2019 Christmas Letter and Photo Card

*Photo card to come!!

The holiday season is upon us! We are all really looking forward to a few days of rest and family time. 2019 has been a great year, with a few changes - mostly the growth of the munchkins and the dog! 

Blake started jr. high this year which brought a change of schools. He’s in St. Albert now which means a coordinated car pool schedule! Blake is really enjoying the independence of jr high, I didn’t really realize how ready he was to move on from elementary school but it is evident now. He is in pre-AP classes & still in French immersion. He’s enjoying every extra curricular activity - participating on the cross-country running team, the jr. volleyball team & now the jr. basketball team. He also started band & is learning to play the trombone. His practice sessions at home are interesting - his sisters complain & the dog doesn’t seem to be a fan of the ‘noise’!! Looking forward to his first concert ;) Blake’s playing hockey again & made the Peewee AA Lancers for the winter season. This spring he played spring hockey & lacrosse. He played on the zone A lacrosse team which was challenging but he loved it. Blake is now taller than me & close to Cal! We predict he will be taller than Cal after summer, summer seems to be a huge growth time, maybe it’s all the lake water and sunshine :) 

Emerson is in grade 5 this year and takes her studies very seriously. She really puts a lot of pressure on herself which can be tricky to manage as a parent but the girl is driven!!! Em is enjoying ringette this year, she moved up to U12 & is splitting her time between goalie & forward. She’s not sure if she’ll play goalie next season, she’s enjoying putting the ring in the net ;) Emerson is Ukrainian Dancing again this year. Her group has been together for a few years now which is great. Their character dance is a favorite & we’re looking forward to this years version! Emerson is also playing volleyball this season & has been practicing two mornings a week before school. She can’t wait for their first tournament!

Reese is in grade 4 this year & enjoying her teachers and friends. Reese is the comedian in our family, she is just so darn funny!!! She is playing ringette again & is in her last year of U10. She splits her time between goalie & player but would tell you that goalie is her favorite. Cal & I would tell you that being a goalie parent is definitely the most stressful position on any team!! This spring she had a lot of fun playing 3 on 3 ringette. Reese has moved on from Brownies and is in her 1st year of Girl Guides. At the beginning of September she attended a two night camp. It was the coldest weekend in September and they were in tents with no other shelter but she had a blast and is looking forward to another Girl Guide camp in June!

We started summer 2019 at the Cameron family reunion in Namao. It was a great gathering and wonderful to visit with so many of the Cameron clan! The following weekend Cal was off to Crow’s Nest Pass for his Sin7 race. His team did well but as is often the case, the weather provided some challenges. This year in the form of mud, rain and slippery mountain trails! The next weekend was lacrosse provincials in Calgary, which happened to be the same weekend as our Campbell family reunion :( Then in mid July we were off on our summer vacation road trip! This year was spent between Vernon, Penticton & the Coeur d'Alene area. The Okanogan weather never disappoints and thankfully this summer there were no fires. We enjoyed our annual Penticton visit with Cal’s Aunt Sharon! We met up with my parents, sister & her family in Idaho. Probably our favorite day of this vacation was when we rented a pontoon boat & spent the day on Lake Coeur d'aLene. Swimming, suntanning and tubing on a gorgeous lake - doesn’t get much better! Silverwood and Boulder Beach were also a lot of fun!! We used our trailer less than previous summers, which I think is a sign of the times as the kids are getting older. We did not camp on May long weekend this year due to a lacrosse tournament & the rest of the summer other than our 3 week road-trip, was spent with ringette & hockey camps & lots of downtime at home and around Edmonton with friends.

We rang in February of this year with a 40th birthday party for Cal. Unfortunately the weather ruined our plans for outdoor skating & shinny but we still enjoyed ourselves indoors! Cal traveled to Florida for a conference this June and has made his usual BC & Calgary trips. In September he was promoted to a  Senior Design Specialist, a role he has been working so hard for & we are so proud of him! Cal was excited to coach Blake’s team this spring & is back in his happy place behind the bench this winter! Cal’s other hobbies include his Friday afternoon hockey games with his teacher buddies and Friday morning workouts with the November Project crew, followed by what they call “Old Man Coffee” at the nearest McDonalds!! He says they are gearing up for retirement!

I am working a .52 FTE this school year. That translates to approx. 3 days a week although I spread those hours over 4 days. I love my job and especially enjoy that I am never in one place for too long, as I travel from school to school around the city. When needed, I am on the ice/bench with Reese’s team but my main role is managing the team. I am a co-manager on Em’s team and manager on Blake’s team as well.I love these volunteer roles. It really is like a hobby but more of a full-time job kind of hobby!! I enjoy the planning & organizing & helping to ensure all the players have a fun season. The rest of my spare ‘fun’ time usually includes a late night tea/coffee date with friends or a Saturday night out dancing!!

Quinn the wonder dog is full grown & approx. 60 lbs. She is the smartest & most loyal dog but unfortunately we can not seem to convince her that we don’t need a guard dog. She loves us dearly & thinks she’s a lap dog, it’s quite comical at times!! Her cuddles are the absolute best :) We love our adventures with Quinn, our favorite is the local dog park. 

