Kelsey: What’s is cellulitis!? Cherilyn: Cellulitis is a bacterial skin infection that causes redness, swelling and pain in the infected area of the skin.
Kelsey: What’s were your symptoms of cellulitis and what did your doctors do? Did your leg hurt bad! Rate your pain 1 to 10. Cherilyn: I woke up feeling just fine and went shopping with my son. We were supposed to go to Edmonton but stopped in the Camrose mall first. I walked into the mall and immediately started to feel sick. We managed to get a couple of shirts and I told him that I needed to go home because I wasn’t feeling well, and I thought I would be better in an hour. I went home and ended up in bed for the rest of the day. I started to shake uncontrollably because I was so cold by my temperature was 41C. I had a heating pad on my bed, and I just couldn’t get warm. It was a rough day, and I finally threw up around supper time and thought I was getting better. I thought it was just the flu. The next morning, I woke up and noticed my leg was red it wasn’t really sore just red. I showed my husband Jason, and he took me to the emerg at St. Mary’s. A doctor seen me told me I had either cellulitis or a blood clot. Did a blood test but decided it was cellulitis gave me a prescription and told me I should feel better in 3 days. My leg started to hurt bad that day and continued to get worse. I was concerned that maybe it was a blood clot and we headed back to emerge. I had an ultrasound done of the leg and it came back fine but they gave me some pain killers to help with the pain. I was in so much pain I could barely walk and taking my leg from the bed to the floor was absolutely excruciating. The pain got to be a 10 anytime I had to move my leg. I went back to the emergency department on day 3 and the Doctor decided I need to be admitted and given antibiotics every 8 hours. I was in the hospital for 6 days and then they decided to test me for COVID so my friends and family had to gown up to see me. I had no COVID symptoms so it was really frustrating and sucked for the nurses to have to gown up to see me. I felt really alone and sad. It was a long 10 days.
Kelsey: Weren’t you in the hospital for a long period of time? What was your recovery like? How many weeks were you off work?! Cherilyn: My first trip to the emerge was on the Sunday and I ended up being admitted on the Wednesday. I was in the hospital for 10 days on antibiotics every 8 hours. When I was admitted I was Sepsis which is when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs, my liver was being affected. The pain killers were causing me to have extreme migraines and it also took a few days to figure out that was what was happening. Also, every time they gave me the antibiotics through the IV I would get extremely nauseous and have to have a drug called Zofran after. A nurse finally said why don’t we give you the Zofran first, I was so happy she decided that!
Kelsey: Are you really recovered from your cellulitis, and how many months did it take to overall get back to normal? Cherilyn: I was off work while I was in the hospital and when I came home, I worked from my bed and the couch. It was my busy time of year planning our Charity Auction and I couldn’t just lie around. It was hard. My leg was bad for a long time. It still swells every day and goes down to normal most nights. Kelsey:Did you get physical therapy? How was it treated? Cherilyn: I never had physical therapy, but I did have to go to home care and they would wrap my leg to help with swelling.
Kelsey: What’s would you tell people that are going through this cellulitis? Cherilyn: Apparently cellulitis is a common thing but if you deal with it right away it should be okay. I tried to deal with it right away, but I should have been put on IV antibiotics the first time I went to the hospital. They finally figured out that I had gotten the infection while sitting in Buffalo Lake on the Friday afternoon. I had lawn chair a few metres from shore and was sitting there talking to friends. The bacteria from the lake could have gotten into a hair follicle or something. It usually gets into an open wound, but I didn’t appear to have any. I do have cracks in my heals so it could have been there too. I will never sit in a lawn chair in Buffalo Lake again! If you see any redness mark the area with a marker and see if it grows. Make sure to go to the doctor and make sure to advocate for yourself, my husband made me to do this, and I should have done it sooner. It might not have ended up as bad as I was. When they told me not to expect to better until at least 3 days I believed them, and I shouldn’t have waited that long.
Kelsey: Are you really recovered from your cellulitis, and how many months did it take to overall get back to normal? Cherilyn: I recently had cellulitis again! I am now prone to getting it. I was on antibiotics for 10 days. My leg continues to swell. I just seen the doctor yesterday and she sent me to St. Mary’s to get an ultrasound of my leg, they ruled out a blood clot so that is great news. She is working with me to help solve this swelling problem. I have tried magna wave which is a machine my friend has that she uses for her horses! I am also booked in for acupuncture this week. I will try anything! Kelsey: Did you get swelling, tenderness, pain warmth fever chills spots or blisters? Cherilyn: I did have all these symptoms. This is a picture of my skin shedding after. I got an entire new layer of skin on my leg and foot. It was nasty!
Kelsey: Was it red? Were you throwing up? Were you dizzy? Cherilyn: My leg started just a light red and progressively got worse. I only threw up the Saturday night and that was it. I was never dizzy that I can remember.
If you would like more information on cellulitis I found this on the internet:
On Easter Monday my Mom and I decided to have a Ham dinner unfortunately my van was out of gas and my dad had to work so we could not get supper supplies. I guess that egg hunt on Easter Sunday took two hours to do, no wonder we were out of gas. So instead Mom and I went walking to winners and Dollar Tree. We got a birthday present for my friend Skyler’s baby girl Sutton. We got her a baby book and we bought her some bath toys. Then we found a birthday card and a butterfly gift bag for the birthday presents! Then I got a PJ shirt, some pants and PJ bottoms . Once I tried on the PJ top at home I didn’t like the back of it , so we had to take it back and then I found a pinky and flowery shirt for a wedding in June. We decided to have homemade BBQ chicken pizza for dinner and we watched American Idol.
Unfortunately I had to miss the first birthday party for Sutton because I got a cold/ flu bug on Wednesday, but my friend Courtney who was going to her birthday party kindly delivered her birthday presents from me to her birthday party. My friend Courtney video taped her opening up presents, Skyler sent me pictures from her birthday party that I’ll post here!
On Thursday afternoon I had a school presentation at Sifton school.
On Friday afternoon my friend Courtney and my friend Skyler with their babies and children came over for an visit. I got to finally meet Courtney’s children Joseph and a baby girl named Marley! I loved holding Marley! She was so chill on my knee! I was so surprised to see Sutton wearing the outfit I bought her in February, she was wearing the shirt that I got her. Sutton looked great in the shirt and it fits her perfectly! It made me feel good and happy that she’s enjoying her shirt that I bought her.
On Saturday afternoon I got to go to Starbucks with Kelsey, Melissa, Mary, Alayna and Junior. I got to hold junior! It was a wonderful afternoon catching up with friends and their kids!
On Monday afternoon I had a school presentation at Sifton school this is Mrs. Jutais’ Grade 5 class!
On Thursday afternoon I had two school presentations at the new Chester Ronning school! When I got back home from bocce ball , I got a thank- you note and some flowers from the Camrose Association For Community Living! That was a fabulous surprise and it made it worth the hard work and it paid it off. My favourite part about the job is answering the children’s questions. It was a wonderful year of school presentations! I can’t wait until next year! Thanks so much for the wonderful flowers and thanks to Cherilyn and Victoria for the best super duper support team ever for the school presentations! We made another year of school presentations!
On Friday evening we had bingo and a meeting for events for June, July and August months with Rose Club and I got a mango flavoured face mask for my prize!
On Saturday morning was the fundraiser for the Larry Gibson’s memorial walk and I walked with my friend Kristen, her husband Adam and her newborn Huston, and her sister in law Rebecca! It was wonderful to see everyone from Special Olympics. There was hot dog lunch! They had lunch kits for everyone.
On Tuesday afternoon I got two birthday cards and an Mother’s Day card ready and coloured with coloured envelopes. May long weekend is busy with birthdays! My friend Teresa’s birthday is on Friday, Craig’s birthday is on Saturday and Mother’s Day is on the weekend before. Then my friend Karina and I went for manicures. I got sunflowers, black dots and yellow nails! Karina got a French manicure. It’s so nice to catch up with your girlfriends!
