Visit from the Coffeys

The day after my sister Miriam and her family left to go home my sister Annette and her two kids came to stay with us. Annette's family moved from Russellville, Arkansas to Syracuse, New York last fall (making them a long 15 hour drive away from us instead of an easy seven hour drive). That means that now instead of Annette's family being able to visit a few times a year, they'll only be able to visit once in the summer.

I was still recovering from being sick the first few days Annette was here, but I fortunately started feeling better a few later. We had so much fun together! We didn't really do anything over the top or super exciting, but we had lots of fun hanging out, talking, playing games, etc. Here are some of the highlights from Annette's visit:

Ice Cream: One of the things we did with Annette was make homemade ice cream. Last year when Annette was in the market for a KitchenAid mixer I helped her find one online. I found a really good deal on a 6-quart mixer, and I even managed to get her a free ice cream bowl attachment (one of the extra things you can buy to go with KitchenAid mixers). The ice cream bowls usually sell for $75 and I knew Annette would never pay so much for something she would use so seldomly, so I'm glad I was able to find a mixer that came with a rebate for a free ice cream bowl attachment.

She decided to bring the ice cream bowl with her when she visited so that we could try it out with our mom's KitchenAid. We decided to make chocolate ice cream and we put cut up chocolate pieces in it. We all agreed that it was THE BEST homemade ice cream we've ever had (although, we thought that shaved chocolate would be better than cut pieces). I don't know about you, but I don't like having to chew up little frozen pieces of chocolate when I'm eating ice cream. The ice cream bowl attachment was so easy to use and I'm seriously tempted to buy one for my mom's KitchenAid mixer so that we can make ice cream for special occasions, like when family comes to visit.

I almost forgot to get a picture of the ice cream, so it was partially eaten and starting to melt, but I think it still looks pretty tasty!

Hair: Chandra gave Rebecah dutch-braided pigtails one afternoon. She was so proud of them and was excited that her hair was wavy after the braids came out.

Shopping: We went to the mall to do some shopping while Annette was here. She doesn't really enjoy shopping, but thought it would be fun if we could go together since it's always nice to have the input of a trusted sister/friend when you're shopping for new clothes. :) We went to New York & Company, my favorite store that I've converted Annette to recently. We weren't as successful as I'd hoped we'd be, but at least we didn't come away empty-handed. All of the pants were "buy one get one free" so I insisted that Annette get a pair of pants (for free) since I bought a pair of pants and didn't want/need another. She also got a really cute shirt. Everything we bought was on sale and I had a coupon for $40 off of a $90 purchase, so we came away with two pairs of pants, three sweaters and a necklace for $130. Not bad when you consider it would've cost $275 if we'd paid full price for everything. (I love getting a good deal!)

Yahtzee: Annette recently got an iPad and she downloaded a Yahtzee app. I've always loved the game Yahtzee, so we had fun playing it on the iPad several times during her visit. One afternoon while Mom and Annette were fixing dinner, Kimball and I played Yahtzee together. Whenever we played Yahtzee as kids and would attempt a Yahtzee (rolling five dice of the same number in three rolls) we would say, "scratch Yahtzee" if we failed to get it (meaning we would take a zero for our score if we didn't get a Yahtzee). Well, when I was playing with Kimball and didn't get a Yahtzee I told him to scratch Yahtzee. He's never heard that phrase before and didn't know I meant by it and proceeded to actually scratch the word "Yahtzee" on the iPad screen. I don't know if this story will make sense to those reading it, but it was hilarious that he took my instructions so literally.

K'nex: When I was a kid one Christmas the thing I wanted the most was K'nex (colorful pieces you can use to make creations with, similar to Legos, except better, in my opinion). I did get K'nex for Christmas that year and loved them. We still have them and they still get a lot of use from my nephews and other little boys that play at our house. (Little girls like to play with them, too, but boys seem to be more excited by them.) Kimball is very good at building things with K'nex/Legos and was constantly amazing us with his ability to follow the instructions (which can be quite difficult/complex).

Family Afternoon

My sister Annette and her family also came to town a few weeks ago and their visit happened to coincide with our sister Miriam's visit. Annette was in town for two weeks and stayed with her husband's family for the first week. That worked well since Miriam's family stayed here with my mom and me and there wouldn't have been enough room for everyone to stay here at the same time.

It's always great when several of the siblings in my family can spend time together, since we have precious few opportunities to do so with most of us living so spread out from each other. I think this distance really makes most of us appreciate the times when we are able to spend family time together since it doesn't happen near as frequently as we would like. Annette and her family came down one afternoon when she and Miriam were both in town so we could all spend some time together as a family. It was too bad our sister Laura and her family couldn't hang out with us, especially since she only lives 40 minutes away. Hopefully they'll make it to the next family gathering, though, because we missed them.

