On Saturday October 3rd, I watched the gradual start to the day enjoying my cup of coffee.
This was going to be a long day that got the best of some of us. Andrew was already down for the count sequestered in his room with a fever. The rest of us got into our two cars and started the trip to Haleakala National Park. This will be part 1 of our experiences this day.
“No place can prepare you for the experiences and feelings you will have on the summit of Haleakalā volcano. The landscape—deeply sculpted, richly colored, and forever changing—is unlike anywhere else on Earth.”
Stephen Tyng Mather
“He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done.”
If you’d like to read more about the legacy of Mather click here.
This trip was not for the faint of heart. Although it was only 53 miles from our resort with the hairpin turns going from an elevation of 500 to 10,023 it took close to two hours. The Pu’u’ula’ula summit was our destination. We were above the clouds at this height and above the path of several planes we saw, too. Our grands were traveling troopers! Some of our crew suffered severe altitude issues with their ears.
The Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory (HO) site is located near the summit of Haleakalā on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The site was formally designated for observatory use by an executive order of the Governor of Hawaiʻi in 1961, and has been managed and operated by the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) to support high-quality, high-impact research, education, and space surveillance since then. HO is not part of the Haleakalā National Park and is not open to the general public. (Top photo of the collage above)
We were all excited that Laura captured a sighting of the NeNe Birds! Click on NeNe for more info.
This caution was heeded and it was hard to walk with confidence at this elevation. I was a wee bit light headed and not confident of my steps.
Thankfully the trip down the mountain elevations seemed quicker. We stopped at the lower park headquarters and visitor center and enjoyed some sandwiches we made for this trip. It was so good to get back on relatively straight roads for our next adventure. That will be another post.
1. Do you think you’re driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain.
Oh boy, this one is tough. I am a very curious person but I choose to seek things out in comfortable settings. I love to discover new places and historical sites etc., but I’m not traveling to unstable regions of the world to see those places. I won’t walk into dangerous situations. Enough of my curiosity can be satiated in comfort and safety.
2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer?
Cold packs for our shopping trips to Costco which is 90 minutes away from us.
3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you’re home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What’s your favorite place to find silence/be silent?
I do enjoy worship music being on while I do household things but I don’t consider that noise. I’m not a fan of background noise in general. After very noisy functions I let out a sigh of relief as we get in the car and head home. I like quiet in the morning while I read my Bible and other books and make my lists for the day.
4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping…which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?
Landscaping with a lot of muscle included so I could clean up my planters and know what to prune, what to pull and what to leave alone.
5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others?
I lean more toward independent and less needy. Sometimes being independent doesn’t serve me well in ministry, though. I’ve had to learn to ask for help more and more the older I get. I’m not a great recruiter. I admire people who are good at it! Genuine neediness is okay with me. Professional neediness drives me up the wall and what I mean by professional neediness is those who think the world and those around them owe them everything without a hint of gratefulness for what they are handed.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We just got back from a trip to Maui with our family plus our DIL’s mother and Granny. I’m starting my posts of our time there. As usual there will be a lot of photos from our days and our adventures while there.
Our son Dan did all the preliminary planning of the more involved events like snorkeling, zip-lining, pineapple farm, etc. so the drives would be coordinated instead of zig zagging all around the island. Thanks, Dan.
On Friday October 2nd he planned a relaxing free day with no special events.
We had pool time and beach time and lots of photo time. We ended the day with dinner at Duke’s Restaurant which was right on our resort property.
Greg and I were captured on the path as we walked to Duke’s for an afternoon refreshment.
Granny Great got hit by a wave! Walking to find some famous Hawaii Shaved Ice…
A Wheelchair was rented to save Granny Great from the extra long stretches of walking.
There be three gentle and goodlie things
To be here
To be together
And to think well of one another
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L.M. Montgomery (from Pat of Silver Bush)
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Thank you, to Lorrie (Fabric Paper Thread) for posting this quote I lifted for our time in Hawaii.
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I was reading an article from Paul Tripp Ministries while in Maui and the title of a new teaching series (Mercy Triumphs over Judgement) where he shared his favorite verse of 2026,
James 2:13:
“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
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As I sat amongst the twelve of us in Maui with different quirks and different personalities I thought this was a perfect verse to dwell on and consider…
Our third day was a full travel to experiences day. Saturday will take a few posts to cover.
Our travel journal begins early on Thursday October 1st as we picked up our Colville family for our ride together to the Spokane Airport at 6am. The ride to the airport is about 2 hours from our homes. Our son dropped us off at the Alaska terminal with all our luggage that he tetrised into the back of our vehicle masterfully. I should have taken a photo!
We established our base camp and waited for the first leg of our flight to Maui which included a change of airplanes in Seattle.
Our kids from the Seattle side of the state were on a flight from Seattle earlier than our flight would be.
They arrived at our resort before us and paved the way for our easy entry.
We had the last two rows on the short ride from Spokane to Seattle. The flight attendants gave us some good laughs before we took off.
