Eden 10 Months

Edie is 10 months old.  Time sure flies when kids are little!  Edie popped a tooth just after she turned 9 months so she is up to 4 teeth.  She has a 5th one coming soon.  She had a few big moments this month.  She and I went to St. Louis and she won over a lot of hearts there.  She also starting scooting around a week ago.  She will now army crawl to toys that she wants to explore.  She won't army crawl to me so I just pick her up.  She is making progress though.  She continues to be mellow and happy.  I know she is awake from her naps when I hear thumping sounds coming from her bed.  She usually just plays with the blankets in her bed while she waits for someone to come in to her.  It is so nice to have a patient baby that isn't demanding, especially when it's the 5th child!

We sure love her.  I love how she is partial to me.  She is always a little sad when I'm gone and she loves it when I come home or walk into the room.  I just wish she could stay small a little while longer.  I have started bathing her with Lincoln and Annika and she likes that.  I think they entertain her so she doesn't remember that she doesn't like bath time.  She must have had a growth spurt a few weeks ago because she was eating a lot and then suddenly she stopped eating big meals and is back to tiny meals again.

St. Louis Wedding

My mom got married at the end of July.  Joseph was able to take a few days off to watch the kids so Edie and I could sneak away to St. Louis.  I was so glad i was able to be there.  We were gone 5 days and it was a nice little break from my normal routine.  The best part of the trip was seeing family...not only my sisters, but my extended family, too.  I really think I have the best family.  I haven't seen my uncles and grandparents for 5 years, but it's always so fun when the Zimmerman family gets together.  My dad's brother, Paul, was also at the wedding.  He showed up to surprise my mom.  It was good to see him too because it had been a really long time since we had last seen each other.

I arrived Thursday evening and my mom wasted no time putting me to work!  I think that night I frosted 3 cakes.  Friday I frosted another 3 and went to the store for my mom.  I was glad to help.  I figured it was only fitting since my mom did so much when I got married.  Friday evening we had a family dinner at the church.  My mom married David Chase and he has 5 boys.   All of David's sons were able to be in town for the wedding and most of them were able to come with their families, too.  There were a lot of us so that is why we went to the church to eat and visit. 

The wedding was Saturday.  The actual wedding was short, but really touching.  The bishop who performed the ceremony said some really special words that touched my heart.  I think most of us were moved by his words.

My mom's friend, Linda, with some helpers from church did a 

beautiful job decorating the cultural hall.

With Grandma and Grandpa Zimmerman.  

I love my grandparents!!  My grandpa is 95 and I have to admit that he is starting to get old.  I was glad I could visit with him and Grandma.  I personally think my grandparents look great for their ages.  My grandma is in her upper 80s and is beautiful!!  I hope my skin looks as good as Grandma's skin when I'm 88!

Johnson Girls.  

We have always been "the Johnson girls".  I was so happy so many of us could be together.  We missed Kristin, a lot, but I hope we can pull off a Sisters Retreat in a few years.  

Hint, hint.

The bride with the mother and father of the bride!

Edie was my travel buddy.  She was so good while we were gone.  

My mom made all of the cakes for the wedding and Miriam and I frosted them.  My mom wanted to make sure that the cakes tasted good and not just look good so she opted to make them.  I am not ashamed to say that I tried all of the cakes!  Heather and I shared small slices from all of them.  I know 7 cakes are pictured, but there were only 4 cake flavors...red velvet, chocolate, yellow and carrot.  My favorite was chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting.  

Heather and I were bffs while I visited.  Chandra and I took over my mom's roll as Heather's caretakers.  It took two of us to do what my mom does by herself.  The three of us had fun.

Four generation picture!  I have a picture like this with Kimball when he was 8 months old and now Edie at 9 months.  They are the only Coffey grandkids to have actually met Grandma and Grandpa.

i think she's beautiful even when she is wearing a bib that says:  "BOY".  Oops!

These last 4 pictures are of the cousins.  The entire Leigh family was able to be in St. Louis and it was fun to see how they have grown!

Christian is so sweet and so smart.  He is like a walking dictionary.  He would walk into a room and start saying the names of everything he knew.  It was a hoot!

Kate and Edie were good buddies.  

I was so, so glad Joseph could take time off work so I could make the trip.  It meant so much to me to be there to see Mom and David get married and to spend time with family.  Joseph and the kids had a different outing every day.  Even though the kids said they missed me Joseph kept them busy. 

NY Vacation--Hiking

The rest of our vacation involved camping in KOA cabins and visiting the New York History Museum. The kids and Joseph thought the camping was great fun!  There was a nice play ground at both campsites.  There were swimming pools as well so both activities were in high demand with my kids. While Joseph took everyone to play, Edie and I would make up the beds and then join in the "fun." Cabin camping is the most I'm willing to do and even then, I don't enjoy it.  I just don't see the appeal to sitting around a campfire, trying to cook outside, eating in a dirty environment, etc.  Maybe if we had better camping equipment we could eat things that aren't cooked over a fire, but I don't think I want to invest in the equipment to find out I still don't enjoy it.  i just tried not to think about how dirty my kids were, especially at meal times.  Edie and I would take walks through the camp.  It was interesting to see the different camping set ups that campers had.

Camping and Hiking

This was our tiny cabin.

Sand pit.

I thought this little tire swing horse was cute!

Lincoln and Annika are evenly matched when it comes to the see-saw.

Any of my family recognize this book?  Rebecah LOVES it!

Our first night I wasn't feeling very well so Joseph and Kimball went on a hike that wasn't toddler friendly while I put the little ones to bed.  Rebecah and I then hung out on the porch swing until the men got back and I could go to bed early.  I was disappointed to miss out on this hike after seeing the pretty waterfall pictures.  Joseph said it just wasn't possible with the little ones.  

We did do a hike the next day as a family. It was supposed to be a "short" 0.6 mile trail, but it was a little more involved than we realized.  We had to help the little ones more than we expected, but I think they still enjoyed the outing.  Everyone got a little hot and sweaty so that led to some complaining so I broke out the snacks that I packed to help boost morale!

This sweet girl got the "wounded warrior" award.  She is one tough redhead!  She was very independent on our hike and wouldn't agree to being carried unless there was just no way she could do it on her own.  She would fall down and just get back up and carry on with her little elbow swinging back and forth!  She was dirty and her legs were covered in scrapes and bruises, but she didn't complain!

We saw this little lake with the rocky cliff back ground as we were driving.  We turned around so we could explore it.  The water was really clean for being a lake.  We made note of the location for when we are in the Adirondacks in the future.  It was beautiful!

New York State History Museum

Our last stop on our trip was Albany to visit the New York State History Museum.  Kimball learned about this museum at school so he really wanted to visit.  We weren't able to stay very long, an hour and a half, because the little ones were tired, but it was fun to explore.

I think it's cute that they are petting this turtle!

It must be a 2 year old thing to put a magnifying glass right up to ones face.  

Here Lincoln and Annika are doing it...

...and here is a picture of 2 year old Kimball doing it at a park in Arkansas!  

Kimball learned a lot about the Native Americans in school this 

past year so he was excited to see those exhibits.

It was interesting to see the exhibit of 9/11. I would have liked to have read 

more of the display signs, but the little ones were tired.

I know I posted this picture in Edie's 9 month post, but it was when

 we were leaving the museum that I took the picture.  

We had a nice mini-vacation and hopefully we can continue to explore the beautiful state we live in over the years we live in New York.