Here we are again, another new year. The year 2002 was a really good year for the Toles household. We were lucky enough to not have been greatly effected by the country's economic downturn. We both still find our jobs enjoyable and fulfilling. I attained resident status in the U.S. and we were finally able to travel across the border to visit with family. And the newest member of our family, Banzai, has kept Spirit on his toes and given us quite a bit to laugh about. And now for a recap of the Christmas season...

We had a wonderful time in Toronto, visiting with my family. We were able to spend a fair amount of time in Chinatown, which we loved. It may have been cold out, but we had a great time going into all sorts of shops. We came away with a few new decorations for the house and even had a chance to enjoy some authentic dim sum. We also drove up to Barrie to visit with my cousin Llaina and her family. It was such a nice time because not only was my mom with us, but my Uncle Ted (Llaina's dad) was there and even Uncle John showed up. My mom was so excited that both of her brothers were there. And it was so cute to watch Patricia (3 1/2) and Jackson (6 months) open their presents.

Not only did we visit with family, but we got to spend some quality time with two of my closest friends, Lee and Stephanie. It's a tradition that everytime we are in Toronto, we all go out to dinner and then spend the rest of the night chatting and enjoying treats at a place called Just Desserts. This time, in between dinner and dessert, we had fun driving around some of the area neighborhoods to see prize-winning Christmas light displays. And it was so nice to be able to catch up with each other after so long. We keep in touch via email, of course, but there is nothing like a good old chat!

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were spent at Aunty Anne's with family. (Although we did brave some last-minute-shopping traffic to drive through downtown Toronto.) On Christmas morning we had things pretty much to ourselves as we got up really early and opened the presents that Santa had left under the tree. We were completely spoiled and our baggage was overstuffed with prezzies on the flight home! It was a really nice surprise to see snow on the ground as well...Kylan got to have a white Christmas for a change! Later that morning, my mom came over as did my cousin's Marilyn, Barry, and David. Christmas dinner was really nice. We had all of the traditional goodies...turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberries. There was even fruitcake and mincemeat tarts for dessert.

Even though we were leaving Toronto on the 26th and could have used a bit of a lie-in, I was determined to have Kylan experience Boxing Day first hand. We woke up around 7:30am and headed to Scarborough Town Centre shortly thereafter. Luckily, there was barely any traffic, but the parking lot was already more than half full when we got to the mall. All of the stores were open and there were sales everywhere. We didn't actually need to get anything but we made sure to buy a couple of shirts and a winter hat at Roots. We also bought a couple of CDs and DVDs at Music World because, with the exchange rate, they were a great deal. We were out of there before 10am and beat the mad rush. We flew home that afternoon and returned to over a foot of snow in Akron.

As for New Year's, we stayed home. We ordered in Chinese food (as we have for the past three years), and watched Dick Clark and the ball dropping in Times Square. We even managed to polish off a bottle of wildberry sparkling wine. And on New Year's day, we had a big turkey dinner, with homemade cornbread pecan stuffing, orange cranberry sauce, greens, and black-eyed peas and sauerkraut for good luck (mixing the southern tradition with the european). Considering we were away for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, it was about time I did a turkey myself!

That's all for now!
D.