That brings us to the end of 2019. My how time flies!! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas filled with friends, family and love. Merry Christmas and all the best in the 2020! 

xoxo 

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese

Merry Christmas ~ 2019

Merry Christmas everyone!! We enjoyed celebrating Christmas with our 'Cameron' and 'Smith' families! For the first time ever, Cal's mom stayed with us over the Christmas break! The kids were super excited to have Grandma Bev here!!  We enjoyed having Bev with us on our annual Christmas Eve Church, take out and lights extravaganza ;) We got in our comfy jamies and enjoyed the evening!! I love this tradition and look forward to it every Christmas. The weather was nice enough to walk along Candy Cane Lane this year, which was extra nice. Bev slept in Blake's bed, Blake slept in Em's bed and Em and Reese slept in Reese's bed, it all worked out quite well and I think the kids enjoyed being in the same room on Christmas Eve. 

Christmas morning we woke up, opened gifts and enjoyed our traditional Christmas morning wife-saver!! Yum yum!! We headed to the Stony Plain Cameron house mid-morning for a delicious brunch and visit. The kids loved Auntie Lesley's homemade waffle bar!! It's always great to get together as our kids are so close in age and get along so well :)

Later that afternoon we left Bev with Gerry & Lesley and headed to my parents in Stony Plain for our Christmas Day celebrations! It was a great afternoon of gifts, cousins, visiting and again, yummy food!! This year Will and Kristy Campbell (and kids) joined us for dinner. It was really nice to see them and their 3 kids got along very well with our 3 and my nephews! 

We had a great Christmas Day and are so blessed to have family close by and time to create these wonderful memories! Boxing Day will be for relaxing and leftovers ;) 

Merry Christmas everyone!! xoxo

November

On the 1st Reese had a fun night a the waterpark with her friend Alexa! It was a fundraiser for Alexa's soccer club. Whenever those two are together, they have a blast!!

Blake started off November with another volleyball tournament. He's really enjoying playing volleyball and we enjoy watching and cheering! He's made new friends on the team which is awesome! Emerson has affiliated with the A team a few more times and is enjoying that :) 

On the 6th was Blake's first ever parent teacher interviews for jr high! They went very well and I left feeling very proud of him and how well he seems to be adjusting to jr high life and school :)

Over the past few months I've been involved in hiring a new minister for our Church. It has been a really intersting process, I am glad I was asked to sit on the committee. I feel bad because we are rarely able to attend Church, it seems every Sunday morning we have ringette. But I am grateful to be involved and we selected a really awesome candidate so hopefully we will make it there soon!! Her convenating service was on the 3rd.

Emerson and I were very excited for her first bus trip with her ringette team but sadly it was cancelled due to the weather :( I am a co-manager on her team so we were sad the trip was cancelled and also sad that all our hard work was cancelled!! We coordinated meals and the bus ride with the other Edmonton 12B team. So instead of getting up at 4 am and riding to Fort Mac for 2 ringette games, we slept in and spent some time at the dog park with the fam!! We love our dog park visits, Quinn has so much fun, you can't help but smile and love the experience!!

On the 11th we paid respect to those who have served and are serving our country. Reese's Girl Guide unit participated in a Remembrance Day ceremony at Greishbach. We were all able to attend and although it was a cold day, we were so glad we could show are thanks and respect by participating in the ceremony.

On the 14th we celebrated my birthday with cake before bed as it was game day for Blake and Emerson!!

On the 15th Reese and I headed to Lacombe for a ringette tournament. We stayed at the hotel in Red Deer with her team on Friday night and drove back home for Saturday night. Sunday the played in final, later in the day so we were able to drive down without leaving Edmonton too early! Reese had so much fun with her team and they played so well!! And this weekend was the debut of their team mascot - a dinosaur!! Some of the older sisters on the team dressed up in one of those blow up dinosaur costumes, it was so funny and awesome!!

Blake began basketball tryouts on the 19th, which more importanly was Reese's 9th birthday!! Luckily, Reese had a field trip to TWOS and Grandma D was able to volunteer :) They had fun and Grandma even brought Reese Subway for a birthday lunch!! 

On the 22nd Reese and 3 of her friends all wore the same outfit for 'Twin' Day at school! There were super cute with their matching tshirts, scrunchies and leggings!! That evening was Reese's 9th birthday party. We attended a movie (Frozen 2 - so good!), had dinner at BP's and then she had two friends sleep over :) They had so much fun, of course little sleep was had!!

On the 24th was the Lancers Christmas Party. They mini-golfed, had a pizza party at a teammates parents pub (Sherlock Holmes in WEM) and exchanged gifts. They did a funky tie and funky sock exchange, which was a lot of fun! Before the party started, the team met at London Drugs to hand in their 'Stocking Stuffers for Seniors' gift bags. Thanks to the Lancers generosity, 17 seniors will have a gift to open on Christmas morning!

On the 27th we got our flu shots - not so fun but necessary IMO :)

On the 28th I volunteered at the book fair at the girls school and they had demo of learning that evening. This is always such a treat to have them show us their classrooms and what they have been working. We always leave so proud of them and the students they are working hard to be.

And that was our November!! We're excited to start decorating for Christmas and really looking forward to the Christmas break!! Talk to ya in December!!

