It's Princess Kate at the Stampede Parade!

I know Princess Kate's official title is the "Duchess of Cambridge" but that sounds so boring in comparison to Princess Kate.  To all of us she is indeed a Princess!  We all had so much fun following her and William in the news as they were big stars in Calgary on their royal tour!

It has been a Carter family tradition to attend the Stampede Parade every year.  This year was no exception, especially since the royal couple were making an appearance before the parade.  We were all so excited to see them!

Here are some pre royal waiting pictures:

Stick 'em up!  It's cowboy Corbin beside his cute partner Berkley!

 I think this is my favorite picture of the summer!  Cute little miss Channing with Uncle Graham!

 What a great dancing number given by some of our enthusiastic family members!

 The hair has to get done no matter where we are!  Much easier at 8 am instead of our wake up call of 4 am!

 Auntie Martha was so sweet to keep our little Ems nice and warm!

Cute boys, Bentley, Logan, and Caden!

Oh my goodness, there she is, our Princess Kate!  I was so relieved that she was sitting on our side.  Somehow it would have been a little disappointing if we were on the other side.  Sorry, Will.  We don't appreciate you in the same way!

Because of securtiy issues, the window was halfway down and the car went by pretty fast.  Just one quick glimpse but that was all we needed to get her picture.  Auntie Cynthia called out her name and she turned back a little to wave in our direction!  Aren't we so special!

I just love this Sheer trio.  They are so sweet in their matching western wear!

 Cousins Kyleigh and Eden were way into the popcorn twists!  We know how they feel.  They too look so cute matching together!

These are some of the things we saw, a sweet army tank..

a brave bull rider...

and a favorite of the boys in our family, the Calgary Flames!

My most favorite part of the whole entire parade experience was the sacrifice that these two made.  My brother Graham, and his wife Martha, stayed up ALL night saving us our wonderful front row seats, just to see the royal couple.  What a sacrifice and selfless act this was.  They both did it with a few of their children because they love us and wanted us to have a good time.  What incredible service this was to me.  I will feel forever indebted to the wonderful Carter family for this act of love.  It's no wonder they fell asleep!  Saving 20+ lawn chairs in the wind and rain would have worn anybody out!  Thank you thank you!  We love you guys so much!

As a token of our appreciation, the sisters made this candy gram card.

Yee haw!  A good time for all!