February Updates!

February is always a busy and exciting month in our family, with so many birthday's to celebrate and usually a few ringette and hockey tournaments!! Here's the rest of February for the Cameron clan :)

February 15 to 16th the Panthers and Em participated in one of our favorite ringette tournaments - the Sweetheart Tournament in Spruce Grove! Spruce Grove puts on such a great tournament!! The Panthers didn't win a medal but had a blast playing 3 games and fitting in some team bonding in between games! They headed to WEM to paint pottery and have a team lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a lot of fun! Of course the girls squeezed in shopping and team pics and selfies at the mall, lol! The Ardene surprise bags are sure a hit!!!

February 16th was a busy day with ringette, a birthday brunch for Em at my Mom and Dad's and then a family dinner to celebrate all the February birthday's (Mom, Cal, Jeremy, Emerson, Connor and Mason). We went to Royal Pizza on the west end and it was delicious!! It was also nice to get everyone together before Mom and Dad headed south for a few months :)

February 20th was our first appointment with K911 - a dog trainer. Quinn is so amazing in almost everyway, other than she does not welcome people in to our home. And that's to put it mildly ... she thinks she has to guard our house, yard and that includes our campsite when we're camping :( It's really stressful for me. I just choose to avoid having people over to be honest, rather than deal with it. But we do want to help her, so we're going to see how it goes to have a trainer work with us and her. He was really, really awesome! And turns out we needed more help than we thought, as he suggested strategies for walking her as well! We'll try all his recommendations and see how it goes. We love Quinn so much!!!

February 22nd was Emerson's birthday party! And boy oh boy did they ever have a blast!! Such a great group of young ladies, they really can shop until they drop!!!

February 23rd Mom (that's me this time!) got to celebrate one of her besties birthday's with a night of awesome ladies and dancing!! Happy birthday to Paula who is over 40 but doesn't look a day over 30 ... lucky lady!

And that about wraps up February! Take care everyone, see ya in March!

Happy 10th birthday, Emerson!!

Emerson is in the double digits!! The big 1-0!! She's been planning this birthday for a long time :) Love that organizational side of her ... hmmmm, where does she get that from?! #minime

We celebrated Emerson's birthday with numerous events, as seems to happen with her birthday!! Lucky girl, lol!! Her ringette team was in the Sweetheart Tournament in Spruce Grove the weekend of her birthday, so we enjoyed a birthday brunch between games at my parents house! We then had somewhat of a last minute dinner with my family at Royal Pizza. It was delicious and so nice to celebrate all the February birthday's in our family, before my Mom and Dad headed down South on vacation! Thank you Mom & Dad!

Due to the ringette tournament, Emerson's friend birthday party was the following weekend, the 22nd. She went back and forth on what to do for her birthday and finally settled for another 'shopping' party at WEM! 7 girls + me took on West Edmonton Mall and had a blast :) She has a nice group of friends and all the girls were so good! They enjoyed spending their gift cards at various stores and finding the best deals!! We had dinner and dessert at Boston Pizza and shopped 'till we dropped. Such a great time, I love this birthday party idea!!

I can't believe our little Em is 10! I remember hearing, "It's a GIRL!" and being so overwhelmingly happy to have a baby girl!! I also remember when Emerson was born, the nurse told me, "This one will be saying her ABC's before she's 1!!" and she wasn't far off! Em's been talking since nearly out of the womb and she hasn't slowed down!! Miss chatty Kathy, you never feel alone or bored in her company. She keeps things interesting and everyone around her on their toes :) We lover her feisty personality, how hard she loves and how she does everything (absolutely everything) full on - there is no half-way with our Emerson! She dedicates 110% to everything she does and expects top results!! It can be hard to live this way, as you can't always be right, you can't always score 100% on everything and you can't always win all the games! But with this drive, you can always say you've done your best and you do always get better and stronger and smarter :) And that's our Em!! Always reaching for the stars :) Love her to death and love to watch her soar and reach for the sky! Thanks for being our little helper, Em. Always willing to led a helping hand, so organized and full of common sense and intelligence! You are an amazing big and little sister when you want to be and Reese's bff most of the time :) You're going places, sweetie and we are just along for the ride!! Happy 10th birthday, xoxoxoxo

Cal turns the big 4-0!!

