Happy Birthday to Emerson!!

On the 16th Em turned 7!!  7?!  That seems wrong some how ... how is she 7?  My goodness, my teeny little 6lb 11 oz baby girl is 7.  February is a whirl wind of activity in our house but we made sure to fit in a special dinner for Em on her birthday!  My parents and the Stecyk's joined us for dinner at Montanna's in St. Albert.  We met right after school, before hockey practice and Ukrainian dancing ;)  Em got to wear the traditional Montanna's horns and remarked that they felt very heavy!!  

On the 19th, a few of Emerson's closest friends and cousins helped her celebrate her birthday at the Edmonton Humane Society.  The kids spent the majority of the time visiting with various animals - puppies, cats, a snake, a bunny, a ferret and a bearded dragon!  Em loved every minute, she is such an animal lover!!  The puppies were her favorite and one in particular really took a liking to her, curling up in her lap :)  It was so cute!!  Thank you to everyone who joined Em at her party, she loves all her gifts and was so happy to spend time with her friends and cousins!  I'll share a few photo's below.

Happy Birthday, Em the gem!!  We love you beyond words and are so very proud of you.  You are one smart, hard working, helpful and loving girl!  We can always count on you to help in any and every situation, whether it be dusting around the house, washing dishes, helping your little sister, cleaning your brother's room (what a lucky boy to have a sister like you!!), etc, etc, you are so helpful and we greatly appreciate that trait :) You gift us with beautiful drawings every day, often titled "I Love You Mom/Dad".  You bring big smiles to our faces and we love you beyond words!!  xoxo

Opening gifts the morning of her birthday :)

Dinner at Montanna's and gifts from the Stecky's and G&G!

The Montanna's horns and birthday song!!

Craft time at the Humane Society!

So much fun in the puppy room :)

Lovin' the puppy kisses!!!

I adore this photo - pure joy :)

Blowing out her candles on her birthday ice cream sundae (which she requested, as she doesn't like cake!)!!

The party-goers!

Em and Tickles, the snake ;)

Holding the bearded dragon!

A quick family photo at home, after the party :)

Tournament long weekend!!

Phew, this family day long weekend was a 'tad' busy ;)  Blake and the Saints were in the Stollery Family Day Classic, Emerson and the blue blizzard and Reese and the purple panda's were in the Sweetheart Ringette Tournament.  I will admit, I was crossing my fingers that I'd make it to Monday evening.  Good news is, I made it!!  WE made it!  And we all enjoyed ourselves ;)  Sending a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who supported Blake and the Stollery Children's Foundation.  Cal, Blake and I all appreciate your support of this wonderful cause.  To date the Stollery Family Day Classic has raised over 1.5 million dollars!  Blake had fun in the Stollery tournament.  They didn't come away with a medal but had very close games and fun as a team!  

We all enjoyed the Sweetheart Tournament, it was fun to not only watch Reese and Emerson and their teams play but to catch one of my sister's games, catch up with a few players from my past, watch my niece Jenna's team play and spend time with the Stony Plain Cameron's and my parents!  The girls also loved the photo booth ;)  They were very proud of their medals and had a fabulous weekend!

We capped the long weekend off with lunch and a visit in Stony Plain!  It was nice to slow down and relax :)  I want to send a big thank you to my parents who helped us get Reese to her game on Friday, volunteered to time keep and were the kids' biggest cheer leaders!!  Thank you, thank you!!  

Here's a few photo's from our awesome weekend:

My favorite hockey player, ready for the Stollery tournament!!

Emerson, Reese and Jenna - Ringette cousins!!

Proud of my girls!

Cal and the girls :)

Happy Birthday, Mr. Cameron!!

