A pretty relaxed year, as it turned out. In February, long time friends, Bill and Bobbie McCuskey visited for a week. We had great fun seeing the sights and discussing retirement homes. RETIREMENT HOMES?! Well … we consumed copious amounts of food and wine to make those discussions palatable! And that's what good friends are for.

February also brought a visit from son, Malcolm Gaylord, with wife, Allison and daughter Maggie Mae. Daughter, Sybil Gaylord, joined all of us for the second week of that visit. Lots of beach going and sight seeing, but Bev’s participation was rather limited because she was recovering from a bad case of the flu. Maggie Mae, at 2, really enjoyed the sand and the water, not to mention the geckos.

In April we ventured to the Big Island for a peek at the lava. The trip was thrown badly askew by the chaos in local air transportation brought on by the shut down of Aloha Airlines. Air quality was touch and go due to the spewing forth of sulfur dioxide by the new vent in Halema’uma’u Crater. And, of course, the lava decided to change course and emerge out of our site. Nevertheless, the wind blew the bad fumes toward Kona, allowing us to spend a night in Volcano House and enjoy a couple of lovely hikes.

Leo and Bev were destined for some separate vacations this year. Bev spent May in Homer, AK with granddaughter, Maggie Mae and parents. She was joined again by daughter, Sybil, as well as long time friend, Jackie Farr, from Anchorage. Is there anything more fun than playing with a 2½ year old?

In July, Leo visited his dad in Greensboro, NC; then drove to the family fishing camp in West Virginia, to spend a week with siblings, cousins, son, grandsons, etc. on the Elk River — doing everything BUT fishing. After driving back to Greensboro for another couple of days with his dad, he flew to Santa Rosa, CA, to visit his boyhood friend, Gordon Boultbee, and play in two croquet tournaments — the Maui Croquet Club at Sonoma-Cutrer Croquet Club, and the Meadowood Croquet Classic.

In August, Bev left for another month in Homer, during which, son, Malcolm, broke his ankle. Leo joined her for the last 2 weeks, and we did our best to distract Maggie Mae who, though concerned that her daddy had a big "owie", couldn’t quite understand why he wasn’t able to play with her.

In November, Leo handily won the Maui Croquet Club Championship tournament, to insure that the grim Tiki statue will grace our home for yet another year. Argh!

Also in November, Leo joined his dad’s friend, Greg Marshall, from the Great Hawaiian Air Race days, on a trip to Hana to discuss salvaging Charles Lindburgh’s Maui home, Argonauta. Greg subsequently joined us and 9 other friend for Thanksgiving dinner, which was special for us, since we haven’t been home for Thanksgiving the last 2 years.

December started off with a bang with news that both of grandsons, Jason’s and Jesse’s soccer teams did very well, coached by their father Jeff. Jason's team came in third in the area, with Jason as a courageous goalie. Jesse’s team won the area championship, with Jesse as an outstanding fullback. Son and grandsons have made us so proud!

Also in December, Greg Marshall visited Leo's dad in Greensboro, NC. They had a wonderful time talking engineering and flying. Our thanks go out to Greg for bring such joy to Leo's dad.