Tis’ the season to sharpen the skis, bake shortbread, trim the tree and send out our annual Christmas letter! 2019 has been a wonderful year for our family. Our greatest family adventure this year was our trip to Scotland in August, where we hiked in the Highlands, explored our roots and got to see another beautiful part of the world. We loved it all: attending the Royal Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle; our visit to a sheep farm where we saw a border collie demonstration; golfing at Castle Stuart; staying in lovely castles and the many stunning hikes on The Isle of Skye. We cherish our family time together, especially while travelling. We are looking forward to a quiet Christmas at Hilltop Lodge in Caledon- hiking, playing games, reading, relaxing and skiing!

Lexi, age 25, loves her cosmopolitan Toronto life. Lexi is a dynamic sales leader at PathFactory, selling software to marketing teams at mid-market companies. Business travel took our “gal on the go” to Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Antonio. Lexi loved her trip with friends to Val D’Isere in March, where she embraced the French après-ski lifestyle. Lexi is looking forward to a move from her rental condo to a swanky rental townhouse, near Portland and Wellington with three close friends.

Jack is working hard and greatly enjoying his role as an account specialist at Achievers- a software company that is an employee recognition and engagement platform and is located in hip Liberty Village. Jack is living at home, appreciating that the rent for an apartment in Toronto is crazy and that life with the “rents” ain’t all bad. We love having Jack at home, and know that it is a matter of time before he makes his move. Jack is about to turn 24.

Ross, age 21, is in his fourth year at Queen’s University, just months away from graduating with a degree in Computer Science. Ross spent his summer working as a software development intern at Verafin, contributing to their financial crime management platform. In his spare time, Ross developed a remarkable website called Meta Projection- an aggregator of federal electoral projections. With a job offer in hand, Ross is ready to take on the world, following some travel in the Spring. Soon we will have no kids on the family payroll- how awesome is that?! We cannot wait for Ross to be home for the holidays!

Paul is in his second year as CEO of Carta Worldwide, smartly restructuring and growing the company with frequent trips to offices in Casablanca, London and Charlottetown. Paul sits on several boards and wisely mentors young software professionals. Paul relishes our time in Caledon and took full advantage of our new membership at the beautiful and challenging Devil’s Pulpit Golf Club. Golf is something we love to do together and we are always thrilled when Jack joins us on the links. In November, we travelled to Maui and Lanai (in Hawaii) for two weeks of golf, hikes and adventure. We came home recharged and ready for winter.

3 1/2 years ago, I joined a resettlement group and helped welcome a Syrian refugee family. I continue to spend time with the family, with weekly visits to help with homework and special outings with the girls. Last March, I taught the girls how to ski at Caledon Ski Club. With enormous pleasure, Paul and I sent the two girls to Glen Bernard Camp for two weeks of fun in August. This is the camp where I spent 8 summers and where Lexi spent 11 summers. I was delighted to receive letters from the girls while they were at camp. One letter said, “Thank-you for bringing me here. It is so much fun. This is the best time of my life.” Sending the girls to camp was one of the highlights of my year.

Paul and I have the travel bug and we feel so lucky to be able to travel the world, mixing it up with hot destinations, ski trips and adventures to remote locations. Frequently, I am asked about places we have visited and I decided that the easiest way to share my tips is in a blog. In Happy Tales- liannehill.ca, I combine my love of travel and my love of writing and have created a blog to document and share our travel adventures, as well as other life experiences. Now if only I could find someone to pay me to travel and write-wouldn’t that be amazing?!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! May your New Year be filled with love, laughter and lots of adventures! Please stay in touch!

Lianne, Paul, Lexi, Jack and Ross