Our Summer Holiday

For our holiday this year we decided to go back up north to Fort Nelson. We were anxious to go camping at all our old favourite spots. We left as soon as Bill was done work on a Thursday and

headed for Fort St. John- and the Walmart parking lot! We were officially on holidays for 2 weeks- and we all know you can't have a holiday without the traditional night in the Walmart parking lot! (haha) We didn't care- Bill's phone was off and he was away from work! We chose to stay overnight in FSJ because we had to get fishing licences before we continued on up to Siikani River Campground.

We spent the weekend there with some friends and enjoyed hiking to the Siikani Falls, picking wild strawberries, trying to fish in the muddy river, making mud pies and other creations on the river bank, and having mud fights (the girls, of course). The kids had a blast making there own little fires on the shores of the river. It was a wonderful start to our holiday.

Ainsley's Hand

Dakota's Hand

Mckenna's Hand

One of my favourite pictures on our hike.

After the weekend, we then headed on up to Fort Nelson. We spent a couple days there, visitng with some friends, but mostly letting the girls spend time with their little buddies. Mckenna hooked up with Abigail and they were inseperable, and Ainsley and Dakota were with Kyla and Alyssa. Ainsley also got to see Paulina and Dakota got to see her two friends named Paige.

We then headed off to Muncho Lake, and as always, enjoyed the drive seeing the mountains and all the animals.

Our friends Melissa and Brad and their two kids met us for a relaxing 5 days. It only rained once which kept us in the trailer, but we really couldn't complain...we were in the mountains! Brad and Bill fished one night until the we

e hours and got all kinds of fish. The fishing really got good around 1:00 am. They kept three and we cooked them up a day later- they were pretty tasty.

We went up to the Liard Hot Springs for a swim. The girls enjoyed seeing their log again and had fun slipping off of it into the water. This time we also went up to the upper pool and the girls had fun swimming there as well. Most of the time it is closed because of bear sightings, but it was open, and we weren't sure when we would be back again, so we let them have a dip.

One day, we hiked up a wash, hoping to see some sheep hanging out on the mountain side, but the only thing we saw was the beautiful scenery. The girls hiked like troopers in their rubber boots and had fun. We filled an empty water bottle with some fresh, clean, cold mountain spring water. It tasted pretty good. I think the bottle of Muncho Water is still in my fridge. It was quite windy, but we really enjoyed exploring the area and checking out the rocks. I think our round trip was 5kms. Before we left, when we were telling the girls what the plan was, Dakota says, "What's with all these hikes?" We said, "Now that y

ou guys are old enough, it's kinda fun to check out na

ture and see some interesting things." I think the answer satisfied her.

One day the adults convinced the girls to go for a swim in the lake...freezing! They were brave and actually lasted longer than we thought they would! The worst part for them was putting their heads under the water, but I think they all eventually did. Brave girls!

We drove to the lodge one day for ice and decided to keep driving to our favourite sheep spot. There weren't any on the road, but we did see some on the mountain side. We were able to pull over and actually watch them for a bit and eventually one came down right in front of our truck. The girls really enjoy seeing them and checking out their weird yellow eyes.

It was so wonderful to go to Muncho again to relax and enjoy the mountains with good company.

Moose Jaw, or Bust!

Bill's Great Aunt and Uncle (Bill and Evelyn Gilmour) were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on their farm in Moose Jaw, so we decided to attend the festivities.

It was a long drive, but we were very glad that we made the trip. It meant so much to Bill's Auntie Evelyn that so many of us came from her side of the family. It was wonderful to see and meet so many other Wolstenholmes. The kids thought it was neat that there were other kids and adults with Wolstenholme as their last name.

We enjoyed visiting with everyone and exploring Moose Jaw and area. We took Avery and London with us, as Geo and Jenn had to go to the States with Taylor. They were worried that it would be a lot of work for us, but with 3 girls fighting over them, and Bran and Cole and Gord and Pen helping too, it was a breeze. We were able to get some cute pictures of all the grandkids!