October

October was a great month! It started with Emerson getting her hair streaked :) She's been asking to dye her hair for awhile now and I finally arranged it! A mom of her school friend is a hair stylist so we arranged for a play date/salon date! She's super excited about her streaks and they look great! I find it easier to update in point form, so I'm going to stick to that this month! Here's what we were up to in October:

5th - Reese's team had a blast at Clip n' Climb, followed by a practice!
6th - Celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents house with a delicious turkey dinner
8th-9th - Cal in Calgary for work
11th-13th - Turkey Ring in St. Albert. Reese's team participated and Emerson affiliated to a U12A team!
12th - I had dinner with friends Christa and Audrey! Christa and I met Audrey at St. Albert United Church. We had a nice evening, visiting and shopping. It was a reminder that we need to make time to do this more often!!
17th - Cal took a day trip to Calgary for the day!
17th-19th - Blake had a volleyball tournament in Spruce Grove
18th-19th - Emerson's team competed in the Brass Ring (games in Beaumont and Leduc)
18th- Family Movie Night at the girls school! This is such a fun event! The kids bring blankets and stuffies and enjoy hanging out with friends on the gym floor! The concession is open and the kids have a blast.
19th - Reese's 1st road trip! We took a short trip down the QEII to play Red Deer.
21st - Blake's 1st team training at ATHX. He really enjoyed this and the team has more sessions booked throughout the hockey season.
22nd - Emerson was looking forward to this day for month's! She won an opportunity to attend WE Day at Rogers Place. Typically this event is for grade 6 students in our school but there were a few spots open so the grade 5's were given an opportunity to write an essay to attend. Emerson put a lot of time into her essay and she was chosen to attend. We're so proud of her!! She had a blast at the event!
23rd - Emerson began volleyball practices at school! Her practices are in the mornings before school starts :) She's excited to try a new sport!!
24th - We had a birthday tea and donuts with my Dad before going to practices!!
25th-27th - The Lancers were in Camrose for a tournament. Blake and Cal stayed with the Bucci's on the Friday night, Reese had a game early in the morning on Saturday so after the game Reese and I headed to Camrose and Emerson went with my parents for a sleepover so she didn't have to miss any of her ringette!
31st - Halloween! We love Halloween and our annual date with the Bucci's and Mauro's! Mom and Dad came over for a quick visit and their annual photo and then we headed to the Bucci's for pizza and trick-or-treating! This year Blake chose to wear the same FortNite costume from last year (it fit better this year, last year it was huge!), Reese wore a bunny onesie trick or treating and a huge panda head to school and Emerson was a black cat!

Quinn spent the 26th while we were in Camrose at the kennel and Halloween night. She loves it there, thankfully!!

Emerson is really enjoying her volleyball practices and can't wait for their tournament in December!!

xo

September updates!

September was back to it 'all'!! Hockey, ringette, dance, girl guides, work, school, etc :) Here's some highlights of our month:

1st - Celebrated the end of summer with a visit to Stony Plain! We had lunch at my mom and dad's and dinner at Gerry and Lesley's! Great visit with everyone :)

2nd - KC tryouts started for Blake!

3rd - Back to school and Blake started volleyball tryouts! No time to waste, they started tryouts the first day of school!

7th - Emerson and Reese each had a prep skate before ringette evaluations started and I was invited to my friend Jen's house for her mom's surprise 60th birthday party!

8th - Blake's 1st volleyball tournament at the Saville Community Sports Centre! So fun watching him compete in a new sport!

10th - Cal took a trip to Calgary for work. Back on the 11th! He will be in Calgary a lot more this winter.

11th - ESSMY welcome  back BBQ, KC tryouts and Emerson had a goalie evaluation! Thankfully Cal was back from Calgary in time to take Blake to tryouts while Reese, Em and I headed to the Meadows for her goalie eval :)

12th - Reese's first Girl Guide meeting! She has moved from Brownie's to Girl Guides and her meetings are at Lago Lindo Hall this year. Her bff Alexa is still in her troop and she was so excited to see her!!

19th - Blake had his first PD day on the 20th so he had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!

20th-22nd - Blake had a few hockey games this weekend ... 6 to be exact! At the last minute they were invited to participate in a tournament in Spruce Grove as a team had dropped out. They had an awesome weekend, bringing home a silver medal! They also had their first game of the Peewee AA EFHL pre season tournament, which they won, which means they advance to round 2!!

25th - Blake competed in the district cross country run!

27th-29th - Reese's 1st Girl Guides camp of the year! It was super cold this weekend but they persevered and tented!! She said she was quite cold but had a lot of fun!

29th - We were invited to attend the Oil Kings game with a friend who's company has a suite! We wondered if this was a good idea, being that Reese would likely be exhausted after a weekend of camp but she persevered and we had fun with some hockey friends!!

Kids are all set on their teams now - Emerson made a U12B team, they've called themselves the Devils! Reese made U10S3, they'll be the Raptors and Blake made the Peewee AA Lancers! They're all excited with where they landed and will have a great season, I anticipate!! I am managing all 3 teams and Cal is an assistant coach on Blake's team. So here we go ... buckle up for a fun and busy winter season!! Looking forward to it :)

xo

1st day of school!

And work ... for me! The kids and I are BACK! And Cal's back to working from home in peace and quiet :)

Reese is in grade 4 this year and has Mme. Melissa as her teacher. Mme. Melissa taught Blake and Emerson in grade 2 and taught Reese for a few months of grade 2 before she took her maternity leave. Reese's class is a grade 3/4 split.

