October '20

October brought some volunteering duties for me! I signed up to help with fundraising for Blake's team, helping with social media and also to score keep for home games. Scorekeeping in this league (AEHL) involves a computerized system so there was a course to take! I think I have a handle on it though and it's very cool that a website is updated live during the games! Attendance is limited in the rinks still so people from home will be able to follow along and/or watch the games on Youtube!

On the 9th Cal and I celebrated 16 years of marriage by taking care of sick kids and ordering take out :) Perfect night for us!!

Cal is back to Friday night hockey, which is great! Blake's team had a fun slow-pitch, team builder over the Thanksgiving weekend and we finally had our 'Smith' family photos done on Thanksgiving Monday. Lindsay and I bought this photo package for my parents for their 40th anniversary. Unfortunately, Em was sick over Thanksgiving, so we did not attend family dinner, but my parents prepped a take home dinner for us and we enjoyed it so much :) We are trying our hardest to keep all bugs contained and avoid the isolation possibilities. It's hard because if you're a close contact of a positive case, you're stuck in isolation for 14 days which is very difficult :( 

Cal and I made an overnight trip to Grande Prairie on the 16th to attend Grandpa Alstad's funeral on the 17th :( A very sad and emotional day as we said goodbye to an amazing man. From the first day I met him, he made me feel at home and like one of the family! He was an honorable man, a friend to everyone he met and a hard, hard worker. He was so proud of his family and loved anytime spent with family & friends. A dedicated volunteer, loved to watch hockey and particularly his grandkids participating in sport. A wonderful husband, dad, grandpa and friend, we will miss him dearly. It was nice to spend time with family and share memories. 

Cal and I headed back to Edmonton on the 17th to catch Blake's first AAA hockey game! There was talk of missing it but everyone said Grandpa Alstad would most definitely want you to be there and would be so proud of Blake :) We made it back in time and were sooooo proud to be there!! Thank you to my mom and dad who kept the kids overnight on the 16th. Quinny enjoyed the kennel for the weekend!!

Emerson had her first game on the 18th, all the way in Red Deer! Her & I took a road trip that day and had a blast. She played so well and I was so proud of her!! I missed Reese's 1st game but got to see her 2nd and her 1st debut in net of the season!! So proud of her :) 

On the 24th we celebrated my dad's birthday with a family dinner at the Stecyk's - so glad everyone was feeling well, and we were all able to get together! Thank you, Stecyk's, for always being such great hosts and bringing us all together!

Blake's coach is so great at team building events - they also had a 'Chili cook off' at the end of the month, which produced some delicious (and some not!) chili that the parents got to taste test at the end of the event! Sounds like the boys had a blast :) 

Blake also started 'breakfast club' at KC on the 28th - a morning skate before school! 

Halloween was great this year, Reese trick or treated with Ava and her mom, Em and I headed to the Chorneys and Blake met with friends at Gavin's house while Cal handed out candy. We were all a little worried we'd be restricted but nope! Thank goodness, nice to have a normal 'holiday'! 

xo Hope you're all keeping well!

Back to school 2020/September happenings!

 Here we go ... with masks lol! Although we forgot masks for Blake on his first day on August 31, whoops!!! Praying for a 'normal' school year as Blake heads into grade 8, Emerson grade 6 and Reese grade 5. Reese and Em's first day was September 2. Reese is in a split grade 4/5 class and has her bff Ava in her class this year which she is super excited about!

On September long weekend we headed out to the Stecyk cabin for a long weekend of camping, fishing, quadding and family time. Blake and Cal made a day trip out because they were busy with hockey tryouts in the city. Reese and Em started their ringette seasons mid-September. Em started Ukrainian dance at the beginning of September and Reese's 1st night of Girl Guides was at the end of September and they worked on their garden in the Greisbach community. Blake finished off field lacrosse, which was a fun experience! It was nice to get outside this summer and try something new. They could not play games but just being active outside was great!!

Cal's Aunt Sherry and Uncle Neil who recently moved to Edmonton from Sexsmith, invited us over for dinner on the 13th and it was SO great to see them and catch up!! 