On Friday evening we went swimming with Rose Club. It was lots of fun swimming with our friends from Rose Club and Maryann came as well.
On Thursday morning I did some Mother’s Day water colouring painting pictures at Centra cam and a few months ago I painted a bright rainbow coloured bird house.
For Mother’s Day I helped my mom plant some flower pots in her backyard. Then I helped my brother Joel make a Mint Chocolate Mousse Cake for dessert while my mom, and my brother Luke went to her friend’s Anna Marie’s house so Luke could meet her new puppy Bean! I gave her a water coloured flower picture and an little picture with the words that says I love you mom. She liked her bird house and the flowers were her one of favourite flowers that I bought her.
I finished the word searches book from an Rose Club prize from name that tune or an bingo of some kind.
On Friday morning My Best Friend Forever Teresa sent a picture of herself reading her birthday card, she looked So smart in her glasses studying her birthday card she is still a teacher at heart. She loved her birthday flowers and her birthday card from me. It put a smile in her heart! She said the only birthday presents she got was her birthday flowers from me and her birthday card that I coloured. It’s makes a person feel like she did something extra special for her friend for her birthday. On Friday evening we went neon bowling with Rose Club and had a blast! It’s extra fun when you’re glowing in the dark and there music playing in the background. My staff Anna was dancing on the side.
On Saturday afternoon Rebecca, Kat and I went walking around Mirror lake and got some Starbucks drinks! We were discussing our birthday plans and what we want for our birthdays!
On Sunday afternoon my Mom changed my feeding tube!
Kelsey: Why did you need to get your knee replacement done?
Sheila: My knee was very sore because the knee joint was worn down from osteoarthritis.
Kelsey: What did they replace your knee with?
Sheila: Titanium. Now I will beep when I go through security at the airport.
Kelsey: What was the surgery like?
Sheila: I woke up towards the end of the surgery, but I couldn’t feel any pain. I could feel my body moving while they were hammering, however.
Kelsey: How many days were you in the hospital and what was it like?
Sheila: I was in the hospital for two nights. I would have gone home sooner but I was in too much pain. They had me up walking the day of surgery, which was fine, but the physio made me do some exercises that were very painful, and I nearly passed out.
Kelsey: How was the recovery?
Sheila: Recovery was good. I could tell every day that I was healing a little more. I followed all the rules and healed quite quickly. Exercises, icing, elevating my leg – it was quite time consuming. I only used a walker for a few days, then switched to a cane. I didn’t need it very long either. I did have a reaction to the blood thinners and bruised quite badly.
Kelsey: How bad and for how long did you have pain?
Sheila: The pain was pretty bad doing physio at first. The physio told me I had to straighten my leg before I left the hospital, and there’s no way that was happening! My leg was too swollen. It took weeks before I could completely straighten in. I’m not sure what that physio was thinking. I think I only took something for pain for maybe a week.
Kelsey: Do you think it was worth it?
Sheila: Absolutely!
Kelsey: Do you have pain now?
Sheila: I wouldn’t say my knee is like it was when I was 20, but it’s pretty good. It is sometimes stiff, but I wouldn’t really say it hurts.
Kelsey: How long did it take you to fully recover?
Sheila: I’d say it took a full year to really recover. It’s a big surgery.
Kelsey: How is your other knee?
Sheila: Well, it will need to be replaced also, along with my hip.
Kelsey: Is this a hereditary thing?
Sheila: I’m not sure. My parents never had any joints replaced, nor did my grandparents, but my sister has had both her hips replaced, and my one brother had a hip replaced. Also, my nephew, and he was only 42!
Kelsey: Any advice for someone needing a knee replacement?
Sheila: Don’t wait too long. If you wait too long, you might damage your hips or other knee. The first few days aren’t much fun, but it improves quickly. Also, do your exercises, icing, elevating…all the things physio tells you.
This is what I found on Knee replacements if you want to read more about them:
The 1st week into March Cherilyn , Victoria and I started with in person school presentations!
On Thursday afternoon I sewed a star on a bib for Junior at Centra Cam!
On Friday afternoon I decided to use a card from the book called Colour Your Own Greeting Cards and Envelopes. I made a birthday card for my friend Mary’s birthday and give her a sun catcher that I made at Centra Cam in February. After my mom took me to the dentist appointment we dropped off the birthday present for Mary and the bib for Junior. Mary said she absolutely loved her birthday present and she was very surprised when she opened her birthday present from me! She said it was a perfect surprise birthday present, I totally made her day! Mary also liked the bib that I made for junior! I can’t wait until I get a picture of him wearing his new bib! We had sing along/ karaoke with Rose Club on zoom on Friday evening! I sang “Take Me Home, Country Road”!
Sunday afternoon I interviewed my mom about her knee replacement. I made birthday cards for Joel and Ashley, and a recovery card for an another hip replacement for my Auntie Donna!
I did my presentation in Mrs. Calhoon’s class at OLMP school it was St. Patrick’s Day for them because they didn’t have school on St. Patrick’s Day but they wanted a picture with me!
Thursday Evening before St. Patrick’s day I got my fingernails painted for St. Patrick’s Day. I went with my new friend Amanda and she got light purple with sparkles. I wanted a pot of gold, the nail tech didn’t understand what I wanted, so I got green and gold sparkles tips and some white flowers stickers instead of the pot of gold. It’s kinda perfect with spring coming.
We had birthday bash on St.Patrick’s Day in the evening, We danced and tried to open the piñata which was a yellow box with a question mark. We did that thing where you go under the group of people that are holding their hands and arms up into the air and you have to go under them! That’s was an blast and probably the highlight of the evening! Rebecca had a play list of Irish songs and Spanish songs which was perfect for the themed St. Patrick Day birthday bash! It was a wonderful evening celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with our friends from Rose Club!
We made film clay coasters with Rose Club on zoom while someone was teaching us on an YouTube video on Friday evening, we are waiting for gold paint for the edges. It was neat to learn how to make them.
We celebrated Joel’s 31st birthday on Sunday, with ribs, homemade bread, salad and for dessert we had Mini Egg Cheesecake! I got my bother Joel a mug, it has camping pictures and it’s says Camping With My Gnomies. Joel got some money from parents and Grandpa & Shandy got him golf balls! We discussed about Easter and we decided that we’re going to Grandpa and Shandy’s house for Easter Sunday! Our family usually colour/ dye eggs in food colouring and get some chocolate.
The next weekend, We celebrated Ashley’s 29th birthday, We had her birthday meal and birthday cake. Ashley asked for the brownie cake with cream cheese icing and pecans on top! One of the family’s favourite birthday cakes. We also played Yahtzee together as a family! My friend Mary decorated her a camping mug, says “Camping with my girlies and an camping picture. ” which she loved, she got money too, and a gift card so she and Joel can upgrade their New House in Camrose! Here’s the picture of both of the camping mugs!
End of March we had our last bowling for the season which was neon bowling. Then I coloured some St. Patrick’s Day colouring pages from Tofield school that I got when I was presenting there. I got 100 markers so I could use lots of different shades of green!
On Friday morning my friend Mary told me that Junior always picks the book off the shelf that I bought him, which makes me smile and so happy to hear that he enjoy the book that I bought him.
On Wednesday evening we decided on events for month of May with Rose Club and we dyed Easter eggs.
On Thursday evening my friend Nellie and I got Easter nails done before the Easter weekend!
For Easter Sunday, my family and I went on an outdoor scavenger egg hunt around town, which took two hours to find wooden eggs. We had found a bunch of wooden shaped eggs & take a picture and send them in to the City of Camrose to win a prize. Not even a chocolate egg, or chocolate bunnies in sight. It was a good and different event that everyone enjoyed. It was almost all wheelchair accessible except for one place where I couldn’t get through the snow. Then we went to our grandpa’s house and we painted Easter themed pictures with watercolor pens and paints. Then we had a ham dinner and layered chocolate dessert! It was a very nice day to celebrate Easter as a family!
