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his holiday season I’ve shared several fun, ornaments that adorn my Christmas tree like the paperclay reindeer, the softly stuffed stars as well as my regular feathered friends who fly in every year for the occasion.

In this, Day 23 of my 25 Days of Christmas series, I thought you’d enjoy a closer look at my most favorite tree ornament of all which happens to be a pair of snakeskin baby shoes.

Can you spot them on this tree? 

Now, these are obviously not a traditional ornament.

Still, I’ve used them on my tree for more than a decade now and there’s a pretty heartwarming story behind these sweet (and stylish) baby booties. 

The shoes were a gift to my son from a good friend and co-worker when Jordy was just a baby.

He wore them when I took him to the mall for his first-ever, formal holiday portrait when he was about 5 months old..

He’s cute as a little button in this picture, snakeskin baby booties and all.

When I got back to my car after the portrait session, I noticed one of the shoes was missing.

I spent an exhausted hour scouring my car, the baby stroller as well as the mall floor re-tracing my footsteps to find the missing shoe.

The search was all to no avail and I was totally bummed.

A few days later, the missing snakeskin shoe was still very much on my mind and I just couldn’t let it go.

So, I called the lost and found department at the mall despite the insistence from my husband, Boris that the shoe was lost forever and I was wasting my time with the phone call.

Then I described the shoe to the lost and found staffer, the voice on the other end of the phone had the most wonderful thing to say.. “Yes, ma’am, that baby shoe is here and you can pick it up anytime”. 

When I went to pick up the shoe the next day, the staffer told me the lady who found the shoe said she saw it fall off my baby’s foot but between my fast stroller and the holiday crowd, she couldn’t catch up with us.

The staffer told me the good Samaritan also said “this is such a precious little shoe, I just had to turn it in.  Any mom would surely want it back”. 

How fantastic is that?

Wouldn’t it be great if that good Samaritan stumbled upon this blog post somehow, recognized the snakeskin shoe and was reminded of her good deed all these years later?

So, that’s the tale of my favorite ornament.

These adorable snakeskin baby shoes have held a prominent position on my Christmas tree every single year ever since that first holiday baby portrait was snapped at the mall thirteen years ago.

They are a reminder of how kind strangers can be and they also help mark the years that pass all too quickly.

I just love seeing them hanging on my tree every year.

Of course, the owner of the baby shoes is a whole lot bigger now…

… and I think he’s still just cute as a button.

Day 23 down, 2 more days to go.

We’re getting so close to the end of my holiday series but I still have a little more to share.

If you missed any days in this series, here’s a look at:

Day 1|Day 2|Day 3|Day 4|Day 5|Day 6|Day 7|Day 8 |Day 9|Day 10 |Day 11|Day 12|Day 13|Day 14|Day 15|Day 16|Day 17|Day 18 |Day 19|Day 20|Day 21|Day 22

Hope you stop by again tomorrow (12/24) for Day 24 of my 25 Days of Christmas series where I’ll share 10 things I learned about putting this holiday blog series together.

See you then. ♥