The Leigh's Visit

I have a little downtime today so I thought I would start catching up on my blog. First I'll start by telling about my sister Sharon's visit. Sharon and her husband Spencer and their five kids as well as Sharon's best friend Shellie came up from Mississippi on Friday, May 28 to visit us until Saturday, June 5. We had great time visiting together and I could write so much, but that would take more time than I have, so here a few of the highlights:

-- Sharon had a new baby (her fifth) at the end of March, her first boy, so it was exciting to get to meet her new little guy. Matthew (Mattie) is so cute and it's fun to see how his four older sisters love playing with him and helping their mom out with him. Here are a few pictures of Mattie and the girls:

-- On Monday, May 31, we went to Grant's Farm as a family. It was pretty busy since it was a holiday, but the weather wasn't too warm or humid, so we had a great time. I'd actually only been to Grant's Farm one other time in my life, and that was about nine years ago on my 17th birthday. I forgot that you have to take a tram to the actual location where the animals and shows are. I was worried when I found this out because I didn't think I would be able to board the tram since I'm in a wheelchair. However, we found out that the first car of each tram is equipped with a fold down ramp making it accessible for wheelchairs. Hurray! I would be able to participate with everyone else! We spent several hours looking at all of the animals at the farm -- I had no idea that so many animals live at Grant's Farm!

-- On Wednesday, June 2, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. We wondered what we were getting ourselves into as the rain pelted our vans on the drive on the drive up, but luckily the rain slowed to a sprinkle by the time we arrived. Although the sky remained overcast, we were blessed to have several rain-free hours to explore the Botanical Gardens. Although I went to the Japanese Festival at the Botanical Gardens with my friends in 2008, it had been a long time since I'd been there just to admire the flowers and plants. I was worried that the girls might get bored, but they absolutely loved it.

-- On Thursday, June 3, my sister Kristin, her husband Scott and their four boys arrived from Utah. It had been four years since Kristin and her family had been able to visit, so I was especially excited to see them. I'd only met her oldest son twice and second oldest son once, and I'd never met her two youngest boys. It was great to have Sharon's and Kristin's family in town together for a few days so that the cousins could get better acquainted with each other.

-- On Friday, June 4, my mom and I went to the St. Louis Zoo with Sharon's and Kristin's families. We had a great time looking at all of the different animals, but the one bad thing was that it was really hot that day. (It was in the mid-90s, which is pretty toasty especially when you factor in the humidity that is so common to the midwest!) I didn't realize it was going to be so hot and I ended up getting overheated and dehydrated. As much as we didn't want to leave, my mom decided it would be in my best interest for her to take me home and cool me off. My family had planned to have a picnic dinner at the park after leaving the zoo, so my mom and I were very disappointed to have to miss our picnic, but we knew it was better to be safe than sorry, so we went home.

I had such an amazing week visiting with Sharon's family, but the time went way too quickly! (Doesn't it always?!) I wish my family lived closer, but I'm always extremely thankful when they come to visit!