For New Year’s Day my brother Joel and Ashley, Mom, Dad and I had a turkey dinner in the late afternoon and we played Yahtzee together.
As you already know I got purple dye from Janelle for Christmas! So, the next Saturday I dyed my hair purple in the morning. My friend Nicole and I went for nails and went out for coffee in the afternoon. I got snowflakes, snow man, snow balls and blue trim on my fingernails. My friend Nicole got her favourite colour purple nail polish. It was very nice little spa day!
On the following weekend I got to use my birthday certificate from the bowling alley. I guess when I went bowling with my family, the bowling alley had some issues, so they gave me a little birthday present. A certificate to a free bowling for an hour. I invited team three to go bowling on Saturday evening. Everyone seemed like they had a wonderful time.
On Friday afternoon while I was talking to my friend Mary, She showed me her baby boy Joshua Junior and he enjoys his book that I gave him. She said he wouldn’t stop fussing until she gave him the book, I gave him. Mary decorated his wall with my rainbow picture that I painted for Joshua Junior! On Friday evening we went to the Cheesecake Burlesque, and we enjoyed the outfits, music and there was lots of laughter in the room.
On Saturday morning we went out for brunch at Smitty’s and I got ice tea and blueberry cheesecake with whip cream on top. I needed some floss sticks so Anna and I went to Walmart. Mary showed me Joshua Junior in the moccasins that my mom made for him.
Sunday my Dad and Grandpa were helping me decorate a collage of pictures for my blog.
Friday morning, I had a chiropractor appointment as my back and hips were bothering me. My Chiropractor told me that my hips were out of line. So thankfully he fixed it. Then Mom and I made sourdough cookies and sourdough brownies. Friday evening was birthday bash for birthdays in January. We danced and Rebecca bought a spider man piñata so everyone got an turn to hit it.
Saturday afternoon Kelsey and Melissa took me out for coffee at Starbucks for an hour and a half visit. We have decided we should do a photo shoot in our prom dresses. We even got to FaceTime with Mary on the way to Starbucks. I coloured some of my colouring monthly calendar from an Rose Club prize from bingo or name that tune or something along those lines.
On Sunday afternoon I tried out the keyboard from my Great Gramma Josie. I was in charge of keeping everyone entertained and happy while my mom was making BBQ chicken pizza for supper and then we played the dice game from Christmas.
My friend Emily showed me her baby girl Brielle in the yellow and white dress that I brought her last spring!
Every evening I have started to use a machine that helps my hand that I don’t use that often. It helps it not be too tight! I feel it’s less tight and stiff, I enjoy the feeling in my hand while I use it. It’s like those Doctor Ho’s machines. I get a feeling in my hand and It feels like its tingly.
On Tuesday afternoon I coloured more in the calendar and talked with Mary and baby junior!
On Friday afternoon I cross stitched some of the flowers in the heart. We had Rose Club meeting and Valentine’s Day bingo! We decided on events and activities that should we do for the Rose Club’s March calendar!
On Saturday afternoon we went to Walmart and superstore I needed a iPad charger, new kinds of teas, a mix of hot chocolates which were different kinds of chocolate bars flavours, and some Reinforcements! We bought picture frames for the cross stitches, but they didn’t fit. After shopping, Kathleen, Elyse, Anna and I went out for coffee before baby comes! It was a great afternoon hearing how Elyse got engaged and what the wedding colours are going to be, and of course Kathleen was talking about her baby and her niece Isabel Grace and her issues with sleeping while being pregnant!
On Sunday afternoon My dad found some picture frames on Amazon for my cross stitch hearts and flowers! So, he nicely ordered them. Mom and I bought a baby gift for my friend Skyler’s baby girl Sutton!
On Thursday afternoon the pictures frames arrived. The cross-stitch fits in the picture frames.
On Friday afternoon I finished my colouring monthly calendar from an prize from Rose Club! There are colouring pictures of some flowers and then it’s an calendar on the next page. I also did some word searches. On Friday evening we had birthday bash for the month of February! When you’re comfortable in your brown chair with your comfortable cozy blanket, and just don’t want to move, you can do birthday bash on zoom, but we can still dance and listen to music with our friends.
On Saturday afternoon I wanted to go and shop for Theresa’s birthday presents for her birthday, so Nia and I went to Walmart. I bought her a new mug that’s says *there’s so many reasons to be happy *, hot chocolate and French Vanilla coffee. We put everything in a basket with white paper! Then we drop off the birthday presents at home and went for matching Valentine’s fingernails with Christina.
On Sunday afternoon I took Grandpa and my Dad out for coffee while my Mom took Coco on a walk. My mom was babysitting Coco from Saturday to Wednesday night, as Joel and Ashley went to Arizona for a few days with other couples.
For Valentine’s Day I went to Centra Cam and we had an Valentine’s Day party. We played Valentine’s Day bingo in the morning, then Victoria and I met with Cherilyn and went though the school presentation and how to set up. Unfortunately we found out that the table doesn’t fit with my new power wheelchair so Victoria and I measured my wheelchair for an new table. Then, I danced and coloured some Valentine’s Day colouring pages. In the afternoon I did my fire hall interview blog! Anna and I drove over to my senior Sharon’s apartment and took her an adult colouring calendar book that I coloured and a big book of word searches just in time for an long airplane trip to New Brunswick!
We celebrated our roommate Theresa’s 54th birthday on the next day after Valentine’s Day .
We even went to Special Olympics bowling and everyone sang happy birthday to Theresa. Everyone had Theresa’s favourite birthday cake Black Forest cake for dessert. I got Mini Key Lime Pie. For the birthday presents she got some sweaters from her sister, hot chocolate, French vanilla, and coffee with a mug from me, and some hair stuff from Janelle. She got to FaceTime with her sister and a special friend Maryann on her birthday! We’re looking forward to seeing Rock Of Ages this weekend that Craig and I got her tickets for her birthday!
On Friday afternoon I got to visit my childhood best friend Skyler, meet her baby girl and I gave her baby girl Sutton an outfit for summer. Which my friend Skyler loved. It was a wonderful afternoon to finally get to meet and hold her baby girl Sutton, being able to visit with Skyler and her mom Trina was wonderful too! On Friday evening Theresa and I made Valentine’s Day ‘s crafts a girl and boy gnomes with Rose Club on zoom! Rebecca gave everyone a no sew Valentine craft gnomes craft materials in a bag. And a paper that told you what we needed to make those: we got two Styrofoam cones, felt ( one sheet of red, two light grey and one black craft fur, two gnomes noses which was wood beads and two jewel hearts. We used a hot glue gun, and we needed some scissors! It was super duper fun to make and they’re really cute. It was perfect Valentine’s Day craft!
On Saturday afternoon we went to The Jeanne And Peter Lougheed Center to watch Churchmice presents Rock Of Ages. This was the birthday present from Craig and I for Theresa’s birthday. We all enjoyed the play Rock Of Ages. Everyone had very nice costumes, lovey makeup and the acting was really good!
For Family Day which was Monday my Auntie Gail and Uncle Wayne from Lloydminster came to see us for the afternoon. We went to the Bowling Alley and played a game. Then we went to my parent’s house and made Homemade Bath Bombs that I got from Joel and Ashley for a Christmas present. I got Grandpa to make some Bath Bombs! While we were making bath bombs, my Uncle Wayne and my Dad were playing crib. It was lot of fun, almost perfect day but we missed my cousins Eric and Ian, my brother Joel , sister in law Ashley and brother Luke!
At Centra Cam one of the things I do is informational posters to teach people about different things. I started on this poster a long time ago, and then COVID happened. SO I kind of forgot about it. It was very interesting to learn about the fire hall because I shred paper every week at the Fire Hall. So I wanted to learn about it. I learned a lot on their website. I got to interview G. Parnall a firefighter. I like to color pictures for my poster and make it fancy. It was really neat to learn about the Dalmatian’s at the fire hall and some of the Dalmatians are deaf. I hope people can learn about my poster. I really enjoyed doing it.
