Autumn Fun!

It's been nice to have life get back to "normal" these past few weeks! Here are a few of our recent adventures . . .

Abby has made a great recovery and is just as energetic as ever! We feel so blessed. She is enjoying her two mornings a week at preschool and playing with all of the fun friends who live right here on our street.


Katie's hands have completely healed from their burns (another blessing!), and she is currently obsessed with talking on the phone (whether there's anyone on the other end of the line or not). She's also becoming quite a "tease" to Abby, which is a tidbit of my own childhood coming back to haunt me! (My older sisters received lectures on why they had to learn to like me, even though I was a horrible tease.)


Luke's department had a family picnic at a beautiful farm about an hour outside of St. Louis. We had a great time riding on a hay wagon, gathering pumpkins, fishing, and watching Abby's first horse ride.




My sister Liza stayed with us for a month while she did a rotation here at Washington U. medicial school. We had a great time together, and we miss her already! (She left this morning.) I'm sure her husband, Ben, is glad to have her back though. She had a busy schedule in the emergency department, but we squeezed in a little sightseeing:

Forest Park, including the zoo and the art museum (in the background to the left) . . .





Grant's Farm . . .
(Abby feeding the baby goats, her favorite activity there)


(Abby and Katie watching the guinea pigs sleep)


(Liza and Katie hanging out with the camels)


The next excitement on the horizon is the arrival of "Baby Brother" . . . just three more weeks to go! I find myself gazing longingly into my closet at my "regular" clothes and thinking about nights without heartburn and leg cramps. At the same time, I know I'll have my hands completely full after he arrives, so I'm trying to enjoy every moment of this last month!

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