Another year has passed. 2011 proved to be more stable than previous years. Changes that happened over 2011 have been mostly by choice.
    Gary is still working at Infinium Capital Management. Mid-December is his 3rd anniversary, making this gig nearly tied for the longest continuous employment since leaving Lucent. He is still mushing with the dogs, although they are considerably slower than in years past.  He's looking forward to an active racing season, and has his skis waxed and ready to go. He's still teaching judo, and has started teaching occasional classes in dog training.
    Carolyn has had a lot going on this year. She decided to switch from working with young children as a Speech Pathologist to working with adults (mostly the elderly) in home health. It meant a lot of extra work to learn how to work with this population but she began in the fall and she's enjoying it.
    She took the summer off to prepare and also turned her attention to fixing up the house. She also took this opportunity to clear out what we don't use or need anymore and we donated it all to charities. Another big event for Carolyn this year was a pilgrimage to Turkey in April with her Mum. They had a fabulous time and came home with many happy memories. It was great to visit with family and friends in North Wales.
    Gillian will be finishing up college in June with a BS in meteorology. Once she graduates she's planning on moving back to Lisle.
    Ryan graduated from Naperville North High School in May, as expected, and started going to school at College of DuPage learning how to write computer games. Ryan wanted to go out to a Sushi restaurant in lieu of a party, so that's what we did.
    The animals have been mostly healthy aside from our cat Vo's bladder stone which required immediate surgery. Vo has recovered well, and there do not appear to be any unexpected long-term consequences, aside from a change in diet.
    Once again Pat (Carolyn's mother) is spending the holidays in the US, splitting her time between here and brother Bill's place in California. This year we are all flying out to San Jose to join Pat and her son and his family for Christmas. We're looking forward to spending some time in Lake Tahoe, and another side trip to Portland OR.
    Hopefully that this has been a good year for you. It's quite unsettling to watch the unemployment numbers and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and realize this circumstance is having very serious affects on the lives of people near to us. We know some of you are suffering through extended bouts of unemployment, and the fallout from that. Hopefully 2012 will see these problems move to happy resolution in the lives of our friends. We hope to see you, and remind you that we are able to accommodate overnight guests.


Gary, Carolyn, Gillian, and Ryan Hughes-Fenchel
and our menagerie: Chloe, Vo, Suki, and Zephyr