On February 11th we celebrated Cal's birthday!  Cal and Em had ringette practice that night so we had an early dinner and Cal's birthday cake right after school - two of his favorites, lasagna and black forest cake!  The kids always enjoy celebrating birthdays and went all out as soon as we got home, making decorations for the house and decorating the table.  They put party hats, necklaces and name place cards out, it was so cute!  Cal, I know your day was busy and full (as they all are at this point in our lives!) but I hope you felt the love around you!  We love you so much :) Here's to another 30-something year, I have a feeling it will be great!!  xoxo

Minor Hockey Week

Quickcard Edmonton Minor Hockey week is one of the largest hockey tournaments in the world and one of the most exciting!  The format is unique in that if you lose your first game, you do move on to your second game but lose your second game and you are out of the tournament.  If you win your first game and lose your second game, you're also out.  So in a way, the first game is the game to lose (if you're going to lose one!!)  They also group the top teams in the league together.  So you often have a very strong team and a weaker team in the final.  We were tied for second in the league, so were in the tougher division.  We (in my opinion) had a bad draw this year, with our first game on Friday evening, second game on Saturday morning and our third game on Sunday morning.  Typically, games are spread out throughout the 10 days!  It was also the end of the first week back to school after the Christmas vacation.  The above excuses are my excuse as to why the Saints didn't win Minor Hockey Week ;)  lol!  The team who did win, we've beat 4-1.  Win or lose, it was a great time and 3 very close, hard-fought games!!  I love watching this group of talented 7 and 8 year old play hockey, they make it so exciting!!  Coach Cal shared an article with the team prior to our first game and I thought I'd share it with you, as well as another interesting article I found.  Enjoy :)

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/01/09/tait-on-eight-cheer-on-our-kids-during-minor-hockey-week

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/minor-hockey-week-fuelled-by-passion-and-volunteers-1.3389305 

Celebrating a win (game 2)!

Cool ice sculpture outside the area in Sherwood Park!

Game 3

Here's to 2016!

Here we are ... 2016!  We are looking forward to this year!  As usual, as soon as Christmas is over I start the year day-dreaming about those hazy, lazy days of summer!  I don't think I could live without winter but I would prefer 2-3 months of snow and cold vs 5-7 ;) Alas, we all have to wait just a few (6 or so)  more months.  Our January and February are full with hockey and ringette!  The girls have their first ringette tournaments coming up!!  Em's team is playing in the Edmonton Silver Ring and both Em and Reese's teams are playing in the Sweetheart Tournament in Spruce Grove.  Blake has minor hockey week coming up and the Stollery tournament in February.  Then league playoffs begin in March!  We have our wind up party planned for the end of March and then we'll be in to Spring sports :)  Can't wait to watch some lacrosse again!!  Blake also wants to play baseball, hopefully his lacrosse schedule will allow him to play baseball.  We're not sure what activities the girls will be participating in, in the spring.  Em has mentioned baseball and Reese has mentioned soccer!  It will be a matter of seeing which sports are on which days because we can't have all 3 in different sports on one night ... unless Blake gets his drivers license at age 9 ;)  lol! 

Thinking ahead to spring and summer, leads me to daydreaming about our 2016 holiday plans! We already have some plans underway.  First up, and already booked, is a trip to Phoenix during spring break.  The plan is to relax, take in a few MLB spring training games and swim in the pool at the house we're staying at!!  I can't wait and the kids are beyond excited!  By the time Spring Break comes, we will be in need of a real break ;)  Heck, we need one now but we'll have to wait!!  Then, at the beginning of July my Mom, sister and I are flying to Vancouver for a few nights for a Dixie Chicks concert!  Girls trip!!!!  Finally ... it's been years in the making ;) I'll be flying back into Calgary from Vancouver, where Cal and the kids will pick me up to begin our annual camping vacay.  First up, camping for a few nights with a group on NP friends, while they take on the Sinister 7 in Southern AB!!  From there, we're not quite sure where we're going to go.  Originally we had thought we'd visit Seattle and area but with the poor Canadian dollar, we're just not sure.  Might be best to stay in Canada! Somewhere in the mix (but during the MLB season!) Cal and a few friends want to plan a guys trip to Seattle for a few ball games. Other than that, we will be spending many more days and nights in our favorite home away from home (hint: it's on wheels!) with friends and family :)

I'll be back soon to update you on January's happenings!  Have a great month :)

~ Tracy    

Back to school tomorrow :s

It was family date night at the Oilers game on the 29th!!  Blake's been to tons of games, Em's been to a game when she was just a few weeks old and this was Reese's 1st game.  The girls kind of felt it was unfair that Blake got to go to so many Oilers games so we figured we'd better take them to a game!  The game wasn't so great but we all had fun and Reese kept us thoroughly entertained with her dancing and goofiness ;)

