G-EE-MA and TAY-DEN

Part of the excitement of last week involved us preparing our home for a VERY special visitor! G-EE-MA was headed south to the Rock to visit the Cox Fam and we could not have been more excited! G-EE-MA or Grandma as she is known by her own six grandchildren is Justin's Grandma on his Dad's side... so for all you faithful followers out there it's Bop's Momma! G-EE-MA lives way up in north Texas, very near Sherman on a great piece of land that hosts its' very own fishing pond that Justin and his buddies used to frequent often in high school. In fact, it has never been determined if all of those trips up to Grandma's were actually all about the fishing or MORE about Grandma's FAMOUS Graham Cracker Chews... they are OH SO YUMMY! And yes I have the recipe...BUT you know what they say... there is just nothing that can top the way a Grandma does it!

Shamefully, we had not seen Grandma since Caden's very first Easter... and I think things have changed a bit since then, don't you...

So you can imagine how excited we were to host Grandma for the night and get to spend some time showing off our BIG, GROWING boy. ALL week Caden was gearing up for Grandma's visit. We looked at her picture often and talked about all of the things we would show her... although Grandma hasn't really missed a beat... she is one of our MOST FAITHFUL blog followers. In fact, she says she reads every word of every blog... now y'all know that takes some serious commitment! I don't think anyone else can claim that but Justin! And truthfully... I can get a bit wordy... so there is NO SHAME in skimming Sunny Side-Up... I get it!

So Friday was the BIG day... I kept telling Caden, "After your nap, Grandma will be here!!" And he would say, "G-EE-MA? Here? At Tayden's home?" It was almost too good to be true! But alas, she and Nana pulled up not long after he woke up from his nap... just in time for some fun in the backyard before dinner!

Caden was ready to perform and did ALL of his best tricks for G-EE-MA, including having a family sing-along in the backyard! The BIG hit of the night was Old McDonald... one of Caden's newest favorites! He also showed off his soccer skills, his fearlessness on the swing and how he has an overall delight for the outdoors which he and Grandma have in common! At the ripe old age of 35 Grandma is STILL mowing her own lawn... which is no suburban landscape... it's about 10-12 acres of serious mowing! But she loves the outdoors and thinks it is one of the BEST ways to sing, think, pray, etc.

Saturday morning Caden and Grandma decided to eat a little pre-breakfast together while we were waiting for the MAIN course to finish baking! I am not quite sure what they talked about, but I can assure you that Caden would be a smart boy to listen to the wisdom of G-EE-MA... she's one smart lady!

Then after breakfast, Caden thought he'd take the opportunity to serenade his sweet Grandma with a little music on his Elmo Guitar! Turns out, G-EE-MA is pretty good at the guitar too and she knows ALL of our favorite songs... so once again... FAMILY sing along time on the couch!! Caden, Mommy and G-EE-MA! What fun!

Later that morning Caden had to part with G-EE-MA for just a bit so she could celebrate the coming of her second great-grandchild... Miss Kaki-pants! And I'll have more pics and fun stories to tell about that gathering too... but I wanted this post to be ALL about G-EE-MA!

We enjoyed having you in our home SO very much, Grandma! Thank you for making the effort to drive ALL THE WAY down here to visit with us and celebrate Kaki. It meant the world to us that you came! Next time the trip is on us...

We love you G-EE-MA!!