Annual Hillman Christmas Greetings
Sue-On's Massive Missive for 2023
https://www.hillmanweb.com/xmas/2023.html

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TOP: Oriyen ~ River ~ Robin ~ Jen :: Sue-On ~ Bill :: Scott ~ China-Li
BOTTOM: Tayla ~ Ja-On ~ Angela ~ Soulin ~ Inara :: SIBLINGS: Robin ~ Ja-On ~ China-Li

December 10th already, and Christmas is looming, over a green lawn! Hopefully, there will be some snow by Christmas Eve to give Santa’s sleigh a soft and smooth landing.

Tree is not up and decorated yet, and there are presents to sort and wrap. BUT, we are here to compose and send our Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy 2024 to you ALL!

Ja-On & Angela are both very busy working partners with their clinic: Reactive Massage Therapy. They continue to produce health-related videos, with Angela focusing more on Women’s Health. Ja-On gets relax time when he can get out on his Triumph motorcycle. Angela has been enjoying archery, a sport she is reviving from her younger days.

Inara is our budding actress with MECCA, our successful local theatre group. We have watched her act, sing, and dance in a couple of productions: Aladdin and Elf . There is still a strong interest in dragons, and she continues to develop her drawing skills.
Tayla is the gymnast extraordinaire in the family. She is always amazing to watch in performances. I sometimes have to close my eyes when she is flying above the balance beam! Besides gymnastics, she loves her Barbie collection.
Soulin: Continues his work at Western Financial in the auto insurance sector. On his free time, he maintains a full schedule working out at the gym, for his own fitness and training others. He is especially good working with younger people.

Son Robin and family have settled in well in their new home in St. John’s, Nfld. He continues to work remotely, but we were fortunate that his company, Tactica, flew him to Winnipeg 3 times this year! The first trip included a surprise visit to Brandon for Bill’s 80th birthday last Jan. Then he was home in Sept, and just recently in Dec.
Jen started working for an organization that helps to resettle newcomers and refugees in Newfoundland and Labrador.  She started on the programs team (creating and facilitating programs for kids and adults) then recently moved into HR dept. as a recruitment specialist.

Robin & Jen did renovations to their basement suite and it is now registered as an Air B’n’B. They’ve already had friends and family visiting. They both still enjoy exploring on their motorcycles when the weather is nice. Their beautiful photos are enticing us to visit!
Oriyen graduated from grade 12 in June. We were pleased to see her for a few days when she was in Manitoba to see her childhood friends in Winnipeg. While figuring out her career plans, she is working full time at Dairy Queen and the odd pet sitting job.
River is in grade 5, and recently received her yellow belt in karate! She has started to learn to code on the computer, and creates very cool things. River has started to play the trumpet at school and is enjoying it. Great to see some of Robin’s interests coming into play!

China-Li and Scott are possibly finally finished with home renovations! The last part, their basement gym and sauna looked great! They are making good use of the facilities before they go to work every day.

Scott continues to work as an Advanced Care Paramedic Practitioner. He takes wonderful care of China and their pup Butters on his days off. We’ve enjoyed his cooking every time we’ve visited!
China is always busy at Winnipeg Health Science Centre and two other hospitals as Doctor of Thoracic and General Radiology. She has been a wonderful support and connection to the urology dept. for Dad Bill.
A bit of sadness in the summer. They had to help 14 year-old Grand Dame Lily the Pyrenees cross the rainbow bridge. We like to imagine Lily refereeing her sibling Tori and cousin Keifer in their roughhousing!

Bill & Sue-On continue to enjoy staycations! Health issues and world-wide unrest has put travels off our schedules for a while. Besides, after age 80, travel insurance is outrageous.
We’ve had many trips to the urologist at HSC, dealing with bladder and kidney issues. But on this last trip in October, we may see a light at the end of the long tunnel.

Bill continues to fill his day with many research projects, first of which is on author Edgar Rice Burroughs for whom has created a 15,000-page website. And, since 1996, he has produced a weekly webzine on SF-adventures. Other folks of the same interest have been reaching out via emails, hour-long phone calls, etc., and that usually sends him down another Burroughs rabbit hole. He continues to update our family history, our Musical Odyssey on-line memoir, Travel Adventures, and various volunteer websites. Nothing stops him!

Sue-On continues to add more flora to the flowerbeds. It’s a joy to share this love of playing in the dirt with her CPL (Crazy Plant Ladies) group. She has also made friends with the folks in the Liv-y-ers, an aquacize group at the Y. Lots of chatter and laughter three times a week!  Cooking is still very important in her daily routine. Like they say, with poetic license:  “You can take the girl out of the restaurant, but you can’t take the restaurant out of the girl”!
We miss the international travels, but staying safe and healthy is the priority these days.

So, from a distance, we send our love and best wishes for a Happy Holiday and 2024!
Bill & Sue-On
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