Christmas...

I know that every family has their own traditions and symbols of Christmas. We all bring out our decorations every year and get ourselves in the spirit of the holidays. At our house, we LOVE the holidays and decorating. We smile and get giddy at the though of brining up our decorations from the basement. We barely make it through Thanksgiving before the kids are singing carols and begging us to get a tree. More then anything we have one item in our Christmas goodies that officially signifies that Santa is on his way. Our elf...


This elf has been in my family for a very long time. I have been told he has been around at least 40 years. He was given to me by my Mema years ago when I was about 10 years old. I have so many memories of seeing this elf at my grandparents house. He was always very special to me and finally one year, Mema said I could take him home to my house. She had another one that she kept with her. So for years he participated in Christmas at my parents house. Then, once I got married and moved away, mom sent him to me and he became part of my Christmas traditions with Travis. Now that we have the kids, I get to partake in the joy of sharing his magic with them. Each night after we go to bed he comes to life with the help of Christmas Magic and protects our decorations and present. He also reports back to Santa on how well we are all behaving. He has been so devoted to our family for so many years and I love the idea that he will be with us for so many years to come. Some day I will share him with my grandchildren too! So in our house, Christmas is only official once our elf begins his month long task of watching over us until Christmas Day. Then we can begin our "Countdown to Christmas"!!