Questions for Lieutenant G. Parnall
Kelsey: How many fire calls on average do you get per year?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: It varies from year to year. Right now, we have had about 250 calls.
Kelsey: How many volunteer fire fighters are there?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: About 44 members
Kelsey: How did you get into this job?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: My Dad was a fire fighter, and my best friend is a fire fighter.
Kelsey: What did you do before this job?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: I work as manager at Crystal Glass.
Kelsey: Did you have to go to school for this job?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: I had training in Camrose and other places as well as school.
Kelsey: When holding the hose can it push you over?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: Yes, it can! So, we prepare for that.
Kelsey: What is your favorite part of your job?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: Investigations and finding out how things happened.
Kelsey: How many years have you been a fire fighter?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: Fifteen years
Kelsey: What are your daily activities at work?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: Making sure that trucks are ready for accidents, fires, and medical calls.
Kelsey: What are you most proud of in your job?
Lieutenant G. Parnall: I get to go the children’s hospital to visit. I also get to visit with folks as well as I hope my sons see me as a hero. I enjoy driving red trucks!
All About the Fire Hall
Regularly inspect and clean equipment and vehicles in preparation for fires and practice fire drills.
Fire departments have administration services, training and operations
Administration – Does supervision, budgets, policy and human resources.
Service – Offers protection, safety and education to the public.
Training – Prepares people by educating them to do their jobs.
Operations – Perform tasks to minimize harm to people, property and environment
Fire stations exist in most jurisdictions and have many volunteers to make it function well.
Within the fire department we have :
Fire Chief
Deputy Fire Chief
Captains
Lieutenants
Firefighters
Admin support
The fire department issues fire bans when there is a risk of setting fires.
The city of Camrose pays the fire department to operate.
The service department provides education on:
Carbon monoxide alarms
Fire pit permits
Holiday safety
Home fire escape plan
National fire protection association
Potting soil fire awareness
Safe at home report card
Safe smoking
The service department also provides code enforcement and investigation of complaints, answers questions and helps with fire safety training.
They help with fire by laws and setting fees and fines .
Training department:
The training department does in house training weekly though out the year
They train volunteer fire fighters there are three steps to become a volunteer
Step one – they need a physical evaluation
Step two – medical and applicant checks
Step three – fill out the general information application
They always ask the question “Why do you want to be a fire fighter?”
Just for your information Camrose volunteer fire fighters get paid for the calls they go on plus for weekly training and then at tax time they have a deduction applied.
Dalmations
Interesting information Dalmatians aren’t all deaf. Their association with fire hall was originally because they could keep up with horses now they serve as a mascot.
How do firefighters get involved in our community?
They do pancake breakfasts for charity organizations, MS bike tours, Walk for life, Stollery Children’s hospital, and they speak to kids in schools.
The last Tuesday night in October was n Halloween haunted house at the CRE and we invited Team Three.
The last Saturday night in October we watched dream works smoky cartoons movies. Which was actually pretty funny.
For the Halloween party at Centra Cam there was Halloween games and we had costumes parade in the hallway. They had stuff in bowls that we had to guess what they were and feel with our hands. They had Halloween photos booth with face masks, and we had dance parties. Their was a game called “sweep the pumpkin, and you raced against the guy from Comicon “Maverick”. We had so much fun dancing, singing, making Halloween cards with our friends. For Halloween evening we went to swimming pool with special Olympics and then we had a Halloween themed birthday bash with Rose Club on Halloween night!
Kelsey showed me that her baby girl Avery is fitting into the moccasins that my mom made for her! They fit her perfectly and she’s super cute in them.
On Saturday morning my parent’s new table got finished and slowly started moving in the dining room and some chairs got slowly upstairs as well. Later on, Saturday afternoon the table and chairs were absolutely perfect and got upstairs finally. So, since September to November my parents have been working on their new kitchen table with the kitchen table chairs set. Everything is finally finished and looks perfect!
On Saturday afternoon, I coloured some pictures of shoes, necklaces. There were some purple perfumes with some red, orange and purple chandeliers. I also coloured some green and red mitts, red toque. I also coloured a purple skate. After I coloured, my friend Karlina and her fiancé Isaak came over and we played two games of Yahtzee! We had a wonderful visit!
On Sunday evening we celebrated our new table and chairs set with an yummy dinner of Greek chicken, Greek salad, potatoes and mom and I made cheesy biscuits. My grandpa Ray and I made Hot Fudge Pudding for dessert. The final step of the kitchen is going to be the backsplash. Grandpa Ray and I played Yahtzee with mom, dad and Sandy. Sandy got three Yahtzees!
On Monday evening we made Rose Club Christmas cards that Rebecca delivered to our house . I enjoy putting Christmas stickers and different coloured papers to decorate the Christmas cards. My Mom made Maryann a beautiful paper of mittens. Mom and I also baked butter tarts.
For the Remembrance Day weekend, my parents had to babysit Coco for my brother Joel and his wife Ashley because she had a conference with her work and Joel went with her. On Friday afternoon we worked on my cross-stitch heart, did laundry and we made shopping list for Janelle ‘s birthday presents and some Christmas child shoe boxes items. I also needed some teas and some milk.
On Saturday afternoon, I wanted to make sure that I had Janelle’s birthday presents bought and wrapped, also I wanted to get the Christmas child shoe boxes items bought and packed in the box. For the Christmas child box I got some fuzzy socks, markers, note book, soap hair ties, hair brush and comb. For Janelle’s birthday presents I got her an Donut bath bomb, bubble bath, Christmas PJs, hair ties and fuzzy socks.
On Sunday afternoon we decorated the Christmas tree. We weren’t able to decorate everything for Christmas because we were still watching Coco. My brother Joel and Ashley got back from the work conference in Canmore. My brother and his wife got mom and dad some chocolates because they babysat Coco for the weekend. We have been watching two shows on Sunday nights Sister Wives and Heartland. While I was heading back home, there was an surprise for me, my friend Mary dropped off a shirt and a hoodie that she designed. The hoodie had butterflies and says “Kelsey butterfly lifestyle” on it. The shirt has Brett young’s name on it, my favourite song title ” I can’t sleep without you, a red moon and the date that I went to his concert. She even got me a colouring book. Thanks so much Mary!
On Tuesday evening we went to drop off the Christmas child shoe boxes at the church. I love giving a child who doesn’t have much and gives them a joyful Christmas with toys, markers, paper, pad and bar of soap for Christmas presents! It was great to see my friend Glenda! You don’t understand how blessed and thankful you are when someone else does not have much money for Christmas presents for their children. You can go and fill up a shoe box for children for Christmas! Please take your time and get a shoe box today! On Wednesday evening we went to the women’s shelter and I donated a beautiful flowery nightgown!
On Thursday afternoon mom and I went shopping for Christmas window stickers at the dollar store. We wrapped some Christmas presents and started on making Christmas cards that my auntie Gail sent me. There were lots of Christmas cards, so we started with the Christmas door ones with Christmas decorations on the door! I couldn’t wait until Sunday afternoon to make more Christmas cards and make a list of people that need a Christmas card, we might do a Christmas letter too.
On Friday evening we celebrated our roommate Janelle’s 24th birthday! Niki got her birthday balloons and a mixed cheesecakes of different kinds of cheesecakes. There was chocolate, pecan caramel cheesecake, berries cheesecake and plain cheesecake. We put on YouTube videos of her favourite music artist Megan Trainor She likes pop music. For her birthday presents, she got a Christmas onesie and Christmas PJs, donut bath bomb, Christmas CDs, new toy and bubble bath! She also got Bumble bee fuzzy socks! After her birthday party, we headed to Rose Club birthday bash to celebrate birthdays in November. It was great to see everyone in person, danced with our friends and it was a great time. Rebecca had a Disco Ball that lit up with different colours. It was really neat. We had an amazing evening celebrating Janelle’s birthday and awesome time celebrating everyone else’s birthdays in November.
