The Beach and the Hospital . . .

. . . that is pretty much where we have spent our time this August!

The Hospital:
It seems that the Linscott family just can’t get enough of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital complex. Obviously, Luke is employed there, and I have to report every couple of weeks for OB appointments. But lately Abby has been dragged into the equation as well. Most of you reading will know that Abby was born with a heart defect (small right ventricle) and had surgery at age 2 weeks, then again at 6 months. She has done fantastically well since then, bouncing off the walls like any other preschooler, but her healthcare team feels that she should have the third surgery of the series she has started. So, after many trips downtown to the hospital for tests and check-ups, we finally have a surgery date of September 2. We will have family from both sides coming in shifts to help us, for which we are so grateful!
We would appreciate your keeping Abby in your thoughts and prayers as she enters this critical time. We feel that so many prayers in her behalf have already been answered, and we are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for watching over her thus far. She really is amazing—smart as a whip and full of energy, which we could scarcely hope for when we first heard her diagnosis as a baby. We’re truly blessed.

The Beach:
On a lighter note, we recently returned from an awesome week with the entire Boyer clan in Outer Banks, North Carolina. All 24 of us (my parents, their 8 kids, our 6 spouses, and 8 grandchildren) stayed in an enormous, gorgeous beach house, just a 2-minute walk from the ocean. We gathered there from Utah, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, and it was great to be together! It was a blast. Here are a few pictures from our week.

The four of us at Currituck Sound


Katie loved the sand and the water!


Abby with Cousin Lizzie


Abby with Cousin Josh


Luke and Abby tearing it up on a race car track in the nearby town


Abby with "The Triplets"--Marian, Lucy, and Katie, all born within a few weeks of each other. They played so cute together all week, except when they got into jealousy spats over Grannie! (Grannie ate that up, of course.)


Daddy and Katie building a sand castle


The whole crew! . . . in front of the beach house

Grant's Farm

Not far from our house, there is an awesome place called Grant's Farm. Once a summer resort owned by Ulysses S. Grant, it's a beautiful animal preserve that is now owned by Anheuser-Busch (the Budweiser family), so it's free to the public! They even hand out free beer to those who want it. :) We had a great time there, and Abby keeps asking when we can go back and feed the baby goats.


Katie and Luke befriending a camel


The elephant show


The train ride


Katie cooling off


Abby surrounded by hungry baby goats!


Abby befriending a horse

Our Pad!

There are lots of pictures from our summer adventures that I'm hoping to post, but I keep getting requests for shots of our house. So . . . here we go!!
Conveniently left out is the basement, which is still full of boxes . . . not too exciting.
We really like this house so far and are starting to feel "at home" here. There are lots of little projects we have going on, but Luke has amazed me with his skills at figuring out how to fix things. It's actually in very good shape, for being 67 years-old!

I've really enjoyed planting the garden, which
already had some pretty perennials in it.

.
"Baby Brother's" room, all set up and ready for him
(except that we need to paint the lovely mauve walls)

Going upstairs now, to Abby and Katie's territory . . .
Abby's room
Abby's special closet where all her Calico Critters live
Katie's room

Abby and Katie love the sandbox! (It was created when the former owners took out the pool, since we didn't want it.)
Here is one of the cute bunny rabbits that hop and play in all the backyards
around us. And here is Katie doing one of her favorite new activities, bunny-watching!

Thanks for sticking with such a long post!

B-day pictures

Well, I had a great birthday on Friday, including dinner at the Olive Garden (yum!), where we only somewhat made a spectacle of ourselves. Then we enjoyed a decadently rich chocolate cake that Abby and I had made. It was fun to hear from several folks (thanks, everyone!) by phone and e-mail. As his gift, Luke gave me the green light to pick out a piano!! So yesterday we went to see this one from Craigslist and decided to buy it. (Now we just have to fenagle a way to get it across town to our house . . . ) I'm so excited! In 7 years of marriage, we've never had our own piano. No more having to sneak over to the church building on Wednesday nights during youth activities to practice--I can do it at home!

Last Few Adventures in Spokane

I have a lot of catching up to do, so I thought I'd start with some pictures of our last few adventures in Spokane:


A visit from Luke's Uncle Paul and Grandpa Al, who live in the Seattle area. (Notice how huge the Spokane River is behind us. Raging!) It was great to see them.
Their visit coincided with their birthdays!

Katie with Great-Grandpa at Manito Park.


A super-fun overnight get-away to Leavenworth (about 3 1/2 hours from Spokane) with my friend Heidi (who lives in the Seattle area). We've been friends since 6th grade, and it was great to catch up together . . . and to be footloose and fancy-free for a day!

Heidi put together this cute collage of some sights in Leavenworth (which is nestled in the mountains and designed to look like a Bavarian village--very fun!).

A visit with our good friends, the Francis family. We sure miss them! We did a lot of babysitting trades and really enjoyed getting to know them.

A gorgeous sunset, as seen from one of Luke's bike rides along the Palouse Highway.

Abby's closing preschool program . . .

. . . and graduation picnic!

Luke with his fellow transitional-year interns at a graduation dinner.

Me with Audrey Ursic and Carly Dunn, fellow "resident wives." We had some fun playgroups while our husbands were working. I miss these friends already!

A visit to the beautiful Spokane Temple.

My mom, Lori, came up for a few days to help us move. She was a true hero! When she wasn't entertaining Abby and Katie, she was invariably down on her hands and knees with a scrub bucket . . . or helping me maintain my sanity through chocolate and laughter, our favorite combination. Thanks, Grannie!

Abby and Luke admiring the beautiful flowers at the temple.
We had a fabulous year in Spokane and are so glad we chose to go there for Luke's intern year! We'll miss the beautiful parks and scenery, and especially the wonderful people we met. The adventure continues now in St. Louis, and I'll post more soon!
Thanks for checking in!