Cal and Emerson are almost exactly 30 years apart and so with Em's 10th birthday coming up, that means Cal is the big 4-0!! I've know Cal since he was 17, which means over 1/2 his life. Wow!! How we got here so quickly, I do not know but they say time flies when you're having fun and so we are going to go with that :)

I just had to celebrate Cal with a little more than a dinner out and birthday cake at home!! I was not going to plan a surprise party as I really wanted to make sure the man himself was comfortable with my plans :) Turns out he was okay with them and the party planning began!!

We hosted a hall party for Cal on February 8th. I invited only his closest friends and immediate family. The original plan was to skate on the ODR and then visit in the hall but the darn weather ruined that plan, which was too bad because I think that was the part Cal was looking forward to the most! But we still had a great time and Cal was so happy to see friends and family and visit with everyone. Derek, Jen, Eric, Christa and Berlyn came from Calgary which was a surprise for Cal! A lot of his November Project friends came and some old NAIT friends, TELUS friends and hockey friends!! His brother and family were able to make it and my parents and sister and family. Thank you to everyone who came and a huge thank you to my parents for all their help with decorating, food and clean-up!!

Happy 40th birthday Cal, we love you beyond words and are so thankful for the Dad and husband you are! Love ya (old man - can we say that now?! lol!)

xoxoxo

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

Happy 2019!!! How is it 2019 ... I swear just yesterday we were worried about Y2K ;)

We had a blast on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!! We've spent the past few New Year's Eves at the Bucci's house and this year we wanted to go out before going over to their house for the count down! We decided on skating at the ODR and dinner and drinks at Brewsters. It was a little bit chilly on the ODR but we had a blast and the Mauro's brought hot chocolate for everyone! Brewsters was great, love the craft beer and the food!! Then we went back to the Bucci's to hang out and count down to the New Year :) Lots of fun and a 2 am bedtime!! Love that the kids are old enough to enjoy these late nights and it not affect them too much.

New Year's Day we had planned to just stay home and take it easy. We thought with the late bedtime, the kids would be tired and need a relaxing day at home. Nope, we were wrong!! They were antsy to get moving by noon!! We had heard the skating at Rundle Park was great, so headed there to check it out. I'm so glad we did, it was gorgeous and so much fun. They flood the walking paths around the park and also have two big rinks to play shinny on. The Bucci's, Mauro's and Scott's were also there skating and we had a great time. After skating, we were all tired and headed home for a quiet evening and an early bedtime.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2020 bless you in every way.

Lots of love,

The Cameron's

Christmas Celebrations!

Christmas Eve brought our annual PJ Service at St. Albert United Church, followed by a fast food dinner in the van and driving around, looking at Christmas lights :) Our favorite spots to visit are Candy Cane Lane and Bob's Christmas House! It was an awesome evening, again one of my most favorite Christmas traditions! On the way home our friends the Bucci's texted us and asked us to come over, so we rushed home, changed out of our pj's and stopped by for a visit. The kids were quite concerned we were out so late on Christmas Eve ;) I think we got home around midnight but would have stayed longer had the kids not been concerned about Santa's visit!!!

We awoke Christmas morning to Santa's magic! I popped the Christmas wife saver in the oven and we enjoyed our new gifts :) Mom and Dad stopped by for a visit and dinner (appetizers as requested by the kids!). It was a quite but very enjoyable day at home.