Saturday afternoon we decorated the inside of the house for Christmas. We put up some dollar store items like snow man and snow flakes on the windows. We put up the Christmas tree and decorated our Christmas tree!
On Wednesday evening we went to make a centrepiece for the Rose Club Christmas’s party on Friday, December 16. It was a Christmas box. Home hardware built them, they also painted them with white paint gun and donated them to the Christmas party for Rose Club. I was in charge with the glue gun and Niki placed the decorations on my Christmas box! We had a blast decorating them and can’t wait until we see them at the Christmas party!
On Thursday afternoon my mom and I went shopping for Christmas presents. We got Christmas presents for baby Joshua Junior and baby Averie (which is Kelsey’s and Mary’s) newest babies, we also got their older kids (Alayna and Kahliya ) Christmas presents as well. We wrapped them up with Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas gift bags. We also wrapped up the Handivan’s Christmas present which is chocolates from Costco. After super, we dropped off the Christmas presents.
Friday morning I gave the Handivan their Christmas present which is Meri chocolates from Costco and the Handivan driver Joanne was surprised that I got a Christmas present done. On Friday afternoon Nia and I played two games of Yahtzee and did lots of laundry. I made a list of Christmas presents ideas for my roommates.
Saturday afternoon I went shopping for Christmas presents for my Roommates and I went to Walmart and Warehouse One. Then Rebecca, Taryn , my roommate Kat and I went see the new inside of Tim’s Horton and it’s very nice. It’s feels like a new restaurant inside and outside, which is fresh and clean. Check it out yourself. After our Tim’s Horton coffee date, we invited Rebecca and Kat to come to the mall with us. We went to Ricki’s and Bootlegger. For the Christmas presents: I got a jewelry kit for Jessica, I got sweaters for Janelle and Theresa , I got Craig PJ pants and Kat got a Subway gift card!
On Sunday afternoon my mom and I wrapped the Christmas presents for my roommates. Most of the Christmas presents were already in boxes so it was easier to wrap and one had an tag on the box so we didn’t have to wrap it. We made Hershey’s Mint Chocolate Chip Nanaimo Bars to freeze so we can have them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The end of November or the bringing of December we change my feeding tube. It seemed to be loose, so we changed it a few weeks earlier than usual. We also change the feeding tube around my birthday too. My mom took a picture of myself in front of the Christmas tree. We also got the Christmas cards addressed and wrote into the inside of Christmas cards. Hopefully the next time that I’m home my mom has ordered the pictures for the Christmas cards, and we can send them out. It was a very busy weekend with Christmas presents shopping, Christmas baking and getting ready for Christmas cards to send out. Slowly but surely, I’m getting ready for Christmas.
This week was the last week of special Olympics swimming and bowling!
Later in the afternoon Anna and I went swimming with special Olympics for the last time until January!
On Tuesday afternoon my dad dropped mom and I off at the Glenrose hospital for an appointment at the spastic clinic. They gave me Botox in my right hand and wrist . We got a follow up appointment on January 4th and they will make me an hand brace! They moved my hand in different positions and figured out I needed Botox in my hand and wrist. They also looked at my leg braces. I thought it was interesting appointment, so I wanted to share my experience.
On Wednesday later in the afternoon we had our last special Olympics bowling before Christmas break. We played bingo bowling and another bowling game with Christmas music playing in the background. I can’t wait until January to start swimming and bowling again with special Olympics! Here’s the bowling bingo sheet how we kept sore! Wednesday evening I fell off the shower chair and broke off a tooth.
On Thursday morning I went to the dentist, and he fixed my tooth! In the afternoon mom and I made Chocolates Mint Snow-Top Cookies… so yummy, so good, and so delicious. I can’t wait for Christmas to have them.
On Friday afternoon Anna and I went shopping for the Rose Club Christmas exchange and the Centra Cam Christmas exchanges. For the Christmas parties everyone buys a Christmas present and we do an Christmas gift exchange. We also got Theresa’s Christmas presents from Santa!! I bought a pink care bear for the hockey game that donates bears for the U of A ( the Stollery children’s hospital ) and drop it off the hockey ink. I think I have every Christmas presents brought, wrapped and or figured out. We ended up at the elk hall and went to the Christmas market where my friend Mary and her baby Joshua Junior were selling homemade Christmas baking and selling sugar cookies and decoration supply kits. We even wrote in the Christmas cards for the different teams to wish them a merry Christmas and happy new year! On Friday evening we had a Rose Club meeting for January events and Christmas bingo. I got a black out in Christmas bingo.
Saturday afternoon I coloured and went swimming with Maryann.
Sunday afternoon we took family pictures for our Christmas cards for 2022! We had dinner with the whole family!
So mom ordered Christmas cards on Monday evening. I finished the picture that I was colouring. Sky is blue and sunny day with yellow and orange sun. Brown and back houses with some red decorating. Anna and I finished her Santa Claus shopping for Theresa and went to Winners and I forgot to send Sharon my senior a Christmas gift . So, we made a list of Christmas presents ideas. I think I would love to get her an basket of goodies, like hot chocolate, coffee and candy and Christmas candy canes.
On Wednesday afternoon I did my Christmas traditions blog.
On Thursday afternoon mom and I went shopping at Walmart and we also made nuts and bolts.
On Friday morning I went to the fire hall and shred the paper for the fire men. On Friday morning The Handivan driver Joanne said “The Handivan drivers really enjoyed their chocolates” from their Christmas present. They ate all the chocolates in a week. I noticed that Joanne decorated the bus for Christmas! On Friday afternoon I coloured a picture of a turtle with flowers and another picture of an octopus. I got to FaceTime my friend Kristen. I met her at CAFCL’s Kandu summer camp when she was a leader and I was eight years old. I got to meet and see her second baby boy Malcolm on Facebook messenger! It was a thirty-three-minute chat, and I enjoyed every minute of it. After FaceTime I coloured another picture of some fishes and blue water. On Friday evening we started on new cross stitch and we cross stitched a purple heart and we decided finally to pop Janelle’s birthday balloons! It was an awesome day!
On Monday afternoon I interviewed an fire man at Centra Cam. I’m working on a Fire Hall poster that is about the fire hall! On Monday evening everyone drove around town and looked at Christmas lights. On our way home, we headed to Tim’s and some people got hot chocolate and then I had a Mocha with creamer at home.
On Tuesday afternoon I Face Timed my mom while she was making cinnamon twists!
On Wednesday morning at Centra cam I played time Dominoes, and I finished writing up my interview with the fire man and played Camrose Monopoly. On Wednesday afternoon I finished my picture that says Salt in the air and sand in my hair with yellow, purple, and red writing. I made the background that looks like a sunset, which is light purple, dark purple and pink. I put in some blue waves, a pink seashell and a red fish! My mom showed me that she made poppycock! Later on, before dinner time Taryn and I got some food bank items for the food bank for CAFCL. So we made a quick Walmart run and we got two boxes of pasta, three different pasta sauces and four different kinds of Kraft Mac and cheese bowls. During having dinner, we did some purple petals on the cross stitch.
On Thursday morning I dropped off my food bank items at the CAFCL office. In the afternoon My mom and I made short bread cookies and did some last-minute Christmas shopping. On Thursday Evening Kelsey and Melissa came over to drop off some Christmas presents! I got a new red Boom Box that has a radio in it as well. Brett young’s CD ” weekends look a bit different these days ” and Kelsey had made a picture frame of Brett young’s concert ticket and pictures from the concert. We had a two hour visit with Kelsey and Melissa. Thanks so much for the visit and the Christmas presents Melissa and Kelsey, and the Christmas card Kelsey and her family! You’re the best people in my life and the funniest and crazy girlfriends ever!
