Oh, Christmas Tree Revisited

Two years ago at this time, we were heading to Toledo to spend Christmas with my family.  I posted some pics from that visit here and here but after my mom passed away, I found a bunch more on my dad's camera.  I thought I'd get them posted now.  Audrey had just turned 1 a month earlier and my mom passed away 3 months later.  These are the last pictures I have of the two of them together.

My mom always had a supply of buckets, bowls and shovels for Audrey to play with and Audrey loved them!

Look how little Audrey's boots were compared to mine!

The squirrels in my parents' backyard are ridiculously friendly.

A visit from Aunt Dixie and Uncle Greg:

The sled my parents bought for her.  Audrey claims to remember sledding with Gammy.

Bill with Chloe the cat:

My mom's light up Santa giraffe.  Audrey didn't quiet know what to make of it.

"Audrey's Tree" - my mom decorated in entirely in non-breakable ornaments so Audrey could touch it if she wanted to.

The Little People nativity set my mom bought Audrey - it plays music!  My mom taught Audrey to kiss Baby Jesus.

My mom had also gotten a Christmas train set that plays Christmas carols for Audrey.  That's one thing I loved and miss about my mom - she was always so thoughtful of other people, especially Audrey.  She turned her guest room into a nursery and always made sure it was stocked with diapers, wipes, bib and spit cloths just so we wouldn't have to pack those items.  She even would try and get dolls, or items that showed girls on it, with brown hair so it would match Audrey's!  She wanted to make sure the girls looked like her instead of some blonde.  :)  While that might sound odd, if you think about it, it actually makes perfect sense.  Every child's world revolves around them so why shouldn't a brown haired girl have other items that show girls with brown hair?  No one else would think of something like that.  She was also the type to pay close attention year round and buy you Christmas gifts throughout the year of things you said you liked.  That Christmas I opened a beautiful glass vase and she said, it's the one you pointed to at the store in Iowa City when we walked passed.  That happened when we had Audrey baptised the June prior!  Seriously, no one I know is as thoughtful or detail oriented as she was.  She was so on top of EVERYTHING and I so, so miss that.  There's comfort in knowing that there's someone out there you can always rely on and who is so thoughtful and caring, you don't know where she finds the time and energy.  I definitely haven't mastered it yet but I hope that as I grow as a parent, I will become just like her and will always be paying 100% attention to everyone and everything.  I love you, Mom, and thank you for being so amazing!