Christmas rolled around again in Florida (and elsewhere). It was time to decorate our family homes indoors and out. My brother-in-law, Danny, put up this spectacular neon Santa. It was crafted by Joe Feldman, founder of Feldman Signs, where Danny began his sign career. Later, he became partners in the company with co-worker (and Joe's son) Mark Feldman upon Joe's retirement. Somehow, the Smithsonian Institute learned of this neon Santa and asked if they could have it to display in one of their museums in Washington, DC. Joe said, "no" — so Danny continued to display it every Florida Christmas thereafter.

Folks who live up north (as I did in those days) are not fully aware that not everyone has snow at Christmastime. In fact, it can be quite warm as my niece, Lauren demonstrates as she blows bubbles in the wind.

My nephew, Matt, is trying to match his big sister but doesn't quite seem to have the hang of it yet. Keep trying, buddy.

Our family was very much into the personalization of our Christmas trees. We often made our own ornaments, received some as handmade gifts and, at other times, we purchased ones with a particular significance — such as Snoopy riding on a cable car in San Francisco.

And of course, with the arrival of the holidays, we would bring the boxes to unpack the ornaments then appreciate them all over again as if we were seeing them for the first time. This ornament takes me back to the earliest Christmases I can remember. It always was displayed in a prominent place on the front of the tree.

This one is an example of one that was handmade by a family member. Those are always very special.

Meanwhile, out on the patio, my sister, Janie, and brother-in-law, Danny, were playing a board game. Her expression suggests that either Danny won or was cheating — maybe both.

Inside, baby sister, Lisa was enjoying conversation, stories, and jokes with other family members.

Maybe Lisa was chatting with mom, who was always up for a good conversation.

Outside, our dad was out checking on his keikis. By the way, did you know that in horticulture, a keiki (/ˈkeɪkiː/ KAY-kee) is a plant produced asexually by an orchid plant, especially Dendrobium, Epidendrum (sensu lato), and Phalaenopsis orchids? The baby plant is an exact clone of the mother plant, sometimes flowering while still attached to the mother. The word "keiki" is Hawaiian for "baby" or "child", literally "the little one".

A close-up of one of his keikis.

I'm not sure of this one, perhaps a Cymbidium.

With help from the Bing app "Name That Plant", this a Cattlianthe.

And this is a Cattleya. Beautiful.