paying tribute

we went to the cemetary to see my dad's two brothers, his mom and dad. the brothers each had four roses and laid one on each of the headstones while my cousin played his trumpet. it was really neat and a bit emotional. i can't believe it's been 8 years since my grandma bird passed away. being in fairfield for the day brought back a lot of memories of her and getting to go stay at her house, which we loved! she always had yummy treats, cable tv, rhubarb growing outside, and nothin' was better than swimming at the fairfield pool. it was so neat to have her around while i was living in utah too. she helped me shop for my wedding dress and bought my veil. occasionally i would go pick her up and take her shopping, and a few times jeff and i went and stayed with her while bruce and sabra went out of town. i am grateful for those opportunities.

i wish i had known my grandpa, i imagine him to be like my dad only with a thick norwegian accent. i look forward to meeting him and my uncles, eddie and nolan.

thanks to pam and marcy who took the lead and planned to reunion for all of us. you guys are awesome.

Kolste Family Reunion

we had our first ever kolste family reunion. we went to the old homestead that my dad grew up on. the original home is no longer there. i wish my kids could have seen it. it was made of two box cars, and eventually had a few add-ons but it was still tiny. it is beautiful there. will loved sitting on all the old tractors. a family pic on one of their old tractors that now sits on the foundation of the old house.

all my parents grandkids except 4 who were not there.

my family.

my cute parents.

i left there with an appreciation most especially for my grandma. man she was one tough cookie. she raised 5 boys on that farm. the two oldest boys died when they were 19 and 20, and my grandpa died at 54. she was an amazing lady.

swimmin' in belt creek

one of the great things about my hometown is the creek. it has some great swimming holes. the kids had a blast with their cousins. here is andrew and reniff. kaylee and jeddi

kaylee and reagan

i couldn't get will to look at the camera until i said "COOKIES" and this was the look he gave me.

4th of july

the kids and i were in montana on the 4th of july. my sister melanie and her kids were there too. we had a lazy morning and then took the kids swimming in great falls. the kids had a great time being with cousins. then we came back to belt for dinner and fire-works. we took the kids down town for an up-close encounter with fireworks. (running for cover a couple of times) it also started pouring on us and the kids had a blast running in the rain and watching the fireworks. this is how i fixed kaylee and her cousins hair for the 4th. i should have taken a picture of all three of them. one had a red star, a blue star, and a white star. it looked really cool. it's kinda hard to tell in the picture, but it looked like a perfect star.

take me out to the ball game....

andrew played baseball again this year. he was REALLY fun to watch. man that kid can hit the ball. we were really proud of him. i am not a huge fan of baseball (especially here in farmington where everyone is nutso about it) but unfortunately for me he LOVES it and is good at it. next year we move up a level and they already pick teams by a draft! have you ever heard of such craziness? i guess we will give it a try.

tennis

the kids have taking tennis lessons all summer. they went to tennis camp the first week school was out, and now they have been taking lessons at our neighbors house for the last 4 weeks. they are doing great. this is kaylee's 3rd year and andrew's first.