Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! How blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and family to share our Christmas blog with. We have had so many wonderful experiences and blessings this year. The best thing of all is that we are all happy and healthy and loving life!

Here is a snippet of our 2010.

Mark is still working for CR England as their Director of Safety & Compliance. He loves the differences that he sees happening with the different programs he has started. He has had fun building furniture and getting our garden and yard looking good this year. We are looking forward to really getting in some more landscaping this summer. Mark will love getting his hands dirty again. This summer, however, he spent on the stage with me! Not only did he help build our amazing set, but it was his big debut ON STAGE. He was wonderful playing Sir Edward Ramsey in The King & I. He was dashingly handsome and a wonderful dancer. I loved having him and my girls with me every night. You can see pictures on our posts in August.

As for me, this year has been the BEST! I have had so many amazing opportunities to perform. My family has been a huge support in letting mommy take the time to follow her dreams. I was able to do TWO shows this year. This spring I was in Singing In The Rain, then in the summer I played the part of Anna in The King & I. They both were great learning and growing opportunities. I had to learn to tap dance for the Singing In the Rain and then learn pages and pages of lines and sing solos for The King & I. All of which I had never done before. It really just made me hungry for more. I also had the opportunity to record with Jenny Phillips on her new CD, Sabbath Morning. (That was really fun!) I thoroughly enjoy my calling in Primary and love my counselors. After all that, I still find time for my 18 piano/voice students. I am hoping for a little less hectic spring so that I can hopefully catch up on my card making and scrapbooking!

MADDIE & ABBY

Maddie is turning 13 this next week and I can hardly stand it! I am now the mother of a teenager!!!! Where do the years go? But really, I am so lucky to have such a great "teenager". She is so sweet, beautiful, helpful and talented. Okay, so she isn't perfect--she is a teenager after all--but we love her for it! Maddie is a 7th grader at Mountainville Academy and made the honor roll this past term. Maddie also had a fun year on the stage. She was a "princess" and played "Budah" in The King & I and then played a big role in Dear Edwina, Jr. She LOVES to perform and is looking forward to a really fun 2011 season that our city's Art's Council has for children. She is also becoming quite the little pianist. She is even accompanying for the YW in church on Sunday sometimes.

Abby 10, almost 11 in February. She is so beautiful and sweet. She works so hard in her classes at school. She too, is at Mountainville Academy with Maddie. They have really enjoyed this new school and what it has to offer. Abby was also in The King & I this summer as a "princess" and played a couple of roles in Dear Edwina, Jr. She is a natural on stage and is looking forward to being in more shows this next year. Abby loves piano and really loves to draw. I find her little sketches all around the house. I keep telling her that she could be an illustrator someday!

ZACH

Zach is 7 and in 1st grade at our local Elementary School. He is doing so well in school and has an amazing teacher. When he's home, I usually find him in his room building lego creations or outside riding his bike. He started Tae Kwon Do this fall and is loving it! He just earned his green belt. He had to break a board with a kick to do it. You should have seen how proud he was of himself when he came home that day! He is such a sweet boy and always so helpful. He too, is playing the piano and doing quite well. He played in two piano recitals that I had for my students this year and did great!

PAISLEY

Paisley is our littlest princess! (She really literally believes this. She tries to convince us daily that she doesn't need to wear socks in the winter because "princess don't wear socks!") She cracks us up! She is ALWAYS in dress ups. I wonder why I even bother to dress her in clothes in the morning. She is always bopping around the house to her own beat, playing with Polly Pockets or Barbies or imagining something with her dolls. She loves going to gymnastics and preschool and playing with friends! She is so sweet and loving but has her own dose of spunk that keeps her from getting lost as the youngest of 4. She too was in The King & I as the littlest "princess" and had so much fun doing it. She was a riot on stage. She is going to be in a little kids version of Sleeping Beauty this spring is looking forward to that! Meanwhile she reminds us daily that her birthday is after Christmas and she will be 4. I just hope she can wait the 2 1/2 weeks!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Season and a wonderful 2011!!

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. ~Harlan Miller

Love, The Fillmores