The Kolste Family

Doing Tricks

2013-07-15T16:40:00.002-07:00

Maxwell was in a gymnastics class which he loved. He taught his siblings some tricks.

Sawyer's attempt at a handstand....it almost looks the same.

First Snowfall

2013-07-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween

2013-07-15T14:31:00.001-07:00

Leamington has a Halloween carnival that I remember loving when I was young. I don't think I have been to it since I was little. It is as fun as I remember and the cake walk is still a big hit!

Savannah's school had a little Halloween parade where they walk through the halls and show off their costumes. She had two different costumes. Her and Jersie were matching pegasus unicorns for school. I think the costume was a little warm.

Sawyer and Ashlie were pretty chummy during Trick-or-Treating.

Maxwell the Ninja

Trick-or-Treating at Grandma's house

Happy Halloween from Fat Polar Bear, Ninja, and Monkey!

I love this fat Polar Bear costume! I found it several years ago and couldn't wait for one of my kids to wear it!

"The Old House"

2013-07-15T13:57:00.003-07:00

The Old House, the Train House, The River House, Pemberly....There are lots of names for it. Whatever you call it, we moved into it shortly before school started. We spent the summer working on the house. Hopefully I will be able to get some good before and after pictures on here soon. We have loved living there though and the property is pretty great!

Fall 2012

2013-07-15T13:46:00.002-07:00

Here are a few things we did in the fall:

I finally ran my first half marathon. I have been wanting to for a while. It was a lot of fun training for it and it's nice to run where you don't have to worry about traffic. The race itself was a rough one. There were tons of huge hills. My goal was to run up all of them without stopping and I did that, so I was happy!

We payed a visit to the pumpkin patch in Springville. We love that one because it is free!

The kids loved it. You get to do the maze, play in the corn, ride the hay wagon, pick out your own pumpkins, AND there is a small petting zoo area. I'm sure we will go every year if it stays there.

We tried to do a couple small hikes too. This is on our hike up Payson canyon at the Grotto.

It is a great hike for little kids. Lots of bridges to cross and not a hard hike. It ends at a little waterfall.

And here is Savannah on Crazy Hair day! She loved it!

Nebo loop

2013-07-15T13:25:00.002-07:00

The Nebo loop has to be one of the most beautiful places I have been. Especially in the fall!

I wish my camera could have picked up the colors a little more. It was pretty spectacular!

1st day of school

2013-07-15T13:05:00.003-07:00

Savannah loves school and was really excited to start up again. She was actually sick and missed the first day of school, so her first day was the 2nd day for everyone else.

Her teacher was Mrs. Nissen and she loved her!

Fire of 2012

2013-07-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Summer Activities!!!

2013-07-15T12:39:00.002-07:00

It is lots of fun living in Leamington during the summer. Here are a few things we did:

Savannah turned 6!

Maxwell turned 4!

They both wanted to go to 7-peaks on their birthday. Even on the years they don't have a real birthday party, it feels like they do because they have so many cousins around. Lucky kids!

We had a Kolste family reunion up at the Heber Valley girls camp area. We stayed in the cabins up there and had a great time! I am sad I didn't take any pictures. This is the only one we have of our family playing at the lake. One night we had a talent show, and the kids impressed us all with their skills. Savannah put on a little skit with all of the girls. Maxwell and Will teamed up for an impressive magic show where Max "disappeared". It was a pretty big hit.

Other activities included:

Lots and lots of go cart riding

Riding the donkey and pony in Lyndyl's 24th of July parade! Matt spent the whole evening giving rides to all of the kids in town. We also took a hike up Oak City canyon with the donkey hauling the kids up.

Matt took Savannah to the wild horse holding area in Delta. She fell in love and is always wanting to go see them.

Lemonade stands...visited mostly by grandma and papa. (not a lot of traffic in Leamington)

Sawyer loved hanging out in the yard helping Papa water the trees.

2013-07-15T12:13:00.002-07:00

Summer of 2012, kids loved their first try at T-ball. It was so fun getting together and watching them play! They never lasted very long before getting bored, and Savannah did spend a lot of time picking clovers or petting neighborhood dogs, but I think they liked it!