Emerson is in grade 5 this year and has Mme. Khair as her teacher. Mme. Khair taught all 3 kids grade 1 but last school year she moved to teaching grade 5! Em's class is a grade 4/5 split.

And Blake has moved on to jr. high and grade 7! His home room teacher is Mme. Gamester and he has Kyle in his homeroom class. He's gone to school with Kyle from k-gr. 6. His friends Max and Gavin are also at ESSMY, although not in the same homeroom. Blake's already told us he'll be trying out for volleyball this week, so that will be interesting!

We hope everyone has a wonderful first day back to school :)

August at home!

Most of August was spent at home! I sometimes wonder if we should spend more time at home in the summer but I think that as the kids get older we may be forced to spend more time at home in the summer as they might have summer jobs and may not want to be away from home for so long!

The weather has not been great in Edmonton this summer :( Lots of rain!! Thank goodness we got away! But to combat the dreary weather, we spent some time at a few of the indoor play gyms! On the 7th we met the Mauro's and Bucci's at Amazone and I picked up Reese's bestie, Alexa, to join us! On the 13th we met the Bucci's and Mauro's again, this time at Jump n' Play. Jump n' Play was not up my kids alley!! They're not big into stunting and flipping, lol! They like a little jumping but it was not worth the money. But we got out of the house and we all got to visit with friends, so that was good!

Thankfully on the 14th we saw the sun and got to spend the day with the Stecyk's at the Summerside beach club! Lots of fun, we're lucky the Stecyk's can invite us to join them :)

On the 16th Reese spent the night with her bff Alexa and her family at their cabin. By all reports she had a BLAST!! I enjoyed a girls night out at the Melting Pot that same night. Yummmmy!!

Rep conditioning camp started for Blake on the 17th. If it's going to rain, we might as well be in the rink!! Blake's excited to start again and is trying really hard to make the Peewee AA rep team! We think he was a great chance :)

On the 18th the girls and I drove out to Stony Plain to help my mom at the Cowboy Poetry event. Turned out they had more than enough volunteers but it was nice to take in some of the event and we ended up going for breakfast with my Dad!

The kids all had camps the week of the 19th to the 23rd. Blake in a 4 day Quantum power skating camp at the Meadows, which ran in the afternoons and consisted of 1 hr of dryland and 1 hour of on ice and the girls at the University Ringette Camp which was out of Servus Place. Blake enjoys Quantum and the girls love their ringette camp. They spend all day at Servus Place and made new friends, seen some of their teammates and enjoy friends from previous years camps!!

The kids finally had time for a grandparent sleepover at he end of August! A much needed break for Cal and I and some grandma and grandpa time for the kids, which is always awesome :) They stayed for 2 nights and had fun fishing, quadding and spending time together.

On the 29th Blake had his grade 7 orientation at ESSMY! We were both nervous but excited for this new adventure! Blake was assigned his lock and locker, received most of his textbooks, put his supplies in his locker and found all his classrooms. The idea of this orientation is to help the new students feel more comfortable on their first day of school :) 

On the 31st we were invited to what we call 'the Bucci block party'!! Our good friends the Bucci's live in a large crescent that is FULL of young families!! They have a yearly block party and often invite the Mauro's and the Cameron's, as we spend a lot of time there and the kids all know each other :) It's a lot of fun as the kids run around from yard to yard and play basketball and hockey in the crescent while the adults sit around the fire in the driveway and visit, eat and drink! A great way to wrap up summer :)

School's back in soon, summer flew by but it was a great one!!

Summer Vacay 2019

And we're off!!! Here's a re-cap of our awesome summer vacation :)

July 18th we left Edmonton and over-nighted in the casino parking lot just out side of Canmore. Seems to be our usual 1st night stop! Not too exciting but a great spot to stop and break up the trip to BC!!

From the 19th to the 21st we were camped in Vernon. This was our first stop in Vernon but hopefully not the last time we'll visit! We really enjoyed the area! Some of the highlights were Davison Orchards (so fun, tons of fresh fruit, veggies, fudge and treats!), a day hike to a beautiful point of Kalamalka Lake (I need to find a spot on this lake to camp ... or win the lotto and buy a cabin!!), a stop at the Log Barn (you have to see and feed the goats!!) and the Starlight Drive-In (so awesome the kids got to experience a drive-in on a gorgeous summer night!)! SO fun!! Such a gorgeous part of BC. And of course the kids loved the swimming pool at the campground!!

From Vernon we drove the short drive to Wright's Beach in Penticton. Feels like home ;) We love Wright's Beach and that feeling we get as we drive in to the campground reminds me of when we'd drive in to Marean Lake when I was a kid!! We were at Wright's Beach from the 21st to the 27th. We did all our favorites - the float down the channel, multiple visits to Tickleberry's, the Peach for fancy ice cream and milkshakes, dinner at Salty's, a visit to our favorite brewery - the Cannery, lots of beach days at Wright's, the Wibit, dinner out with Auntie Sharon, outdoor movie nights at Wright's, a visit to the dog beach and the catered Sunday dinner at Wright's!! We visited our favorite book store too! I love, love, love this area and hope we get to visit for many more summers to come!! The weather was fabulous and we had the tans (and some sunburns) to prove it :) We also met a really nice family during our last few days at Wright's. They were camped beside us for the last 3 nights of our stay. The girls hit it off with their daughter, who was also named Reese! It was nice for them to have someone to play with for a few days! Cal and I had a great visit with Ryan and Shauna too and even stayed up way too late one night and drank wayyyy too much, lol!! They live in Calgary but are originally from Texas. It was neat to hear about their impressions of Canada and the US! We really hit it off and plan to keep in touch :)

