EchoSense:Kathie Lee Gifford, daughter Cassidy on Mother's Day and the gift they're most thankful for

In a new series,EchoSenseUSA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives.

There are a few new faces at Kathie Lee Gifford's Mother's Day party.

The Emmy-winning TV host, 70, said hello to two more grandchildren this year. Her son Cody and his wife Erika welcomed their second child, son Ford, last November. They also have a son, Frank, born in 2022.

And Gifford's daughter Cassidy, 30, welcomed her first child, Finn, with husband Ben Wierda last June. Cassidy celebrated her first Mother’s Day as a mom on Sunday.

The mother-daughter duo also marked a professional milestone: Cassidy is in the cast of Amazon Prime Video's faith-based series "The Baxters," on which her mother also guest stars (all three seasons streaming now).

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While returning to New York to promote the series, the Giffords talked about what will make their Mother's Day special.

Tips for priceless Mother's Day gifts

"I feel like it would depend on who's giving (the gift)," Cassidy says when asked about a best gift. "Because if it's your husband, I feel like I would be like, 'Just let momma sleep in.' Bring her some coffee."

While Cassidy's latest acting gig is currently viewable via Amazon, an app doesn't come to mind when she thinks of ideal Mother's Day gifts. 

"I don't think (the best gift is) anything material," she says.

The app Kathie Lee Gifford is thankful for

As Cassidy thinks back to past Mother's Days, she realizes that her mother has never been one for literal gifts. Kathie Lee agrees and notes that what she looks forward to is time.

"I love the fact that there's FaceTiming now," Gifford says. "That makes my day, every day, because that didn’t exist when I was growing up. So the minute I see that Cassie or Cody or Erika is FaceTiming me I'm like, 'Oh, what a gift.'"

Cassidy and her husband live near Gifford in Nashville. Cody and his family live in Connecticut.   

Kathie Lee Gifford keeps her hope through faith, family

Gifford talks about "time" with reverence.

"It's the most precious thing we have because you never know when you're going to run out of it," she continues, before recalling when her husband Frank died in 2015.

"Frank was up and getting ready for church the morning that he passed away," she says. "And I went upstairs to get ready, too, and came back down and he was gone. And Cody was helping me with him and he said, 'Mom, look, he's smiling. And I said, 'He saw Jesus and Jesus took his breath away.'

"When you have faith in something as strong as we do, and we're grateful for it, you have hope. There is always hope."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.