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Lizzy and I had a LEFSA day. Made 60 of them...YUMMY!!!! It was a fun day. Love spending 'bonding' time with Lizzy. Mom even came up for a bit!

happy holidays

we finally got our tree up!!! the kids did a great job!!!! Darrick wasn't feeling the 'holiday' spirit, so i told the kids we would just do it!!!
So we have the tree up, i have the gifts bought, wrapped, and under the tree, I am so ahead of the game this year!!!!
Everything is good here. Looking forward to the holidays! This sunday Lizzy and I are getting together to make 'homemade' LEFSA!!!! Yummy, for all you non norweigians...you have no idea what your missing!!!

have a great day love you all!!!!!

jakes birthday

pics from jakes birthday. he decided to have a 90's nickolodian theme party. yeah i no he's 20 but what are ya gonna do

sisters weekend

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Liz, Vicky and I did our anual sisters weekend. we had a great time. We went to lark toys and the eagle center. Then just hung out at the hotel. Good bonding. And just on a side note ...those two are OLD!!! Vicky fell asleep at 6:30pm and Lizzy at 10pm. I was wide awake and thought of terrizing them, but then thought better of it...lol

Jake and Nicoles first pumpkin!! Arent they cute....

well we're heading into the holiday season. ( can you believe how fast this year has gone!!!) I actually have most of my christmas shopping done!! YEAH!!! because you no how i just love to shop...NOT. everyones good here. Jeremy is coming home soon on leave. and we're all excited to see him!!!Jakes been busting his butt at school and work, he's upset with himself because he has a couple of B's and not all A'...that kid!!!! SHannon has a new boyfriend, his name is Mike and seems like a nice kid ( ha he's 26 but thats still a kid!)

I will be going to Season Hospices "memories of the heart" december 1st, a little scared but I really want to go to remember dad. If there's anyone out there that wants to attend it's open to everyone!!

well every one have a great week and get out and enjoy the weather...love you all

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the kostels played in a benfit tournament this weekend and had a great time. the team dressed as "christmas". each game was 6 innings with each inning having a 'twist'. the first inning you got 1 pitch and that was it. 2nd inning throw with oppiste had, 3rd innin infeild and out feild switch, 4th inning run oppisite way ( 3rd was 1st ete...) 5th inning hit off a tee, 6th inning you had a ghost runner. and the 5th batter always carried a pumpkin, and if they scored the team got an extra 3 runs. It was great fun and all procedes went to a great cause. cant wait till next year!

HAPPY FALL!!

it's fall and it feels like it!!! hope every one enjoyed there summer because it's officially over! So who else has started their christmas shopping? Yep i have. Last year was such a busy time, with dads illness and all, that i thought i'd get a jump on things this year. I love christmas and last year was just not the year to celebrate. (with good reason)
Mom is doing well. Her brother inlaw came to visit this last week and sounds like they had a good time. Her friend Joanie continues to keep her busy and she even has a little social group she goes out to lunch with once a week. She has been thinking back to this time last year, which makes her a little sad, but that is to be expected. On a funny note.... Darrick was taking a shower the other day and said all of a sudden it got SUPER cold in the bathroom...he figured it was just dads spirit stopping in to say 'HI'. Darrick said, out loud no less, 'Vern you mind stopping by when i have some clothes on' and just like that the coldness disappeared. i no we're looking into it a bit but seriously how cute!!! Another funny story. Lizzy and I are getting ready to make Lefsa, ya thats right Lefsa...from scratch...any way we're talking and she goes ' yeah, dad told me to make the lefsa thinner...' Darrick and I both stopped what we were doing and just looked at her...i finally said ' dad talks to you?' she's like no no last year he said that. we just laughed because I talk to dad all the time and he doesn't talk back to me...I was going to be pissed if he was just talking to her...ok maybe you had to be there for that funny story but it was funny!!!

shannon wrote out a very nice speech, but when it came time to do it she panicked...i think it turned out well anyway!!!

We had a great weekend. Shannon's best friend Nicole got married and a good friend of mine had a surprise 40Th party. It was a very busy Saturday . Wedding at noon, lunch at 1:30, Jeannie's 40Th party at 4, and back to the wedding dinner and dance by 6. Yep we made it to all!! pretty good for us considering we're always late for stuff. It was a lot of fun.
I'd have to say there were tears in both Darrick and my eyes as Nicky walked down the isle. She has grown up with Shannon literaly from the day they were born. The day Nicky came home from the hospital Lee Ann and I placed them in a play pin together and they have been inseparable since!!! Maybe that s why we never saw the need to have more kids. We have so many adopted kids...ha ha.
have a great week love you all!!!!

