2015 … Brought to you by The Linskeys

·         Entering the 4^th year of a drought, we decided to remove some of our grass to conserve water.  Because of this, we are now expecting the strongest El Nino in recorded history. 

·         Todd started his new career as a Delta Air Lines pilot.  It’s like the military, but with flight attendants. 

·         Kelly found new and mostly not-exciting ways to work and not get paid.

·         Julia got her driver’s license.  So far, she has not sideswiped any dumpsters.

·         Allison decided to do cross country.  And basketball.  And track.  And band.  And maybe swimming.

·         Amanda graduated from high school and is now a full-fledged college student.  We know this because she sleeps past 8am.

·         Matthew finally got to see the Blue Angels.

Amanda - Freshman

Has learned that you can stay up until 2 am every day at college.  We’re waiting for her to learn that this is not a good idea.

Thinks dissecting anything is really cool.  (Don’t worry – it’s part of the curriculum – she’s not a serial killer or anything)

She and her roommates discovered they can easily entice weak-willed young men into letting them dress them up as women.

Still a huge Pokémon nerd. 

Julia – Junior

Is the only living teenager who had a driving instructor actually call her “grandma” when referring to her inability to accelerate.

Likes to make “Vroom, vroom!” sounds when driving.

Is trying to figure out how many AP classes she can take and still have time to get in her 12+ hours of sleep. 

Surrounds herself with half-filled containers of water, possibly in anticipation of a “Signs”-like invasion where only water will save us.

Allison – Freshman

Survived yet another year of not eating any fruit. 

May be the only kid in high school without an iPhone.  Except for her sister.

Had to demonstrate to kids in her class how to use a flip phone to text. 

Only had to use crutches once this year.  So far. 

Matthew – 6^th grade

Matthew is in middle school.  We’re not sure how this happened.

After years of begging, he FINALLY got a phone.  And almost never uses it. 

Is learning karate, but still hates to do any kind of exercise (his version of push-ups is banned by most gyms).

Has actually decided that Scrabble is sort of fun, especially if he accidentally misspells a word that is actually a word.

Bucky – age 8 ½ - “Bumpasaurus”

Has started to announce the arrival of any vehicle parking within 100 feet of our driveway by howling.

Has added all green vegetables to his list of “works of Satan.”

Likes to sleep on any plant in the garden that has any chance of successfully producing a vegetable (possibly related to the above fact).

Has added air mattress inflators and storage containers to his list of “things that must be barked at.” 

Have a wonderful holiday season and a safe and happy 2016!

Todd, Kelly, Amanda, Julia, Allison, Matthew and Bucky