Handy Mandy

Mandy

Mandy is married to my brother-in-law Devin.  They have four children, 2 girls, one boy, and a very new baby girl.  They live about 15 minutes away from me in a beautiful two story brick house where Dan and I, and occasionally my whole family, have enjoyed some happy times.

When Mandy was dating Devin we were all looking forward to meeting her.  We got the chance to meet her for the first time at the annual Halloween party, where we were all dressed up in costumes.  There were about ten adults and a LOT of children all dressed up in unique ways to greet her.  I figured she must like Devin a lot when she was actually willing to come and meet us all again!

Mandy is smart.  She has her bachelors degree in Biology from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County where she played basketball.  She is six feet tall and has basketball skills (obviously).  She loves to play sports and played flag football quite a bit too.  She has an M.A. and a PhD from BYU in exercise science and so she can be called Dr. Mandy.  She also served in the Geneva, Switzerland mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She speaks French.  If she weren't so nice, I'd find her accomplishments a bit intimidating.

One of the most fun things about knowing Mandy is getting to see which creative project she will do next.  Here are pictures of some of the things she has made.

This is an outdoor pizza oven that Mandy made.  They have made pizza for the neighbors and themselves in this oven.

Mandy designed this play set for her kids and her Dad helped build it.

These are some of the canned goods that Mandy put up this summer during a year when she was pregnant and not feeling her best.

Devin and Mandy worked together to make an apple cider press.

This is another part of the press and they got several gallons of apple cider this fall.

The girls wanted a doll house for Christmas.
 I called during nap time once to find Mandy working downstairs on this project.

Some of us would just go buy an easel at the store.  Mandy decided to just make one herself.

Besides all of these things she also decided to try her hand at sewing a year or so ago and made her girls some beautiful princess dresses for Halloween.  I expect Mandy can do whatever she puts her mind to.

If you were to visit Mandy's house you would know immediately that she is patriotic.  If you went at night you would be greeted with electric candles in the windows.  This is a tradition that she brought from the east where she is from (the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area).  It is a very welcoming look, and I think it fits a house that Mandy lives in because she always makes me feel welcome when I come to visit.  I love Mandy.  She is good to me and I always enjoy the time I get to spend with her.  Happy Birthday Mandy!