2007 Holiday Letter

As many of you know, we spent last Christmas and New Years in Japan. We had a few days in Tokyo at the beginning and end of our trip to visit with friends, and do some shopping, but we spent the bulk of our trip with Natsuki’s family in Hiroshima. We had a great time and were thoroughly spoiled by Natsuki’s parents. Though I’m afraid my Japanese hasn’t gotten any better, holidays with family are all pretty much the same. Visit cousins aunts uncles friends and neighbors and eat a lot of food. That I understand. To date, only a handful of photos from that trip have made it to my website or blog (including the one above, and this entry).

Click here to see a new web gallery with a few more images that I recently printed as a small book.

We missed my 20 year college reunion, but did manage to go to Portland, Oregon for our anniversary the following (Memorial Day) weekend instead. It was a first for us both and we really enjoyed it. Regrets to those that were in Chestertown — I’ll get there yet.

For my 42nd birthday Natsuki surprised me with a picnic in the park, joined by some of our friends, 105° temperatures, and instructions to grill the food. It was too hot to do anything but sit, eat, and be hot, but we had a great day anyway.

We didn’t buy a house as we’d hoped, but we did purchase a Prius.

I was riding my bike to and from work everyday for well over a year. My office moved in late July and my daily mileage doubled. It wasn’t much of  a problem until the weather began to change, and the days got shorter. We finally took the plunge just as Fall fell. Natsuki loves the car and uses it daily on her commute to work. I take the Subaru now, but may resume riding my bike when Spring has sprung. It seems all that bike riding was a good for me, as my weight, cholesterol and blood pressure were all down from the preceding year.

Natsuki finished her classes in Flash and JavaScrpit, but decided to take a break this semester before tackling C. I opted out of classes this year but have been trying to hone my photography and digital production skills on my own.

As usual, we shot lots and lots of photos. Some of these are on display on our web site. I began publishing this blog, which is fun, but it would be more fun if you read it and posted your comments.

For Natsuki’s birthday, I surprised her with a trip to Las Vegas, and tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show, Love. There are a couple of entries for that on this site.

This year we actually made our Christmas cards early enough to have them printed. But of course, we then waited until the last minute to write them out. Well, it’s progress anyway.

We’ll be in New York for Christmas and New Years, which we are looking forward to and hope to see many of you while we are there.

We hope that you are all healthy, happy and well, and wish you a wonderful Christmas Holiday and New Year.

Dan & Natsuki