From Penticton we crossed the border at Osoyoos to spend the 28th to August 3rd at Farragut State Park with my parents and the Stecyk's! It was an interesting drive from BC to Farragut ... we trusted Google Maps and it took us on a very round about, kind of  backwoods, route!! But we saw some gorgeous countryside and made it in one piece ;) Farragut State Park is so beautiful and the campground itself is very nice! Nice campsites, shower facilities and all the roads are paved. Somehow I miscalculated when we'd arrive and we had to spend one night in overflow! Thankfully my mom was able to secure us a spot! The next day we moved to our site, next to Lindsay and Jeremy and my parents. Cal had an important work meeting in Vancouver while we were in Idaho, so he flew out of Spokane to Vancouver for a few nights. But we made sure he was home for all the fun!! We spent 2 days at Silverwood and Boulder Beach and a day on Lake Coeur d'alene on a pontoon boat! We had a blast!! The pontoon boat was awesome and the lake is gorgeous! We swam, the kids tubed and somehow the day flew by. It was my favorite day of the holiday!! Of course Silverwood and Boulder Beach are awesome as well! Poor Quinn had to spend most of her days at a local kennel as towards the end of our stay in Penticton she started getting anxious when alone in the trailer and tried to dig her way out ... hence ruining some of the flooring in the trailer :( Poor girl and poor us too, lol. We'll have to repair that at some point and figure out what we'll do with her next summer when we're camping and/or on vacation. While at Farragut State Park we also spent some time at the local beach. It was absolutely gorgeous but the water was so cold!!! The kids complained a bit but got used to it after awhile and had fun floating around on the cool floaties Grandma D bought!! It was a great holiday with my family and I can't wait to visit again, maybe in a few years!

On August 3rd we headed to Fairmont, BC for a few nights to wrap up our summer vacation road trip. We had never been to Fairmont before so wanted to check it out. We try to explore at least one or two new spots every summer! Fairmont was nice, we stayed in a campground that had a pool, which really is all the kids seem to need!! We checked out the hot springs but didn't go in. They looked nice though and maybe next stop we will 'take the plunge' so to speak ;) We enjoyed a hike that took us up and behind the hot springs and then headed home on August 5th. We are so thankful for the beautiful weather we had over the past 18 days. It's been HOT and not a spot of rain!!

Another great summer vacation in the books! I adore these moments and am so thankful we can take this large chunk of time off to spend together. So many great memories to hold on to for life!

Beginning of July!

After the Cameron Family Reunion we took Canada Day off to rest and relax! Happy Canada Day everyone, very thankful for the country we live in and our rights and freedoms.

The next morning we headed to the small town of Calahoo to see the Stanley Cup! The coach of the St. Louis Blues is from Calahoo and was bringing the cup home!! We lined up and made it in to see the cup ... apparently they cut the line off at some point so I was very thankful we actually got to see the cup and didn't wait in line only to be sent home. Anyways, it was very cool to touch the Stanley Cup and have our photo taken with it :) Fun experience!!

On the 5th Cal headed to Crowsnest Pass with friends to run in the Sinister 7 race. He had a fun weekend and a successful run! The weather was much better this year, thankfully.

On the 9th Emerson finally had her hair cut!! 9" to be exact. She has wanted to chop her hair for a long time and we finally scheduled the appointment. She was so excited and happy!! It was hard for mom to embrace but it's just hair ;) Reese also had a few inches cut off but not quite as much! Both girls look so cute with their new hair-do's and a bit older too.

On the 11th we headed to Calgary for lacrosse provincials. They won 2, lost 2 but battled hard and had some really great games. The team had a lot of fun in between games, taking a trip to Olympic park to try the bobsleigh track!! Blake said it was a lot of fun!! They also had their wind-up party at the hotel, enjoying a pizza party and a hilarious game of musical chairs!! Seriously, we never thought musical chairs would be that huge of a hit with this age of boys but it was and they played like lacrosse players - elbows up and full contact ... lol!!!! It was a great season of lacrosse for Blake, he learned a lot and made some new friends too! Time for an organized sports break :) But already looking forward to next season!! He's hoping to make Bantam A as a first year player :)

This week we had some awesome play dates before we head off on vacacy! First up was a super fun day with the Stecyk's at their beach club!! We always love a day at the beach with Linds and the boys! The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to visit and catch up! The next day we hung out at the McArthur's and the kids had a fabulous idea to do a Kool-Aid stand at Lake Beumaris! They each made some pocket change and had some fun :) We ended the week with a pool date with the Bucci's!! We checked out Borden park pool and soaked up some sun!!

We're getting so close to summer vacation we can taste it!! That will be its own blog post!! See you all soon, I hope summer is off to a great start for you!