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THIS LAST WEEKEND WE WENT UP AND STAYED IN THE CITIES. WE HIT UP A TWINS GAME AND JUST HAD A GREAT WEEKEND OF FUN!!!!

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had another busy weekend.
Friday night we went camping with friends. slept in the back of Darrick's pick up truck. 3 years ago it was pretty comfy...now that I'm 40...not so comfy. didn't hardly sleep at all. the moment Darrick opened his eyes Saturday morning I said" are you sober enough to drive home" and he was thank god!!! my back couldn't take it any more!!!
Saturday, we had Mitch and Brenda's surprise 25th anniversary party. it was a very good time. however I ended up sleeping in the back seat of Darrick's pick up truck for a few hours while Darrick and Shannon partied into the wee hours of the morning. I have to say, you put the Kostels, Struckmans, and Grimstads in a NONE sound proof garage and they're LOUD!!! Add in music and WOW!!!
Sunday. Darrick and Jake are up at the PGA tournament and me and Shannon are ...doing NOTHING, and it's awesome!!!!
hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

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What a great weekend!! Friday night i had to work but Saturday we went to Matt and Brenda's wedding and had a great time!!! It was moms first big occasion out with out dad by her side. I think she had a good time!!! It was great to see old friends and family. This is a busy month for us with stuff going on almost every weekend. Should be fun

love you all!!

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We had a great weekend. It started with having Shannons best freinds little boy over night. Darrick had a blast playing with him!!! then on sunday I tore Darrick away from baby Noah and we headed up to a twins game, Darrick had gotten tickets from work, The twins lost but we still had fun. (did you no that one beer cost 6.75. yeah it was a dry game for us!!!)

We have a busy month this month with something going on every weekend and Jake starting back to college. Unfortunately that means it will probably go fast. I cant believe summer is almost over!!!

Shannon continues to do well. We are 2 weeks out of surgery and she's getting around very well. Doc appointment tomorrow and hopefully back to work by august 31st.

love you all and enjoy the rest of your summer!!

update

just got back from the doctor and Darrick is GREAT. the CT showed that the spot is only a benign granuloma. Something that we don't need to worry about!!! YEAH. I guess I should have listen to Darrick when he said 'don;t worry'. But it's in my blood to worry, prewired i think. All other test show he's essentially healthy as a horse!!! I'm floating on a cloud. 2 months of stress lifted!!!!! I'm so thankful!!!!
Shannon is 4 days out from her ACL surgery and recovering fast. starting to get around the house...so-so. Another week of therapy next week. SO just a recap...THINGS ARE GOOD!!!!! I need a drink!!!!! lol love you all

updates

just a quick up date on Shannon and Darrick...

Darrick had his CT and a tooth removed yesterday. Both went fine We wont find out the results from the CT till Friday, but we both are feeling very positive. He has blood and urine test tomorrow and then a full physical and the results of all test Friday. I'll let you know what we find out.

Shannon is in surgery as i type!!! We got here ( gonda 15 ) at 6:35 and she was called back by 6:45 to start her admission. She was pretty nervous. but things went smoothly ( with the exception of her I.V. start, the poor girl has no veins!!!) She was given a bunch of drugs and a femoral block was placed that she gets to keep for 30 hours. ( she was excited about that!) She did get a little teary eyed when it was time to go to the OR, but more drugs were given and she was all smile s when i left to go to the waiting room.
I'll let you no how she's doing....

We celebrated Vicky's 49 1/2 birthday tonight. had a great time. she had a great turn out. what a blast!!!!

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hello all, just wanted you to no that for what ever reason msn has deleted our e-mail. so our new email is labonteboyz@live.com. Irritated me very much. I had a lot of stuff saved in that email account!!! so if you need to reach us use the new email, and i would love to get all of your email address to ...because they are all gone also...
love ya Missy

We went canoeing today as a last good bye to Jeremy ( my nephew). He is off to basic training in Missouri tomorrow. It was nice to be able to do something fun with him before he left. Thankfully I was able to get off work early Friday night ( 1 am ) and was able to go. I know we ALL will miss him but no one more than Lizzy! Our 5 cousin power group is slowly breaking apart as they grow older. Jeremy is off to Missouri, Kristie is in ST. Cloud and soon to be in Texas student teaching, Kelly is in Bemedji, and thankfully Shannon and Jake are here. I no they miss each other and are glad when they can all be together, even if it's just for a night or two. You got to remember, they have been close since birth, so you can imagine how hard this is as they begin to separate. 5 cousins, 5 best buds, 5 lives forever intertwined.....

happy news!!!
Jake has made the deans list @ WSU for spring semester!!! Yeah way to go BUD!!!!

Everybody is fine here...waiting patiently for the end of July to get here....

