2024 News

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Procrastination is the excuse for being late this year. First, we can blame it on the weather as there is finally an accumulation of snow and some frigid temperatures to say that it’s winter and close to Christmas! Secondly, the lingering postal strike means we can’t mail out any Christmas cards and letters!

But here we are at last, electronically, to catch you up on the Hillman Clan.

We're going to take a different twist with our family missive. We asked each of the kids to send news about their lives, or Momma was going to make up wild and crazy stories about them. They took the threat seriously!

The big event of 2024 was the arrival of Arthur Lee Pettitt! We had the big announcement via Golden Retriever Big Brother Butters’s kerchief when China and Scott were home for Xmas 2023. We didn’t notice the big announcement until China showed us the words on the kerchief, and of course, big tears of joy!

Christmas Greetings from Two VERY Busy New Parents: Scott and China-Li

China and Scott welcomed baby Arthur Li Pettitt into the world on Aug 10, weighing in at 8 lbs 4 oz.
We are enjoying parental leave together. Scott is teaching some classes at the paramedic college, which he really enjoys. Arthur is starting to roll, and already charming everyone with his big smiles. Big brother Butters is helping out with baby, and is counting down the days until Arthur can sneak him snacks under the table.
**(Gung-Gung and Po-Po love getting daily pictures and videos of Arthur.)

Merry Christmas from Ja-On, Angela and family

What a wonderfully crazy full 2024 we have had.

Daughter Inara has found the love of the stage and has been very active in our local Mecca performance troupe in Brandon. She auditioned and won performing roles with speaking lines, solo singing parts, and dance this year in the Lion king Jr and Alice in Wonderland to name a few. Inara is following in the musical ways of the Hillman clan, taking up the flute in the school band. Her artistic skills are amazing, creating most elaborate masks and other works of art.

10 year old Tayla has excelled in her gymnastics and is now in foundations 4 delta at Eagles Gymnastics Center. Her physical strength and ability is amazing, and her commitment to training, which equals 3 full hours 4 times a week is inspiring. When she is not training she can be found with her nose in a book or playing Barbies with friends. She too loves to craft and draw and often will gift family and friends with her creations.

Youngest member of the family is Neelo the Morkie. He’s the most enthusiastic greeter of all visitors to the house!

Ja-On and Angela are always busy running our very busy massage therapy clinic or chauffeuring our girls to activities. This summer I joined Ja-On in his love of motorcycles and spent the summer learning how to ride with him at my side. Ja-On is either treating his many clients who swear by his unparalleled ability to heal, or working tirelessly in his office on his many projects. We can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for us!

Seasons Greetings from the East Coast Clan: Robin, Jen & Family

This year, we continued exploring our beautiful island home of Newfoundland, where we’ve now lived for over two years. The solar eclipse passed right over us in April, and we chased clear skies to get a perfect view. One of our favourite adventures was a trip to Elliston to see the puffins, who live right on the coast. We were happy to have a visit from cousin Cindy and Mark, who came to see Newfoundland for themselves. Sharing meals, stories, and a bit of the local charm with them was a highlight of our summer.

Robin has been busy working remotely as a business analyst with Tactica Interactive. He has just been promoted to “Lead of Design & Analysis” - the perfect Christmas present!” His daily commute? Rain or shine, he rides his motorcycle to a co-working space where he's able to socialize with other remote workers.

Jen continues her work in HR as a recruitment specialist with Association for New Canadians, and still finds time to volunteer with the Special Olympics. When she’s not crocheting, sewing, or baking up something delicious, she can be seen hiking along the stunning ocean trails for which Newfoundland is famous.

19 year old daughter Oriyen has been working at Dairy Queen and loving the freedom of driving around town in her spare time. She’s made lots of new friends through work and is starting to think about her next steps – possibly a flight program in Brandon come 2026.

11 year old daughter River has had a busy year! She’s playing trumpet in school, and is back in a French-focused classroom after two years away from immersion. She’s also earned her orange belt in karate, made some great friends, and discovered a love for hiking and exploring the outdoors. (Seems River, like her cousins Inara and Tayla, has the Hillman DNA for music and Karate. Nana has learned that River loves to cook, and will spend time this Xmas making her favourite food, Joong and Baos while visiting her in Manitoba!)

Our fur-buddies: Jovi (4) our friendly lick-happy dog, gets to go on morning walks with Robin every day, always finding new and exciting spots to sniff out. She's always making friends wherever she goes.

Our cats, Buzzy and Louie (14 & 5) are as mischievous as ever — always underfoot and endlessly cute.

As for the seniors in this clan, Bill and Sue-On keep on keeping on!

Bill, in spite of the neuropathy in his hands, continues to research, create, and maintain his weekly webzine, and +15,000-page website on SF adventure author Edgar Rice Burroughs. This project began in 1996 and continues to grow as fans reach out via phone calls and emails with contributions from all over the globe. Not globetrotting these days allows for walks down memory lane. Bill then adds new tibits of what we remember to update our family history, our Musical Odyssey, on-line memoir, travel adventures, and various volunteer websites (https://www.hillmanweb.com) He got a new computer in the fall, and that presented challenges. He conquered and adapted, and nothing stops him!

Sue-On: I haven’t increased the garden size, but do try to cram in more plants every spring. While out stringing Xmas lights on the garden ornaments, our neighbor while out with his snowblower, shouted: “It’s too early to plant!” I can dream and plan ;-) I still try to get to aquacize 3 times a week at the YMCA. I was having trouble with arthritis on the knees, and my family doctor ordered braces. They really help with balance and keeping the knees from twisting. If you follow me on facebook, it’s evident that cooking is still a priority!

Whew! Now that you’ve been “caught - up”, we’ll look forward to hearing about you!

Merry Christmas, and All the Best in 2025!

Love,

The Hillmans