Cameron Family Reunion

This weekend we attended the Cameron family reunion! It was a short 10 min drive to Namao, AB! These Cameron's really know how to put on a great event!! Cal's cousins, Aunts and Uncles organized a wonderful event. We rarely get to see everyone and almost every one of his Aunts, Uncles and cousins attended! It was fabulous! Many delicious meals and beverages were shared, a long with a lot of laughs! There were games for the kids, a super fun family trivia night and an organzied bus tour that took us around the countryside - highlighting the original homestead in St. Albert, AB and various other sites, Churchs and homesteads that tell the story of the Cameron family. We ended the tour at the Busby cemetery where many of our Cameron relatives have been laid to rest. The Cameron clan enjoys a good cemetery tour and low and behold it was a really nice afternoon! The kids completed a cemetary scavenger hunt and we had a nice picnic lunch. We enjoyed a bon fire in the evening and lots of visiting. Thank you to everyone who organized the event, we enjoyed ourselves immensely and were so happy to see everyone!

More June fun!

We were happy to support Reese's friend Jordan, in her journey to raise money towards her fight with Giant Axonal Neuropahty. Jordan has been in either Reese or Emerson's class since kindergarten and has undergone so many medical treatments and trials over the course of her short life, yet she still remains positive and upbeat!! She is so smiley and kind to all her classmates and friends, just a real sweetheart! Reese enjoyed visiting with Jordan at the Save-On-Foods fundraiser! I'm so glad we were able to stop by :)

Brownies wrapped up for Reese on June 6th with a year end ceremony and celebration! Reese had so much fun at Brownies this year, we were very impressed with the program. They learned, explored and had a blast! Thank you so much to her leaders who put so much time into organizing these fantastic activities! Reese will be moving on to Girl Guides next year!

Emerson had an awesome weekend with her friend Lueca for her 10th birthday!! Lueca's mom took Emerson, Lueca and another friend to Calgary for a one night sleepover in a hotel!! They shopped, swam at the hotel and visited the Calgary Zoo! Em had a blast :)

Blake's spring hockey season ended on June 9th with a final tournament. They had some really exciting games but didn't come away with a medal. Overall we had a really great experience with spring hockey and Blake is glad he played! He continued to develop his skills and killed it as a dman!! We made some new friends and had a lot of fun. Now we're all ready for a break from the rinks and I think Blake's body will be glad to have a rest from hockey.

On the 15th Blake finally got to celebrate his birthday with a friends party! He had a sleepover with 5 of his closest friends. They hung out in the basement for the most part and stayed up all night. Literally ALL night!!! The next day Blake was pretty good until the early evening when he crashed! The affects of the all-nighter hit him ;) He had a lot of fun though and would like another sleepover next year!

My friend and former co-worker, Jean, hosted a girls night at her house. She usually plans these nights once a year and goes all out! This years theme was Taco Tuesday! She is such an amazing party planner and host, we always have so much fun!! This year was no different! She made authentic Mexican cuisine, right down to the drinks and dessert!

On the 20th I picked Emerson up from school early and we headed to Legal! Emerson joined her Ukrainian dance friend Chloe for a performance at Chloe's school talent show!! It was so much fun to bring the girls together and Em and I really enjoyed the country drive :)

On the 22nd I had my first sleepover in my 30's ... lol! Even though one of my best friends lives just 40 min away, I rarely get to see her. So we planned a girls night and I spent the night at her house :) It was so much fun and so nice to spend some time together.

And I am now officially on summer vacation! So excited for a few months off and some sunny weather :)

School's Out for the Summer!

We're outta here!!! No more teachers, no more books ... nevermind. There will be books! Lots of books!! Anyways, school is out for the summer and we couldn't be more excited :) Grade 6 for Blake - check! Grade 4 for Emerson - check! Grade 3 for Reese - check! They've all had great years and progressed through their grades quite well! Emerson always feels a touch nervous about summer break as she really enjoys the routine of school and sports but she's feeling great right now! I am sad that all the kids won't be at the same school next school year but these past few years all together have been wonderful. Time to enjoy our summer!! Bring on the sun :)

Blake's Grade 6 Farewell

Today Blake said farewell to grade 6 and Ecole Bishop Savaryn. His school celebrated with a year end mass at St. Charles Church. My parents were able to attend and it was a nice ceremony! And of course the girls were there, as the entire school was bussed to St. Charles for the ceremony. After the Church ceremony they had a short get together in a banquet room with coffee, juice and Timbits. That evening I organized a dinner for his grade 6 class. We all met at Boston Pizza and had a great time reminiscing and visiting! He has attended Ecole Bishop Savaryn since kindergarten and all his best friends have also been there since kindergarten! We've become a very close-knit group and some are moving on to other schools next year so it was a touch sad to know that these years are ending but we will definitley all keep in touch! I'm so thankful for this group of mom's who have supported eachother over the years. We've had some ups and downs and a lot of fun too! Many playdates on early dismissal days - lunch at McDonald's, library dates where the kids played Pokemon, park dates, house playdates, etc :) We've been blessed with a wonderful group of families! It's hard to believe our baby boy is headed to junior high next year but we know he will continue to soar and excel!! I know he is more than ready to move on to this next chapter of his life!

Cal takes on Florida!

Cal was lucky enough to attend a work conference in Florida from June 1st to 5th! The kids and I were jealous of his close proximity to Disney World and then our jaws dropped when we saw the resort he was staying at! Check it out here: Gaylord Palms!

