Christmas Letter 2010

2010 has been an amazing year at The Hillman House!

God continues to pour out his blessings on us in so many ways - but most importantly, through good health and great relationships.

As you know, we are truly passionate about travel, and are so fortunate to be able to do so. Nicolas is following in our footsteps...to an extent. He absolutely loves to travel, but if we are in Cape, he is a true homebody. It's so weird for Lee and I - since we both like to 'go' ALL the time. But, Nicolas keeps us a little grounded...although it is sometimes maddening for us:-)

So, we started off the year with a quick trip to Vegas in January with friends (Nicolas stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Jamerson for that one). It wasn't for my birthday, it was for Lee Schlitt's, but as I'm typing this, I can't remember doing anything special for my birthday...so we'll call this trip my birthday trip.

February came and went pretty quickly, and with it went Nicolas' first 2 teeth. As I'm typing this, he is wiggling his top front tooth. He's almost 8 and still hasn't lost any of his top teeth. I think he was the only 2nd grader who's school photo didn't have big gaps in his smile:-) He's lost 4 teeth, but all on the bottom.

In March, Nicolas turned 7, and for his birthday, we took a 4-day cruise to Cozumel. The first 3 days were awesome (first time on a cruise that I did not get sick!) - the last day the weather was REALLY bad and people were literally throwing up all over the place. Lee was sick the entire time (sinus infection, etc, not motion sick), so Nicolas and I hung out and played lots of mini golf. Nicolas discovered Carnival Kids Camp and loved it, so I had lots of time to just hang out on the deck reading. Lee saw more of the inside of a cruise ship room than anyone should ever have to see, but that's the breaks:-(

In April, I was able to go on a mission trip to Rio Bravo, Mexico. What an amazing week - I got to meet and hang out with lots of really neat people, but the coolest part was definitely the deepening relationships that I developed with the team that went from La Croix.

April also provided what turned out to be a short-term career change. Lee decided sometime after the first of the year, that he didn't like managing Beef's - he liked shaking hands, kissing babies and hanging out with people, but he didn't like telling people what to do. (He's way too nice:-) So, in April, with 2 managers in place at Beef'O'Brady's, Lee went back to AT&T.

Fast forward 8 months, we learned the hard way, that nobody loves our business as much as we do. It's just a completely different atmosphere when one of us is in the restaurant every day, particularly Lee. So, in November, Lee went back to Beef's full-time (and is improving daily on the "telling people what to do" part of his job...and loving the relational part more than ever).

All that being said, in May, my entire immediate family (Mom, Dad, brother, sister-in-law and nephews) invited us to go on a family vacation to Orlando, Florida. Because Lee had just gone back to AT&T, he was unable to go, but Nicolas and I flew down over Memorial Day weekend and joined them. It was beautiful and it was neat to have the opportunity to go on vacation with my family (although, by the end of the LONG drive back in a 15 passenger van...well, I'll leave it at that:-).

In June, I went on another mission trip, this time to Milwaukee with our Jr High Youth. What a great group of kids! We had a phenomenal trip...if you want to read more about that, you can check out the blog I did for that at www.423lacroix.blogspot.com .

Lee's birthday was in July, so we took a quick weekend trip to Tunica with friends and got ready for our 'travel drought':-) Nothing for the month of August or September. However, Nicolas was playing soccer and made the All-Star team again, so that, along with flag football, kept us plenty busy. His All-Star team played in 3 tournaments this fall, and took 1st place in all three! (Nicolas is, no doubt, just as competitive as Lee and I are, so it was a good month at our house:-)

So, October came and with it, Lee's 6 month anniversary back at AT&T hit, so he was finally able to take some vacation time...and he couldn't wait to go somewhere...anywhere. We planned a very last minute trip, and because of flight time options at that point, decided to go to Jamaica. We stopped there once years ago on a cruise, but we had never been to Jamaica...we're kind of Mexico people. But, since we could get there before noon, we went with it.

Jamaica was OK - but it wasn't Mexico. 'Duh?', you say. But, really, we thought that being in the Carribean on the ocean would be about the same anywhere. But there were a couple of distinct differences. The first was that there were no chips, salsa, pico or guacamole. I know, I know. Should have been obvious, but we failed to realize what an important part of vacation food is. The second big difference is that Jamaicans like to 'take it easy', they are 'easy going' and 'laid back'. What this, more or less, translates to is that they are very lazy and give really bad service. In other words, the Hillmans will most likely not go to Jamaica ever again. Of course, we've said that about cruises and we keep going back for more...

I do want to point out again, though...this was the first time we ever even considered Jamaica and for some reason went with it. The SAME exact week we were there, a hurricane hit in Cancun and Cozumel. Had we gone to Mexico, like always, it would have been a miserable week. Coincidence??? I think not...

November proved to be a great month! It started with Lee, Nicolas and I going to Lambeau Field to see Green Bay play the Cowboys (they killed them, BTW), which was followed by the highlight of my year (which would probably not be true for Lee, as it was 10 days of single parenting on his end:-)...I was able to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands! I went to Jordan and Israel (Tiberias, Bethlehem, Jerusalem) - what an unbelievable and unforgettable experience! I blogged during that trip, so if you want to read more about, just look back at November entries on this blog.

Then, here we are in December. Last weekend, I was signed up for my first ever 1/2 marathon...but if you read about the Holy Lands trip at all, you will know that I ended up coming home in a wheelchair. So, the 1/2 marathon wasn't quite in the cards for me at this time. My ankle is doing much better, however, and the whole point of the race was to complete it in honor of turning 40 (this coming February), so I have all next year to still meet that goal.

Christmas is just around the corner...and Lee's parents are officially 'snow birds' (I'm so jealous!)...they get to head south for the winter. They went to Florida in October, came home for Thanksgiving, left again the following week, and will be back some time in April. Thus, Lee, Nicolas and I will be heading south for Christmas. We will spend Christmas Eve in Cape (so I can sing with Chris Nall one last time:-(, hang out with my family that evening, and head out the next. After today's little show of snow and freezing winds, Florida can't get here quick enough!

Well, that's about all I've got for now. If you like the Christmas letter, you can get more details on what's going on with us throughout the year right here on the blog. I always promise to write lots, but then I don't...so I'll just say...if you subscribe to receive the updates, you will definitely get more details than if you wait for this letter again next year:-)

We wish each of you a great Christmas and a healthy, prosperous 2011!!!

Love,
Angel