Catching up on the blog

Here are a few pictures from our outings prior to the past 3 "whirlwind" weeks.
Hope you enjoy them.

St. Louis Temple Family Home Evening

(Flower pictures courtesy of Abby Linscott)

(We can't take credit for this picture . . . we found it on the Internet.)

Daddy-Daughter Outing:

Crawdad Catching

Powder Valley Nature Center

Hooray!!

Abby is home from the hospital!! All went very well with her heart surgery, and she was able to come home yesterday, after staying for a week. We are so grateful for the many prayers in her behalf that have been answered. It feels SO good to have her back home where she belongs, playing with her Calico Critters, catching pet crickets from the sandbox, and eating macaroni & cheese. This picture shows Abby in the 8th-floor rooftop garden at the hospital, which she visited many times during her stay. (The pink "princess nightie" from Grannie was obviously a huge hit!)

Here is Abby back home in her PINK room! It was lavender, but Grandma and Grandpa Linscott painted it her favorite color--pink--while she was away. It looks beautiful, and she loves it!

Here are Katie and Abby in the hospital rooftop garden. Notice the bandages on Katie's hands: as if we didn't have enough stress in our lives, she burned her palms on the stovetop a few days before Abby's surgery. Luckily, they have healed very well, but it's been a little overwhelming caring for--and worrying about--both girls. We're so grateful for the help we have had from Luke's parents, my mom, my sister Liza, and for the love and concern of so many family members and friends. Thanks to everyone for supporting and loving us through this stressful time.

We're ready for life to get back to normal . . . just in time for little Baby #3 to throw us for a whirl!

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!