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2023 Chistmas letter

Michael and Vivien Young 2023 Christmas Newsletter

Michael and Vivien Young Christmas Letter 2023

Hello Family and Friends,

It’s been three years since our last Year in Review Christmas letter and what a crazy four years the world has seen! - Note: the narrator of this newsletter is Michael for reasons that will be divulged shortly.

There have been many memorable family events and get together's over the last year, let alone since the last family newsletter (2019).

If you see a Request to Login, you can just scroll by it. it only pertains that particular Image stripe. There are lots of other picture further on, including some great Dog & Cat pics. See Note to gain appropriate access. Best of the Season to you all.

Note: Some images on this web page have Content Control turned on. You may be asked to Request Access on any of the controlled image strips. Click the Link and your email will be added to the general Permission Group for all the images. (Limited to recipients of our 2023 Christmas Letter & this is a manual process.) If you see something that maybe should not be displayed here, please contact me. Your are encouraged to use the Comment Form.

So we wish you all a Happy Holiday and a Merry Christmas!

Mike (Email Link)

This web page comes in two parts:

- - 1st; an extended version of the printed newsletter that your received, IE more Pics and related links.
  - 2nd; Expanded Pics & Notes by event, mostly by season & month (and related links) - currently being added to daily)

- So here goes...

Link to Printable PDF 2023 Christmas Letter

And aren't the(y) Grand Kids!

Our most exciting news of 2023 is our now two amazing grandchildren, with the addition of Theodore, our newest grandson arriving on Jan 12th. Theodore Truong Young (Theo) was born to our eldest son Stephen and his wife Cat (Catherine Truong) at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. Theo joins Christopher who turned 4 on Nov 19th. Theo was eight pounds at birth and is growing in leaps and bounds every day. Christopher, not surprizingly has always been in the 90 percentile + of height and weight!

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All the boys are comfortably ensconced in houses or condos, and luckily all financed prior to the recent surge in mortgage interest rates. Steve and Cat bought a condo in midtown TO a few years ago. Steve is now SVP Finance at Go-Bolt, a logistics company focused on using an electric fleet of trucks for deliveries. His wife Cat is on leave from Infrastructure Ontario where she works as a Development Director.

Kenny & Angeline

Kenny became the first house owner buying on Jones Avenue in Leslieville. He and girlfriend Angelina discovered that the house was built in the 1890’s well before others in the area. (Oh & yes, I built a Little Free Library for their front yard as a housewarming gift.) Kenny is an analyst in strategic planning at the Royal Bank while Angelina works in policy for a sustainable development agency. Currently these two are on their 3rd visit to Japan for a two week holiday.

Philip, Katherine & Christopher

Philip, wife Katherine, and son Christopher moved into a house in Baby Point, Toronto in May of 2022. This area, near the Old Mill, is a friendly neighbourhood and the family loves participating in the many local community centre activities. Philip (now a Portfolio Manager with his firm) finds the subway trip to his office downtown easy and efficient and Katherine, largely working from her home office, is a marketing account manager. Chistopher attends French Immersion Junior Kindergarten in the area.

The year was populated with many visits to family and friends.

Creemore

At my brother David and wife Lynn’s farm near Creemore, their “Little Barn” bunkhouse was a frequent rendezvous for family members. It also gave Vivien an opportunity to once again show how much she loves swimming in deep water ponds (classified by me as anywhere I can’t see the bottom - 🙂), regardless of the time of year. There are many pictures to prove this theory.

The Family Trip to Ottawa

Our trip to Ottawa in July, with Philip & Family and Kenny, proved a great success as we toured the Parliament building at dusk with Christopher, swan in both the Gatineau River and Rockcliffe pond (where Vivien learned to swim apparently). Brother James hosted all of us and my sister Andrea (and Andre) at the recently renamed Rideau Sports Club for Lunch.

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Our many get-togethers over the year with our growing family remain the cornerstone of our family ties. Chistopher’s Christening in May was a definite highlight.

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About Mike and Viv....

40 years

And yes, it was our 40th wedding anniversary this year! On July 23rd we celebrated forty years of marriage with a toast to ourselves and some wonderment as to how we managed to get here. 🧐 In August we travelled to the Benmiller Inn near Goderich. We spent three enjoyable days exploring the beaches of Lake Huron, local towns, seeing some old friends and having a wonderful anniversary dinner on the Saturday night in the Inn’s fabulous restaurant.

Bloorview

Vivien returned to teach a primary class at Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital full time this fall. Her only condition was that I become “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer” for the school year. (Still learning about all the many things Viven did that I was apparently unaware of - including this Christmas letter ) 😀

PRP Management Systems

In my consulting business, I’ve been overseeing the development & implementation of a Production Resource Planning (PRP) system for my largest IT support client. The PRP system manages production from Work Orders to Final production & inventory tracking in a medium size manufacturing faciltiy. My most extensive PRP management system yet.

Community Service: Scouting

In my community service world with Kiwanis and the 132nd Scouts, longevity seems to have paid off as I was nominated for and awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award and the 30 year Ontario Volunteer Award for my years in Scouting.

Community Service: Kiwanis

Still active with the Kiwanis Club of East York but on a provincial scale, I was appointed Project Coordinator for the Kiwanis-Staples School Supply Drive (SSD) Campaign for Ontario. This program channels funds collected from the Staples stores to local Kiwanis Clubs who are then responsible for disbursement to local community partners (largely schools).

A special thank you to several of you who donated to the SSD Admin fund and helped the Campaign raise over $342 K. This was notably the largest single fundraising Campaign in Kiwanis, anywhere in Canada this year! Facilitating and empowering Kiwanis Clubs from 77 communities across Ontario to redirect funds donated at Staples Stores to a wide variety of community partners (all related to helping school children gain access to needed school supplies).

A Happy New Year to all

We would like to wish you all the best of the season and we look forward to a Happy New Year. We thank you all for your love and support of our little family compact and of our adventures & tribulations.

Following, in the 2nd half , is an extended photo album over the year by season .

This section is still being updated and evolving....

Winter 2023 - Jan to April

Winter in Toronto was little harsh and long in 2023 and seemed to drag in to April. Starting off with a couple week of Covid , a winter cold, 2 dogs to keep Marshmallow company. Despite all this, we seemed to be busy with work &community service: LFL, Youth Without Shelter, Kiwanis-Staples SSD campaign and lots of Choir music events (Voca at Roy Thompson) and the occasional escapes to my brother David farm in Creemore.

Covid Found Us

Our bragging rights were dashed as we learned what having Covid is all about!

Little Free Library

Mike's second Little Free Library build. Here Mike posts the first Co-Branded Kiwanis and Little Free Library Dedication Tag on the LFL for NLU. Tag# 123456

Finley and Friend

Marshmellow and Finley (our guest for 3 months) would always sleep close to each other each night, regardless of where they started,; bedroom, livingroom or above/below the high desk in the basement!.

Vivien & her choirmates "Stayin' Alive" VOCA Cabaret .

Really an inspiring group of Ladies, absolutely refusing to act their age. Vivien being the youngster in the Group!

Youth Without Shelter

Vivien & I helped the NLU Church and their Food program for the YWS in North York, on several occasions. It started with Vivien cooking meals at the house, but soon we were part of the serving team also.