Today was our last day in Miami. We began the day with some relaxing time in front of my mom's Christmas tree, did some last minute shopping and house hunting for my brother and ended the day with a wonderful dinner. I love my family and the times we get to spend in Miami and it's always so hard to leave. The only thing that makes it easy is knowing that our three lovely kitties can't wait for us to come home.
A few pictures of my mom's tree. It's my favorite kind of tree for a few reasons. One - it's real. In my house we have an artificial one and while I know that it's the best choice for us on so many levels - I do still love a real tree. Two - it's decorated with family ornaments. My mom's tree is like a time capsule of our lives. My baby ornament, my brother's baby ornament, the ornaments we made in preschool and a series of gifts over the years. It also has some amazing handmade ornaments from family members who passed away years ago.
Check out this shot
The egg shaped ornament to the left of the middle was made by Lucille Stelle more than 30 years ago. How cool is that?
The blue and silver one in the bottom left corner were hand painted by our then neighbor and still friend Sonja Nikel. They were a gift at least 15 years ago, because it has been that long since she moved away.
Here's another view:
The white glass ball towards just right of the top middle is part of a set. 6 red, white and blue ornaments my mom purchased in 2001. Her way of showing love for our country during a really difficult year.
At the top right corner you can see two ornaments. The one in the back is a glass ball from Disney World. It's from a family trip in 2000. Every time I see it I remember that really fun time. My brother and I were still in college, it seems like so many lives ago!
Just in front of it is an crocheted bootie that has been around longer than I have been. To the left is a small apple. Those were Christmas gifts from Bony - my mom's friend from before I came along. She gave one to each of us of in the mid 80's.
The front middle ornament was a gift to me in high school when I was playing cello. Just below it to the the left is one of the newest ornaments - initials that my mom gave each of us on Christmas morning this year. The G is for my dad.
How about another view?
The red sparkley glass ball to the left of the center was a gift from me in 2002. I made ornaments for people that year using glitter and handmade decorations. The words on the papers didn't last, but the glitter did!
You can see another momento of a Disney vacation in 2002 to the right of the center.
This is another new ornament this year - from our Christmas trip to Disney. It was my families first time seeing the Candlelight Processional at Epcot and my mom wanted something to remember it with.
After some errands, we went house hunting with my brother. He's been looking into buying his first place and every week he and my dad check out a few places. While we were hunting, we stopped by a house that a family friend of ours hopes to close on soon. It will need a lot of work - but she's up to it. It's a mess right now and apparently some kids have been using it as a dumping grounds for toys. We found this in the front yard.
Afterwards we regrouped at home. Since it was our last night, we took some family photos.
How cute are these two?
One more
And then we enjoyed a fantastic family dinner.
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