that brown house

to share a bit of our holiday cheer with you on this rainy (to which mom retorts with a chuckle, “i thought it wasn’t supposed to rain in california!”) christmas eve, here is a snapshot of our tree:

also, i received a lovely christmas surprise yesterday! a neighbor from the house in maryland that i grew up in (who moved away before my parents did, but always kept in touch with them) sent me a package containing three angel figurines that used to belong to my grandmother! according to her note, she and her late husband purchased them from a yard sale my parents & grandmother had years ago. my family is *very* into christmas decorations, if they hadn’t purged occasionally my parents would have needed a second house just for the tree ornaments! anyway, i grew up spending many merry christmas celebrations with these neighbors, who treated me like an additional granddaughter, and was delighted to see the angel trio again (though i remember the angels more from their home than from my grandmother’s). here’s a close-up of one of the angels on our mantle:

from that brown house to your house…

merry christmas!!!