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I am a small red
pack. I do not have a name or an address or any special
features, just a strap and a zipper. I am not a magical
pack or even a particularly attractive pack. But I am
special because I am Kris and Ana's small red pack and they love
me! I know they love me because they take me to many, many
wonderful places and hardly ever stuff me in storage closets to
collect dust and be eaten by nasty moths and mould. I'd
like to tell you all about last year,
2002, as it was a very fun year for me and I think I have some
stories you would enjoy.
First, let me tell you about my
owners. They just got married and I can tell that they are
in love. They don't really have a house or many things and
seem to spend all their spare time and money traveling to new
places, which suits me just fine since they always bring me
along. They also have so many friends and so much family
that I sometimes forget their names! For example, I began
the year in Ponta Delgada, Azores with members of Ana's family
that I had never seen before, that was really nice. Their
friend Toddy Van Hees was also there, and I know him very well
because he seems to pop up everywhere Kris and Ana go!
They have great fun together. On New Years Eve we all went
down to the city centre to watch the fireworks display, which
was remarkable, and extremely loud. There was this poor
little doggie there who was so scared by the noise that he was
shivering and hiding behind their legs and at one point I
thought he was going to pee on me!
Ana and Kris
then returned to Canada and packed up their big suitcases which
meant we were probably moving to a new country (they don't stay
in one place for long). Since I'm so small they always
carry me aboard the airplane therefore I'm the first of all of
the luggage to know where we are going. This time it was
The Netherlands! After living in warm countries for so
long the cold and windy weather was quite a shock for them as
they looked really cold whenever they took me out. I spent
a lot of my time in the closet in their apartment since they
don't need me much when they are working. But it's amazing
how much you can hear when you really pay attention. They
have these two friends, Carmen and James who were over at their
place all the time, and they all had so much fun, you could just
hear them laughing constantly!
They had
quite a few visitors to their apartment. I remember Toddy,
Kris' brother Curtis and his girlfriend Carrie and Kris'
grandparents and aunt Lynn. I usually know when visitors
are coming because Ana and Kris start getting quite excited, and
I know that I'll probably get a weekend trip out of it.
Like when the grandparents came we all took a super fast train
to Paris for the weekend. You should have seen grandma and
Lynn and how they loved the big tall buildings in Paris.
And one afternoon the women took me shopping and left Kris and
grandpa at a cafe drinking rum and smoking cigars! I had a
lot of fun that weekend, but the weekend trip to Barcelona with
Curt and Carrie and Toddy was pretty crazy too. Ana
carried me around the whole time and I got to see these amazing
buildings constructed by some guy named Gaudi, some incredible
street performers, and Toddy and Kris losing money to a street
hussler, what a laugh! One night they all went to a tapas
bar and practically cleaned the whole thing out and drained the
beer tap. That sort of thing happens a lot when Kris gets
together with his brothers and friends.
Those weren't
the only weekend trips I had. My favourite times are
always on Thursday nights when Ana would pull me out of the
closet and start packing me up with things, because that meant
we were going away. I can hardly remember all the places
we went but I do remember Apeldorn in Holland, Athens in Greece,
Bergen in Norway, Brussels and Antwerp in Belgium, Odense in
Denmark, Budapest in Hungary, and England a few times.
Ana also took me to Kazakhstan where she had to work for a
month. That was boring. Kris was there for the last
three weeks and they didn't do much besides work and sleep.
Almost forgot
to tell you, Kris and Ana went back to Canada for Easter and, as
usual, I went along. They were happy to spend the time
with Ana's parents and her brother. They also went on a
side trip to Atlantic Canada where they drove around a lot and
saw plenty of neat stuff. They seemed to enjoy being
tourists in their own country!
Sometime
around the middle of the year, Kris and Ana pulled out the big
luggage which could only mean one thing - we were on the move
again! After packing up all their stuff, including Kris'
shirts and ties, which he seemed to take great pleasure in
doing, they took me and another small bag and we left for the
airport...and ended up in Portugal! Kris and Ana were
there for a week and had lots of fun. Before long I was
packed up, jammed in the overhead locker of the airplane,
and back to Holland where they picked up the big bags, returned
to the airport, and were then on a plane to Canada. I
couldn't figure out what was going on! But on the plane
Ana stuffed me under the seat and I heard them talking the whole
way and eventually figured out what was going on. They had
finished their jobs and were taking six months off to go
traveling!! Good Lord, will they ever get tired of this
globetrotting? But I was excited because I heard them
mention lots of countries I hadn't heard of which was certainly
going to be a lot of fun.