Mount Rainier was visible on our flight into Seattle.
The Puget Sound on our descent. We had enough time at Seatac airport for a quick bite before we boarded our next flight that would be approximately five and a half hours to Maui.
All aboard and ready to go on our final leg to Maui.
We saw a lot of the Pacific ocean before we finally saw land!
What a welcomed sight!
I took this photo above from the airport in Maui. Our Seattle crew of four secured two vehicles for our time in Maui. Our vehicle was waiting for us in the parking lot just across from our terminal exit. Another tetris job by our son and we had luggage for 8 and seating for 8 all set and ready for our hour+ trip to our resort.
Our daughter and daughter-in-law met us as we drove up to the resort with our room codes and to show us the lay of the land. Our first glimpse of our view from the condo was jaw dropping. The twelve of us enjoyed two condos side by side for the duration of our stay.
After we settled into our rooms, a walk down to the beach was on the agenda.
Looking back at our lodgings, Honua Kai Resort and Spa.
Looking north.
Looking South…
One of our side by side decks with some of our crew.
Our Seattle crew of four had already made the trip to Costco to stock up on water, snacks, breakfast and lunch items for the week. Our dinners would be eaten out at restaurants or the nearby food truck court.
Thursday was done and we were all looking forward to a relaxing Friday with nothing on the agenda.
Mahalo for stopping by today. More adventures coming tomorrow.
Happy Columbus Day here in the U.S.A. and a very Happy Thanksgiving Day to our friends in Canada!
This has been our view from our home away from home for the last 8 days. Our travels home started on Maui time Friday October 9th and we arrived in the wee hours of Saturday October 10th. I’ll be recuperating before I flood my blog with our Maui adventures. Aloha and Mahalo for stopping by today.
Ellen B. is still away from her computer until next week but wanted to leave you with this recipe since we have entered pumpkin season.
My family has a favorite easy Spice Cake that I’ve made over the years and I decided to switch it up a bit for pumpkin season. Instead of using applesauce that the original recipe called for I used 100% pure canned pumpkin and pumpkin spice instead of nutmeg.
It’s time for the first Autumn Hodgepodge of 2026. Thank you, Joyce!
1. Fall arrives this week in the northern hemisphere. Does it look/feel like fall where you live?What’s something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel its officially fall?
*If you’re answering today from the southern hemisphere feel free to sub spring for the word fall.
The corn maze is a Fall event we love to do. The Marcus Cider Fest is another event in our area that definitely screams Fall!
2. What’s a small daily task or chore that always seems to fall through the cracks when your schedule gets busy?
Planning and making meals.
3. What’s something you’re falling for lately?
Scones with clotted cream and lemon curd. They were served at the Bridal tea I attended on Saturday and it is confirmed that I’m a fan!
4. Pumpkin is a popular flavor this time of year. Are you a fan? What’s your favorite pumpkin flavored food or beverage?
Pumpkin flavor is okay but I’m not crazy for the flavor especially in drinks. I can enjoy pumpkin in cookies.
5.What’s something you wish would never change? Explain.
The love our family has for each other. Our dear Pop/Dzeda would say to his family members, “Love each other, stay together”
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I was in Southern California until yesterday getting home in the late afternoon/evening. I did not visit blogs while I was away. Our family was taking our dear old pop’s advice. We had a lot of together moments!
When I went to link up this morning for the Hodgepodge we had the news from Joyce that her dear Mama passed away earlier this week. Our hearts and prayers are with you, Joyce, and with your whole family.
1. How do you feel about the transition from lazy summer days to a busier fall routine?
I’ve always loved the transition from summer to fall. Even the years I was in school, I welcomed with excitement going back. These days I enjoy the fact that Ladies Bible studies will start up again and there will be more order in our days. I enjoy Fall weather and Fall events like cider fest and the corn maze.
2. Your favorite cookie?
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I like homemade Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookies with oatmeal, walnuts, almonds, and sometimes coconut!
I use the toll house recipe and load them up with extras.
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3. What’s something you’ve learned from a culture different than your own?
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I grew up in Southern California just outside East Los Angeles and the neighborhoods we lived in were multi cultural with Mexicans, Jews, Russians, Armenians, Japanese, Scots, and Heinz 57 Americans. I included Scots, although I only first heard of anyone who was Scottish in 5th grade when Karen’s parents moved to Montebello and she was introduced as a new student in our class. I was enthralled with her from the start and she taught me a few Scottish dance moves that we shared with the class for show and tell. I think we sang a song, too, The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomand.
Apart from the great food we enjoyed in the homes of my friends from these cultures, I learned about the Jewish custom of coming of age.
A bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah are both Jewish coming-of-age milestones. A bar mitzvah (“son of commandment’) marks the religious maturity of a boy at the age 13, while a bat mitzvah (daughter of the commandment) marks the religious maturity of a girl, traditionally at age 12.
I was invited to one of my Jewish friends Bat Mitzvah and I was blown away by the lavishness of the celebration!
