The beginning of the year brought new friends, friends moving around, friends recovering from illness, and a new time for bonding. With the changes revolving around us, Neil and I are still centered in our little cottage by the sea. It is small but fulfills our needs as a beautiful living and working space.

My bonding time was with Quentin. I took care of him for almost three weeks in January and another week the end of February. The reason is Quentin’s grandmother, Marjorie, was diagnosed with a brain tumor late in 2011. Her major surgery took place in mid January on Oahu. I am happy to say that the doctor feels he got out the majority of disease and Marjorie is stable and happy at home again. Vajra accompanies her mother to Oahu as caregiver. Vajra also look the Certified Nursing Assistant course on Oahu in January while her mother was recovering from the surgery.

I spent the nights with Quentin in his Kula home and would drop him at school in the morning, come to Kihei for the day, then pick him up at end of day, and we would have evening time together before his bedtime. On weekends, we would would spend a night or two in Kihei with Neil. For the sunsets, we went to Kalama park where Neil and I enjoyed the shore walk and the sunset colors while Quentin got to ride his new bike! Being new to bike riding it was a bit scary at first but soon he was going faster than the wind!

After the surgery Vajra and Quentin moved from Kula back to Paia to share the house with Marjorie. Quentin remains at the same school and is very happy about that. I helped with packing and cleaning the Kula home, then spent another week with Quentin in Paia when Marjorie needed an emergency surgery. All successful.

Our friend Sue is off to Egypt and Ireland for 3 to 4 months of exploring plus energy and spiritual work. We are so excited for her. Those are countries I haven’t yet visited so I’m living vicariously through her emails and blog. She introduced us to a new friend, Brigitte, from the big island. Brigitte was spending a few months visiting Maui. We enjoyed a few afternoon teas, went for a beautiful hike in Iao Valley together, and another day Neil and Brigitte drove around East Maui to hike and explore. Neil continued to work with the new camera and has processed a few more High Dynamic Range composite photos that are at the end of the gallery below.