On Boxing Day we were off to Stony Plain to celebrate with all the 'Smith' family! We had a great day at Mom and Dad's and came home late that evening with full hearts and full bellies :)

On the 27th we were out of the house early to drop Quinn off at the kennel and head to Grande Prairie to visit Cal's family! His brother and family were leaving G.P. that evening so we wanted to get there early in the afternoon to enjoy dinner together and open gifts! We spent 2 nights in Grande Prairie and had a great time catching up with all the Cameron family. We visited Cal's grandpa at the long term care centre he lives at and his Grandma came by for a visit as well. It was great to see everyone and thankfully the roads were great on the way up and pretty good on the way home!

We had an awesome few days with family and feel so blessed!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

xoxo
The Cameron's

2018 Christmas Letter and Card

Hello everyone! ‘tis the season!! The season for last minute letter writing, cookie baking and Christmas shopping J Or at least that’s the case in our household!! We are spending a quiet Christmas day at home this year. On Boxing Day we will be in Stony Plain to celebrate with our Smith/Stecyk family and on the 27^th we are heading to Grande Prairie to visit Cal’s side of the family. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone!

I had a bit of trouble starting this letter this year. We lost my Grandpa Art in September and I feel like it’s hard to celebrate all the good in 2018 with the loss of such an important man in our lives. We were glad to be in SK with our immediate and extended family during this time. We miss him dearly but are glad he is no longer suffering. We will hold close all our wonderful memories, especially at this time of year as I remember the 20+ years I spent with him at Christmas time.

A little update on the kiddo’s in 2018 … Blake is 11 and in grade 6, hard to believe he’ll be off to junior high next year! We’re enjoying this last year of having all 3 kids in the same school. He played lacrosse this spring and brought home a silver medal from provincials in Calgary! He’s still obsessed with hockey and this year is working really hard on his slap shot. He’s decided to play spring hockey this spring and Cal will be coaching. Blake’s missing his favorite coach behind the bench this winter season. He tried a new sport this year when he joined the school volleyball team and enjoyed himself! I’ve also heard rumblings of playing school basketball, so we’ll see how he’ll fit all this in. He’s not still for long, unless he’s playing FortNite!!

Emerson is 9 and in grade 4! She is Ukrainian dancing again this year and playing ringette. She has chosen to split the goalie position in ringette this year and is doing very well. We may have a goalie on our hands, although league rules do not allow a player to play goalie 100% of the time until U12A. I am an assistant coach on her ringette team. Emerson was in guitar lessons until the end of June and is still practicing most weeks. She joined the school choir this year and is slightly annoyed her sister was old enough to also join!! Em is the best little helper I have, always willing to help with chores, cooking, walking the dog, etc.

Reese is 8 and in grade 3! She loves school and loves to read but her favorite subject is Math. Reese joined Brownies this fall and is having such a great time with her bestie! She had her first overnight Brownie camp and it was also her first time away from home for 2 nights (other than Grandma and Grandpa’s house)! I was a bit worried but she did great and had a blast. She’s looking forward to another Brownie camp in the spring. Reese is also playing ringette this winter and I am co-coaching her team. She is having a great season and is glad to finally be in U10 and playing regular league games. Like her sister, she enjoys playing goalie! Reese was in piano lessons until the end of June and would like to start lessons again. She still enjoys music and art and is quite the little artist J

We enjoyed our annual summer vacation road trip this year, visiting two new towns (Revelstoke and Golden) and our old favorite, Wright’s Beach in Penticton. We camped near Cal’s brother and family while in Penticton and had a great time. The weather was HOT!! We had a nice visit with Cal’s Aunt Sharon and Aunt Madeleine and were happy to also visit my great Aunt Gwen and great Uncle Frank! We embarked on the river float this year which scared the heck out of all of us when our tubes got caught up at a bridge. Lesson learned and the second float down the river was much less terrifying!! We absolutely loved Revelstoke and Golden. In Revelstoke we stayed at a campground on Upper Arrow Lake, it was gorgeous and the girls made new friends from Vernon, Germany and St. Lucia! Golden was also a surprise, we really enjoyed the Grizzly Bear refuge at Kicking Horse and the municipal campground was surprisingly nice and not a ‘parking lot’ as we anticipated.