On Friday morning I went to the fire hall and shred the paper for the firemen. Then I had an appointment with the O.T. Then my mom put away some of the rest of the summer clothes and summer PJS and put out my winter PJS. She also got my new Boom Box set up. I had some sweaters that needed to be fixed so she took them home with her. On Friday afternoon I coloured some balls different colours and the background a golden colour! I coloured an ocean that I made it look like the water was red, pink and purple colours. I glues I ran out of blue markers. It had an octopus and some fishes in the water. I coloured a whale picture… it says’ whale of a good time’. I did laundry between doing colouring.
On Friday evening was the Rose Club Christmas party at the Norsemen inn. There was a dinner, delicious cherry cheesecake and chocolate pudding with whip cream on top. There was a Christmas play and of course a Christmas gift exchange. There were also door prizes. For my Christmas gift I got strawberry flavoured bubble bath and UNO cards. The play was called Mr. Brown’s Christmas Carol and it was very good. They made a cut-out of an ambulance for the play. There was a dance at the end of the evening! After the Christmas party you could take your centerpieces home that you made for Christmas party. It was amazing to have a Christmas party in person after three years of covid! I had a blast by getting into the spirit, seeing my friends and meeting new people! Merry Christmas!
Saturday afternoon I got to FaceTime with Kathleen and she sent me a picture of her newest niece and almost her birthday buddy Isabell. Then I finished a colouring book while I watched the Strew Crew blog on YouTube their Christmas traditions are looking at Christmas lights and decorating gingerbread houses. Thanks again for the colouring book Mary. I also watched Michele Janse on YouTube 12 day of Blog Christmas. She was looking at appointments, making gingerbread cookies and wrapping Christmas presents!
Later on, I got my fingernails painted red gel polish ready for Christmas! We had a Christmas movie night on Saturday evening, we watched the princess switch while I got a facial. It was a cold winter wonder wonderland kinda day with Spa things and watched an Christmas movie! It was our dad’s birthday on this Saturday. Joel and Ashley had a Christmas party, and my parents went along. They went to people houses and had wine and appetizers. They even stopped at my parent’s house and my mom made a dip!
On Sunday afternoon we celebrated our dad’s birthday as a family. We painted wooden Christmas Ornaments which were Santa, gingerbread houses, owls and one said peace on earth. Then we had my dad’s birthday dinner homemade chicken strips, homemade Mac, and cheese. With vegetables and dip. We had Black Forest cake with cherries and whipped cream for dessert. Happy birthday dad! Love you so much.
On Tuesday morning at Centra cam I glued everything on my fire hall safety poster and put potatoes inside the pot getting ready for Christmas dinner for the Christmas party on Wednesday! People were peeling potatoes and I was putting them inside of the pot. In the afternoon on Tuesday My mom and I Face Timed and she put Christmas photos cards inside our Christmas cards. Then she put my friend’s house addresses on the envelopes getting ready for Christmas and sending them out in the mail. My mom went and got everything mailed out!
On Wednesday full day at Centra Cam was the Christmas party and the last day before Christmas holidays. In the morning we played Christmas’s song bingo, and I got a bingo! I got a Christmas mug for a prize. Then we tried family Feud Christmas themed * but not everyone enjoyed it *. We also played Name that Christmas song and had a Christmas craft. We decorated a small water bottle and made them into a Reindeer. Everyone had a Christmas dinner. In the afternoon families and friends joined us for our Christmas program and our Christmas exchange. For my Christmas presents I got some chocolate kisses and a fuzzy light blue pillow. Everyone got a Tim’s Horton gift card from the Centra cam staff and a Christmas card. Their were people who sang Christmas songs, did some sign language Christmas songs and played with musical instrument’s for some of the Christmas songs. It all ended with a Christmas dance! It was a great day to celebrate with everyone and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
On Wednesday evening Melissa, Kelsey and I drove around town and looked at Christmas lights. We stopped by my mom and dad’s house on the way because I had Christmas presents for them. We dropped off Mary’s Christmas present and Mary gave me a Christmas card. I gave them the body shop’s body washes and hand creams and a Christmas photo of me.
On Thursday afternoon mom and I FaceTimed. We made the dough for the gingersnap cookies and we made some chocolate chip and banana muffins. I got a word search book from Rose Club’s Christmas bingo prizes so I started doing word searches, and I watched KB and baby, and a few videos of Life As We Gomez. My roommates and I did our Christmas exchange from our roommates on Thursday evening. I got the same snow man set of bath bombs as last Christmas and I got them twice this year. I got new fuzzy socks, cross stitch and colouring books and markers, and purple hair dye! Everyone seems happy with their Christmas presents! My mom showed me the cookies baked out of the oven. On Christmas Eve I did some colouring, cross stitch, packing for Christmas .
On Christmas Eve I went to mom and dads. I played Martian Dice with Ashley, Joel, Luke and mom & dad. Once grandpa and Sandy came, we played the Christmas ball! We had baked spaghetti, garlic bread and Caesar salad for supper. After supper we opened Christmas presents!! I got many sweaters, markers and a case, colouring books, a notebook and a butterfly day planner, Loom for knitting, cross stitches, games of Shut the box & Camrose Monopoly. My friend Mary and her family got me a sweater, toque and mitts, and jewelry. After we opened our presents, we played Camrose Monopoly. Joel and I won!
On Christmas Day Mary sent me pictures of her kids with the Christmas presents that I sent them! They loved them! I got junior a 1st Christmas outfit (a Santa hat and socks) and an frog cross stitch that I made. I got Alayna the game four in a row which she loved! Then, Joel and I played Shut the box, one of the games I got for Christmas! For Christmas morning breakfast we had Christmas shaped pancakes which Joel and Ashley cooked, bacon and yogurt with homemade Saskatoon syrup. It was delicious. In the afternoon on Christmas Joel, Ashley and Coco went to Moose Jaw to Ashley’s family’s Christmas. My dad and I tried to get the Christmas cards and pictures sent to people in town, but we got our company! My Auntie Gail, Uncle Wayne and my two Cousins Eric and Ian arrived a half hour earlier than expected! I got Christmas presents of: Hot Chocolate bombs that we took to grandpa’s house. Cross stitch butterfly, Christmas leggings and Maddie and Tae’s Christmas CD. I gave my auntie Gail a blue and green sweater. After visiting for awhile, exchanging Christmas presents and having goodies, We went to our grandpa’s house for Christmas dinner and we painted wooden Christmas ornaments with everyone! We took family pictures and cousin pictures in front of the Christmas tree. Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas season! It was wonderful winter wonderful land’s Christmas 2022!
On Boxing Day in the morning, I tried out my new 100 markers and new colouring books. Then, dad and I went out to deliver Christmas cards and Christmas pictures to people in town. My friend Kelsey sent me pictures of her kids with their Christmas presents from me, and they loved them. I got her newest baby girl Avery a 1st Christmas outfit a Santa hat and a little red tutu outfit and for her other daughter Kahila a toy. In the afternoon Grandpa, Sandy, Luke, mom, dad and I decorated homemade gingerbread cookies. It was a wonderful winter wonderland three-day weekend and the Best and the most VERY eventful merry Christmas ever!!
For New Year’s Eve during the afternoon, we went to the Kodiaks and the Canucks hockey game! There were hayrides * but wasn’t wide enough for two wheelchairs*. There were games to play around the hockey game, like Yahtzee, Mini curling and so much more. There was a band playing * The River Jacks * and some people could make Mini gingerbread houses! In the evening on New Year’s Eve, we watched the New Year’s Eve movie! Theresa and I had pineapple drinks and went to bed before midnight! It was a very nice day and a wonderful evening. I enjoyed New Year’s Eve movie night! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful winter wonderful land New Year’s Eve and I hope everyone will be healthy and will be blessed in 2023!
This Christmas Eve will be our Christmas with my family and my Grandparents will join us because they moved here. It is not our normal tradition but traditions change! I asked few of my friends, Centra Cam and CAFCL staff for their Christmas Traditions and I want to share them with you. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year!