Kindergarten Graduation

2012-10-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

It was crazy bringing Savannah to finish Kindergarten in the same school I went to! A lot of the same teachers are still there. She ended up making some friends and really loving it! They put on a cute little program for their graduation.

Singing "Tootie Tot-tot"!

The Elementary school mascot used to be the coyotes. They still have the stuffed coyote on display in the hall. I guess they are the bunnies now.
Savannah loves school, and is a great student! I am a little sad she is in school all day now!

Mountain Lion

2012-09-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

In May our ward had the Father and Sons' camp out. Matt took Maxwell, and he had the time of his life! He still talks about it all of the time. Of course we do not have any pictures of the actual camping because there were only fathers and sons there. However, shortly after they left for the trip, Matt called me and told me to hurry and head up the canyon to meet him with the camera because he had just cornered a mountain lion. Really? Actually, these kind of things don't really surprise me anymore. We drove to meet him, and sure enough, just off the gravel road was a young cougar. He kept trying to get through the fence and couldn't. I was surprised he didn't just run past Matt and through the field the other way.

It really was pretty impressive to see one so close up. As you can tell by the pictures, he wasn't quite as thrilled with seeing us. Matt kept getting way to close for comfort, and was tossing rocks at the bushes to get him to scream for the camera. He is crazy, and I don't seem to have any control over it.

He finally figured out he could just run along the fence line until the fence ended, then he ran off through the field. I have since been jogging along this area, and have been a little nervous that he is going to remember me and come back to get me!

Easter egg hunt

2012-08-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Lynndyl puts on a cute little Easter egg hunt. It is a really nice one. There is a good size crowd, but not so many kids that they have to fight to get some eggs. We had a great time.

It was a little bit cold if you couldn't tell by how the kids are dressed.

Inside the eggs there were a few coupons for a free baby chick at IFA. Of course we headed right into town to pick them up, and they were all out. I wasn't all that disappointed.

Sawyer had a coupon for these bunny ears too. He obviously didn't notice they were on because he left them on all day. His life is pretty good...taking a nap with a treat in one hand, fish snacks in the other, bunny ears and cowboy boots.

The kids all dressed up for Easter Sunday.

Major Life Changes

2012-08-31T12:22:00.001-07:00

In February, we received the news that Platinum, the company Matt has been working for, was closing its doors. We were surprised with the news, and suddenly found ourselves unemployed. It has been pretty tough for everyone involved. I was a complete mess for a couple weeks, but we pulled it together and decided to try to rent out our house. We were so blessed to find some great renters. It meant we had to move a little sooner than we originally thought though. We packed up our house, and moved to Leamington in March. Leaving Mapleton was really hard for us, and I still cry occasionally when we drive through. We loved it there, and have a lot of great friends there! Luckily we have been close enough to visit sometimes.
Matt started working for Absolute Air, and was making the commute from Leamington. My parents were nice enough to let us move in with them while we did some work on their old house. That project has been both fun, and a big pain...I will post more on that later. We knew Matt's job was only going to be a temporary one for him, but we kept having a hard time figuring out what our plans for the future were going to be. When we thought we should go one direction, things didn't work out, so we would change again. We finally made the decision for Matt to go back to school full-time. This decision has felt right from the moment we made it, and we are excited for the opportunity! Going to school full-time with a family is tough though, and we have been so blessed to have help from so many people! We really could not do it without them!
So, here we are. We have now moved into the house I grew up in. Honestly, it has been great! Being in Leamington has made all of this a lot easier. The kids love living on a "farm" and being by Grandma and Papa. It really is a great little town and hard not to be happy here. We feel like we will really be able to enjoy these next two years instead of just wishing they would go by fast. While this has certainly been a trial for our little family, I am amazed at how the Lord continues to bless us and make our burdens light!

Digging for trilobites

2012-08-30T22:36:00.003-07:00

Around Christmas time we also headed out to the west dessert to dig for trilobites. It was pretty chilly and a long drive, but the kids loved it!

