Christmas Letter 2011

Well, it wouldn't be the Hillman's Christmas Letter if it didn't start with...
Wow...what a great year! Every year gets a little better than the last, and 2011 was no exception.
After wrapping up 2010 with a trip to the Holy Lands, I wasn't expecting to do any worldly travels in 2011. But, all that quickly changed in January when we had a guest speaker at La Croix. More about that in a moment.
In February, it happened. I hit the big 4-0-. It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be...probably because Nicolas is still so young, I just don't feel that old. I have this habit of always feeling like I'm the same age as everyone I hang out with...and Nicolas' friend's moms aren't that old...so there you go:-) To celebrate my 40th, Lee and I went to Cancun with Bill and Susan Leming. For the first time ever, we stayed at a place that I seriously could not wait to go back to. It was incredible!
Now backtrack to that January encounter I alluded to earlier. We (La Croix) had the privilege of hosting Christine Caine, a world renowned speaker...and I got the honor, along with five guests of my choice, of taking her out to dinner after church! Chris is from Sydney, Australia, and by the end of the night, over sushi and great conversation, she had invited all of us to Sydney in March to attend a conference she was heavily involved with. She promised if we came, she'd have us picked up from the airport, escorted to our hotel and would get us special backstage passes and access to the speaker's room at the event.
Well, I think everyone was a little honored and taken aback by the invite, but for the most part, no one thought much more about it. I, on the other hand, was working on my travel arrangements the next day!!! In the end, there were four of us who got to go on the trip together - me, Kim Proffer, Danea Johnson and Ruth Ann Orr...and WOW...what an amazing time!
We loved Australia...loved getting to see that part of the world...loved the beach (of course!)...but most of all, LOVED the way that God met each one of us there and the way he used the four of us to speak truth into each other's lives.
While I was in Australia, Lee and Nicolas were in Florida visiting as many Spring training games as they could make happen in a week. In one week's time, they saw the Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Pirates, Red Sox and Yankees!!! Nicolas caught a bunch of baseballs, got autographs, met players...needless to say, I think they were missing me. Really bad.
April and May came, but were busy. I had a couple of conferences for work, so had quick trips to Atlanta and Chicago, followed by a mission trip with the Jr High students to West Virginia in June.
In July, I had the opportunity to go to a conference in Phoenix and become a certified trainer for Leading from Your Strenths. Lee and Nicolas were able to go along...so we flew out a day early so we could check out the Grand Canyon before my conference started. Neither Nicolas nor I were very excited about going and looking at 'rocks' all day, but I am SO glad we did. It was unbelievable...and as is typical for me...I felt so close to God sitting in the middle of such an amazing creation.
Nicolas loved it too...it's hard not to just stare out over the canyons in complete awe. We decided while we were there to rent bikes and ride around the South Rim of the canyon. Nicolas hasn't spent alot of time on a bike, and I was questioning our common sense as he wobbled some in front of me...but he got the hang of it quickly and we rode 7 miles...while stopping to take pics along the way. The rest of the week, I was in "class", while the boys played lots of golf and hung out by the pool.
In August, Nicolas started 3rd grade...yes, time is totally flying!!! And throughout the entire year, he is involved in some sport. He's quite the little athlete. I know he's 8, and I'm his mom, so I'm supposed to say this...but he's pretty good at whatever he does...and is SO much fun to watch! Plus, we spend so much time at his sporting events with other parents, that we've really made great friends that have become an integral part of our lives.
The sports calendar looks something like this...January starts finishing up the indoor soccer season. Before this ends, we start baskeball. As basketball is winding down, outdoor spring soccer starts. As the regular season ends, we start getting ready for all-star soccer and also baseball. Baseball lasts all summer long, while we intermingle golf as often as we can fit it in. When baseball ends, fall soccer starts, which gets overlapped with flag football. After that ends, we do all-star soccer again, followed by...you guessed it...indoor soccer. And thus the cycle repeats:-)
So back to finishing up the year...in October, Lee and I went back to the same resort in Cancun for a quick getaway, with the Lemings again. Once again, the resort was great...but this time, the weather was not very cooperative. In any case, we had a great time and met some new friends from Louisville, KY...such a small world!
While we were heading back from Cancun, the Cardinals were kicking off the World Series...which turned out to be a phenomenal thing for Beef'O'Brady's! Overall, Beef's has just finally hit it's groove this year. Lee is back at the store full-time (and then some:-) after going back to AT&T in 2010. We've learned that it just doesn't work when neither of us are there. No one is going to care about it like we do. No one will treat the customers the way we do. No one has their life savings on the line like we do...thus, Beef's needs us. And with Lee's undivided attention again, we've really turned a corner. January thru May, he had to focus on righting the ship. But since May, we've seen an increase in sales of more than 25% over 2010. He's worked really hard at rebuilding our regular clientele and re-establishing our catering business, and it's finally catching up. What a huge blessing!!!
November brought Thanksgiving, and the Hillmans headed to Florida to hang out with Lee's entire family, who all made their way to where his parents are 'snowbirding' for the better part of the year. It was an extremely fast trip, but was so nice to be wearing shorts and flip flops on Thanksgiving, it was totally worth it!
In fact it was so nice, (and since my mom and dad are on a cruise over Christmas!) that we will be going back tomorrow evening for Christmas Day and to stay the week. I can't tell you what all we will be doing...because it could ruin some Christmas surprises for a little 8 year old...but I'll keep you posted!
Speaking of keeping you posted...you may notice if you glance back through the posts, the last one was last year's Christmas letter:-( I always make all of these promises that I'll write more, then I spend all of my 'writing' time writing somewhere besides my own blog. But THIS YEAR, I'm going to make a New Year's Resolution to post on my own blog atleast twice per month. This really shouldn't be that difficult to do...I just have to make it a priority. So feel free to keep me accountable:-)

Well, we've got a big day tomorrow. Four Christmas Eve services, a soccer game, an the first leg of our trip to Florida. God has been good to us for yet another year. We are overwhelmed with great friends and an amazing family and we wish for each of you the same and a happy and prosperous new year!
Love,
Angel, Lee and Nicolas Hillman