Caroline gave me a HARP!

Fairfield - February 2014

Right before we left Fairfield we went to visit Caroline Fox and her puppies.  Joanne LOVED those dogs. Can you tell?

While I was there Caroline asked me to tune her harp and play a few hymns for them.  When I first began learning the harp, Caroline graciously loaned me her harp for about a year. SO KIND! It was fun to play it again - then Caroline and William GAVE me the harp!! I still can't believe it. They are so generous. Thank you dear Caroline and William!

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Joanne loves her grandparents

We had such a great time while we were in Fairfield, but really the best part was having so much time with my parents! They are so great, and I love going home to visit them! It's also really fun that Jody has had so much time with them in her 7 months so far.  We have spent almost 2 1/2 months in Fairfield! (the perks - the only perks - of Lance's previous job!)

I love that Joanne knows and loves my mom and dad!

These pictures are an uneven representation of my parents, but Jody sucking on the tie had too many good pictures to leave out!

 

 

 

 

 

Funny Interaction

I have a smart phone, and I only ever dictate my texts and emails, and my phone almost always gets exactly what I say.  Usually I check to make sure that it copied what I said, but sometimes I just hit "send".  This leads to some funny mistakes sometimes.  But this time was by far the best.

But it needs some back-story. Every week my dad sends out the "Linford-Clark Report" to the family, and there is always one gag in it.  The first person to get the gag gets a cash prize (a dollar and a cartoon in the mail) and it is fought for! At least it is on my end.  So when I see my email, I drop everything and search for the gag.

This is what happened this time.

Annie: i read it, but could not find the gag


Papa: Is your mother an African-American who is fond enough of soul food to grow her own okra? (he said that among the other food she was growing in her garden, she was growing okra - can't believe I missed that one!)

Annie: (remember - phone dictated) haha! Of course she isn't growing oh crap! Steven told me what she was growing, & I just thought she must have missed that! Of course duh.

I tried deleting it before it sent, once I saw what I wrote - but too late! I followed that quickly by....


Annie: so i just spoke that into my phone. that's what i get. of course she isn't growing OKRA! she told me what she was growing even. i just thought she forgot that or something! i deserve to not get that dollar! haha

Papa: TOO TOO FUNNY!  This weekend I was having a conversation with Elna about problem that could result from dictating to your smart-phones.  Your message is a perfect case in point!

Followed by so much laughing on my part. Oh man. Maybe I should always send it without looking - it's good for the soul, all this laughing!!

I think just for that - I still deserve the dollar

That time I made Jody some leggings!

I am not crafty, but I have a dream to be this great seamstress.  I follow all of these sewing blogs, and they are so talented! Hailey came to visit and we had a whole day to play, so we decided to try out our skills. And I must say, we did a pretty good job! We made leggings and a matching headband, and we felt like rockstars!

She loves that spoon!

Our model is just so darn cute!

She hugs me now, and I can't get enough of it!

Joanne loves Hailey!

When I hold Jody, she grabs anything she can get her hands on and puts it into her mouth. Whether it's my nose or my hair.

Can't you just hear her little laugh?

 Thanks Hailey for making so much time for us when we were home! Love you! 

  

Holland and baby Robert

I love that Holland lives in the bay area because I get to see her every time we come home! It was even better because we got to meet her little Robert - oh he is precious!! 

Jody really liked Robert, as you can see!

Love you Holland! Thank you for coming to see us!!

Jospeh's homecoming

My brother Joseph has been on deployment in Qatar for the last six months, and we welcomed him home with his family. It was so fun to see him and Ofelia and the boys, and see them reunited! Afterwards we went to lunch with them!

Jody's first time meeting her Uncle Joseph!

Welcome home Joseph!!

This gentleman gave up his first class seat for Joseph!

On our way home, we stopped by the Calls to visit. It was fun to see Eileen and Rebecca!

Hailey came to visit

It is so fun to come home and see my friends in Fairfield! (Lindsey - how could we not have taken any pictures??) While we were there we spent a lot of time with Hailey! She helped me organize letters from my mission, we took a million pictures, caught up, and had a great time!  Thank you Hailey for the killer outfits for Joanne!

 

 

 

Can you see the slobber??