The Toffin's 2009

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas,

I got back to Calgary on Wednesday December 02, after a really hot, great and relaxing month in Puerto Vallarta. Brian had gone home a week earlier so he could go to the Grey Cup. He saw Toni and Gloria who were not happy that the Stamps did not make the Final.

It was our turn to have Christmas dinner with the Toffin clan this year. We determined that earlier was better for all the kids who had finals in the middle of December. Three days after I had returned to Calgary, the house was cleaned, the table set, I had made our traditional Danish Syrupskeg cookies and Brian and Eric prepared a delicious turkey dinner for all. Wow, I can’t believe we did it!!!

One of my favorite things of Christmas is when I go to pull out decorations and remember all the people that have given us Christmas gifts. I also love the tradition of making cookies with my favorite CD on with the cold winter weather outside. I do admit, however, that even though I don’t like the cold, I do like it when I am in front of the fireplace with my feet on the mantle. Yesterday was my shopping day for the kids and today is card writing day.

Well, we had a very busy, eventful year. Brian and I went to the South Pacific to visit Eric for New Years, 2009.

We got to Aitutaki, one of the gorgeous Cook Islands, a couple of days before Eric. We rode bikes to the airport to meet him. We stayed at The Aitutaki Beach Resort. We were luckily upgraded to an over water bungalow.



That was amazing!! We could watch hundreds of fish swimming under our deck. We spent our days on an outrigger canoe and snorkeling.


We then travelled to Rarotonga, another of the Cook Islands, one of employees at our resort gave me a lift on his motorbike to get to church. All the parishioners’’ were in white with the women wearing their fancy hats. Different church choirs from around the island go to a specific church and sing in harmony. The harmonies were fantastic and were sung from the heart. I was invited to their lunch after church, which I certainly enjoyed. It really was one of my highlights of our trip.


Brian and Eric snorkeled and scuba dived in Rarotonga. I spent my days riding a bike around the island. I went to the market, I watched families plant Taro. I watched as one family put headstones on their property to bury their dead. The Island is about 19 km circumference. All three of us are proud to say we did it. While on our bike ride we got stuck in a Tropical downpour. That was memory making for Eric, he still grimaces at me.


One evening while at the “Island Show”, I went to the pool where the performers were getting ready to do their show. There was this one woman who was putting fresh leis on her daughters and a leaf hat. I asked if I could take a picture. She said “Yes of course”. She then saw my dress and said she wanted to give me an extra head piece that they had used just a couple hours earlier when they had performed at a beach wedding. She put it on me and took a picture of her two daughters and I.

At the end of the show, they asked if I could join in with them for pictures. Then the woman who had given me the hat said that I was to go to the Market on Saturday and I would be on the “Island Show” disk her husband was putting together. So I am now on an Island Show disk. Wow!!! I always seem to have a great time.

When we first arrived in Rarotonga we had an email waiting for us. It was from Ellen and Hartley (my Danish Relatives) I thought, “How in the world would they know where we were?” It turned out that they read my Christmas Letter from last year that stated where we were going in the New Year. It turned out that they themselves were going to be visiting New Zealand. Via email, Eric and Hartley arranged a get together on Waiheke Island, a short ferry ride from Auckland. So we met half way around the world to have dinner together at a very fine winery. It was great fun!! Their son Henrik and family will be visiting us in Calgary next July. We look forward to seeing them.



Back in Auckland Eric was a great tour guide. He took us downtown and to a first class cinema. We went walking along the coast and we saw where he paddled most Saturdays, …we went to highest point in Auckland … we went to a Black Sand beach. (It was neat to see where he lived. His house was big and had a huge garden. His roommates were great)


Brian and I got back to Canada in late January. We had a fairly cold spring and I ended up with a house full of plants as I struggled to keep all my flowers for my gardening jobs alive Trust me, Brian was not too happy and it took a lot of time to water.

Life returned to normal in April. I worked at the Golf Course, Southern Alberta Pioneer Memorial Building and
my other gardening jobs. Brian spent as much time playing golf on a course as I was gardening in one.

Brian’s dad passed away suddenly in May 2009 after a brief illness. He had fallen down in his house and could not get up. Lori phoned his house and got concerned that he did not answer. So Jeff, (being a paramedic) went and found him. They got him into the hospital but by this time he had pneumonia. Then his liver shut down and then his heart. It was a very sad.

In May we had Manitoba Telephone System film a commercial with Cindy Klassen, the Olympic speed skater, in our house. That again was fun.

The Danish Canadian Stampede Breakfast was another highlight of my year.




Our nephew, Maddox, had a slight accident at his house. He fell from the second floor to the main level of Scott and Janine’s house. It was quite serious. He was strapped on a stretcher and taken to the hospital by ambulance. Thank goodness no serious injuries occurred, although he was in the hospital a few days and did have a compressed disk in his spine. He had to wear a neck brace for a while.


In August it was the 10th year anniversary of mom’s death. We went to Peter’s for burgers, fries and shakes, and had a picnic at the cemetery.


My dad said, “This past year will probably the best year of Eric’s life.” He spent a good three weeks with us in Aitutaki and Rarotonga. Then he went to the Island of Vanuatu with his friend Jamie. He went diving to a depth of 40 meters to see two ship wrecks. Then his friends from Calgary went to visit him. They all went to Fiji for a week. They swam with manta rays and got lots of Vitamin D. He flew to Christchurch on the south island. He got home in time to have his 22rd birthday. A week later he went to Nova Scotia to see the World Canoe and Kayak championships. He came home for a few days and then flew to Montreal to help with selling paddles and kayaks. He is now back for this fourth year of Engineering at the U of C.


During his reading week in November he came to Puerto Vallarta visit us for 10 days. Brian and I threw the football a lot on the beach. Eric said I caught the football good for an old bird. He and Brian went diving at Los Arcos.


In August we had the Ion Chef cook off. That is an annual family get together where there is a competition on food preparation. This year it was barbecuing ribs. We all judged for flavor, texture presentation etc. The kids took it very seriously. (Notice the pens in the photo.) At the end Eric was the champion, I felt Scott’s presentation was phenomenal.










Now you get to see firsthand what we have been up to in 2009. Bri and Eric have convinced me to be in the 2000s and have the Christmas letter online. How did you like it? Was it easy to access?

It is the South Pacific tradition to light a new torch to welcome in the New Year.

We are wishing you all the best in 2010.

Love,
Sherry, Brian and Eric