In other news we added a new member to our family at the end of May when we adopted a puppy from a local rescue. We really missed having a dog in our lives and spent some time looking for what we hoped was the right fit! We wanted a larger breed, hoping to have a pal to hike, run and walk with us!! Quinn Jasper Cameron is her name but she was originally named Debbie by the rescue! We considered keeping Debbie (I had visions of yelling, “Debbie!! Get inside! or Debbie, it’s time for supper!!” lol!) but the family wasn’t quite on board and finally settled on Quinn, which suits her just fine J Jasper was also a front runner but some of us felt it was a more masculine name. One of our favorite places is Jasper and she has the coloring of Jasper the bear, so it was decided it would be her middle name! We love her so much and are working hard to train her. House and crate training were a breeze, she’s a very smart pup and she’s awesome with us but protective when strangers come to the house, which has proven challenging (tips are welcomed!). She loves the dog park, doggy daycare and lots and lots of exercise!! At almost 9 months she is 60 lbs and most closely resembles a border collie/lab cross but we’d love to do a doggy DNA test to see what breeds come back! She had so much fun with us on holidays this summer, loving the water and all the walks. We had fun with her at the doggy beach in Penticton, where she could swim with the kids! There’s nothing like the unconditional love of a dog J  

 Cal and I are still at our same jobs. I’ve upped my FTE a touch this year and have been picking up some casual hours. We’re living the rink life this winter and loving it, although Cal misses coaching hockey but is happy to be planning for the spring season!! Cal ran in the Sin7 Ultra race this summer with his November Project friends. When Quinn is a bit older, he hopes she will be his new running buddy!

Take care everyone, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

All our love,

The Cameron family

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

December has been so much fun!! We kicked the month off with our annual trip to the private Santa at WEM :) Mom and Dad have been taking the grandkids for the past few years and it's one of our favorite Christmas time memories. Santa is so awesome with the kids and takes so much time with them!! It was a great way to start the month of December!!

We decked the Cameron halls on December 3rd! We weren't sure how Quinn would feel about the decorations and were concerned with how she'd treat the Christmas tree, but so far so good!! What a good pup ;)

On December 6th Reese had her holiday party at Brownie's! She came home with a bag full of Christmas crafts and treats and even brought home her very own Grinch tree, it was so cute :)

On December 6th Emerson and I headed to Cochrane for a ringette tournament, Blake and Cal headed to Stettler on the 8th for a hockey tournament and Reese headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a sleepover :) We all had a great weekend. Em and the Panthers did win on the scoreboard but had an awesome weekend of team bonding and a ton of fun! Emerson and I stayed with the Parenteau's on the 6th and it was great to catch up with them and visit! On the 7th we stayed with the Panthers at the hotel. On the 8th we headed to Stettler to catch some of Blake's games and cheer on the Spartans! Then home on the 9th to reunite with our Reesey! Reese had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa :)

I caught a winter cold/sinus infection and felt like crap for a few weeks but started to recover around the 16th, just in time to volunteer for a field trip to Sunridge Ski Hill with the kids and their school! We love skiing so much, I really need to make more time for it. We had a great day on the hill, Blake and Em basically ski with their friends all day and Reese and I ski with her friends!

On the 21st we all helped to construct and decorate a gingerbread village! It was a lot of fun and I love how the kids are now very particular about their decorating vs just eating the candy, lol! It's become one of my most favorite Christmas traditions!!

Somewhere in December we wrote our annual Santa letters and did a pile of baking!! Of course our sugar cookies were a must, a Christmas staple in the Cameron house and so delicious!! We also baked peanut butter marshmallow squares, whipped shortbread and Christmas crack! Yummmmmy!! We were able to gift quite a bit of our baking to the girls ringette coaches and all the teachers :)

Next up ... Christmas Day and beyond!!