(I can not seem to figure out how to move the pictures past each other! Grr! Technology...anyway, the pictures are not where I wanted them, but they are here, nonetheless!)

Soccer, Soccer

All three girls played outdoor soccer this season, instead of swimming. That was quite an adjustment for me, but just as busy! As well as rec league soccer, Ainsley and Dakota played Wolves soccer, so there were lots of practices and a few tournaments too. In July, Mckenna was asked to play with the Wolves team in her age group. She was able to play with them until we left on holidays.

In early July, Ainsley and Mckenna both had a tournament in Red Deer. Bill had to work, so the girls and I were off. We stayed with Shan and Kel, and had a wonderful visit with them and their girls. It was nice to spend some time with them; that hasn't happened for a long time. I really appreciate them opening their home to 4 girls (Ainsley's friend Jenna came with us for the weekend), 1 tired mom, and the smelly soccer gear! Gord and Pen came up early Saturday morning, watched the games, and left Sunday afternoon. They were a huge help with taking either Ains and Jenna, or Mckenna to games. I appreciated their help, and the girls were excited that they were there to watch them.

Ainsley and Mckenna played hard and Mckenna's team fought hard and won the bronze!

Here are some various soccer pictures from the season!

Mckenna Goes to Camp!

At the end of Grade 6, Mckenna got to go with the rest of the Grade 6's to Crimson Lake ( down by Rocky Mountain House) for a 3 day campout. I was fortunate enough to go along as the third teacher! It took Mckenna some time to get used to the fact that I was going, but in the end she was OK with it.

When they were at Crimson Lake, they got to stay in cabins and participated in a variety of activities. (oh how that sounds like a teacher who just finished report cards!) Mckenna had a blast canoeing and swimming in the lake. She got to work with her own horse and go for a short trail ride- due to the thunder showers. She was mostly looking forward to the Archery and Rock Climbing activities, but those were rained out. She had many laughs with her friends, and they enjoyed hanging out together during their down time. It was so wonderful to be there and watch her constantly smiling!

The biggest smile I saw was when she came back from horseback riding. You can see in the photos that when she was first assigned to the horse, she was nervous and unsure. She was brave, and should be so proud of herself for getting on the horse and riding!

I am so thankful that I got to be a part of such a wonderful experience with Kenna!

Ainsley Turns 9

Ainzer when she was two and a half and below at her 9th birthday party with her friend Jenna.

Hard to believe that Ains is already nine years old!

It just seems like a blink ago that we were telling her big sister the wonderful news that there was a baby in my tummy. I remember having a lot of nausea during the first few months, but no vomiting. Brushing my teeth was the worst! After that subsided, then I was exhausted! After teaching all day I would come home, put a 45 minute Franklin video on, put Mckenna in the crook of my knees on the couch, and crash out. When the video was over and I had woken up, I would then make supper- Bill ate a lot of hot dogs, pasta, and take out during all of the pregnancies and never complained.

I remember feeling Ainsley's little bottom right at the top of my huge belly just a few days before she was born. I would pat it and hope that today was the day...

I remember my dad taking me to the clinic for a check up and saying good-bye to Mckenna, as she was jumping up and down on the couch, knowing that things would be different the next time I saw her...

I remember the doctor saying that I needed to go to the hospital and they needed to give me the "strep meds" right away before the labour decided to move along more quickly. I remember waiting to check in at the hospital at the front desk, while the receptionist was having a conversation about her bedding plants with another woman. Meanwhile, I'm having contractions and trying not to let anyone around me know it. When she asked what I needed, I said I was having a baby. Then she asked when, and I said RIGHT NOW. She was all flustered and quickly got the paperwork done and sent me on my way.

I remember singing Row Row Row Your Boat in my head every time I was contracting.

I remember the terrible pain I was feeling as the doctor told me that the baby was upside down (face up, instead of face down) and I was just going to have to push on through. Huge ouch!!

I remember the overwelming feeling of joy when they placed her in my arms at 9:10 at night. She was here, she was Ainsley and we just needed a middle name. I was sitting in the wheelchair getting ready to be pushed to our room and I looked up at Bill and almost at the exact same time we said "Jade, Ainsley Jade." And that is who she became.