When they
returned to Canada, they stayed so long I thought we would never
leave! We went to Saskatchewan to Kris' family reunion
which was quite a rowdy affair, then on a sailing trip with
Kris' dad and his wife, then back to Ontario where they visited
Ana's brother Mark and his girlfriend Lina, Kris' uncle and aunt
Mike and Ana, then one day Kris packed me up (for a change, it's
usually Ana doing the packing), and him and Ana's dad John drove
up north for a fishing trip with a whole bunch of derelict
characters! I had beer spilled on me more than once.
Let me jump
ahead a few months. At the moment I am lying on the floor
of a house in New Zealand and I am filthy dirty from all the
miles I've traveled recently! Since leaving Canada Ana and
Kris have taken me to a party in Catford, London, on a safari
chasing rhinoceros in South Africa, to a golf course in Western
Australia kangaroo spotting, on a huge sailing ship in eastern
Australia, and just last week, on a two day ride around New
Zealand on a Harley-Davidson! And I've met lots of new
amazing people like Trudy and Philippe, Karen and Jamie, and
Johnny and Carolyn, all of whom are good friends of my owners.
So as you can see I have been very busy and have not seen the
inside of a closet for many, many weeks. I have also never
seen Kris and Ana having so much fun and so relaxed. I
certainly am a lucky red pack!
Yesterday I
heard Ana saying that we'll be leaving New Zealand on January
1st for South America. That is sure to be a great
adventure and an exciting start to a brand new year!
Yours truly,
A small red pack
P.S. Kris and
Ana left a little note with me last night, you may find it
interesting!
Kris & Ana's 2002 Christmas Letter
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Dear Family and
Friends,
Merry Christmas
to all from beautiful New Zealand! Although we are a
little sad to be spending Christmas alone this year instead of
with our families, we will surely make the best of it in this
lovely country and will be thinking of all of you as we enjoy
our southern hemisphere Christmas dinner which will definitely
involve a barbeque and red meat!
We just heard sad news that our
friend Dave Consoli and his family had a horrible car accident
in October. We spoke with him this morning and learned
that they all survived and are working their way to health after
some very challenging injures. We have always known Dave
to be a remarkable person, but hearing the determination and joy
in his voice after such an ordeal makes us more inspired by him
than ever. We sat back this morning and thought about how
precious our health and happiness really is. It is really
unfortunate that it takes news like this for us to think long
and hard about our blessings. We wish the entire Consoli
family, a great Christmas together and best wishes to a healthy
and healing 2003.
As you've
read from our little red backpack, we've had an unbelievable
year. Better than we could have ever imagined. But
we haven't forgotten the important people in our lives.
Just because our friends and families are out of sight, you are
always in our thoughts. Just a few of the exciting events
in your lives this year:
Big Trips
- Visiting the Azores with Mom and Pop Borges
after a 15 year absence from their home island.
- Grandma and Grandpa Gustafson and Lynn visiting The
Netherlands and Sweden 20 years after their first trip.
- Todd's adventures around the world....meeting us a record 8
times this past year.
- Thanks to Mark Olson, for organizing a fantastic fishing trip
and second attempt at Kris' stag.
Announcements
- Marty and Jen's engagement and wedding coming in July 2003.
- Our Danish friends Martin, Marianne and Benjamin waiting for
the arrival of their new baby coming in January 2003!
- Best wishes to Erica and Mike on their marriage in September
in Edmonton.
- Best wishes to Wendy and Bob on their marriage in September in
Oregon.
- Best of luck to Katie and John on their marriage in December
in Kingston.
- Congrats to Angela and Rick on the arrival of new adorable
baby Samantha
Acheivements
- Congratulations to Carmen for landing her first job abroad,
which just happens to be working in The Netherlands with Ana!
- Best of luck to Steve and Abby for their hotel purchase on the
Isle of Butte, off the coast of Scotland.
- Congrats to John Borges, for winning the Bass Master trophy
and proving that beginner's luck can last forever.
- Grand opening of Popsy (Peter) and Loretta's care home.
- Congrats to Momsy's (Diane) successful move to home decorating
sales.
- Thank you to the Olson sisters who managed to organize a
record 27 Olsons and 2 Borges' under one roof for the Olson
Reunion this past summer.
What a year!! We look forward to a 2003
full of success, health, laughter and love! We wish the
same to all of you!!
God bless,
Kris and Ana Olson
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