement ended for visitors to the islands in mid-October, the continued restrictions have limited the reopening of many business. April 2021 is the next date on my calendar when I will be working the first corporate group coming to Maui.

January of this year started in sadness with the passing of Neil’s mother Virginia Cooper. She took a fall before Thanksgiving (2019) and never regained her strength. After two hospital visits, she was able to be home with hospice care and was surrounded by family when she passed on January 24, 2020. Jean’s sense of humor kept her joking all through her bedridden last days. Morley was ever present to love Jean and make her comfortable.  Neil continued kidding his mom daily to let her know she’s loved. Jean’s granddaughter Stephanie and great-grandson Jonathan brought great joy to Grammadude by visiting for two weeks over Christmas and New Years. Jean’s daughter Cindy had fun filled times with her mom in the days right before her passing. Granddaughter Mailea arrived in time to be present with Grammadude at her passing. Jean had calls and video calls with her other grandchildren Ariann, Keegan, Gillian, Kalli, and great-grandsons Patrick and Conner keeping her surrounded by love.

Morley is doing well living on his own next door to us. We visit often to exchange stories, bring treats, and help out as needed.

There were many joys this year: Neil’s daughter Mailea married Rusty Hessel on our beach on November 12, 2020. They originally wanted the wedding in Spring or Summer, but had to postpone when the lockdowns and travel restrictions went into effect. When a short window of opportunity opened up, it was a whirlwind of planning, cooking, decorating, and celebrating. The bachelor party was a successful day on a fishing boat. The bachelorette party was an awesome horseback ride in upcountry Maui. We enjoyed activities and getting to know our new grandson Henry Hessel, age 10.

My nephew Will Levy IV married Meghan Plumb on October 31, 2020 in Key Largo, Florida.  I celebrated with them through photos. My niece Madison Shelton was at the wedding and a few days later gave birth to her second son, Cole Isaac, on November 5.

My great-nephew Quentin lives in Kihei near us with his girlfriend Kai. His is a server at Outback Steakhouse and Kai is finishing a course to be an Esthetician.

We are grateful that all our family is doing well on the mainland and we really missed being able to take our summer trip to visit them this year. We communicate by phone often. Neil’s daughter Ariann is so wonderful about making weekly video calls allowing us to interact with our lively grandsons Patrick (turns 5 on January 9^th), and Connor (turns 2 on January 28^th). We loved getting to see them open some their Christmas gifts this year.

Neil has been wanting a truck for a long time and it was finally time to get one when we turned in our leased Kia Optima. We have a beautiful new Honda Ridgeline. Within the first week, we put it to work getting 2 loads of composted landscape soil to raise up our carpeted driveway to eliminate a sharp drop-off from the cement parking pad. While we were at it, we levelled an area for the BBQs and new smoker. There are always projects around the house and yard to keep us busy. We love to cook and have enjoyed trying new recipes while in Sparkling Isolation but we were also incredibly happy when the restaurants reopened in June so we could enjoy a meal out occasionally.

Wishing you all a Sparkling NON-Isolation New Year!

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The year also had deep sorrow in the passing of Neil’s brother-in-law Dan Knak in July in Hastings Minnesota. We had planned our summer trip to the mainland for August but we moved it ahead a few weeks to rush to Minnesota to help Cindy, Neil’s sister, when Dan took a critical downturn in his long fight against leukemia. As such things go, Dan’s passing was a beautiful bittersweet thing because there was so much love and wonderful laughter along with the sorrow.

We flew to Ohio for Harter and Kreischer family time. My Mom was visiting from California and my sister Melanie drove from her new home in South Carolina. We had all the siblings (and parents) together since Pamela and Warren now live in Ohio near Dad. We had a great time visiting, working together, family reunions, a trip to Ohio Caverns, and a tour of the Airstream factory. It all ended too soon and we flew back to Minnesota for a few more days with Cindy’s family. Mailea flew in from Washington while we were there so she could reconnect with her aunt and cousins. One highlight with her was an early-morning kayak exploration down the Kinnickinnic River lead by Keegan.

The last part of our trip was spending two weeks in Missoula, Montana, with Ariann, Eric, Patrick and Connor. It was an active time playing with a 3 ½ year old and an 8 month old. We had a lot of adventures together, including a road trip together to Skalkaho Falls, Georgetown Lake, and Phillipsburg. They are lucky boys to have such wonderful parents.

We got back home after being gone seven weeks and started on house projects! A major reorganizing of the kitchen took place to make room for the new flat bottom wok. We decided to cook with more vegetables and are developing wonderful recipes. We put up new outdoor blinds that keep the house much cooler from the tropical afternoon sun. We added a motion detection porch light and more flowers and herbs to our hanging planters. We upgraded some electronics and ordered a new dehydrator. Right now we are making black garlic (3-4 weeks of dehydrating!) and are very excited to make some mango fruit leather next.

Our Maui adventures included a tour of the last remaining Pineapple Plantation in Hawaii and the Haili’maile Distillery which uses those pineapples in their Vodka and other spirits they produce. For my birthday, we went rappelling down waterfalls and parasailing over Lahaina.

I continue my work as a Travel Director. My “season” is January to June but there were also a few Fall events which I worked in September and October. I am booked into 2020. Neil worked for Hilo Hattie’s through July. He is now working for a local organization on a project planning an eco-village that will incorporate permaculture, aquaculture, and education, with eco-tourism.

Right before Thanksgiving, Neil’s mom Jean took a fall and went in the hospital for a week. She was home a week and continued to get weaker rather than gain back strength. While trying to help her to the car to go to a routine doctor visit, she collapsed and 911 was called again. She was in ICU for 4 days and is now in the Telemetry Unit. Neil and I have been taking her husband Morley to visit her daily. The doctors are planning to eventually move Jean to a Rehab facility where they hope she will get her strength back. Right now, she can stand for only a few minutes with a walker, and not take any steps at all. She has a positive attitude and still has her sights set on returning home.

Quentin decided not to return to the cold and rainy University of Portland. He is currently working on both a photography career and working as a small business sales consultant on Maui.

Sending much love and wishes for a wonderful new year to all of you!

Photo gallery below:
If you are viewing this in a browser, clicking on any photo thumbnail brings up the full size photo with a description. To easily see them all, use the arrow buttons or keys to move through the full size gallery photos with descriptions. If you are receiving this in an email and don’t see a photo gallery below, please click into my webpage to view all the photos!