Happy June from Mark and Linda

Hi everyone,

I am really enjoying the new family blog, especially because we can now easily share a lot of photos. It’s such a good way to stay connected. And the new look is great Kath! Thanks for all your efforts to keep this going! Sorry in advance for all the pics in this post....i'm making up for lost time and because.....

...I just realized that I missed writing in May….oops…the last blog post about our trip must have done me in!

We went to Omaha last month for Sarah’s dance recital. Lindsey mentioned it so I won’t write more except to say she was adorable! I got to go to Adam’s school and have lunch with him.

We watched Kaitlyn and Keira for several days and mark and I were both zombies by the end of the week…ha! We played in the sand, went to the park, had a tea party, painted bird houses and played in the wading pool. Now it is a fun memory!

We got to go to lots of Austin’s  t-ball games this spring. Jeff was one of the coaches, so it was fun to see him with the boys. Austin is a great little ball player- Jeff plays with him a lot.  Austin (and Sarah too) both have big “holey” smiles these days. They are soooo cute.

Baby Brayden gave us a scare when his intestine collapsed into his bowel…(Kelli if you read this, don’t die because I know I didn’t explain this right!) He was a very sick little guy, but came through it eventually. Thanks to  everyone for your prayers…we were so grateful when he recovered.

Greg and Lindsey and family came for a little visit after we got back from Israel. We always have a lot of fun….sand box fun, painting birdhouses, playing Twister and with my new Play Wonder dolls and their fab clothes, going to the park in our old neighborhood and getting to see inside our old house (!), playing “shops” and having a puppet show. The kids always come to my Primary class when they are here on Sunday and it is always special for me to be their teacher.

It was so FUN to get to see Kelli and Joseph when they came through here. I mean it was great to see Claire and Calvin too but it had been years since we had seen Kelli! We had a fun visit and a great dinner- due to mom’s yummy contributions. Joseph did really well due to all the toys here. I cracked up when we went downstairs to discover Calvin inside the under-the-stairs playhouse with Joseph--- just chatting away. 

James hosted a BBQ for the whole fam and it was super fun to get everyone together. Never mind the fabulous spread he created…we had so much fun just hanging out and visiting and watching the kids play. Eileen was one of the star attractions as well as baby Brayden .

B and B

 (we needed something for the kids to do and gave them all chocolate pudding for finger painting!)

the "littles"

the "bigs"

I’ve been super busy with 2 main projects. The one that has been making me crazy is  trying to get my etsy shop ready to open. I’ve decided to start with my flannel bd stories since it seemed to narrow the “products.” But this meant getting patterns ready for the 8 sets I have created so far, and they were so labor-intensive. They are all done now. You can check them out here

http://lindyjdesigns.blogspot.com/

As soon as I get the shop open….which I hope will be in July after we get back from Yellowstone/Utah …I want to make all the pdf patterns  available to all my nieces (sisters too) for FREE. Just let me know if you want any and I will email them. They really are a wonderful teaching tool and the kids love to play with them too. If you like making things like this and like felt …you  will like these sets! 

The other thing I have been busy with is giving our home a face lift. I’m keeping the “bones” of the house but changing the color scheme to red, yellow, gray. It has been a lot of fun to find ideas on Pinterest. Today I made new valances for the sunroom and love how they brighten up and freshen that room. I couldn’t find a large yellow/white floral fabric so I bought and cut up a duvet cover from Target. I love how they turned out. Just wanted to also say how much I have enjoyed the summer so far and my favorite thing to do every morning is sit out on the deck in the sun and eat my breakfast, read the paper and do the Jumble puzzle…and make some vitamin D while I am at it. 

Mark is doing a great job in the yard and likes the exercise. After seeing Julie's neighbor's yard he added a river rock border around all the berms. He continues to travel quite a bit.

Hope you’re all having a great summer too!