He enjoyed the conference and networking with suppliers. His trip home was a bit of a nightmare with missed flights and being stranded at he Calgary airport at midnight!! Thankfully he was able to secure a hotel and in the end, received some flight discounts for future flights. Most importantly, he arrived home safe and sound, just a day late :)

Woah .. MAY!!

May has been intense ;) But fun!!

May started out with the Crusher Cup! Cal and Mom decided to make their weekends busier by volunteering to time keep! I guess I shouldn't say "volunteering" as they were paid! The Outriders had a good tourney, bringing home a silver medal on Blake's 12th birthday!! We were lucky enough to fit in a family lunch to celebrate his birthday. We met the Stecyk's and G&G at Red Robin's before the gold medal game! This weekend was also the Veeteretz Year End recital. Thankfully Cal and Blake were able to attend, as Blake's game wasn't until the evening on the 4th! Sometimes the timing works out in our favor ;) At first I wasn't happy about an 8:15 pm game but, turns out it was a blessing! Em had a fantastic season of dance! Each year she grows and learns and advances! It's such a joy to watch her perform and she has made some great friends with her teammates. Looking forward to next season!!

Some of our other May highlights were:
- a date with my sister-in-law Lesley ;) We met up at Moxie's for dinner before going to the Thomas Rhett concert at Rogers Place!! It was such a fun night and so great to catch up with Lesley!!
- Reese attended a Brownies Rally Day! We dropped her off at Walmart where they took a bus to Hawrelak Park for the day! She had a blast :)
- Blake finished the Babysitting Course! He attended classes hosted by his school, which was really nice as they were on early dismissal Thursday's so didn't take any of his evening or weekend time :)
- Grandma Marg visisted!! We're so lucky to have her in our lives and that she is healthy enough to spend time out west with us!!
- Emerson and her group performed for the last time this dance season, at UFest in Borden park. Such a fun event!! We enjoyed some perogies afterwards, of course ;) Later that day Blake's spring team had an exhibition game in Penhold. We've never been to the Penhold rec facility and were quite surprised by how nice it was!!
- We met up with Bev, Katie and Greyson for lunch one afternoon as they were in town for a taekwondo tournament!
- I was lucky enough to take a day off work to volunteer with Blake's class at their field trip to the Bennett Centre. It was a bit emotional for me as this is likely the last field trip I'll be able to volunteer for with Blake as he moves on to grade 7 next year. Crazy!!

And May ended with a busy day on the 28th, as Blake and Cal attended grade 6 camp at Camp Yowochas. They had an awesome day and evening!! I'm so glad Cal could take the day off to attend with Blake! The same day, I went out for dinner and to the Carrie Underwood concert with my sister and friends Adriana and Steph. It was so much fun and man, can that lady put on a performance!!

May 31st was my parents 39th wedding anniversary - Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! Love you guys!!

Our May long weekend was very different than our usual but I'll write a seperate post on that :) Talk to you all soon!!

A Different Kind of May Long Weekend

For many, many years we have camped at Cross Lake on May Long Weekend! Off the top of my head, I think it's been 11 years with a one year hiatus in there when we sold our old trailer and hadn't bought a new one yet! But even that year, we drove out and spent the day with my parents and Jeremy and Lindsay! So it was strange to not do the same thing this year but to be honest, we knew it was coming! When Blake made the zone lacrosse team, we suspected we would have a tournament in Red Deer on May long and we did. Although we weren't camping, we had a really great weekend in Red Deer! Emerson spent some time at the Stecyk cabin with my parents and had a lot of fun fishing and quadding - thanks for having her :) In Red Deer, we had fun with the lax team and watched some great lacrosse!! Blake had an awesome tourney and won player of the tournament for his team!! I suspect our next few May long weekends will be spent at this lacrosse tournament! Hope everyone's May long was fun!! xo

Happy 12th Birthday, Blake!!

Our kind, strong, caring, intelligent boy is 12!! We are so proud of the person he is growing up to be! Everyone who coaches and teaches Blake, remarks on what a great kid he is and we couldn't agree more! He is a leader, calm, patient and reasonable! He is resilient and strives to do the best he can, in everything he does. How did we get so lucky to be blessed as his parents?! I don't know but I do know we will continue to support him in everything he does and will love him fiercely at the same time!! Happy birthday, Blake! xoxo

April

What else were we up to in April?! I attended my friend Sam's stagette. Such a fun night!! I met Sam a few years ago when her son and Blake played on the same team in second year novice and ever since we've kept in touch. We have a lot of fun together and I was happy to celebrate her upcoming marriage!

Emerson and I hopped in with Chloe and her mom Lisa for a day trip to Lloydminister for the Ukrainian Dancing on the Border Festival! The girls had a successful day, bringing home 3 gold medals!! We had a lot of fun carpooling with Lisa and Chloe!

Blake and the North Peewee A lax team participated in their first tournament of the season, the Icebreaker tournament hosted by the Blues. Blake brought home player of the game for one game and had a wicked tournament! Man do we ever love this sport, so much fun to watch!! 

And wrapping up April, the oldest two Cameron kiddo's participated in their schools spring concert. Emerson performed in the Muscial part of the concert on the first night while Blake's class sang and Emerson's class sang on the second night. Emerson has been practicing so hard for the musical, with extra practices after school. She did a great job and remembered all her lines :) Reese's class will perform at the Christmas concert this year. 

Talk to you all in May!! xo

Happy Easter from Calgary!