I am in the market for a new van and have been test driving and looking. I feel like we've definitely got our money's worth with the 2010 Dodge Caravan, it's quite literally on its last legs ;) I really would like a Chrysler Pacifica so hoping to find one in our price range!!

On the 26th Blake got the best news and probably the most exciting thing to date in his life, I think he'd say the same if we asked him - he made the U15AAA Squires as a first year!! This is a huge accomplishment, and we are beyond proud of him. He worked his ass off this summer, training by himself and with Cal - hills at Greisbach, running in the river valley, on off ice ATHX program in the basement, eating well and just all around working HARD! His hard work paid off and we are so happy for him and excited and hopeful for the season! COVID still exists so we don't know what it will look like but we pray for a normal season for these kids - hockey & ringette. We weren't able to watch much of the tryout process, but he obviously killed it!! His head coach, Steven Ewaskiw, is highly regarded and respected in the local hockey community and we are so happy he'll be leading Blake & team! LET'S GO SQUIRES!!!

At the rist of sounding like a broken record ... let's all pray for a 'normal' school and sports year (fingers, toes, eyes and everything else crossed ... lol!)

Summer 2020

 We made the best of local restrictions and rules surrounding the pandemic. If you were to ask anyone who knows me well, I have been a stickler for the rules. Likely to the annoyance of some of my friends and family but hey, I am who I am and I feel better for believing I am doing all I can to end this pandemic.

July was spent camping - We had a great trip to Cross Lake Provincial Park with my parents, sister and the boys! Lots of time spent biking, tubing, playing grounders and spending time together! We also ran into some friends who were camping at cross lake and enjoyed catching up with them. After Cross Lake, we spent a night at home to clean up, unpack and repack and headed off to Ol' MacDonald's farm with the Cameron clan! We had a great time in the sun, swimming, tanning, biking and visiting! After Ol' MacDonald's we were home for a few days before Cal pulled the trailer out to Carson Pegasus for the kids and I to spend a few days camping with my besties and their kids! Lindsey, Candace and I had planned to celebrate our 40th birthdays with a fun girls trip but ... COVID. So we did this instead and honestly, it was the best time ever!! 3 moms + 8 kids = 1 great time!! We had some sunny beach weather and some rain. Lots of musical beds as the kids slept in different trailers every night! They all get along so well, it's so nice! 

August kicked off with a trip to Pigeon Lake to spend the long weekend at the McKague's lake lot! We had the best weather and tons of fun, boating, tubing, swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, laughing, eating and drinking! Just a blast! 

Emerson took part in a Veeteretz dance camp in mid-August and really enjoyed it! Blake was in a powerskating camp in Sherwood Park in August and KC Conditioning Camp also started.

At the end of August we spent a fun afternoon with my sister and nephews at Lake Summerside. Due to covid we couldn't get on the beach but they have a dock at the end of their path and the kids swimmed and paddle boarded off of the dock and it worked out great! It was a beautiful day and we ended it with ice cream :)

Reese tied up August with a 4 Cats Art camp with her bestie Alexa! They had a blast.

And now, it's back to school. Starting out in person and really hoping for a 'normal' school year for these kiddo's!!

All in all we had a wonderful summer! Different than usual and we missed our Penticton trip but still grateful to be able to camp and enjoy visits with friends and family! 

June 2020

 June brought more weekend ventures in the beautiful river valley! We're very lucky to have this gorgeous option in our city! My hair is turning more grey by the day but at work I'm all covered up with PPE so I am letting it go! One highlight of the month was the Brett Kissel drive-in concert at River Cree. Such a great idea!! We rolled down our windows and enjoyed some live entertainment. It was a great change of scenery and nice to enjoy live country music! Reese and I did more baking as I thought a good way to learn fractions, was to bake! Win-win!! At the middle of the month my co-workers and I had a 'farewell' dinner as we now know the UCP has cut the funding our program operated under. A very, very sad time as this was such a fabulous group of co-workers and I loved working in a rehab role within the school system. I am so sad this is the end of this wonderful chapter, it's hard to think ahead career-wise. I am also sad for the students, teachers and parents who will suffer from these cut-backs. It's all so unfair and also scary for so many families. What lies ahead for me?? I don't know. Because I am unionized, I will go through a lay-off/recall process and see where I land. For now, I will have one last summer off to enjoy as my next role will not be a 10 month position. I'll keep you updated!

