Christmas with Mom

What a great day this was! I had planned to have Mother over for lunch today and exchange Christmas gifts with her since she is now planning to be at my niece Bunny's Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. Mom went to church this morning and I told her to call when she got home.

Well, she called and shortly after that my brother Wayne called to tell me that his wife Bridget and her grandson Taylen were almost to Hopkinsville! They live in northern Indiana and were coming to bring Mother her Christmas gift. My brother has had surgery recently and is not able to travel yet. What a grand surprise! I, of course, expanded lunch to include them and we had a great visit. I know Mom was as happy to see them as I was. (Bridget IS my favorite sister-in-law) Of course, she is my ONLY sister-in-law, so that makes it easier :)

Taylen is an absolute wonder of a child! His birthday is on Christmas Eve and he will be 9 then. His manners are just impeccable and he is a loving and precious boy. I was just so glad to see them, even if only for a while. In this picture, he is helping Granny put her new bracelet on!
On to the living room so Granny could open her remaining gifts. She is somewhat child-like in that she thrills at the aspect of opening gifts. It is joyful to watch her. Lately it seems that she always has a scowl on her face, so it was wonderful to see her smile. Of course, Bridget and Taylen's visit alone improved on her attitude.

My daughter April called this evening. She is so conscientious and tries to call me at least once every day. I wish I had always been as thoughtful as she is. She and her husband Bruce were trying the caramel pie recipe I gave them and was calling to report progress. This is that silly recipe where you BOIL three unopened cans of Eagle Brand milk and then just open them and pour into a graham cracker pie crust. Well, THEIR cans tried to explode and got gooey caramel all over their cabinets! Almost hit Tristin (who is 6) as he was very close to the cans when they came out of the boiling water. Also, their 3 cans made WAY too much filling. Alas, I should have written it down for her (meaning I probably forgot some vital fact). Well, the pie was saved and Bruce can take it to his work tomorrow and have stories to tell about his silly mother-in-laws recipe.