Catherine Robson When my kids were little, we were pretty poor so we decided popcorn was pretty cheap so we decided that we would make tins of Caramel popcorn and deliver it with Christmas Carols to your door. We delivered to not only friends that knew us but some strangers as well. People would often be left in tears and moved by the gesture. We did that for about 18years. The other thing we always did was to leave room for someone who had no family and no hopes of having a family Christmas and had them join our table. One year a man who had been coming to our church carrying his sleeping bag in every Sunday joined us. The first thing we did was usher him to the shower and gave him new clothes and a full Christmas meal. “Victor” just said over and over ” Thank you” he was so appreciative. These Traditions lived on year to year and are being followed by my adult children now.
Denise Olson For our family every Christmas Eve we have appetizers for dinner. Things like chicken wings, mozza sticks, veggie tray, pickles and many other things. We play board games, video games and watch a Christmas movie. My kids also open 1 present (which is something that my family use to do when I was a little girl – the gift we opened was always from my grandma and grandpa and it was always homemade nightgown or pajamas) so now every Christmas Eve my kids get to open 1 present which is always new pajamas-but not homemade one because I can not sew very well.
Paulette Vickers When I was growing up on the farm we went to midnight mass every Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day was at home with our grandparents who lived in the same yard as us. My mom made Almond crescent cookies every year, and that tradition has kept up and the recipe passed on down through generations. There were 8 of us children so it was a very loud busy time of year. We each got one gift for Christmas, and something in our stockings hanging on the fireplace. After dinner on Christmas Day we took our skates and went skating on the slough just behind our house, then when we came back our mom would have hot chocolate ready for us, made with milk straight from the cow as we milked about 15 cows. During the holidays we got together with our cousins, who also had large families like ours. We would all be packed in around the dinner table, some in the living room, for our meal. Then clean up, no dishwasher back then. There was 23 children and 6 parents, and our grandparents. I can still hear all the noise of everyone talking, laughing, and noisy kids.
Jackie Lindberg Growing up in the mid 60s and early 70s, our Christmas focused more on family and being with family than gifts. Our Christmas gifts were usually practical with maybe one new toy or gadget thrown in. We always started Christmas with ensuring the chores were done (grew up on a farm) and that everyone had breakfast and cleaned up afterwards. After the gift opening, it was church and then home. Then it was cooking the dinner for our family of 9 plus grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins from my dad’s side of the family. After that, I think mom was just worn out from all of us kids and we all got sent outside to go sledding or skating. This usually ended up being a snowball fight. While we were gone, the adults played cards and visited. New Year’s Day was also just about as busy. It was another day of church and a large family meal with the guests being cousins from my mom’s side of the family. So dinner for another 20-30 people.
When I first left home to go to University, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on Christmas gifts for my family. I found a recipe for a shortbread cookie wrapped around chocolate and decided I could afford to make those for everyone. I made several dozen and took them home for Christmas. This started one of my traditions that has been happening for 42 years and hopefully will continue for many more. The amount of these cookies I make has grown over the years to today where I will probably make between 30 -40 dozen of them. They are still the most requested cookie of my family for Christmas.
Laurel The one tradition that I love is to read to my kids. The Christmas elf comes every day to leave a book 10 days before Christmas. My kids love waiting for the elf named Sprinkles and opening the gift every night to snuggle up with a Christmas book. This weekend I will likely set up for my Christmas things.
Becca Tyler’s family does a fondu every Christmas Eve before we go to a Christmas Eve service.
Emma For Christmas I go to my families in Alberta beach! We do 1 gift on Christmas eve which is usually pjs then open the rest on Christmas day!
Melissa On Christmas Eve my parents and I watch Christmas movies and have finger food. Like wings, raw veggies, meat, cheese and crackers, usually homemade baking. Then we watch the grinch, and then Christmas vacation. Then on Christmas Day we all wake up and get our coffees (and hot chocolate for me) my dad puts on the fire log channel… and Christmas music from his collection. Then we open our stockings. After stockings we eat this breakfast called “wifesaver” it’s awesome! Then we open the rest of the gifts. It’s always so nice to just be around family and spending quality time together.
Jodi I don’t really have any right now, but growing up we would leave milk and cookies the night before Christmas and open 1 gift. We will probably do the same for Hayes when he gets older.
Kelsey We have a few traditions! On the 24th we spend the day with just our little family. Josh and I make the girls Christmas Eve Boxes. They have usually snacks, christmasy activities and a new pair of Christmas pjs. Then we spend the day in our pjs doing the activities they get. One year they had stuff to make snow forts outside. Usually a gingerbread house. Or the stuff to make some kind of Christmas cookies. Christmas colouring books and puzzles. Later in the afternoon I’ll start some hot chocolate in the slow cooker and start prepping some finger food. Chili cheese dip, veggies, Swedish meatballs. Just stuff to snack on all evening. Then we’ll watch a classic Christmas movie. Home Alone or The Santa Clause. Something along those lines. Christmas morning Josh’s parents and my mom come over to open gifts with the girls. Then have either cinnamon buns or French toast casserole for breakfast. Then just kind of hand around until we head to Josh’s aunts for Christmas supper. We go there every year on Christmas. This year we will be going to my hometown after Josh’s aunts for a few days. Spend some time with my side of the family.
Nicky
My Dominican Christmas Tradition – In the Domincan Republic we put up the Christmas Tree at the end of October, we have the tradition to enjoy it ofor a longer time. We do not put out gifts under the tree since it is not out tradition
Rebecca
My family is both Danish and Canadian so our Christmas traditions was a blend of the two cultures. We would celebrate Christmas on the Christmas Eve by having a traditional danish Christmas meal and dressing up in suites and dresses. Following dinner, the men would light the Christmas tree (with real candles) and the women would clean up. We then dance around the tree, singing a mixture of danish and English Christmas songs. Following this, we open presents and then spend the evening chatting and relaxing. The following morning, we would get a stocking “from Santa”. After opening this and having some breakfast we head to the hospital to sing for the elderly. This has been my Christmas tradition since I was a little girl.
Christina
Since this is our first Christmas together, we are trying to find things we want to make as traditions. Barrett and Brantley painting the front window for Christmas. We made matching personalize stockings to have for years to come. Christmas Eve we’re going to go to drive strong and look at lights then to an outdoor skating rink for a bit, then come home put on matching pyjamas build gingerbread houses, then get snacks and watch a Christmas movie. Christmas Day open presents with the kids then we are going to Justin’s parents’ for supper and gift exchanging.
Sheila: I had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands, three months apart.
Kelsey: What were your symptoms?
Sheila: When I would go to bed at night my right hand would throb like a toothache from my fingertips to my elbow. With each heart beat a pain would shoot through. It was very painful, and I had a hard time sleeping. The only way to get it to stop was to get out of bed and walk around. During the day sometimes my hand would go numb.
Kelsey: When did your symptoms start?
Sheila: They started shortly after moving to Camrose. We painted every wall, cupboard and closet, and I guess it was too much for my right hand. I remember kind of a pop in my right hand when I was painting the inside of a cupboard, and it started after that.
Kelsey: Why did you wait so long for surgery?
Sheila: My kids all lived at home at that time, and I couldn’t really look after them with only one hand.
Kelsey: Why did you finally have surgery?
Sheila: The doctor said I needed surgery, or I could lose the use of my hand. It was pretty bad.
Kelsey: Did you try anything before surgery to help?
Sheila: I went to the chiropractor, but that didn’t help. I also wore a brace on my hand to bed, but it would get tangled in the sheets, and then my shoulder started to hurt.
Kelsey: Were there certain things that triggered the carpal tunnel?
Sheila: Any fine motor movements seemed to bother it. If I sewed on a button, or whisked an egg, I would be up in the night from pain.
Kelsey: How was the surgery?
Sheila: It wasn’t bad at all! I was actually awake for the surgery. My hand was frozen so I couldn’t feel any pain. All I could feel was some pressure. I knew the nurses in surgery, so we had a little gab session, which was a great distraction.
Kelsey: How long was your recovery?