At the end of June we all pitched in and painted our deck and fence! It looks soooo much better, it's amazing what some paint can do! Everyone helped and it only took 2 days to do! We celebrated Father's Day with a walk around Lois Hole Provincial Park and a stop for ice cream! June 26th brought the official last day of this crazy school year. Thankful for self-motivated learners, amazing teachers and Cal who answered all the math questions and kept everyone on track while I was at work and he was juggling work at home and home schooling! We're very proud of Blake, Emerson and Reese, they've done amazing and we're so proud of Blake for achieving honors in his first year of jr high! Emerson has officially graduated from grade 6 and is on to jr high next school year! They had a nice online grade 6 celebration and although we couldn't celebrate in person, they made the best of it and it was nice to be included. She has actually had a wonderful school year, she really enjoyed her teacher Mr. Ben and her classmates. She is sad that not many of her classmates are going to ESSMY but happy she has Layla and Bryson who will be joining her! 

End of June also brought braces for Miss Reese! We went with Invisalign and so far so good :) Thank goodness for great employer healthcare benefits!!! And one last highlight for June - the kids and I drove out to Calling Lake on the 30th for a day of fishing with Grandma and Grandpa and holy hanna, you would not believe the fishing!! It was out of this world, monster walleye, we were all hopping with all the "I got one!" "Another one!" calls!! Grandma fried up the limit, it was delicious :) Glad we could spend the day on the lake and the fishing was so good!!

Now, time to bring on the sunshine that July and August will hopefully bring with them!!

April/May 2020

 Going with a combo here as quite honestly, there's not a lot happening around these parts :) We've kind of settled in to the "new normal" which I shudder at that word but it's true. Online school, limited interactions outside our house and lots of free time (but no where to go)! It's all bizarre but truthfully, I feel very rested! We've been forced to slow down and I can say, that's not a bad thing. At the beginning of April Reese received snail mail from her Girl Guides unit and that brought a huge smile to her face! Such a simple thing but it brightened her day. We've taken to daily walks (sometimes twice a day!) and Reese has found a love for rollerblading during these walks :) We celebrated Easter, just the 5 of us but tried to include all our usual traditions minus going to Church and seeing extended family. We made Easter cookies, painted Easter eggs and had a big feast! The Easter bunny brought some goodies, the girls went for many roller blades around the neighborhood and Cal and Blake have started running with Quinn. I am now working at the Butterdome as part of the COVID response team. It's hot and sweaty in the scrubs, mask and face shield and feels so surreal. I told Cal the other night, it kind of feels like a James Bond movie or something. When I'm on a coffee or lunch break, I go upstairs in the Butterdome and can overlook the 'field' where the temporary assessment centre has been set up. It's a very odd scene as everyone is in full PPE and walking around, doing their various duties. Like I said, it reminds me of James Bond looking down over a science lab or something! Bizarre!

We started out May with a drive to Waskahegan Staging Area near Cooking Lake. Parks were re-opened and we had a nice hike with Quinn! The weather was fabulous and it was nice to walk around somewhere other than our neighborhood ;)

The big highlight of the past two months was Blake turning 13!!! 13! An official teenager, my baby boy, how did this happen so fast?! He may be taller than me but he'll always be my baby boy!! We are so proud of the young man he is growing up to be! We could not celebrate in as grand of a style as we would have liked to but we did manage a drive by birthday parade and visits from his friends (from a safe distance of course!)! He seemed to enjoy that and we were so thankful to everyone who drove by and stopped to say hi and take a picture and shower him with gifts! Thank you so, so much!! Grandma and Grandpa got to enjoy dinner with us in the garage as well and we made the best of it :) Love you to the moon and back buddy! Now stop growing up so fast!!

