This is an interesting recent photo of us, and is our Christmas Card photo for 2008. It was taken October 19 during our lunch at the Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy
We hope everyone has an enjoyable Celebration of the Winter Solstice and the Changing of the Year - according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, since 2008 was the Year of the Rat, 2009 must be the Year of the Ox.
This is a compilation of some of the high spots of 2008. Some of the links below (which will not be in the printed version) are to pictures, others are to the website mentioned; they'll generally open in a new window, so close the window rather than trying to use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page after viewing them.
I have continued to post photos on a SmugMug Hutchings gallery at http://hutchings.smugmug.com.
After 44 years working, the last 20 at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, Stan has retired. According to others who have already retired, that will leave him even less time to do things. But he plans many to continue bike riding (just not to Sunnyvale every morning at 7 AM!), hopes to catch up on all the books he's bought at the Palo Alto Library monthly sales, finally work on the photos he's collected over the last 40+ years, and transfer the video cassette recordings to a more permanent medium.
Stan had a close call in November 2007 when a failed mitral valve required open heart surgery to accomplish an emergency replacement. For the details, read the whole story here. He was in the hospital from 7 to 18 November, and spent the rest of November and December recovering. I would like to share one thing I learned. In addition to very serious concern for me, Kiyomi had an additional source of stress wondering what she would do if I were to die. It really worried her that she didn't know how to continue our day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to month and annual financial obligations, because she didn't know where the necessary documents and files are. So after we got home, we made an appointment with a lawyer to create a trust. I'm sharing this with everyone I talk to, because if I put off documenting everything and didn't have even a trust & will, I guess many people do. Having a very detailed plan with full and complete instructions could have really reduced Kiyomi's stress.
Note Stan's updated email address stan.hutchings@gmail.com – the stan.hutchings@LMCO.com will not work after January 2008. .For our Europe adventure, Kiyomi's investigated Portugal, Spain, France, Croatia and other European countries, including river cruises on the Mosel, Rhine, Main & Danube, and ending with a tour of Italy's Tuscany region. Instead of flying to Europe and suffering from jet-lag for a week, we decided to cruise from Miami to Barcelona in March, and return from Barcelona to Miami in November. .
Our travels are fully documented in our blog, which you are welcome to read.
Aya continues working for Sephora as a Senior Analyst, Business Planning and Analysis, enjoys playing in a softball league, and now teaches cardio kickboxing. She was proposed to in the Andes Mountains overlooking Machu Picchu in July by Matt Andrews. They will be wed in July 2009.
They are finally moving into their condo over the Christmas vacation. After all this time, having expected to be in no later than April, they will really appreciate having a place of their own.
Visit Alan's website www.ahinstall.com if you're interested in home theater discussions, then give him a call.
He has gradually built his "real" job into a profitable, thriving business: consulting, designing and installing home theater systems. The installation usually culminates in an instructional session, where the new owner is initiated into the intricacies of operating the system. The smarter clients have added a multi-function remote control that Alan has programmed with a computer to automatically start the system for one of the multiple functions available (TV, DVD, CD, VCR, radio, phonograph, game system, etc.). Some of his installations are very elaborate, involving the whole house, or considerable carpentry, in addition to wiring (click here to view his photo gallery). There is a lot of information about his company and the products and services he provides at this website, which Stan has created. He is a good resource if you're thinking about installing a new home theater, or just upgrading what you have. The picture on the right is Alan and his "very significant other", Mari, a delightful young lady who was born in Japan but raised in San Jose. They make a very nice couple. .
Kiyomi celebrated her birthday (she's stopped counting, but not stopped celebrating) with Stan at Hotel Monte Igeldo in its restaurant Mercure with draft beers; grilled vegetables with garlic; and angler fish.
Alan celebrated his 28th birthday with his friends and Mari, his significant other.
Aya celebrated her 31st with Matt and their friends' help, at a surprise Halloween costume party that looked like a lot of fun.
Stan felt lucky to be able to celebrate his 66th birthday with Kiyomi on the cruise home from Barcelona.
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