We started out the year by enjoying Hamilton again, this time with Dean Keil and Gretchen Cochran. Later in January, we celebrated her 96th birthday with Liane’s mother, Mickey Thom. Her memory is not good, but otherwise she is blessed with very good health. At the end of the month I flew to Delray Beach, Florida for a visit with my brother Joel and sister-in-law Pam.
In March, we celebrated Kaia’s first birthday which, in Hawaii, is a big deal. She began day care in September only about 5 minutes from home and on the way to Nate’s work at Kamehameha Schools. So convenient. She loves it and runs off to the playground as soon as we drop her off. We are now enjoying watching her speech develop with new words every day.
Our first trip of the year was in June, a cruise on Portugal’s Duoro River. Port wine country. We were joined by sisters Amy Martin and Laura Rees, Phoebe Robinson (we met the three on our Egypt trip a few years ago), and Liane’s Maryknoll classmate, Laura Chong.
In July, I met Al Gramet in Bend, Oregon for a Backroads bike trip through the Cascade Mountains and up to Crater Lake. As a concession to our age, we used e-bikes for the first time. It made it much more of a vacation than a grind up and down the hills. A very relaxing and scenic week. And, as a bonus, Norm and Molly Reiss drove down from Salem to meet us for dinner in Bend. We had not seen them in 40+ years.
Only a few months later, I met up with Al again, but this time with wives Noreen and Liane for almost three weeks cruising from Barcleona to Venice. There was much variety, with stops in twelve ports in five countries.
Also, in September, I met up with David Roy, old friend, ski buddy, and co-worker from Boston, for a reunion during his Hawaii visit. I had not seen David for 32 years!
Liane has been very busy this year with her Hawaiian feather work. She helps her friend, Mele Kahalepuna Chun , at her Waikiki shop at least two days a week and full-time when Mele is traveling. In July, they both traveled to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to conduct workshops. She has enrolled in Mele’s two-year advanced feather work class which keeps her busy every night working on projects. Kim has been helping Mele with social media marketing and has also caught the bug, creating feather jewelry. The Field Museum in Chicago asked for some of Kim's creations to sell in its gift shop. Li is also enjoying her second year dancing with a new hula halau.
In April, I did the Maui Marathon again, this time only a few months before the tragic wildfires. A highlight of the race is the run right through Lahaina. I still cannot believe it is all gone. I am glad I got to visit one last time. Two weeks ago, I did another Honolulu Marathon. These are becoming a challenge as I shuffle into my late 70’s. Now, I am just glad to finish the same day I started. I have volunteered at local races for many years and now, with more time on my hands, I have become certified as a Race Director and am working with the local running club to be part of the team putting on races.
I continued to do background acting on Magnum PI, NCIS-Hawaii, and other local productions until the SAG-AFTRA strike put a halt to everything in July. Now that the strike is over, productions are gearing up again and I look forward to getting back to “work.”
Nate continues as the Dean of Academics at Kamehameha Middle School. Kim has just left her job as Vice President of Product at BallotReady and is looking forward to exploring some new projects in 2024. One activity that currently has her very excited and involved is working on an internship program for people getting into tech careers. They match the interns with local companies, assisting them in getting their careers started while helping to build the tech industry in Hawaii.
You may remember our trip to Antarctica last year was cancelled, due to damage to the ship we were to board, when we were already in Buenos Aires . We leave tonight for a second attempt and are very excited about enjoying the trip this time around.
With that, we wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2024.
Love and aloha,
Steve and Liane
In March, we celebrated Kaia’s first birthday which, in Hawaii, is a big deal. She began day care in September only about 5 minutes from home and on the way to Nate’s work at Kamehameha Schools. So convenient. She loves it and runs off to the playground as soon as we drop her off. We are now enjoying watching her speech develop with new words every day.
Our first trip of the year was in June, a cruise on Portugal’s Duoro River. Port wine country. We were joined by sisters Amy Martin and Laura Rees, Phoebe Robinson (we met the three on our Egypt trip a few years ago), and Liane’s Maryknoll classmate, Laura Chong.
In July, I met Al Gramet in Bend, Oregon for a Backroads bike trip through the Cascade Mountains and up to Crater Lake. As a concession to our age, we used e-bikes for the first time. It made it much more of a vacation than a grind up and down the hills. A very relaxing and scenic week. And, as a bonus, Norm and Molly Reiss drove down from Salem to meet us for dinner in Bend. We had not seen them in 40+ years.
Only a few months later, I met up with Al again, but this time with wives Noreen and Liane for almost three weeks cruising from Barcleona to Venice. There was much variety, with stops in twelve ports in five countries.
Also, in September, I met up with David Roy, old friend, ski buddy, and co-worker from Boston, for a reunion during his Hawaii visit. I had not seen David for 32 years!
Liane has been very busy this year with her Hawaiian feather work. She helps her friend, Mele Kahalepuna Chun , at her Waikiki shop at least two days a week and full-time when Mele is traveling. In July, they both traveled to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to conduct workshops. She has enrolled in Mele’s two-year advanced feather work class which keeps her busy every night working on projects. Kim has been helping Mele with social media marketing and has also caught the bug, creating feather jewelry. The Field Museum in Chicago asked for some of Kim's creations to sell in its gift shop. Li is also enjoying her second year dancing with a new hula halau.
In April, I did the Maui Marathon again, this time only a few months before the tragic wildfires. A highlight of the race is the run right through Lahaina. I still cannot believe it is all gone. I am glad I got to visit one last time. Two weeks ago, I did another Honolulu Marathon. These are becoming a challenge as I shuffle into my late 70’s. Now, I am just glad to finish the same day I started. I have volunteered at local races for many years and now, with more time on my hands, I have become certified as a Race Director and am working with the local running club to be part of the team putting on races.
I continued to do background acting on Magnum PI, NCIS-Hawaii, and other local productions until the SAG-AFTRA strike put a halt to everything in July. Now that the strike is over, productions are gearing up again and I look forward to getting back to “work.”
Nate continues as the Dean of Academics at Kamehameha Middle School. Kim has just left her job as Vice President of Product at BallotReady and is looking forward to exploring some new projects in 2024. One activity that currently has her very excited and involved is working on an internship program for people getting into tech careers. They match the interns with local companies, assisting them in getting their careers started while helping to build the tech industry in Hawaii.
You may remember our trip to Antarctica last year was cancelled, due to damage to the ship we were to board, when we were already in Buenos Aires . We leave tonight for a second attempt and are very excited about enjoying the trip this time around.
With that, we wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2024.
Love and aloha,
Steve and Liane