She has always had her own personality- strong willed, but soft, quiet, but taking everything in. As she has grown into a young girl it has been amazing to watch her find a love for reading anything and everything. She has the talent and patience for sketching and drawing and loves to share her creations. She loves Science and learning facts about anything possible. She loves writing stories, and hopes to publish one someday. She enjoys soccer and swimming. She has a goofy side to her that loves to entertain others and make them laugh- she loves to talk in quirky voices. Her giggly laugh always brings a smile to my face. She has a temper that tends to flare up when her sisters are in her space or are using her things.

She is loving and kind and above all, she is our Ainsley, and we love her so very much!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

It Happened!

My baby is growing up...the tooth fairy has finally come to take one of Dakota's teeth away. On March 2nd she could feel "2 cords" at school and just yanked it out. She came to my classroom at recess to show me the hole. I was happy for her, but sad for me. That was the first "first tooth" that I had not been there for, or assisted in some way. Bottom, front right tooth. Gone. Nothing left but the hole and the cute little air that is heard when she talks. She could be exaggerating...Dakota?...we're not sure. :)

Indoor Soccer

The girls chose to play indoor soccer throughout the winter. Mckenna played Tuesday nights, while Ainsley and Dakota played Saturday mornings. Most of Ainsley's games were at 8:30am. So we had a great start to the weekend! The girls enjoyed their season- worked on their skills, and learned the game and how its played.

This is Ainzer and her good friend Jenna after a hard practice and game! As the season continued on, Ainsley became more comfortable with the ball zooming around and became less worried that it was going to hit her and hurt her.
This is Ainsley after her year end tourney! She was tired out at the end of the day!

Dakota volunteered quite often to play goalie. She worked hard to save the ball (when she wasn't hanging on the net). We had to put her on water rations because she would go through an entire water bottle during her practice and would cramp up when it was game time. (Possibly another reason for net duty...)

Dakota at her year end tourney!

Mckenna caught on quickly how the game of soccer was played and what area to cover when she was playing forward or defense.
Mckenna was very aggressive when it was her turn to play goalie. She got right in there and guarded her territory well!


A great season and the girls are very excited to play Outdoor soccer beginning in a month. They are also all trying out for the Wolves soccer team. This will mean out of town tourneys and lots of hours at the soccer pitch. I will have to make a better effort to learn the soccer lingo! I so often said, "Get it!", "Get'er"and the correct terminology is, "Challenge her!" HMMM...haven't decided if I truly want to make the switch yet. I don't know if "Challenge her" is in my cheering repertoire...

Spring Break Vacation

For our Spring Break we were excited to be doing the Alberta tour!


Sunday, March 7th- We left and headed for High Prairie. We were off to see Great-Grampa Babkirk. He wasn't at the lodge when we arrived and we quickly learned that he was out at Jimmy and Evelyn's place. We visited with them all for about 1 1/2 hours, and boy did the time fly! They were talking about some funny stories from the past- Bill and I could listen to those for hours! The girls sat quiet and good as gold, and were very polite. We didn't even have to give any reminders! We praised them up and down for such wonderful behaviour when we hopped back in the truck.


We then carried on to Edmonton and to Auntie Bev's place. The girls were sure excited to see Megan and Mindy! Bill and I went up to bed and the next morning we discovered that our girls had a good ol' party in the basement with Megan until midnight (or so). Ainsley was supposed to sleep with Mindy, but jumped ship when Mindy was sleeping, to follow the aroma of popcorn.


Monday found us at the mall with money to burn...the girls, that is. We went to Old Navy and thank goodness Meg and Min were with us because all of a sudden the clothes Bill and I picked out were THAT much cooler when Meg and Min gave the nod. In the afternoon we took the girls to the Waterpark. We had so much fun splashing in the waves and riding the slides. I never knew so much water could come out through your nose! I manged only 2 wedgies that day, so all was well! We were pooped out and starving at 5:30 so we reluctantly ended our day. We went to Fat Burger for supper and had the most amazing hamburgers ever made. Bill and I were in bed by 9:00, but I think the girls had another fun night in the basement...