Cal and I had a whole 24 hrs to ourselves on Friday/Saturday :)  This is a rare occasion and seems to happen once a year!  I was so excited!  As much as I love my children, some time off is much needed!!  I feel like we never have time off !  We dropped the kids off at my mom and dads around noon on Friday.  They were so excited for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!!!!  Connor and Mason were at Grandma and Grandpa's also, so they had fun with their cousins on Friday afternoon :)  Cal and I went to a movie, did some shopping and went for dinner after we dropped them off.  The next morning I woke up at 8 am ... I had an entire 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep.  It was heavenly :)  Everyone met us at Blake's hockey practice on Saturday afternoon and by all accounts they had a wonderful time!!  Thank you Mom and Dad for taking the kids overnight, we all enjoyed ourselves and I know you did too! xoxo

Saturday night we were invited to our friends house, the Costello's.  We had such a great time!!!  The kids all play so well together and we got home at 12:30 am ... REALLY late for out kids!  But they were all having a blast (7 boys and 2 girls!) and the adults were having a great time ;)  It was a super night and we can't wait to do it again!

Back to work and school tomorrow ... It has been such a wonderful Christmas break, I don't really want it to end!  The girls are excited to get back to school and Blake is not so excited ;)  Hopefully they'll be up in time tomorrow morning!!

Talk to you soon!

~Tracy

2015 highlight's!

Our 2015 highlight reel, in pictures!  Enjoy :)

We began 2015 with a road trip to Calgary! We spent 1 night in a hotel and the next night we spent with friends at our friends Derek and Jen's house.  It was so much fun for the 6 adults and (as you can see in the photo above) for the 6 children!!

In February, we celebrated Emerson's 6th birthday with a few of her closest friends and family at Cineplex Odeon!

 mid-February: Blake and the St. Matthew's KC Storm participated in the Stan Gantar Outdoor hockey tournament.  There were some very cold games and some games cancelled due to the cold but we got all our games in!  Nothing like some good old fashioned outdoor hockey :)  The kids had a blast!

End of February: Emerson and Reese's 1st ringette tournament!!  A day of fun at the Timbits Beaumont Ringette Jamboree!  1/2 ice games, 4 on 4, no score kept, just good 'ol fashioned fun :)  Reminded me of the Friendship Tournaments I played in as a young ringette player!   They had a blast and also enjoyed the lobby entertainment - make your own noise makers, face painting and hair braiding!!  Right up the girls' alley ;)

 Family photo before heading to Church on Easter Sunday!  Easter Sunday service is one of my favorite services of the year.

End of April: Em and Blake in their spring concert at school!  It was an underwater theme and another great concert by our fabulous music teacher, Mme. Bujold!

In May we celebrated Blake's 8th birthday at Servus Place with a few of his closest friends and family!  Floor hockey and Pokemon were the main activities of his choice ;)

Blake's 1st year of Lacrosse!  He loved it and did so well!  The lacrosse season was from the end of April to mid-June. 

Mother's Day weekend Emerson and her dance group competed in a dance competition at Grant MacEwan.  Their dance was a tap dance :)

Reese's preschool graduation in May.  And also saying goodbye to Mrs. Chong and Mrs. York!  We've spent 3 years with these fabulous ladies and thank them for the time they've spent with Emerson and Reese, they've been absolutely wonderful and we'll miss them and Lago Lind Preschool.

Powerhouse Dance Recital - June 2015!  These cuties did so well, 2 of the best in their groups!

Cal ran in the Canada Day Road Race (15 km) and we enjoyed the Canada Day festivities at the legislature grounds!

 

 Our annual Smith/Cameron/Stecyk summer camping trip was spent at Ol' MacDonald's Resort!  The weather was amazing and we had so much fun!

Spiffed up in SK!  mid-July, attending my cousin's wedding!

 

Pedalheads Bike camp in July with the Hrdlicka's and Connor :)  Another great week of camp and Reese is now on 2 wheels!!  Our week at bike camp was followed by a weekend at Miquelon lake with our besties, the Hrdlicka's!