Poor Sawyer had to wear his sisters extra clothes. I didn't have anything warm for him. He looks so cute though!

Catching up/Christmas 2011

2012-08-30T22:22:00.003-07:00

I am finally going to try to catch-up on this blog. It has been a while, so I will just post a few events/activities that we have been up to. I guess I will have to start with Christmas time:

We spent Christmas and a few days afterward in Leamington with my parents. It was just our little family, so it was pretty quiet for the most part.

Maxwell and Sawyer in their matching PJ's

I have mentioned before how one of the perks of Christmas eve in Leamington is that Santa comes to visit every house to drop off a bag of candy before he starts making his rounds delivering presents. The kids were pretty excited, and kept watching out the window for him to come.

They all got to sit on Santa's lap....some appreciated it more than others.

Savannah FINALLY got her Rudolf! I don't know what it is with her and that reindeer!

Maxwell got a Hot Wheel set, and Sawyer got a ball popper toy that I am pretty sure has NEVER been played with. Oh Well, you win some you lose some.
We had a great Christmas! I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday. It's nice to be at church, and spend that time to worship and think of the Savior!

St. George

2012-01-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Most of my family was able to get together in St. George for a Christmas party this year. We love it down there, and it was a lot of fun! Our first night, some of us went to the Tuacahn theater to see their live Nativity. That theater is amazing, and the kids really enjoyed it. Now I think we need a camel in our back yard! :)

Sunday, after bombarding some poor un-expecting ward with all 31 of us, we had our official party. The cousins all drew names and had a gift exchange. They also all got a chance to preform some amazing talents for everyone.

Maxwell rocked out to "Dynamite" while Savannah sang "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree". I was impressed they knew every word! Savannah was a little nervous and would not take her eyes off me. Immediately after she finished her song, she raced to the couch and hid her face. She did a great job though.

Another day, we went on a little hike. The kids loved exploring. Papa was nice enough to hang out with the slow pokes in the the back. (Max and Millie)

An attempt to get all of the grandkids together with Grandma and Papa. Some of them are hiding though.

Remember my goal to make my family take more pictures?

Ahhhh....how cute!

Right after I said that Sawyer never falls asleep anywhere but his bed, he crashes on Dad's shoulders. It was a long day for the little guy.
We had a lot of fun, and it was nice to have (almost) everyone together. Thanks Jake and Krystal for hooking us all up with a place to stay!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

2011-12-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

Savannah could hardly contain her excitement about her Christmas program this year. She was always practicing her songs and telling me all about what they were going to do. The girl loves to sing! I am so impressed with how quickly she can learn the words to songs.

The whole program was so cute! They had a lot of parts where the kids could dance around and be silly, but Savannah would have none of it. She is totally fine belting out a song, but asking her to dance in front of a lot of people is going too far I guess.

Sooo cute!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Montana. We always love our trips to Belt! It was nice to be able to visit with family. We of course, had a really yummy dinner and even did my first ever Black Friday shopping. How did it go? Meh...it was okay. Probably won't happen again.

We always have to walk down to see the swinging bridge. Savannah loves it, Maxwell hates it.

We have been sorting through some pictures, and I realized how bad we are about getting pictures of our whole family together, so much to my family's dismay, I am going to start making them take pictures all of the time. Maxwell even gave a sweet thumbs up!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Sawyer

2011-12-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Our little boy turned 1 last month! Isn't he cute?

We had a small little family party for him. He did invite his best buddy, Houston over for some cake. We gave him a cute little animal train that looks suspiciously like the same train Savannah received for her first birthday. He doesn't seem to mind though.

He really hadn't had many treats before his birthday cake, and he loved it! None of my kids have ever pounded their birthday cake quite like this kid! He has kind of been a treat junkie ever since.