These are my multi-cultural Cheer friends from my high school at a Russian dinner at my house before a football game. (My Scottish friend from 5th grade, Karen, is the one with the rollers in her hair). We would have a meal at a different Cheer members home before Varsity games. They are eating borsch. That was just one of the food items my mother prepared for them. I think I see piroshky on the table, also. After the meal we would all get our cheer clothes on and head to the game for a night where we would work off every calorie we ate at dinner!
This is one of my best buddies from school days, Nanc. I spent a lot of time in her home where I learned how to make guacamole and we learned every popular Leslie Gore song by heart. Her parents brought me along to Mexican restaurants with them and to the downtown wholesale fashion district for shopping. Growing up, my family did not eat in restaurants so that was an eye opening experience all its own. Her dad drove a Volkswagon Square back and we spent many miles in that little car. One summer when she got back from visiting her uncle who was a jeweler in Mexico City she gifted me the ring below that he made for me.
While we were living in Camarillo for a short time Nanc and I reconnected online and we met up a couple of times for meals and to catch up on life. The photo above is of one of our meet ups. I hadn’t seen her for 40 years! There is a long story about that…
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4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic…which hat would you most like to wear? Tell us why.
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Of these choices I’d choose the Food Critic hat because I love to travel and I love to try new restaurants and eat good food. I’d have a hard time writing bad critiques, though. I’ll just choose to be a traveler and enjoy trying new food in different places and being satisfied.
I’m not a film buff, or the reader of a variety of genres, and I’m definitely not artsy.
5. What’s a small, random thing from your childhood that you still remember clearly?
This will give you a little insight into my character. I remember hiding from my mother and father on Saturday mornings because I did not want to go to Russian School. When they found me, I would stomp my feet and say, “I’m an American!”. Well that didn’t work. In my latter years I was thankful to have learned the Russian alphabet and to learn to read and write in Russian.
To say “I am American” in Russian, use Я американец (if you are male) or Я американка (if you are female). If you want to say “I am from America” or “from the USA,” you can say Я из Америки or Я из США.
Я американка, Yah Amereekanka, I am American.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
These questions pulled up a lot of memories from my past.
Catching up with some events from the last week. The super moon lit up the sky and our acres. So bright, it was almost as if we had street lights.
Addy’s last basketball game of the short season was on Saturday morning, the 6th of December.
As usual she played hard and well.
After the game all the ladies and JJ took in the Lady Lion’s craft fair in Kettle Falls. When we saw all we wanted to see we met up for lunch at TJ’s in Kettle Falls. Addy and JJ sat across the table from me and I took this shot of them.
Before the rains came and while the snow was still good enough for sledding, our Colville kids searched out their Christmas tree for 2025.
On Sunday while on greeting duty, I took this photo of the entry at our church. The Joy is real.
Our son planned a very special weekend in Nashville to celebrate Laura’s birthday. When they arrived an unexpected surprise for Laura was that cousins David and Kristin joined them for the celebration. It was an epic weekend for the four of them.
This is Nashville, not Iceland. Ice at Gaylord Opryland Resort.
All four of them described this weekend as unforgettable.
Monday was cheesecake baking day here at our country bungalow. I made two for our annual Staff/Deacon Christmas dinner which will be on Tuesday the 9th. While I mixed and baked our Christmas CDs were playing. While I was finishing up we got these two photos of our grands helping their Great Grandmother decorate her little corner tree.
This was our comp dessert at our anniversary getaway last week that I wanted to remember. It is a cotton candy sundae and it was delicious and unique.
In other news, I’m happy to report that our Christmas cards were mailed on Monday. This always comes with a sigh of relief and a smile of satisfaction.
Hopefully, I’ll remember to take photos at our dinner party tonight along with the finished cheesecakes.
Saturday the 29th of November we shopped small on Main street in Colville.
While we shopped the guys entertained themselves with chopping a lot of wood and then enjoyed table games.
Plans were afoot on this day to celebrate Auntie Lolo’s birthday early since we wouldn’t be together for her actual birthday on December 3rd. The birthday theme was lemon/lemons, a favorite flavor for Laura.
Jamie embroidered this special sweatshirt for Laura with her beloved title, Auntie Lolo! Addy and JJ helped with some of the embroidery.
Laura looked at this purse while we were shopping and she admired it enough that Katie snuck it up to the register to purchase it for Laura’s birthday gift. I didn’t take a photo of the solar decorative hummingbird lights that we gave her for their outdoor patio.
Lemon and pistachio Macarons that our son Dan made were the ‘birthday cake’. Dan has mastered the art of making them!
There is a back story to this drink that Katie had never tasted. While the guys were at the grocery store Andrew found it for her to try.
More Skyjo rounds commenced. The younger ones among us stayed at Bayles Mountain well into the evening while Gramps and Baba headed home.
Sunday morning most of us were in church together filling out a row.
Before the last of the Westsiders left for home after church there was some fun in the snow to document.
Another full and thankful time was spent over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Our focus shifts now to preparations for Christmas.