One of many great camping trips this summer - Here the kids are enjoying Grandma and Grandpa's tube and boat at Long Lake :)

Enjoying the last days of our summer vacation, at Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park :)  We visited Mt. Kidd, the Icefields parkway and Jasper on our summer camping vacay.

More fun at Pyramid Lake!

End of August: Emerson and Blake, crossing the finish line with Cal at the Edmonton Marathon.  One of my most favorite photo's of the year!  Cal did it, he finished his first FULL marathon!!

Cheering on Cal at the 1/2 way point during his marathon!

September 8th - first day of school!!

Off they go - all in the same school :)

The most handsome third grader!!

Our gorgeous first grader!!

Our beautiful kindergartener!!

 

After weeks of tryouts in August and September, Blake is proud to represent the KC Saints, Novice tier 2 rep team!!  There are 16 tiers in EMHA.  We're so proud of our boy, he's doing great at this level and loving the intense competition.

mid-September: Blake had another great Oil Kings clinic!  A huge thanks to the Oil Kings and ATB for putting on this wonderful event!

Reese and Emerson began ringette in October!  Reese is in Active Start 1, which is 1 ice time/weekend.  It is more like a learn to skate/learn ringette program.  They don't have any organized league games but do play in a fun tournament at the end of the year.  Last year she would tire after approx 45 minutes but this year, she's skating hard until the end :) I enjoy being on the ice with her as an assistant coach!

Emerson is in Active Start 2.  She plays 1/wk and twice every second week.  She will be participating in 3 tournaments this year.  In Active Start 2 they start learning more of the rules of the game and playing 1/2 ice games.  She is enjoying herself and is super happy to have her Dad on the ice with her, as an assistant coach :)

After a few years of being disappointed in our family photo's, we decided to try to take our own!  We took this photo on Thanksgiving weekend, before our family dinner at the Stecyk's.  We got gorgeous shots of the kids but it was raining off and on and we didn't get a great family photo :(  We'll try again next year and in the meantime, enjoy this photo of our gorgeous kiddo's!

LOVE this photo!!  The Hulk, Princess Auora and our Pirate = Halloween 2015.

A fabulous November night out at the River Cree with my Mom and Sister, celebrating my 35th birthday!!

Miss Emerson chose Ukrainian dance this year!  Here she is at her costume fitting in November!

Reese's 5th birthday party at 4 Cats Art Studio!  So much fun!!

Reese had her 1st Music Recital in December!  Her part was very short but she did wonderful and learned so much from this music class.  Unfortunately the next session does not work with our schedules but she wants to play piano, so I will try to get her into piano lessons in September!

 Blake's first school choir performance was in early December, at City Hall!!  

 I spent the first two Friday's of December on a field trip with Blake and the rest of the grade 3's, 4's, 5's and 6's!  We had so much fun and Blake mastered the chair lift!

 Another beautiful Christmas pageant by the Sunday school children at St. Albert United Church!  The kids did so great!

A new tradition begins!  Delivering gifts for Santa's Anoymous.  We delivered gifts to five different homes.
 

 Photo with Santa!  They all still believe :)

We spent Christmas Day at my Mom and Dad's with Connor and Mason (and their parents!) :)

Boxing Day at our house, with Grandma Bev, Colby, Jenna (and their parents!), Katie and Greyson :)

December 27 to 29th, Blake and the KC Saints participated in the Confederation Hockey Tournament.  They played amazing, and won GOLD!!  So proud of this team and my boys - #4 and Coach Cal ;)
 

 After a busy Christmas break, we decided to ring in 2016 together, at home.  It was a wonderful evening, spent watching hockey, putting together Lego, playing games and working on Cal's puzzle :)

~ I hope you've enjoyed this look back on some of the many highlights of our 2015!  I could add a 1000 more photo's :) We are looking forward to 2016 and wish everyone all the best in the New Year.  May your year be blessed with time spent with both great friends and family, good health and an abundance of love.  Smile and be grateful for each moment, as we all know the time passes far too quickly! xoxo The Cameron's ~