Mele Kalikimaka MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Aloha family and friends,
2010 was very exciting and fulfilling. June was the month of moving our beloved Mollie to a retirement village apartment. She has lots of new friends and her living room overlooks the pool....to see all the guys in bathing suits?!? Mollie celebrated her 87th birthday, July 4th. What an experience with Tai Chi lessons and a big party where Mr. Han, a music professor at UT, and his family, serenaded Mollie with lovely songs and a performance just for her!

"On the way home" from TX, I stopped in Denver to visit Summer. Sweet Basil, her puppy of 10 years, passed away. It was good to be with her during that time and spent 4 wonderful days just hanging out. Later in the year, Summer got Gracie to keep Reggie company. An extra Colorado treat was spending Maria's July birthday dinner with her and Tom. Sure wish Bob was with us.

Mitch and Julie are hard at work. The Springfield Academy has taken off and Julie now has a growing staff to manage. Mitch is positioning his already-successful-website for military training support to go live in 2011. Both Mitch and Julie are serving to create huge legacy. Aunt Jane and Uncle Mark generously had the traditional Morris gathering for Thanksgiving. We all miss
Vincent and surely his spirit was at this annual Morris event. Mendel "Skinny" was there with sweet Bobbie. Bobbie and Mendel are, along with Kay and Fred, the A+ KY grandparents.

This year Bob and I enjoyed a HUGE family trip. In August, we went to Phoenix, visited all the friends and family and had a wonderful dinner at Blue Adobe with Patrick, Sheri, Evalyn, Chuck, Michelle, and friends, Carrie and Grace. Then, to a golf resort in Sedona for a week and visited with Verletta, Bonnie and Barry. Back to Phoenix where Trish picked us up for an awesome birthday dinner with her, Michelle, Heather and Marilyn (see pics). We miss seeing Taeven but delight in all the positive changes for him and beautiful Michelle.

We drove with Evalyn and Chuck to a special Labor Day memorial for Cathy. It was held at a ranch in NM near El Paso. We celebrated Cathy's life with good music (live band), good food (Dave's BBQ) and lots of friends and family(Angela, Elora, Garrison, Mollie, Tom & Maria). Laurie rode Sunny (Cathy's horse) to a special place at sunset and scattered Cathy's ashes. We felt her spirit there with us, celebratin' too. God Bless her and may we keep her wisdom in our hearts to pass on. We are all grateful to have spent a little more time with Cathy. Much mahalo to Angela, Laurie, Tom and Maria for putting this event together for family and friends.

From Phx, Bob went to Las Vegas to celebrate his NY cousin Joey's birthday, along with cousin Angela and Joey's wife, Stephanie. A good time was had by all. I went straight to KY where Mark Aaron, age 6, and I played serious soldiers, Jacob, age 2 1/2, and I read books together and we visited with Caylyn, now a grown-up 15, as she was on her way to band practice, church, hanging out with friends (Benji), etc. We had several family dinners with Ray, Lee, Frank, Constance, Austin, Tony, Kim, Sara, Ashley, Beth, Liv and the Morris crew. Awesome!

As a grandparent tradition, Bob and I took Evan for his 11th birthday trip. We drove from KY to West Virginia, played golf there, then went to Virginia for a 3 day historical trip. We visited Jamestown, Williamsburg, and the Lost World Caverns in Lewisburg WV on the way back to KY. Evan is a handsome and polite young man and we truly enjoyed the trip with him. Whew...lots of people in costume showing history skits, beautiful old buildings, cannons, caves, breakfast at Waffle House almost every day and swimming at the hotel indoor pool/hot tub. What a fun trip for everyone, but we hope it was especially fun for Evan.

From Ky, I went to visit Tyson in Long Beach and his friend, Dawn Van Landingham. I stayed with Dawn's gracious parents, Susan and Steve, and had a wonderful day of garage sales with Ty. Ty is now working at United Health and he is planning to finish another university degree.

We are especially grateful for Ray's returned health. After chemo, he was given a second chance to enjoy more time with pretty Lee and the family. Thank God for this special holiday blessing.

We enjoyed visitors this year...Verletta, Michelle, Frank, Constance and Austin, Steve and Barbara Coffin, and pretty Dawn. Bob and I toured the Laie Temple with Steve and Barbara and Bob was very impressed. It was a glimpse into eternity to share. I was blessed to have a ticket for an inside-the-Temple seat when Pres. Monson rededicated it Nov 21. Families are Forever!

Summer is spending the 2010 holidays with us while Mitch, Julie and family spend the holidays in Denver at her place. Snow fun for them! Sun for her! We are truly blessed with health, prosperity and much aloha in the family. Bob continues to be the hero with his hard work and great contributions to community and family. He is the love of my life and keeps everyone informed via FaceBook with pictures of our trips. We celebrate our 11th anniversary 1/1/11 and we are thankful for all the opportunities to love and grow here in Hawaii. May the Christmas season be celebrated for the gift Christ gave for all of us to share.
LOVE!