Our year started horribly with the sudden death of Paul’s father, Larry Hill on January 2nd. First an ice storm, then a terrible cold virus which turned to acute pneumonia, and then a phone call in the middle of the night… kind, generous, intellectual, loving Larry died at home at age 72. He is greatly missed.

In need of a mid-winter break, Paul and I headed to Nevis, in the Caribbean at the end of January for long walks, tennis, golf and rest. We had an awesome year of travel in 2014: Our adventures included skiing in Alta, Utah; hiking in St. George, Utah; golfing in Scottsdale, Arizona and hiking in Iceland. Many of our peers travelled after university, while Paul and I went straight into our careers and starting our family. Now we are making up for missed travel, seeking out adventures and seeing the world.

We had a busy household this summer with the welcome additions of my two nephews, who needed a place to call home while working in Toronto at summer jobs. Ross was away at camp for the summer, yet Lexi and Jack were home. With an 18, 19, and two 20 year olds living under our roof, I made a lot of trips to the grocery store!! The highlight of each week was our backyard Sunday night dinner where we heard the tales from the previous week. Miriam and Dave visited us once a month to catch up with their boys and visit with Darcy who was also in Ontario at summer camp.  On Thanksgiving weekend we were all together again at our chalet, sharing laughs, eating lots and going for long hikes.

Lexi is 20 years old and is in third year at Queen’s University studying history and political science. Lexi is keeping busy with her studies and with volunteering. She is the president of the Vogue Charity Fashion Show, and is raising money for a local charity that supports youth with mental health issues. In February, Lexi went to Nicaragua to help build a house with Habitat for Humanity. Last summer Lexi worked at Paul’s software company, where she was the receptionist and assistant accounting clerk. It was the first summer in 12 years that Lexi did not go to camp and loved having her at home.

Jack is about to turn 19 years old and is in first year at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, studying business. After two years at boarding school, the adjustment to living away from home was easy for Jack. A highlight of Jack’s year was his school rugby trip to South Africa. After graduating in June, Jack’s summer job was working for Vena Solutions, a software company, putting to use his excellent computer skills. Jack spent his leisure time on the golf course, regularly playing with Paul and me. How nice to spend four hours each Sunday afternoon with your 18-year old!

Ross is 16 years old and is in grade eleven at Royal St. George’s College. Ross is working very hard this year, doing his best to get the highest grades possible, while looking ahead to university applications. Ross is keeping his options open, taking the prerequisites for engineering, yet would love to pursuit his passion in software design. Ross continues to play the trumpet, taking lessons, playing in a stage band and last spring performed with a band at Roy Thomson Hall. Ross travelled to China last February with his school band. Ross returned to camp this summer for nine weeks to be a counselor-in-training- he loved every minute of it and hopes to return as a counselor next summer. Ross ran for the school cross-country team again this fall, and keenly participates on the debating team. Ross will be teaching skiing this winter at Caledon.

Paul is keeping busy working as the CEO of Disclosurenet and as an active member of four boards. He is finding a wonderful work-life balance, golfing as much as possible and joining me on regular hikes along the Humber River with our new Border Collie puppy Scout. The husbands of my travelling tennis group finally got themselves organized and planned a trip for themselves in October, when they headed to Pebble Beach for four days of awesome golf.

After a year of living in our new house, we are feeling quite settled. I spent some time this year, overseeing some projects to make the house feel more like home. The highlight of our travels this year was our hiking trip to Iceland in August. We hiked up volcanoes, walked through a glacial river, played golf in a lava field, crossed rivers in a super-jeep, saw the sun set at 11 pm and ate lots of salmon and lamb. It is our mission to travel once a year to somewhere really different, and Iceland did not disappoint! I continue to play lots of tennis and I have begun to really enjoy playing golf.