Friday, December 31st, 2010

Thirteen years ago today.....a little baby boy was born. This very small creature was called Daniel.

Daniel came into this world a bit early. Nine weeks early.

Thirteen years ago this 3 lb not yet ready to face the world on his own little man who was facing an uphill struggle came into my life. I was scared for him, for how this way to early arrival would affect his future.

Though we had our issues and bumps along the way I can proudly say without hesitation that my premature boy has grown into a wonderful, sometimes pretty forgetful, young man whose feet I hope he will one day grow into....seriously, size thriteen!! yikes!


Today Daniel turns thirteen years old....he is full of wonder and adventure. I still worry about his future but thankfully not in the same way I had to on December 31, 1997.

michelfiest.com


Happy 13th Birthday Daniel

Vegas Christmas 2010, Do they know it's Christmas Time?

I don't think so. This place was packed. Seriously packed.

The streets were crowded. The casinos were smokey, and the line ups were long.

This city is certainly not as old and stinky as I first conceived. (Sorry Vegas folks, but I really thought your city was all washed up) Such was not the case. Las Vegas is up with now. More so than we are seeing in our Northern town. And Wow Vegas. You sure know how to make a person feel welcome.

This city has a pulse. Literally. It never stops. Outside moving side walks and escalators everywhere!! EVERYWHERE!! I was in awe.

Not to say that 'ye old Vegas' is not still present. Just take a trip down a few blocks off the strip and you will smell...er...see the classic Vegas.

Vegas, Why is there carpet everywhere? You know, it actually kind of smells like vomit...some times.

Here are just a few visuals from our point of view, there are more but seriously, you should just go. Every one need to go experience this. Just go!

This was our 1.5 hr line up just to check into our hotel at 11 pm Christmas Eve.

Because there were no standard rooms left (they said we were really nice people) we got a Grand Suite as an upgrade for two nights..it.was.huge!

There were over 950 chrysanthemums in this internally watered Christmas polar bear which received new flowers every couple of days by this fine man.

Vegas in it modernest.
Bellagio at it's day time finest.

A modern restaurant inside a mall of extreme brand names we COULD NEVER afford.

The Paris. Just lovely.

The Venetian. Viva Italia.

The Wynn.

The Stratasphere full of crazy too high up in the sky rides. Not for me.

Walking by the famous Balagios in the evening.

We gambled just a little. At this $.05 machine we plugged in $10.00, played for two hours, got comped three beers each and cashed out at $40.00. We had such a good time.

Obvious

Busy busy busy. Non-stop busy.

Outside moving side walks and escalators literaly everywhere. Blew my mind.

Oh boy but we needed to catch up on some sleep coming home from a city that literally never sleeps.

So this is Christmas....

We had our mini family Christmas last night due to the fact that the kids are celebrating with their Dad this year.


Although it was quick and early it was filled with all the elements of a regular Christmas day...We had the home made Christmas goodies thanks to Grandma Gamble. Some pretty thoughtful gifts changed hands. We had Burl Ives spinning on the 'ol record player, vinyl style. Christmas movies were on and of course, the Christmas 'cheer' was a plenty.


We played some video games cleaned up and hit the hay. Some of us still had to work the next day after all.

So now what does a Mom of three young-ish kids do over the Christmas weekend with out her kids? Well, I guess we could watch movies by a fire or go for long walks or drive around looking at the many amazing Christmas displays around the city.....naaahhh.

Instead Terry and I are going to Las Vegas!! Yup, that's right. A couple of years ago we started the tradition of going to Banff every other Thanks Giving when the kids were with their Dad. Well, now we are starting another one...we both ache to travel and explore different places so why not go at Christmas time? I could sit around wondering what the kids are doing and wishing I could be enjoying a yummy Christmas breakfast with them...or...we could distract ourselves with new sights and sounds filling our souls with excitement and adventure.
We're going to VEGAS....

Merry Christmas

Behind the Scenes at a Photo Shoot--or--My Dream Job

Recently I had the honour and privilege to help out my very good friend and favorite photographer Michel (you might have read about her once or twice here no?) ~WishfulThinking.com~
She is nearing the end of her 365 journey and heading straight on into what she does so well, capturing our lives in beautiful photographic memories for us to treasure.

Michel will be the photographer for Sarah and Adam's September 2011 wedding as well as many other weddings I am sure as her calender will quickly fill up once word gets out she is available.

In preparation for said wedding Michel was doing an engagement photo shoot to help Sarah and Adam announce their up and coming nuptials.

Having been in front of the camera at one or two of her photo shoots I knew how much Michel moved around and went out of her way to capture 'the shot'. With it being winter and the shoot scheduled to take place in busy down town Edmonton I knew she would need a helping hand, so I volunteered to be her lackey.

I had such a good time, I brought along my camera, not as a second shooter, but to try to take in a little behind the scenes action. It was a difficult at times with my arms full of jackets, scarves, drinks and purses but I did manage a few 'from the hip' shots.

Here is a little pictory of a city winter photo shoot.

First off we arrived early so Michel could walk around scouting out locations.

Then we met up with the happy couple and Michel discusses said scouted locations as well she asks what they are looking for from the day.

Then we begin outdoors. Michel talks through what she is doing at the same time allowing the couple to just relax and have fun...

They were so easy I must say.( I wasn't the photographer but I was paying attention!) They couldn't keep their lips off each other they were so cute and obviously in love...Sarah could not take a bad photo if she tried.

Scout out the location......

...add a loving couple...

...throw in a fantastic photographer, and you have magic.

Ok...too cold out side, we head in to thaw out a bit and get some cool City Center Mall shots..and by cool I mean warm. Our cameras needed a moment to warm up but man that fog on the lens looks so dreamy.