On May 15th I drug the kids out to a local field to watch the snowbirds fly over. I told them it was an educational field trip during their at home learning experience ;) It was cool to see, I'm glad we went! May long weekend was unlike any other, no lacrosse tournament or camping with friends and family. But we had a great weekend working on long overdue house projects and still fit time in around the fire with s'mores and some outdoor adventures! We enjoyed a walk at Louis Hole Provincial Park. And another blessing in these quarantine times has been more time to discover our beautiful river valley! Cal and Blake have been enjoying runs with Quinn, while the girls and I walk! They are up to 12K and the girls and I are at around 4K :)

Thankfully at the end of the month, restrictions allowed us to gather to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately their plans of a large gathering at a local hall had to be cancelled but at least we were able to all get together in person at the Stecyk's. We are grateful for that in these challenging times. We enjoyed a delicious dinner by the Stecyk chef's, a Cameron homemade cake and lots of visiting! Happy 40th anniversary Mom and Dad! xoxo

March 2020

 It's been a hard month. It started off much like most winter months start but it ended differently than we ever could have imagined. It's hard to write this right now to be honest, tears are falling. But I'll try to re-cap it as this is a space I want to be able to re-visit in years to come and I want to get it down. 

Reese and I started the month in Lacombe for the Raptors U10 Step 3 Black Gold League wind-up. We had a blast with the team and they skated away with many memories and smiles! I also enjoyed catching up with a friend from Stony Plain and wife, as their daughter played on the Spruce Grove team. 

On March 12th Blake and the Peewee AA Lancers played their last hockey game of the season. However, they did not know this would be their last game. Prior to the game we found out that due to the ongoing concerns over COVID19, hockey would be cancelled for the remainder of the season. It was actually during warmup that I learned this news. I chose not to tell the coaches or the team but man was it hard to know this was the end of the season. The boys played their hearts out, winning the game vs CAC in 1on1 OT. They all thought this meant they would proceed in playoffs but after the game the coaches broke the news to them - season is over. There were many tears, of course a lot of confusion and anger. This was such a great group of kids, coaches and families, we're sad to not be able to finish the season off as I think they had potential to go all the way.

Now, everything feels like it is falling apart :( The kids are online learning due to the pandemic. My office has been shut down and I am relocated to a health unit in Fort Saskatchewan with just my laptop and cell phone and really, no clear direction. We don't know what is happening with our jobs. Sports and activities are cancelled and the most heart-breaking of all, our Disneyland trip is postponed. We really held out hope that we could still go but this is turning in to a long, drawn out thing and travel is not recommended. I am so unbelievably sad for the kids, we've planned for this and saved for so long, my heart breaks but I know we have to stay safe and we can go again one day. It just sucks. Taking down our "Countdown to Disneyland" sign was a real stab in the heart. 

The last few weeks of March have been spent at home, of course. Quinn turned 2 on the 15th and is loving having us home :) We've watched a lot of movies and played board games. Thank god for Facetime as the kids have been able to keep in touch with their friends. I'm pretty much the only one leaving the house, as I go to work 3 days a week. 

So ending on a sad note but honestly, I am sad and scared and worried. So surreal to go from living our normal lives to this. Stay safe everyone, please just follow the recommendation and restrictions so we can get through this together. 

Birthday Month!

February is birthday month in the Cameron/Stecyk/Smith households! And I'd be lying if I didn't say, the other birthday months may feel slightly ripped off because the February birthday's get a lot of attention ... lol! Kidding but we do have fun celebrating a month of some of our favorite people, including Cal, Emerson, Mom, Jeremy, Connor and Mason! And it's also Gerry's birthday in Feb. :) 

But we started out February with tournaments!! Cal, Blake and I headed up to Grande Prairie with the Lancers via chartered bus. A fun experience for everyone!! We had a fantastic 3 days at the Peewee AA classic and the team brought home bronze after some very hard-fought and close games. A lot of our GP family came out to cheer the team on, Cal's Aunts and Uncles, Mom, Sister, Brother-in-Law, nieces, nephews, cousins and most specially, Grandma and Grandpa Alstad. So special to have Grandpa A watch one of Blake's game - he has been a huge supporter of hockey in Grande Prairie for many, many years. It was a tiring weekend for me but so rewarding as I planned all the travel, meals, activities, etc. This is such a great group of people, I just feel blessed to be able to help them and watch them play the game they love!!

