Look who flew in for Christmas!
Mom/Grandma/Great Grandma/Great Great Grandma's here. It's time to celebrate!

December 16, 2016 - Friday

-4 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The small commuter jet taxied to the terminal twenty minutes early on Thursday afternoon. The steps were brought to the plane and soon the door swung open. Several passengers emerged then suddenly there was the pilot with a good looking gal on his arm.

Mom? Mother?!

Directly behind was the copilot toting Mom's carry on.

A representative from Delta Airlines was at the bottom of the steps with a wheelchair, but its intended passenger waved that away.

Mother, a few short months away from her 90th birthday, proudly walked across the tarmac in the sub zero temperatures and howling wind. Grandma's back for Christmas!

It wasn't long before we found ourselves at the Vision Center where Mom was once again greeted with hugs and welcomes. A few items were purchased at Walmart before we picked up a pizza and headed home.

Mom's biggest fan was waiting for her. Brutus didn't see her sitting in the car, but when she opened the car door and spoke, he almost jumped onto her lap. 

Mom and Brutus have been reunited and once again, all is well on Pentoga Road.

It appears there's no danger of not having white Christmas in the Upper Peninsula. This just flashed across my screen.

What the heck is this anyway, wintertime?

Niece Ashley sent some pictures of the girls. 

Our newest Milligan family addition, Piper, must be related to Ivy. She's one of the happiest little girls I've ever seen.

Big sister, Brielle, is every bit as happy and beautiful. Brielle's a gymnist and we expect to see her in the 2024 Olympics.

Speaking of little ones, Ivy, Great Grandma, Sargie, and I, all video conferenced last night. Ivy let her daddy, Andy, talk for a bit, but mostly my youngest granddaughter kept us entertained. She'll be one year old tomorrow.

I received an older year book of record giant pumpkins, written by Don Langevin, in yesterday's mail. It's a Who's Who of pumpkin growers and is extremely interesting to see how the breeding and growing methods have progressed since 1904.

The book is over ten years old and the current world champion is over a 1,000 pounds heavier than what was listed when published in 2003.

The best part of the book? Don autographed it to me!

Don also sent me some new giant pumpkin seeds from a different strain than I've been growing. I wish I could go out to the garden right now, claw away some snow, drill a hole, and plant a seed or two in the frozen ground. Yeah, right.

A word of warning. If you attempt to grow giant pumpkins, be sure to strap on your helmet. We giant pumpkin growers live life in the fast lane.

We watched movies on the Hallmark Channel last night while Sargie painted ornaments. She says she's going to begin wrapping presents today. 

While Grandma watched television, Brutus moved across the room to assist Sargie.

What's on the agenda for today? Who knows?Mom is up and we've been talking a mile a minute, sneaking a before-breakfast cookie and sipping coffee. We have about half of the world's problems solved and will probably need another cup of coffee before we can solve the other half.

With snow in the forecast, I need to bring the trailer up to the barn while I can. I'll use it to transport the ice shack to the lake next week.

Meanwhile, I think I'll pour Mom and me more coffee and we'll continue to share deep thoughts. They say the acorn never falls far from the tree and in our case, it's true.

Watch out Holly, I'm on a roll.
My newest holiday dessert creation: leftover German chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream and cranberries. 

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Piper