Thoughtful Family Gifts

18. Buy something thoughtful for each of my immediate family members (not necessarily a birthday or Christmas gift).

Mom: Framed photographs

I saw the idea of re-creating childhood photos on Facebook in March and knew that it was the perfect Mother's Day gift for my mom.  Luckily, my younger brother was willing to help me out with this.  It took about a month for me to gather the correct clothing and accessories that we would need.  Once we had everything we needed, we distracted my mom and my dad, brother, and I spent the better part of two hours re-creating a few photos in the home I grew up in.  

When my mom opened the framed photos on Mother's Day, she was speechless.  She had never heard of the idea before and absolutely loved what we had done.

Steven: First flight 

My brother made it 24 years without flying on an airplane.  For his 25th birthday, I surprised him with his first plane ticket.  We took a trip to Denver in September, which is described in an earlier blog post.  I think his first flight will be something that he remembers for a long time.

Dad: Antiques

My dad is always the most difficult person for me to shop for.  He hates spending money on himself and doesn't particularly enjoy others buying him expensive things.  I usually get him a gift card to Home Depot or Best Buy, but I wanted to do something different this year for his Christmas gift.  

My dad has a small collection of antique tricycles that he displays on a shelf in my parents' home.  I found a small tricycle that I thought would be a nice addition to his collection on eBay.  

I wound up buying one that blended right in with the ones he already owned, which worked out perfectly.

The second item I found for my dad was an advertisement for a 1927 Studebaker.  My dad has a 1927 Studebaker in his garage, so I was very excited when I found this.  Thank goodness for eBay.  

Although the advertisement is for a slightly different model than the car my dad owns, he was still surprised and excited to receive the advertisement.


Note: Learning how to take better pictures is still an item I need to cross off of my list.  I didn't notice how crooked most of the pictures were.  Oops!

Items completed: 31