I'm a Big Boy Now

we finally took the plunge and potty trained will. the first two days were a little rough (i'm not gonna lie i hate potty-training) , but now he is a pro! way to go dude!

first day of school!

kaylee is in 4th grade this year. she is so excited, her two best friends are in the same class with her. andrew is in 1st grade. he is excited too, but more excited for soccer to start tomorrow.

day 4, 5, & 6 beachin' it.

the last 3 days we hit the beaches again. we went to huntington beach, newport and laguana again. newport was the funnest beach for the kiddos. it is shallow and the waves are not as rough. they had so much fun. here is kaylee and g.g. preston pulling andrew on a boogie board.

kaylee catching a wave. this girl totally shocked us. there was no fear this year.

this was really the only beach (newport) that will enjoyed the water. the waves were just right for him, and he loved it.

andrew and poppie.

look at the water in his trunks!

jeff riding one in. he loved the waves at huntington. i personally got tired of getting thrown around by those big waves. but i love to shop in huntington, and i love the cook-outs that we usually do there in the evening.

day 3 disneyland!!

we went to disneyland!! yeah!! we had so much fun. it was a long exhausting day, but totally worth it. all i have to say is thank goodness for the fast pass, we never waited in line for more than 30 minutes, and usually only about 10. andrew loved splash mountain and would have spent the entire day doing it over and over. here we all are towards the end of the day looking a little tired.

kaylee waited longer to see tinker bell than we waited for any rides. but she thought it was worth it.

poor will fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the haunted mansion, to say the least he was a little freaked. i thought he was going to be scarred for life. but the next day all he talked about was the baby elephant that blew water on us during the jungle tour.

another high-light for our family was the honey i shrunk the audience. my two older kids totally thought that was awesome. will again was a little freaked out. poor kid, disneyland freaked him out. i guess that's what happens when your the youngest and you mostly do all the big kid stuff. we had an amazing day we loved it all from splash mountain to it's a small world to the amazing fireworks. we hope to go back again for more than one day.

california 2009

we went with the nygren's this year to california. we haven't went the last 2 years so we were excited to hit the beaches and boogie boards! the kids had a blast this year, kaylee had never been much a fan of the waves but she was a total surfer girl this year, so brave it made mom a little nervous. kaylee and her cousin jacob the boys had fun with all the nasty sea weed making a little island out of it. andrew, ryan and will.

will pulling on some sea weed.

this guy is a total surfer dude. he absolutely loves the ocean. he played so hard every day in the waves i was amazed! he is going to be like his poppie and dad, they absolutely love the ocean.

the first two days were spent at the beach. the first day we went to san clemente, and the second day we went to laguana.

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.