Our House

I thought I should put a photo of our house on here, so that those of you that wonder where we have finally settled at will know! The master bedroom is the window over the garage. I spent two entire days weeding and fixing up the front flowerbeds. By the time I was finished, my nails were history! It sure felt great to see the finished product...I wish I would've taken before pictures. Now, it's just the wonderful upkeep of pulling the little weeds when they try to come back.

Mckenna

We waited for over an hour to finally see Mckenna's favourite character in Disneyland. She bought all her clothing with some kind of Tink picture on it...she even bought Tinkerbell earrings. Mckenna's favourite ride was the Maliboomer. You sit in a chair and then get shot straight up in the air. Being the kind person I am, I graciously declined, and let her dad ride with her. She wanted to go again, but Bill said it was only a one time deal! She enjoyed all of the rides, but the fast rollercoaster ones were always her favourite. Mckenna also enjoyed the baseball game, and thought it was cool that her fries came inside a little Dodgers' batting helmut.

Mckenna is getting ready to begin Grade 6! I can't believe how time goes by so quickly! In this picture she is hanging out in a tree that she gets her picture taken in everytime we go to my parents' place in Creston. The first time we photoed her in the tree she was 1 and someone had to stand behind her to hold her up. This time she just climbed right in...and probably would've kept climbing if I had let her! Mckenna had a busy summer practicing with the swim club and attending the competitions. She also went to a 3-day Volleyball Camp at the College. She came home sweating everyday and could hardly move at the end of the camp. Now I know why it was only 3 days! She's geared up to see her friends and play indoor soccer this winter.

Ainsley

This is a photo of Ainsley during one of our lunch breaks in Disneyland. I asked her what her favourite part of the trip was, and she immediately listed all of the rollercoaster rides, which I was thankful to hear, because it took her a little bit to be persuaded to try those rides. She was nervous at first and most often rode with her Dad. She was extremely proud of herself for being so brave after she went on the Thunder Mountain ride. There was no looking back after that! She said she also enjoyed the Teacups, Flying with Dumbo, and the Bug's Life Splash park. She also said she enjoyed the parade and fireworks- I'm not surprised by this comment coming from a child who truly pays attention to colour and detail.

Ainsley was excited to reel in a fish when we were camping at Figure Eight Lake in July. She was relieved that the hook easily came out, but was really upset when we explained that if she wasn't going to eat it, we had to throw it back in the water. She wanted to just keep it and hang it on her wall. After some tears and a kind farewell to her fish, it went back in the water. She told us that someday she was going to catch one that would be big enough to stuff.

Ainsley had a very busy summer travelling around the Peace Country competing in swim meets. Every race she raced, her time was quicker and quicker! The highlight was when her relay team qualified for Provincials...so we were off to Edmonton! The pool was huge, there was a thousand people attending, and she was so excited to be there! She received a Provincials swim cap and was so proud to wear it! The relay team came in 9th place in the Medley Relay (in which Ains swam the breaststroke) and they came in 12th in the Freestyle Relay. They swam their hearts out, and once again, beat their time!

Dakota

This is Kota after spending a long day and night at Disneyland in April. She is pooped out and ready for sleep! When asked what her favourite part of the trip was she says "Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Grizzly River Run, and Pirates of the Carribean." As you can see, she was all about the daredevil rides! She was upset when she was too short for some of the wild ones...I, on the other hand, was relieved she was too short!

Early July we went camping to Figure Eight Lake, which is 20 minutes northeast of Peace River. We went to the lake to fish from the shore one evening and the girls had a blast! This is Dakota with her very first fish! She reeled it in all by herself, with a little coaching from her Dad. She was very proud of her catch. The hook was embedded quite deep, so we had to keep it. We cooked it over the fire later, and Dakota loved the taste of her trout!

It's hard to believe that Dakota is beginning Grade 2 in a week! She had a very busy summer learning how to ride a bike with hand brakes, camping, playing with her cousins, and spending time outside. She has had many laughs this summer and the more I really stopped to listen to her laugh, the more I realize it is exactly a "Dakota" laugh; a genuine, loud laugh that comes right up from her toes.