It's been forever since I've written anything . . . here's an attempt to catch up a bit!
We had a great holiday season, including a fun two-week trip to Utah. Now we're back in the swing of things in Spokane, counting down the days until Luke finishes ICU nights (at least I am!). We're not seeing much of him these days. But life is very good, and we are so blessed. Here are some pictures from our Utah trip. (Sorry some of the spacing is funny . . . by the end of a long post, Blogger and I are never on good terms!)
A tea party with Grannie! (Abby and her cousins Josh, Sam, and Lizzie)
Abby, the "retro shepherd" on Christmas Eve.
Katie helping Cousin Lucy finish all the good stuff she missed.
Abby playing Ring-Around-the-Rosies with Cousin Josh and Cousin Sam . . . one of the more docile moments for this threesome.
The traditional stair line-up . . . (it's OK, Joe already
knows he's not a morning person). This was Luke's first time spending Christmas morning with my family, even though it was our seventh Christmas married! (We never slept there on Christmas Eve when we lived in Salt Lake.) So we got to eat cinnamon "roll wreath" and hot cocoa for breakfast, then line up on the stairs and wait our turn to go see what Santa had brought.
Abby with Aunt Lara, Mike, and the Build-A-Bear reindeer they made for her!
Katie and Cousin Emie in their matching jammies (they are 2 weeks apart).
Abby and Aunt Lara.
Katie heading for the stockings while Emie checks to make sure the coast is clear . . .
Abby was in heaven as Aunt Anna read story after story to her on Sunday afternoon.
The Linscott crew, including Grandpa Al and Uncle Paul, visiting from Seattle (our camping buddies from September!).
Katie with Grandpa Scott.
Emie, Uncle Lance, and Abby.
Katie with Melba, Sammie, and an endearingly obnoxious singing dog puppet.
Katie and me on Christmas morning. She enjoyed herself for a while, then got a little overwhelmed, had a minor meltdown, and had to go back to bed before she even got through all of her presents!
Grandma Nora, Abby, and Katie making gingerbread cookies.
Luke bidding farewell to "The X-Wing" (
Star Wars reference, for any who missed it). This was his beloved 1994 Subaru Legacy that got us from Spokane to Ogden, then overheated and died! Luckily, we were just an hour from Salt Lake, so my dad drove up to get us, and the X-Wing followed us on the back of a tow truck. In the end, he was sold for parts. I have fond memories of the X-Wing, such as Luke picking me up for our first date in it and the West-Coast road trip we took in it as newlyweds . . . but alas, it's time to say good-bye. (Huge thanks to Mom and Dad for lending us their spare Mazda!)
Aunt Teisa blowing bubbles for Katie, with Grandpa Scott filming. These bubbles were a big hit with the 11-month-olds!
These are the earrings that Abby picked out for me . . . very cute! I might have been a little more surprised if she hadn't given me the hint that my present was something for my ears . . . :)
Luke with his present from Abby, a Calico Critters doctor. Abby loves these fuzzy, little animals and was so excited for Daddy to be getting the critter doctor, so they could play together. Luke might have been a little more surprised about
his gift too, if Abby hadn't mentioned in a few family prayers that she hoped Daddy would like his critter doctor present!
Swimming in St. George! The girls and I took a fun 3-day trip down there with the Boyers, after Luke came back to Spokane. (Alone. To slave away. While we played. Poor guy!) It wasn't as warm down there as we thought it might be, but
it was really fun and constituted the most relaxing part of the trip. Abby's beautiful black eye was the result of a high-energy bath with her cousins . . . ouch!
Abby with Aunt Liza in sunny St. George.
"The 10 Game" with the Boyers . . . Mom, Anna, Spencer, Joe, Jen, Dad, Liza, Sammie, Melba, and Ben. Of course, with this many of us, the game went late into the night. As it got later, the jokes got lamer and the threats against sabotaging each other's strategy increased in intensity. ("I'll shave off one of your eyebrows in your sleep if you lead with a trump!" --Joe.)
One of my favorite moments from the trip has no photo documentation, because I was way too caught up in it to take pictures! Let's just say, at the stroke of twelve on New Year's Eve, I discovered how exhilarating stomping on bubble wrap while yelling and banging pots and pans can be. Other than the worry that my kids would wake up, I felt like a junior-high-schooler frolicking about! I needed that. I think bubble wrap is going down in my book as a New Year's Eve tradition. (Thanks, Markhams!)
Whew . . . The End, already! If you've made it to the end of this post, bless you for enduring my verbosity. And thanks for checking in!
Abby and Katie entertained themselves this way for a good, long time on Sunday, pretending the carpet was water and the laundry basket was a boat. I got to take a ride in the boat too, which might have been pretty comfortable if I were three feet shorter! Abby is constantly in "let's pretend" mode these days, so I'm never quite sure which character I'm supposed to be at any given moment: Strawberry Shortcake? Cinderella? Big Sister? Those are my most common assignments, with Abby as Gingersnap, Princess Jasmine, or The Mother. She sure keeps us on our toes!
Here is another one that towers over Abby.
While we've been "snowbound" inside . . . 
. . . Abby has spent hours and hours drawing, writing, and coloring. (She's getting so good at writing the letters of the alphabet! It's fun to see her excitement about writing.)