Sheila: My stitches were healed up in less than a week. I couldn’t lift anything heavy for a few weeks, but I was able to cook and do my household chores. If I had known the recovery was that fast, I would have done it years sooner!
Kelsey: How are you hands now since having surgery?
Sheila: They are so much better! I never wake up with throbbing hands anymore!
Kelsey: Would you recommend this surgery?
Sheila: Absolutely!!! Surgery was quick, recovery was quick, and it works!
Here is some information I found on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if you are interested in reading about it:
On the second Saturday of September, we went to the dog show at the CRE! It was neat to see how dogs were able to do jumping over top of the bars. This was called the National Police Dog Championships. The dogs show us how they fight a bad guy and how they keep the police officers safe. We enjoyed the show of dog vs police! It was a great afternoon out of the house. There was a ramp and wheelchair accessible seating so I could see everything so clearly!
On a Tuesday evening it was the Birthday Bash in person for the second time since 2019. It was great to see our friends that we haven’t seen in three years! We danced and visited with our friends! It’s been great getting together with Rose Club in person once again!
One of my goals in September is donate to the food bank. So, my staff Anna and I went to superstore and got some pasta, tomato sauce and some other sauce that we put in the food bank at superstore. It was a wonderful way to help in our community.
I did a word search and it was in a shape of a dog.
My parents got their fridge finally. Their kitchen is almost finished. The kitchen renovation took six months from start to finish! Last step is the new kitchen table and new kitchen chair set that my parents are redoing.
My grandpa Ray and Sandy moved to Camrose in September from Ontario! It took four days to get to Camrose by driving from Ontario. We finally have some grandparents in town! The Holidays won’t be the same!
On Saturday afternoon was my parent’s 28th wedding anniversary. For their wedding anniversary my parents started finishing a table. My mom bought a new table with eight chairs for their kitchen and they are going to paint it brown and black.
Nicki and I went to Kathleen and Devin’s wedding. Which was at her friend’s acreage and it was 15 minutes out of town. We got to sit in the front row because I was the ring bearer, I got to hold their Wedding Rings on a tray and give them to the pastor after they did their vows! I got a manicure for the wedding. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding, The party hour and reception were in white tents by the house. Nikki and I were seated at a table with our friend Becca and her husband Tyler. It was like an CAFCL reunion with all the people that we knew from CAFCL. My friend Elise was a bridesmaid, her sister Tamara and her mom Kathy also came to the wedding. Kathleen’s wedding dress was lovely and very sparkly and Devin looked handsome in his black suit. All the best wishes to the newlyweds, I wish you all the very best in your future together! It was a beautiful day to celebrate the happiest couple Mrs. Kathleen and Mr. Devin White.
On Sunday afternoon my mom and I made oatmeal M&M and chocolate chip cookies. Which were tasty and delicious! We walked over to our neighbour and gave some cookies to our friend Rebecca and then after supper we dropped off some more cookies for my Grandpa and Sandy!
On Tuesday evening, MaryAnn and I went on a long walk to the lake, around the lake, the underground tunnel and back to my house.
My friend Kelsey got me Brett Young tickets for Wednesday October 19th.
Kelsey, she showed me that her baby Avery finally fits into the outfit that I bought her! Avery looks so pretty in the outfit that I bought her! Can you tell who picked it out? It looks like Avery is giving me thumbs up in the picture! I think she’s loves her outfit! My mom made her moccasins and we can’t wait until they fit her!
On Saturday night I watched Sherlock Holmes. Which was quite an interesting movie on Netflix.
The first week of October we started Special Olympics bowling on Wednesdays! It was great to see everyone again after three years of no Special Olympics!
My Auntie Gail gave me a bird and flower colouring book for my birthday, I think it took me a whole week, and a weekend and few days to get it finished!
My friend Mary showed me that they were reading the book that I bought junior! She said Junior loved the book that I bought him and it’s a very sweet book. My friend Mary and I can’t hardly wait until he’s wearing the moccasins that my mom made him.
We had craft night with Rose Club on Friday night on zoom. We got a bag with a stencil of a cat, different kinds of paper, paints, strings to put our mask on our heads and some glue sticks that were sparkles. We hand drew the stencil on yellow or blue foam and then we got to decorate our mask! I used some stickers and some art and craft glue sticks that were golden sparkles. We let our masks dry overnight, and on Saturday afternoon Anna putted string through the holes on my kitty mask but unfortunately I couldn’t see very well. It was fun to make the mask craft with Rose Club! I did some colouring of a girl, some buildings, a school bus and an fire hydrant! We worked on a frog cross stitch. I made a donation to clothing bins by superstore that were old Halloween costumes. Then, we dropped by Walmart and I bought a picture frame for my cross stitch frog and I got a night grown that I’m going to donate to the women’s shelter next week. I also donated five dollars to the school’s breakfast club at Walmart while I bought my stuff. On Saturday evening we watched the Witches on Netflix, it was a very freaky and very creepy movie. I would definitely recommend NOT to watch it with small children. Please. They might have nightmares and bad dreams.
On Thanksgiving Sunday, we went to Edmonton to Joel and Ashley’s house. Ashley’s sister Kayla and her fiancé Garrett were there, my grandpa Ray and Sandy, my mom, me and my brother Luke. Unfortunately, my dad got a cough so he couldn’t make it. Joel smoked a turkey, and there were cranberries, sweet potatoes, salads and buns! My mom made orange cheese cake squares and apple pie for dessert, and Sandy brought a salad that she made. Everyone went outside and visited while Joel, Ashley and Kayla were getting dinner ready. After dinner we got a group picture on their backyard deck! It was great to see family and get together for the holiday weekend.
On Thanksgiving Monday afternoon I coloured a picture full of wedding dresses, flowers, hearts, picture frames, necklaces, heals, slippers, and purses! I decided to make the wedding dresses different and colourful dresses. I made them look like graduation dresses and prom dresses instead of white wedding dresses! Late in the afternoon we went for tea at my grandpa Ray and Sandy’s new house in town and then we went home for supper and we watched Sister Wives on Discovery +.
On Saturday afternoon I went to world singing day at the college, Augustana Chapel. It was really fun, and we sang some songs. We saw some friends from Camrose Association and some friends from Centra Cam.
On Sunday night we had my grandpa and Sandy over for supper and we played Yahtzee and I won!
I finished my cross stitch frog on Wednesday afternoon.
Then Kelsey and Melissa took me to the Brett Young concert in Edmonton at the Winspear Centre! The SeaForth opened for Brett Young and actually were really good too. We even saw Brett young’s tour bus which was an amazing experience. Brett young’s concert was on my bucket list for 3 years and we loved every minute of it. An huge Thank-you Kelsey and Melissa for taking me and buying wheelchair accessible seating tickets. I had a blast and probably had the best night of my life! I bought a Brett Young hoodie.
On Thursday evening we went to the Camrose Association for Community Living’s charity auction at Camrose Casino and Hotel. There was an live and silent auction which was online! This was 60s themed and there was photo booth cut outs of people and cars. I would have to say Cherilyn did an excellent job decorating and putting everything together for the charity auction! They even had decorations on the back of the chairs! Great work!
On Friday afternoon we decorated the inside of the house for Halloween. Then we watched the Witches movie the new version with the actor Ann Hathaway. It was like the old version. I would recommend small children should watch this movie with their parents. It was less creepy and less freaky than the other version of the Witches movie! On Friday evening we carved pumpkins with Rose Club on Zoom and we learned about Abuse Awareness from Levi! For my pumpkin I took the insides of the pumpkin out, I drew lots of bats, moons, and a lighthouse so I could cut them out, and I did something on every side of my pumpkin. It was really fun to carve pumpkins with Rose Club, learning about Abuse Awareness and getting into the Halloween sprit. 🎃
On Saturday evening Craig, Rebecca and I went to Augustana University to watch the Vikings men’s basketball game and they played Kings University from Edmonton!
Kelsey's butterfly lifestyle 