The last week of July I have decided to call 'HELL WEEK'
Darrick has appointments July 20th, 22nd, and 24th (result day!!!!), and then Shannon has surgery July 21st with follow up appointments starting the 23rd and therapy EVERY day for 2 weeks. Should be fun...NOT!!!!
Unfortunately with all this going on we've had to cancel our trip up north to the cabin. (sorry Lizzy). So no fun summer vacations for us...

Hope all is well with everyone and I'll keep you posted on Darrick and Shannon

happy,sad,stressed

HAPPY:
Jake has been excepted into the educational program at Winona state U. In as little as 2.5 years he could be teaching!!! YEAH!!! good job bud!!!
SAD:
Shannon will be having surgery on her ACL. We will find out when soon. All we know right now is it will be as soon as possible. So she's kinda bummed her summer will be shot. We hope she will be all healed by the time her BFF gets married in September. ( she's the maid of honor ).
STRESSED:
OK so i haven't told hardly anyone this but it's time....because it's driving me crazy not to have anyone to talk to about it. Back in may i took Darrick to the E.R. thinking he was having a Asama attack. After ex rays we were told there was a spot on his lung that wasn't there before, long story short we met with his doctor, did another ex ray and are now in a holding pattern tell the end of July. They want to see if it grows or changes. He will have blood tests, exam, and a CT scan, and then we will meet with his doctor and discuss what was found. We are hoping it's nothing. I'm just extremely stressed because this is bringing back memories of dad. I'm sure everything will be fine. Darrick is taking everything in stride and said he's not going to worry about it till we get results back....which means he doesn't want to talk about it.....so, I think of the worst scenario and hope for the best. I'm sure I'm just over worrying. love you all I'll keep you posted on all that's happening.

Shannon has acquired a torn ACL from playing softball. she is doing well. she has 3 weeks of physical therapy and off work for 3 weeks from work. they will do a MRI on June 2 to determine if she needs surgery.

On another note last weeks game was a little hard on the whole team. Darrick pulled a muscle in his upper leg, and now his knee is swollen and black and blue. Nicole (Jake's girl friend) hurt her back but is doing better and a couple other team mates have injuries. Tonight's game could be a rough one with so many out of commission!!!

jakes update on shannon

****Update- Shannon June Kostel, the heart and soul of the morale of the team, went down with a devastating injury in last Friday's loss to Beer Belly's. Shannon was catching the game of her life, only allowing 10 pass balls, which is her personal record that was previously at 26. In a long inning behind the plate, it is often that a catcher will wear out, but this usually is not the case for Shannon. The 5th inning was rough for PossAbilities, and Shannon was catching the whole inning. She was running back and forth for the ball and then throwing that dang ball back to the pitcher like a champ, until something terrible happened. Shannon went back for a passed ball, doing her signature "spin, run and pick up" the ball routine when her lightening fast speed caught up to her. When she was running at an amazing 2 MPH, a giant hole that was roughly 6 ft deep (which is 3 ft taller than Shannon) popped out of no where and Shannons left foot fell into it. The whole crowd consisting of 1,244 people heard the pop of Shannon's knee, but the trooper that she is showed no sense of pain besides hobbling off the field with a squinted face saying "ow ow ow." She is so amazingly tough and strong that she was even willing to take her next at bat, but her team didn't allow it to happen.Shannon went to the one and only Mayo Hospital in Rochester, MN to get her knee checked out. Fearing the worse, the team only hoped it wasnt anything serious, because they all knew they needed her to win the big games. She got a MRI and X-rays and had a "hot" intern touch her knee. All these test came back with the same diagnosis, a very strong case of "Pussities."Realizing that it was nothing, Shannon knew she had to make people believe that it was worse, so she is reporting a torn ACL. The doctors however gave her the go to play softball the rest of the season along with working and doing more than sit on the couch, but Shannon is claiming that she is out for 3 weeks with a brace and 3 weeks of physical therapy. She will be missed in the line-up with her power and speed, but she has agreed to be the first base coach for the rest of the year or until her Pussities is cured.

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we celebrated Shannon's 22nd birthday Friday. She spent the night with her friends. They went up to the cities and did a little bar hopping and then stayed at a hotel ( it was also her good friend Kailey's birthday, so they got to celebrate together)

other than that not much new here. Mom is doing well, her friend Joanie keeps her pretty busy now days. we are all looking forward to the camping season...it will be a little different with out dad and I think the first couple of times maybe a little hard. But i no he'll be there in spirit!!!

We love you all....

spring ball in MN

we took the weekend and went to Winona to watch baseball. it was a blast. Kelly's boyfriend was playing on the opposing team, which made it all the funner!After watching a double header we headed to the hotel and had a great time bonding and just being silly!!!

jake and shannon

WHAT SIBLINGS DO WHEN THEIR HOME AND BORED!!!!!!!!! ENJOY THE VIDEO...I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF....

tomorrow Feb 28th is a benefit for Shannon and Jake's friend' JOE GEIKE' who was attacked and has been hospitalized since early December. the benefit is at Gilligan's. we will be going around 4pm. if anyone would like to go, you are more than welcomed to park at our house and we will drive.