Tuesday we headed down to Okotoks and had a wonderful visit with Dee and Lyle for the night. The 5 kids always play so well together. I think the only time we saw them was supper time and bed time.


Wednesday we headed for Fort Macleod and spent the day with Great- Gramma Parks. She had fun filling the girls up with treats, treats, and more treats. The girls enjoyed going through all Gramma's beautiful photo albums. Seeing me when I was little and of course giggling at my style of clothing back then made for a lot of laughs. They always enjoy seeing themselves as babies and toddlers too. Dakota had a fever and slept and layed on the couch for most of the afternoon. We were supposed to be going skiing the next day...but I was starting to think more of a visit to the doctor's.

Sure enough, we postponed the ski trip by one day and got Dakota some meds for her strep throat and had a day of rest.



Friday came early for us and we bundled up and were off to Nakiska! We had a wonderful family day on the slopes. Bill and I worked with Dakota and Ainsley on the 2 bunny hills and let Mckenna get reacquainted with her skills. Bill and Mckenna then went off to try some of the easy runs while I worked on snowplowing, stopping, and turning with Ains and Kota. Bill came back and said that we would be able to handle one of the Bronze runs so off we headed. I partnered with Ains and left the daredevil with her dad. Ains and I rode the lift together and we both concentrated on looking straight ahead at the tree tops, rather than down. Thanks Auntie Bev...your advice worked well!!! We were certainly not very graceful getting off the chair. I wiped out and took Ains down with me...but I wanted to make sure that she got off the chair and didn't keep going around. We will have to work on that next time. After the girls and Bill finally managed to help me up, we were on our way. Again, Ains and I were partners and I left the daredevil with her dad. When we got to the bottom, we decided it was lunch time and that Ains (and mostly Dakota) needed a little more practice on the bunny hills.

We devoured our lunch and then hit the slopes once again. We wrapped up the day around 3:00pm and all agreed that we can't wait to ski again! (I think it took my shins about a week to recover from the ski boots.)



When we got back to Fort Macleod, we headed out to the farm to visit Bon and Ray. Erin was able to come too. We always have such a great time out there. We left around midnite, and when we got back to town, Gramma and Grampa W had returned home from Mexico.



Saturday was an enjoyable day visiting with everyone. We even got to cheer Uncle Cole and Uncle Geo on as they played hockey. Then suddenly...it was Sunday morning and time for the trip home. We had a wonderful getaway and were sure happy to see everyone.



Funny story...on the way home, we stopped for lunch at the McDonald's in Red Deer. On the the way to the truck, a woman in the parking lot commented on the jacket that Ainsley was wearing. (Bill's Olympic jacket that he wore in '88 when he ran the torch.) I told the woman where she got it and why she likes to wear it. This in how the conversation went as I'm walking to the truck and she is walking to her vehicle:

Woman- I actually one 2 bronze medals at those games.

Me- Oh yeah...that's nice...in what?

Woman- Downhill skiing.

Me- Oh, good for you.

(I wasn't even thinking about the full impact of what she was saying- I was in tired travel mode!)
I then take the dog for a quick walk and in the meantime, the woman goes over to the truck, gives Bill a couple postcards, tells him that she loves seeing young children have the spirit of sports. When I get back to the truck, Bill fills me in on this. How nice, I think...I look at the cards...KAREN PERCY LOWE! I couldn't believe it! I was super excited, and thinking that I totally blew the opportunity to say a couple more intellectual sentences than what I had said. UGG! Anyway, the girls thought it was cool that they had just skiied on the hill where THAT woman had won her medals. You never know who you'll meet at McDonald's...

Readers Beware!

I've neglected this for so long! There are so many stories all jumbled in my head that I'm too overwhelmed! I keep thinking, "I need to write that down..." and then time just slips away! The next few stories are all out of chronological order, but hey, atleast they are written!