While we were in Grande Prairie, Emerson and Grandma were in Hinton for a ringette tournament! This tournament was a last minute entry, we had all planned on going to GP but Em's coach decided that instead of doing the playdown weekend, they would attend a tournament instead. Luckily Grandma was able to bring Emerson and by all accounts, they had a really great time!! Emerson and Grandma both said they had fun and they enjoyed spending time with the team and even found a new Mexican restaurant to try!! Reese stayed with Grandpa and they drove to Hinton to cheer on the Devils for a day!! 

Cal was away for work in Calgary on his actual birthday so when he was back on the 14th we celebrated with dinner and a delicious apple pie :)

On the 15th Emerson celebrated her upcoming birthday at the trampoline park with a group of friends. They had a blast, running around and jumping and laughing! To see her smiling and having so much fun with her friends, was just heart warming!!! Loved it! She wanted a "sloth" cake so I had a photo of a baby sloth screened onto a DQ ice cream cake for her, it was so cute. Happy 11th birthday to our Em the gem! We love you so much and are so proud of the young lady you are growing up to be - smart, strong, loyal and so committed to everything you do! Love you to the moon and back :) 

On the 22nd we attended Family Fun Night for Veeteretz Ukrainian Dance! It was a great evening raising money for the dance club and having fun together. The kids love the Ukrainian food and the girls love to dance when the DJ comes on :) As parents, we love to watch all the groups perform and have a beverage or two! This year Berlyn and Christa joined us, which was extra fun!!

On the 27th Blake's basketball season ended with a tight game, they lost in OT 47-46! It was the best game we've seen them play all year, so it was nice for them to go out that way!

I haven't been feeling well since the beginning of the month and turns out I have pneumonia. I've missed quite a few days of work, trying to get better and am on medication. Definitely feeling better than I was, I had a rough few days in bed, don't remember ever feeling that sick in my life!! But like I said, feeling better and hopefully March will be even better ... because we have a trip at the end of March!!!! EEK!!! M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!!!!

January 2020

 Here are some highlights of our 01/20 ...

Silver Ring - The Raptors and Devils took part in our home tourney and had so much fun! Tournament weekends are the best :) They of course bought new hoodies! Reese's says, " If we lose I was never here" and Em's says, "If you think my attitude stinks you should smell my equipment bag" lol!!! Reese's team won silver in the tournament and we had a blast cheering on the coaches at the coaches game :) 

Basketball - We cheered on ESMMY and Blake in their games this month!

Blake's PD Day - Blake spent a PD day with Grandma and Grandpa D, they went snowmobiling out at the Stecyk cabin!

Those were the highlights for the start of 2020!! Talk to you in Feb :)

Happy 2020

 Happy New Year everyone!! 2020! I read a meme the other day that said something along the lines of, "When I think of 20 years ago, I think of 1980 but 20 years ago was the year 2000 ... now I feel old!" and boy oh boy do I feel that!!! Time flies. I'm sure that's a common theme of this blog. I still remember celebrating the year 2000 and everyone wondering about Y2K and the computer systems, etc. Hard to believe that was 20 years ago!!

We rang in the New Year with the Bucci's, Mauro's and some of the Bucci's neighbour hood kids, lol!! We had a yummy pot luck, a variety of beverages and tons of laughs! Always a great time when we get together, love those families aka framily!!! 

