Hello!  I am almost recovered from my marathon weekend, and can't wait to start sharing some of the fun I've been having with all of you!  I've been itching to get back to writing for my blog, but between visitors and parties my time was wonderfully full.  First off, a big thank you to my mother for coming to visit. By visiting her oldest son in Cincinnati and her younger brother in Indiana before coming to my home, she was quite the traveler--almost a full month away from her home!  I think she was okay with that though--in addition to having a wonderful time with family members she doesn't get to see very often she also got to miss March in South Dakota--it's not the most pleasant month to live on the prairie!

As opposed to February in South Dakota:

or January...

And while I could start talking about some of the really nasty April blizzards I've encountered in South Dakota, I'll keep quiet on those and hope my mother doesn't experience one on her return home!!  I had five wonderful days with her, and as usual, we talked and talked and talked--family stories, books we've discovered, projects on our "lists" (mostly undone!), garden plans for this summer, and all the little moments of conversation that add up to a whole lot of love...years of companionship, friendship and enjoyment of each other.  I remember being snarky once (okay, well maybe twice..) to my Mom when I was a teenager, but I'm really not exaggerating when I say that we have an amazingly close relationship, very seldom marred by anger or disappointments.  Lucky me, right?!

And I'm even luckier that I got this great picture of the "three Elizabeths":  my mother, Eunice Elizabeth, me (Martha Elizabeth) and my daughter, Caitlin Elizabeth:

And I bet you are wondering what we did to fill those five days (besides drinking coffee and chatting a mile a minute)?  There is a partial hint behind us in the picture, but that story is for another day.  Today, I'm just happy that I was blessed with another visit from my mom, that all my kids were home to celebrate special birthdays last weekend, as well as celebrating the imminent arrival of my first grandchild!  

As I left for work yesterday morning, my husband was preparing to take Mother to the airport.  It was hard to say goodbye and as I backed out of the driveway I couldn't help but think of all the times I would come home for a visit and as I left I would see Mother waving from the front door.  I looked back at the house, and sure enough, there she was, waving goodbye from my kitchen window.  Let's not say good-bye, Mom, let's just say see you later, okay?