Grandparents send cardboard cutouts to grandkids to take their place at Thanksgiving

A set of grandparents from Texas have found a safe solution to share the holidays with their family amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Missy and Barry Buchanan, lovingly known as Ama and Poppi, wanted to still be "present" for Thanksgiving dinner. So, Missy Buchanan ordered two 6-foot cardboard cutouts of her and her husband and mailed them to their four grandchildren.

"My daughter got hers first. She texted, 'Omg!' and called and said, 'This is the funniest thing we've ever seen,'" Buchanan told "Good Morning America," adding that the kids propped up the cutouts and took pictures.

"They were moving us to the chicken coop to the kitchen to the fireplace," she said.

Siblings Quintin, 12, Oliver, 10, and Clara, 6, received cutouts of Ama and Poppi at their home in Texas, and so did their cousin, Noah, 3, in California.

"My mom had told me that she was sending a large package for the Thanksgiving table," Noah's mom, Mindy Whittington, told "GMA." "I didn't think twice about it. I just assumed it was going to be a holiday decoration. We were just in stitches, we could not stop laughing. We were not expecting 6-foot cutouts of my parents."

Buchanan said the cutouts have relieved some pandemic stress for her and her loved ones.

"Family love is not going to change whether we're there or not," she added. "It's a reminder that there's still something to laugh about."

Buchanan said her cutouts will also be celebrating Christmas with her grandkids this year.