This weekened was Easter long weekend and it was also our first Spring hockey tournament! We hit the road to Calgary on Thursday and arrived back home on Sunday. We had a FANTASTIC weekend!!! So much fun with the team and a gold medal, what could be better?! Blake played so good and was player of the game for one of the games :) Eric and Berlyn came out to watch a game and so did Kourtney and Auora! The team had a blast, we rented a meeting room at the hotel to hang out in and to have a few team dinners. We did a pot luck one night and had pizza and salad brought in for another meal. We also had the hotel cater lunch one of the days. The service and quality was awesome, highly recommend the Delta South!! The team played so well, it was so much fun to cheer them on!! And the girls had a blast too with the other siblings! Easter was post-poned due to being away but the Easter Bunny was notified and delivered to the Cameron house on Easter Monday! Thank you E.B.! We hope everyone enjoyed their Easter long weekend! xo

Bring on the Spring Sports!!

Spring is here and with it, Spring sports!! Woo hoo!!! Emerson is continuing with dance and keeping busy as they prepare for a festival in Lloydminister and their year end performance. She has had some extra practices on Sunday afternoons/evenings this dance season. Reese decided to try 3 on 3 ringette this year, which is on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Brownies continues until June! Blake decided to play Spring hockey this year and is playing lacrosse. He will be VERY busy but I'm sure he'll love every second. His spring hockey team is called the CanWest Outriders and his buddies Brogin, Dante, Ryan and Brody are all playing as well. We're looking forward to it!! Cal is behind the bench and I am managing. We'll update ya on April at the end of the month, hope everyone is doing well!

March is Marvelous

It's March!! Closer and closer to summer and sunny skies :) Our March was fun, as we wrapped up hockey and ringette and enjoyed a nice break during spring break! Here's a run-down:

March 4th Blake began Peewee A lacrosse evaluations! Right smack in the middle of hockey playoffs. Every dang year!! But this year he didn't have any conflicts, so it worked out :)

March 8th began the Veeteretz Ukrianian Dance festival. We love this festival!! Our dance club does an amazing job organizing the festival at the DOW in Fort Saskatchewan. I usually volunteer most of the weekend and Em does her thing!! This year she had 7 performances (4 dances + 3 dances chosen for the showcase)! For their 4 dances, they won 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal. It was an awesome weekend and we're so proud of Emerson and her group!!

March 9th Reese attended a day of Brownie Camp at a local community hall. It was a science camp and it sounds like they had a super fun day!! She is in Brownies with her best friend, Alexa, so any time they can spend together is a good day in Reese's books :) On March 9th we also found out the Blake made the Peewee A lacrosse team! This team is comprised of players born in 2007 & 2008 from the Wizards lax club, Rams lax club and the Fort Saskatchewan lax club. We're so proud Blake was chosen and pumped for the upcoming season!!

March 10th brought a wind-up tournament for Reese and the Ice Queens! They played 2 games in Sherwood Park and in between games had a wind-up party at an art studio in Edmonton. They painted pottery and had pizza and cupcakes :) It was a super fun day!! We had such a great group of young ladies this season, they were a pleasure to coach and all grew so much over the season! I love seeing the development of the girls, it's wonderful to see how much they grow throughout the season. Reese wrapped up the last game with a hat trick, we are so proud of her!!

March 15th - Quinn turned 1!! She spent the day with her friends at "It's a Dogs Life" then came home for a quick nap and a pup-cake :) Quinn brings so much joy to our family, we just love her to bits!! We love taking her to the dog park, for walks and cuddling her! She is approx. 60 lbs and a giant teddybear! She loves her cuddles and loves us fiercly!!

March 16-17th brought the Panthers wind-up tournament in Lacombe, followed by a year in end party back in Edmonton at Plaza Bowl. The Panthers ended up 3rd in their division, which is really awesome! They had such a wonderful team this year, all the girls got along so well and the coaching staff too! I really enjoyed assistant coaching and spending time with everyone! The players grew so much over the season, it was wonderful to see! We will miss everyone and hopefully we'll play together next season!!

March 18th was Blake's turn for a year end party! The Spartans had a blast at FitSet Ninja! This was a challenging year for us all to be honest but Blake persevered and had such an awesome season. He was an amazing defenseman and such a strong player, it was a really great season in that regard for him. And he really enjoyed playing with 2 of his besties so all in all, it was a good year but we are ready for a change, lol! Bring on the Spring season!! The Spartans also participated in one more tournament on March 22-24, the St. Charles spring tournament.

March 25-29th brought a much needed rest - Spring Break! We didn't go very far this year but spent our time with dr. appointments, dog park visits, a family dinner at the KEG and a short trip to Beaumont to visit the Bezan and Hrdlicka families! It was so nice to see my besties and their kids :) Love them all and don't get to see them very often. And we also had a cousin date at the movies with my sister, Connor and Mason!! We visited Landmark Cinemas in St. Albert for the first time and wow, very nice to have recliners while watching a movie! This is definitely our new favorite theater :) During Spring Break the girls and I also took in a few Open A ringette games at the Western Canadian finals in St. Albert. Emerson's ringette coach, Alexis, played in the gold medal final and won! It was a very exciting game and it's also so cool to watch high level ringette!! We also spent a lot of time relaxing, which really to me, is being lazy! And it was glorious!!

We hope your March was marvelous too :)

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