January 2nd the girls and I headed to Red Deer for the Friends on Ice ringette tournament! Emerson and the Devils were ready to battle!! We had such a fantastic time! We planned a 'Christmas' party for the girls at the hotel and they all received matching onsesies! They happend to have a lot of time between games and everyone took in a movie together. We watched Little Women and thought it was amazing!! This group of girls is so close and has so much fun together, it was a fantastic weekend. There was some ringette played too but we all know the memories we will hold close to our hearts are the ones in between games - bonding and having fun with the team! Grandma and Grandpa D even made their way down for a game and dinner, we're so lucky to have such supportive and awesome grandparents in our lives :)

While the girls and I were away, the Lancers had a few practices, games and a bottle drive! The Coutts family has hosted our bottle drives this year and they have had such a great time at them! A bottle drive is much more than a fundraiser - it's a chance to come together as a team, work towards a goal and to share some fun and laughs too!! 

More on our January adventures to come ... Happy New Year everyone!!

Last month of 2019!

What were the Cameron 5 up to in December?? Well, much of the usual - ringette, hockey, dance, Girl Guides, work, eat, sleep, repeat!! Oh and school, duh. Here's some of the highlights (minus Christmas because Christmas deserves its own post!!)

1st: Girls and I attended Ringette night at the Oil Kings game! An annual event and always a lot of fun with our ringette friends!

2nd: Deck the Cameron Halls was completed!! aka Christmas explosion in our house!

3rd: Reese and Emerson's 1st ski day field trip at Sunridge!

6th: Emerson and her Devils teammates made 100+ pies as a team fundraiser! This happened at Simply Supper and was simply (see what I did there?!) an awesome and fun fundraiser. The pies sold like hotcakes (thanks everyone!) and they were also delicious!

6th to 8th: Blake tried out for an Alberta Winter Games team. He had a really good weekend, 

13th: Reese and her Girl Guides unit attended a movie at Landmark Cinema in St. Albert for their Christmas Party. And I had a night out with my friend Shelley! We had an absolute blast at the River Cree Resort and Casino!! We had supper at the buffet (DELICIOUS!! and it was seafood night!), attended a Bon Jovi cover band concert and enjoyed a few bevvies at the pub after the concert! It was a ton of fun! 

14th: Reese and the Raptors had their Christmas Party at the Derick Winter Club. Some of her teammates families are members at the club. It was a lot of fun for the team - they went swimming and had a gift exchange and dinner. The gift exchange theme was 'Spa and Stuffies'! The adults enjoyed a beverage and appys in the lounge while the kids were swimming (they were supervised, don't worry!) 

16th: We met my parents and the Stecyk's at WEM for our Santa by Appointment visit! The Santa changed this year which was a little disappointing but it was still a magical visit :) The atmosphere and time spent is so special vs the regular mall Santa visit!!

17th: Blake's 1st band concert! We really enjoyed the music and talent!! Blake plays the trombone.

18th: Ski trip field trip day #2 for Em and Reese and I volunteered this time! Lots of fun at Sunridge, I love skiing!! And this evening, Cal and I attended a dinner at Sabor, hosted by a vendor he works with. It was an unbelievable meal. I'd say the best I've ever had and the person who was hosting us knew what kind of wine to pair with each course and what to drink with dessert - it was phenomenal!!! Very nice evening out!!

19th: STAR WARS day for Cal, Blake, Emerson and the Mauro boys!!! The new movie came out today and we pre-bought tickets :)

21st: A nice evening at the Parenteau's! It's so nice to have them close by again!! Their new home in St. Albert is gorgeous.

22nd: Another fun evening, this time at the Bucci's! Always a blast when we all get together! Bucci's, Mauro's, Chorney's, Scott's and Cameron's - a lot of kids but we all had a blast!

28th: We met the Anderson's at Rabbit Hill for a day of skiing! And that evening I hit the town with my friends Sam and Jen! A late night of dancing, we always have the best time!!

30th: We caught one of Connor's hockey games as he was in what we called the 'Christmas tournament' aka Confederation Hockey tournament. It was great to see one of his games!!

31st: We spent the day sledding with the Stony Plain Cameron's! It was a gorgeous day outside and we ended it with a DQ ice cream :) We spent the evening and late into the New Year at the Bucci's! Lots of fun ringing in the New Year!!

Coming up ... 2020!!! 

xoxo

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!