What I was Given this Christmas

brought tears to my eyes. It was not wrapped with bows and tucked under our tree with my name on a tag, yet it was wrapped with joy and the memory is now tucked dearly in my heart. I had the pleasure of seeing Grandma meet her great grand babies for the first time on Christmas Sunday morning during service at her own church. She had mentioned repeatedly how much it meant to have us worshiping with her at her church.

She lives six hours ( or so Google says) away from us in California. We drove halfway down Saturday night and stayed at an Air Force Base so that we would be able to wake up, drive a few hours and worship with her and God's people Sunday morning.

M is such an affectionate little one. We told her this was another grandma, and she was thrilled to be with her. When we had left for the day, M said, "She is a new Grandma Ajji." It made me smile that she was thinking of her other great grandmother that she had been able to visit with while we crossed the country.

After church supper, we drove a few minutes to Signal Hill. The view was a treat for Grandma just as much as it was for us because although she lived a few minutes away she had never been there.

It was an exceptionally clear view for the Los Angles area.

Being a few hours south of home, we noticed and enjoyed seeing many more palm trees.

Beautiful! This was no white Christmas, but it was gorgeous!

Monday afternoon Grandma suggested we check out one of her favorite diners in town.

Another tree ~ another picture

After lunch, we enjoyed a stroll on the beach of Long Beach.

There are a sparse number of sights that are more wonderful in my eyes than seeing my husband bjorning our daughter.

 

On the beach was a wide sidewalk. It was a pleasure to walk on solid ground and be sand free while enjoying the sights, sound, and smell of the ocean. 

The oil rigs are designed to look like highrises.

This is the only Lone Sailor Memorial to be placed overlooking the ocean. This spot meant a lot to Grandma~ and there she was with her very own sailor.

 

We had a wonderful time with her, and I am pretty sure she loved being with us. We brought her little gifts and trinkets, yet our main gift was framing pictures of all six her great grand babies up on the wall. I usually take forever to get pictures printed, framed, and on our walls, yet I picked up my pace  for grandma as I was able to put pictures on her walls which we took that same day.  Presently, I walk the earth in a body that is twenty-five and a face that thinks it is sixteen again, but I often feel that I have a mind of an eighty year old. I know that in a heartbeat of life I will be that woman wishing and hoping to see my family's families. I can imagine the joy of meeting my M's grand babies for the first time. And seeing that joy first hand this Christmas morning was a tearful joyful experience.