Leighs' Summer Visit 2015

My sister Sharon and her family visited the first 10 days this month, and they left last Friday. It's always great to see them, and we had a lot of fun hanging out together. Here's a recap of their visit:

My friend Kellie took some family pictures for Sharon's family. I love the bright color scheme of their outfits. I'll just post two of the ones that I thought were fun/cute:

I didn't have an official homemade birthday dinner and dessert on my actual birthday, since I wanted to get Chinese food. Plus, I knew that my mom was going to be making a lot of desserts since my sister Miriam's family was coming the day after my birthday. We celebrated three birthdays with their family, as well as Father's Day, and I didn't want there to be a lot of my birthday dessert leftover, so I decided to hold off. I had an unofficial birthday dinner a few weeks late...chicken salad on croissants and broccoli salad; two of my favorite things—yum!

For dessert my mom tried a new ice cream recipe that was really easy, and it didn't even require a special ice cream freezer. You can mix in any kind of candy, like chocolate chips, M&Ms, or Reese's. My mom did mini chocolate chips in the first batch she made. When she made it again for my belated birthday dinner, I requested toffee bits. My sister Sharon made her deep-dish brownies. I'd never had them before, and they were SO good! I was in ecstasy with every bite. They were warm and had the richest chocolatey flavor, and were THE best brownies I've ever had! The first night I was so excited to dig in to my brownie and ice cream that I forgot to have my sister take a picture until I was halfway through it. I got a second crack at getting a picture the next night.

My nieces and nephew played in the inflatable pool my sister bought a few years ago. They spent two long afternoons playing outside in the water and came in worn out! By the time we got pictures on the second afternoon, only Rachel and Matt were left outside, and they were both busily bailing the water out of the pool.

Mom, Sharon and Chandra in their red, white and blue on the Fourth of July, and then Sharon and me in our matching shirts:

I wasn't able to get a picture with all of us together like I was hoping, but here are the two best group shots I could get. (My favorite thing about these pics is Emily, slumped over asleep on the couch behind us. She was so tired!):

Spencer, Elizabeth and Sarah playing the game Pay Day, and Emi building with Legos:

It's hard to believe how old Elizabeth and Kate are getting! They're a lot of fun:

One morning Sharon's family took a trip to the Museum of Transportation. I didn't go with them because I had some things to do, and I wasn't sure if it would even be accessible. I happily perused the pictures they took when they got back, though! They had a great time, and there was a lot for the kids to see and explore. Here are a few of the best pictures:

It was another great visit with family. Now my mom and I have two weeks to recoup before my sister Annette and her family visit from New York. It's going to be a busy two weeks for us with lots of appointments and places to go, so I hope they go quickly!