As the pro hovers around on one of the three levels of the mall taking sneaky photos of our couple du jour....

...I hang out with them below holding the extra equipment & jackets awaiting any instruction Michel may have for the couple.. I loved watching the curious passing shoppers walking by with looks of wonder on their faces.

A peek over the shoulder of the Pro in action.

...and again.

After the warmth of the mall we head back out side to find the sun shining and sparkling snowflakes falling from the sky.....we decided to utilize the free skate rental and the freshly Zamboni'd City Hall ice surface (usually a fountain/wading pool in the summer) to capture a few more romantic moments. Perfection.

Back at the vehicle the sun sets on a wonderful day of my fantasy dream job of assistant to a my favortite photographer.....hey, we can't all be the star, and every great artist has an equally great support team right?! *wink* you know who you are!
Thanks for letting me tag a long Sarah, Adam & Michel.

Christmas rush

This is what keeps me from posting here....it's been nice though. Not a crazy rush.

Not doing anything extra ordinary lately, nothing to exciting yet all the same some really cool days have happened to me recently. I will post a pic or two of one particular day that stands out as pretty great.

For now, I hope you are enjoying this snowy (in Alberta anyway) Fall which after tonight will be Winter Solstice accompanied by a lunar eclipse seen last on this special day in 1638 and not again until 2401. Hope you get a good peek at it where you are. I have a 13 year old on winter vacation from school with a camera in hand ready to capture this rare occurrence while I snuggle cozy in bed. *fingers crossed* he stays awake and/or remembers to look outside at 12:41 MST for the total eclipse.

Hope your season is merry and bright.

our tree

A perfect winters night with a ...

....f.r.i.e.n....*blank*

I have two boys

One likes to dance and be in the spot light......

The other is camera shy and super cute in his air cadet uniform.....

But his pictures are always blurry because he won't stand still for them.

He agreed to let me post these pictures but very reluctantly.

I am very proud of them.

we made cookies!!!

Nathan and I...OMGosh. it was awesome. we watched "A Christmas Story" while we rolled it out old school!

Check it out......

Shifted icing sugar old school too.


A glass for a cookie cutter.

mmmmmmm....yummy.

Most Heart and Hustle

This is the new term for game MVP I assume....or at least just for this ringette tournament.

The opposing team's coaches pick a player on the other team that they think fit into the criteria and that player gets the award for that game....Tayler Morris, come on down!!! wooot wooot!

She got this MAJOR AWARD (a.k.a. personal pizza and a pop at the local Boston Pizza) for the last of the three games her team played in this tournament.

Despite not making it to the finals, a minor dressing room incident and Tayler walking like a 90 year old lady due to a cross check in the lower back in game two I would say that the weekend went quite well.

Tayler and I were awesome and we got in a little bit of Christmas shopping. I discovered I actually like Red Deer, it's a rather cozy and nicely laid out little city. We stayed in a super new hotel, just opened in August. The beds were so comfortable and fresh, the towels were really soft and every piece of furniture was modern and shiny new, including the flat screen TV...It felt really VIP like considering we were paying a skukum team deal room rate for the weekend with an included daily breakfast. Thanks Red Deer!

Hanging with the parents was OK, kind of intimidating too. These parents have been on the same team together for years and are quite a bit older since a lot of their daughters are 18 or more and some being the babies of the family. It was fun though, they are all good people who like to pass down their wisdom and I got to feel like a little kid around them....LOL

I took a few pictures this tournament, not many of the games and rinks, they all look the same after awhile. I took pictures of tayler jumping on the bed and some of cow bells and crazy annoying clappy hands. A really cool one of my jeans in the sun, no really it was great! And by WAS I mean i don't actually have these pictures anymore. I did the huge faux pas of delteting the pictures off of my memory card with out double checking to make sure i transfered them properly...I didn't and they are gone. Lesson learned.
All i can give you is this...Tayler sitting on the hotel bed holding a t.v. remote.

Going to Red Deer

This weekend Tayler and I are heading down hwy 2, or the Q.E. 2 as it has recently been dubbed. We are off to her first out of town ringette tournament of the season.

As is my normal I was excited and looking forward to going away for the weekend but now as time ticks closer and closer I am feeling the swells of anxiety filling my insides.
The typical reasons for this are things like socializing by myself, NOT my forte and a huge cause of daily stress in my life, and having to fulfill my parental duties of working my scheduled time in 'the box' during one game...I am horrible at the time clock and the shot clock and during a tournament the stress will make me worse and I know how nasty parents are when someone screws up in there.

But a new worry for me this trip is spending all whole chunk of alone time with my daughter. I know, seems odd, but we really don't get to see each other much any more and most of our communication is done through text.
She lives at her Dad's for two weeks then switches to our house, her Father's house is a little more controlled as far as her going out is concerned where at our house I try to compensate by making sure she is getting time with friends and just hanging out as kids should do (trying to avoid any awkward social issues when she is older...hhmmm?), all this while she works, has ringette and band practices. So we will be getting acquainted again my daughter and I.

Do I take this time entrapped with me in a vehicle alone for a couple of hours and talk about all of life's ups and down's and how to best deal? Do I just let her lead the way and talk about her? Do I push for more intimate conversation? Do we sit in comfortable silence projecting no pressure or expectation to be productive at every moment? Is that what normal 'together all the time' parents and kids do?

I have a feeling what will be is what will be and I all this pre-worry (probably some of the cause of my high blood pressure) will be looked back at as unnecessary.

I often wonder will they look back at me when they are older and wish I said or did more of this or didn't do so much of that as a Mom.......again with the pre-worry. I get it at different levels.

Off we go to Red Deer tomorrow, Go team Boom, let's come back as winners, and I don't mean just on the ice.