My mom and I went to Mastodon State Park with Miriam's and Annette's families the afternoon Annette came down so that the kids could run around and play. It was a gorgeous day! The weather was unseasonably cool for mid-August, and there were several mornings when it was downright chilly! I'll take it, though, goosebumps and all!

We also took a walk on one of the trails in the park. The trails aren't paved, so we had to turn back after a while when the path turned to gravel because it was too rough. My buns were vibrating after we stopped moving since the terrain was so rough! The kids enjoyed our hike, so I'm glad we treaded into uncharted territory, even though it was bumpy.

Below is a picture of my brother-in-law, Gordon, and he provided the manpower that pushed me on our walk since Chandra (who usually pushes me) was at work. Also pictured below is my brother-in-law Joseph and nephew Kimball (complete with his walking stick!).

After we left the park we went to the cemetery for a while to say hi to Gramps. We just made a quick stop since the kids were getting hungry for lunch. I was glad we stopped, though, so that we could take a few pictures. They didn't turn out the best since the sun was shining in everyone's eyes, but they'll have to do. First is Miriam's family, next is Annette's family, third is both of their families together and last is Mom with Dad.

After lunch we took a few group pictures before Annette's family left for the day. Getting pictures of the cousins together is always a priority for me since they only see each other every few years. After we took a picture of the cousins Mom wanted a picture of her with her grandkids. Some of the kids weren't cooperating and didn't want to move, so Mom just laid down on top of them!

Next is a picture of Miriam's and Annette's families together, and finally a picture of the Lambs.

Science Center with the Lambs

When my sister Miriam visited we planned on going to the art museum, but when we got there we found out that it's closed on Mondays! I was really looking forward to going, so I was bummed since I'd psyched myself up for it. Oh well, hopefully I'll have the chance to go there sometime soon. We went for a plan B and decided to go to the St. Louis Science Center instead. It's a really fun place for kids, and it's handicapped accessible, so I'm glad that we were still able to do something fun so that the kids weren't terribly disappointed.

I've been to the Science Center several times before, but not since I was 18 or 19. I remember loving going there when I was a kid, but after going there this time I found myself thinking, "why did I think this place was so great when I was a kid?!" Maybe it's because I'm not a kid anymore, or because I'm paralyzed and the Science Center is a very hands-on place, but I was bored after not too long. Oh well, the important thing is that the kids had a good time. I enjoyed watching them explore and have fun.

The lighting in the science center is quite dim, so the pictures didn't turn out all that well.

When I was a kid I always enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs. I was slightly unimpressed this time. The dinosaurs seemed smaller than I remembered them being when I was younger. (It's kind of like when you go back to your old elementary school, and it looks so much smaller than it did when you were a kid.) 

All in all it was a fun day, and even though it wasn't my sort of thing I'm glad we could do something fun with the kids. Going to the art museum is definitely on my "to do" list and is something I hope to do in the not-too-distant future.

Visit from the Lambs

I've got a lot to catch up on. Things have been so busy with having company for two weeks, and then being sick for several days.

My oldest sister Miriam and her family came to visit a couple weeks ago. I haven't seen Miriam's family in two years, so it was wonderful to see them again. It was exciting to see my nieces because they've really grown a lot. I was especially excited to meet my niece Victoria for the first time. She was born in December 2011 and I hadn't met her before. Boy is she cute!

We took some pictures after church when they were here so that I could get a picture of me with each of my nieces. Victoria was taking a nap, so I unfortunately didn't get a picture with her. The first picture is of me and Miriam, and then the next pictures are of me with my nieces Kim, Michaela, Courtney, Samantha, and then a picture of me with all the girls (minus Victoria).

One of the things the girls always look forward to the most when they visit is having Chandra do their hair. She's amazing at braiding, and always give them the cutest hairdos. She gave Victoria the cutest french braided pigtails. I don't know how she managed to get all of that fine, wispy baby hair into a braid, but she did. I didn't get a picture of all of the girls with their braids, but here are Victoria, Samantha and Courtney:

I really enjoy spending time with Miriam's family, especially my nieces. They are amazing girls. I was so impressed with how helpful they are. They were always asking my mom what they could do to help. It was really sweet to watch Kim with Victoria. She was so good at taking care of her and could always make her happy when she got fussy. We also had fun playing games. We played Imaginiff just about every night which was lots of fun. The girls really enjoyed it.

The only bad thing about the Lamb's visit was that I got sick from some of the girls who were sick. I guess it's worth it, though! I'm hoping I'll be able to see Miriam's family next year. It's a long, expensive drive from Texas, though, hence the reason we haven't seen them in two years, It just makes me cherish the time that we do spend together.