Shannon got to babysit baby Noah for the day...he's so cute. I can't wait to be a grandma!!!! WAIT I CAN wait

jakes update on this years softball team- kinda funny

jake has taken up sports writing as a minor so you all will be getting updates on this years possabilities softball team. keep in mind this is all in fun (the teams real. feel free to stop down on fridays to watch and drink a few beers!)

**Update- The devastatingly fast Ryan Walker anchored the outfield for Possabilities Youth Rec softball team last season. His speed and ambition helped secure a spot in the Semi Finals in Australia last year with a in the park homerun, which capped off a come back win in the bottom of the 9th against the heavily favored Greenland Softball Association. 
The great season that Ryan Walker had with Possabilities was the last year on his one-year, $9.55/hour contract. When filling for free agency, it did not take long for the Seattle Shit Head softball team to lock up a one-year, $10.50/hour contract with the young slugger. Reports have it that Walker is looking for a contract with the Possabilities Youth Rec Softball team next year, but the hurt and sorrow that Possabilities is feeling is making this agreement hard.
Ryan Walker will be missed. Being a good sport that i am, i hope he sucks in Seattle and falls apart and comes begging back for Possabilities

**Update- Nate Evens and the Possabilities Youth Rec Softball team came to terms around 4:30 P.M. Thursday evening on a two-year, $1,947.53/hour contract plus incentives that can earn him up to $6.5 million more a year. The base salary the two ends agreed upon gives Evens a yearly income of $55,838,274; the biggest contract in Co-ed D league history.
Evens lead the team in Homeruns and RBIs and also lead the league in fastest shot gunning of a beer. The young phenom plays a crucial role on the Possabilities team, starting at third base and batting 3 or 4 in the lineup. Evens has always been known for his impressive on-field play, but what the massive crowds do not see is his "teddy bear" side. When looking at this 6'2" 250 lbs man might be intimidating, but looks can be deceiving. Evens is reported being frightened by worms, and could not hurt a fly.
The contract gives the Possabilities Youth Rec Softball team a huge advantage in the Co-ed D league. Evens brings a potent bat with a lot of pop with a great glove at third. More importantly, he brings his "teddy bear-ness" to the game of softball, making it fun and enjoyable for the players and the crowd.

he he Jake wrote up the following info about this years softball team, it was to cute not to copy and paste for you all t read. love you all

kids softball team info

PossAbilities Youth Rec Softball Team- Season 2
Basic Info
Type:
Sports & Recreation - Sports Leagues
Description:
Probably the coolest team in the D Co-ed league. Looking for redemption of our epic loss in the World Cup Finals last year in New Zealand.

Key losses: Right fielder, Meghan Ryan!

New comers: Kimberly Luckey (drafted 1st overall) Kyle Stone (drafted 35th overall) Allison M (drafted 140th in the 52 round). Also, Tyler (undrafted free agent) Allison Jones (undrafted free agent) and Kylie (signed off waivers)

Key returns: Nate F, Outfield (hit a grand slam last year) Dave L, Shortstop (Slick glove that never stops at first base) Ryan M, Outfield 'Minors' (Big, fast bastard that crushes homeruns) Nicole 'I run past every base' B, 2nd base (fastest girl on the planet with good bat and glove) Nicole C, 1st Outfield and C (Golden Glove first basemen) Shannon K, C 2nd and Outfield (SHANNON JUNE KOSTEL, 'nough said) and finally, Allison H, 1st and Outfield (a reckon to be forced with in the middle of the lineup, when she's sober)

Undecided: Nate Evens, 3rd base (arbitration battles, wants to play on Mondays) Ryan Walker, Outfield (free agency, considering signing with Seattle)

Last year's record: 324534-7, lost World Cup in New Zealand to the Worlds Best Softball Team 4-3.

Strengths: Team Chemistry. We all like each other.

Weaknesses: Beer......

Guys- Me, Nate F, Stone, Dave, Tyler, and Ryan M

Girls- Nicole B, Nicole C, Kim, Allison M, Shannon, Allison H, Allison J and now Kylie

Number 1 fans: Melissa and Darrick Kostel and Grandma Haukom

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU FROM US. DARRICK AND I GOT A FEW "FUN" GIFTS FOR EACH OTHER. HOPING THAT YOU ALL GOT SOME "FUN" GIFTS AS WELL!!! LOVE YOU ALL

 

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to celebrate what would have been dads 78th b-day we got together as a family just like he would have wanted.