We are so happy to have Sawyer in our family. He sleeps great for the most part, but is picky about being in his bed to sleep. He rarely falls asleep in the car/stroller/anywhere but bed. You can always tell he is tired in the car when he talks to himself a lot. I guess he is trying to keep himself awake. He loves his brother and sister despite his many battle wounds from playing with them. He is a great shopper, and is almost always happy while we run errands. I guess he just loves to be out and about.
Sawyer hates to me thrown in the air at all. He is kind of a chicken and wants to be hanging on with both hands at all times. He is a pretty major momma's boy right now, but every now and then he will take a liking to other people.
He practices blowing spit bubbles all of the time, and can now blow some pretty impressive ones. He loves sticking out his tongue and trying to copy words/actions we do. The kid can make a serious mess too! I swear he is trying to make me crazy because he always hits the spoon full of food out of my hand, so it goes flying! I have to sweep under the high chair probably 5 times a day. He also sits and waits all day for the bathroom door to be left open. If we forget to close it, he will be in there splashing in the toilet in a matter of seconds. Last week I left him alone downstairs for a few minutes. I suddenly realized the bathroom door might be open and raced down to check. It was too late. He had gotten in the toilet paper stash and shredded parts of 4 different rolls. When I walked in, he was standing in a pile of shredded toilet paper, splashing away in the toilet. Gross! He definitely keeps us busy, but we sure do love him!

Lake Powell

2011-10-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

This year, Matt's big work party was at Lake Powell. Sawyer got to spend the weekend with his Aunt Jennie, while the rest of us camped out at the lake. We had a great time!

One of the guys caught this frog right away, and Savannah would not leave it alone! We kept trying to free him, and he just kept coming back. Poor thing was loved to death....literally.

The water was a little chilly, but the kids didn't mind. Considering it was October, it was a lot warmer than we expected.

We came across some beautiful mermaids, just lounging around on the beach.

Getting to play with trucks in the mud all day long is pretty much heaven for these boys!

I had almost forgotten how much I love Lake Powell! Thanks to the Gordons for entertaining Sawyer! He had a great time too!

2011-09-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

There is really no reason to pause an exciting game of hide-and-seek just because someone needs to go potty!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-09-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

I turned the big 30 last month, and am officially old now. I wanted to go for a little family hike for my birthday. We went up Payson canyon and hiked The Grotto. It is a perfect little hike for our kids. There were lots of fun bridges to cross, and a lot of places where the trail would split then meet back up. Savannah loved taking her own way.

Sawyer loved being carried around in the pack. He is pretty darn cute!

I love when these two are cute little buddies.

The hike ends at a cool waterfall. I didn't take any good pics because there happen to be a ton of kids up there. Some scout groups were there I think.

Next, we headed higher up the canyon. Matt wanted to take us to an area he had been hunting. I love living in such a beautiful area! It was amazing!

Savannah picked me tons of wildflowers for my birthday. The girl loves to pick flowers!

It was a great day! We came home and had yummy salad and breadsticks with an ice cream cake. Being old isn't so bad!

Visitors

2011-09-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to get lots of visitors this summer. We saw several of Matt's siblings and their families. Unfortunately I didn't take a whole lot of pictures when everyone was here. Pam and her kids stayed for a week. We rode horses, got bucked off a horse, went up the canyon, and went to the Ute Stampede. The next week we went to Tremonton for a BBQ with Chris and Janet and Rory and Kathy. There, we got to chase chickens, ride on a cart pulled by a donkey, and have baby cows suck on our fingers! A little while after that, Marcy and Britney came with their kids. We packed that week full of shopping, playing at the Spanish Fork Res, and 4-wheeling up the canyon. It was fun for our kids to be able to play with cousins they don't get to see very often. Here are a few of the pics I did take:

These cute girls got along so well! They spent a lot of time picking wild flowers up the canyon.

The boys, on the other hand spent a lot of time playing in the dirt and driving the 4-wheeler.

Look at that dirty face! A sure sign they had a good time.

1st day of school

2011-09-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Savannah is so excited to be in Kindergarten this year! She is growing up way too fast!

She is lucky to have so many neighbor friends that go with her.

She has been so excited to be able to ride the school bus, and I think it must be everything she hoped for. She loves it!