Thank you, Grandma Linda

I think Charlie looks very royal in this picture.

Linda with 3 of her 11 grandchildren!!

Wine and cheese and crackers with Linda and her brother Mike.

Linda and Zadie made cookies for our guests and Zadie very proudly served them.

Grandma Linda came down from Washington to provide two whole weeks of help. Before she arrived we were so overwhelmed (and Charlie was just getting out of the hospital) that I told Tori I hoped that Linda wasn't having visions of rollerskating on the strand -- we needed her undivided attention!

And we certainly got it. I would come home from work and Linda somehow had miraculously taken care of the kids all day (with Hank) and also done three loads of laundry, washed the dishes, picked up the house, etc. I was pretty amazed, but she reminded me that she's a mother of five, which makes our three look like small potatoes! She was also taking every third night of "Charlie duty" and so sleep-deprived on top of it all. I think she must have overdid it because then she got a little sick for a few days, but not before completing everything on her special projects list we created for her (re-pot a few plants, help Tori put up the new blinds, etc.).

And, as always, she did all of this with her characteristic pep and energy, so we are so thankful for her time here. And now she's in India at a retreat and hopefully sending some good energy our way. Thank you, Linda!