Virtual Christmas Letter 2017

Greetings Family and Friends!

I've toyed with the idea of trying to squeeze a lot of information onto our Christmas card, but it just doesn't seem to fit!  So I decided to write a virtual letter instead!  

2017 was a good year!  We crammed in a whole lot of fun and adventures.  Here's a sneak peek into our year. 

Joe:
Joe continued his job with RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library Systems) and was promoted to Director of Consulting and Continuing Education.  He added a couple of new activities to his list this year as well!  He was appointed as a trustee on the Aurora Library Board and has enjoyed being a part of the decision-making process for our local library.  He took up volunteering at the DuPage County Convalescent Center, and has enjoyed getting to know some of the residents he sees on a regular basis.  He also took up classical guitar and is enjoying his weekly lessons.

Beth:
Beth continued her job as a first grade teacher at Eagle Pointe Elementary in Plainfield.  Teaching always has its challenges, but this year's class is making great strides and keeping it fun.  She also performed again with Juliana in The Music Man as part of the local community Summer Stage production at the historic Paramount Theater.  She has grown into a carpool extraordinaire, driving the kids and their friends to all their activities (much easier now with the purchase of a new car)!  We said goodbye to the Acura TSX in October and are enjoying our new (7- seater) Kia Sorrento.

Juliana:
Juliana had an amazing year both on and off the stage!  She managed to fit in seven productions, with wonderful parts in many of them!  She graced the stage in: Willy Wonka (Matilda), Into the Woods (fairy dancer), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (featured dancer), The Music Man (Gracie Shinn), Les Miserables (Little Cosette/Young Eponine), and Annie twice (Annie! and orphan-Lucy). Another highlight for her this year was seeing Kristen Chenoweth perform live downtown Aurora and attending several professional touring musicals downtown Chicago.  She began taking voice lessons and has enjoyed building her repertoire of songs. She auditioned for a local show choir, which she performed with through June.  One of their highlights was performing at The House of Blues in Chicago!  She also joined her school choir and enjoyed getting to sing at the Chicago Wolves hockey game. She says one of her most exciting opportunities of the year was getting to be an extra in the movie Rink (due out on Netflix this spring). She has started participating in her church youth group and has made some great friends! She also has tapped her inner artist by taking some after school drawing classes.  Between all of this, she still manages to find time to play with friends and neighbors between all the rehearsals and classes!

Connor:
Connor's interest in sports has exploded this year!  He played on 2 different soccer teams and has also started playing basketball.  He looks for ANY kind of sports broadcast to watch on TV.  He got to attend his first Packers game with Joe on an unusually warm December day.  He saw a great game (minus Aaron Rodgers) that the Packers managed to win in overtime!  He also has discovered a love of video games like every other young boy!  His favorites are Minecraft and NBA Basketball.  He loves attention just like his sister and had a chance to participate in his first musical, 101 Dalmations as the littlest puppy, Lucky.  He is doing well in school, particularly math, in which he has had some enrichment opportunities.  He continues to amaze us with his energy level and funny antics.  He lost his first tooth just this week!

The whole family, including Katie, Brian, Madelyn, Allison and my parents,  traveled to Colorado for a ski vacation to Copper Mountain over spring break.  The kids participated in ski school a couple days and learned a lot!  Juliana even managed to tackle a blue run on the last day!  It was quite an adventure.  We all  also enjoyed a summer day at Six Flags together as well, where Connor tackled his first roller coaster (The Demon) and loved it!

We hope your year has been as fun-filled and musical as ours!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love, 
The Filapeks