Look Who’s Home for The Holidays!

The magic of Christmas really isn’t about presents and shopping, it’s about the things you do and the people you do it with.  In our family we are blessed with a closeness and a zest for adventure that could make any season bright and merry, but the holidays around here are even more so.  This is especially true now that Ryan has come back to visit. 

As with last year, it started off with a letter to Santa asking him to send our Magic Elf Ryan for a visit and shortly thereafter he arrived at our front door.  Specifically, he was hiding out in the milk delivery bin, just like last year.  Let me tell you, it was a whole lot more exciting to wake up to find Ryan than it is to find our weekly grocery order {which can also be quite exciting, depending on the day and the delivery} and the look on my daughter’s face was priceless when she realized he was back to stay with us.

We took our exhausted elf inside, still bundled for the cold and worn out from his long journey from the North Pole, and brought in his snowshoes {a gift from us last year} and his SnowCase from his travels.  We got him all set up in his room so he could get some rest and helped unpack his trunk.  Clearly remembering that all we had last year was pink accessories and clothing, this year he knew better than to arrive empty handed so he had packed a bag for his stay.  We were thrilled to find that not only did he pack some clothing and gear for himself, he also brought along a mini elf named Eric to play with!

Ryan was so tired from his trip that he slept through the entire room setup and didn't even notice that we had gotten him a few special treats here at our house {like the huge, comfy chair and the handmade blue quilt}, but I'm sure he was thrilled when he did wake up.  He left a note that said "it's not PINK!" and we all had a laugh.  He was not thrilled, however, that as a joke we hid his mini elf, Eric, in the pink canopy bed.

Although Ryan’s been here a few days and has tried his best to acclimate after his long journey, he’s still incredibly sleepy and has mostly spent the days napping in his room, lounging in our dollhouse, and snuggling, which the kids don’t mind a bit.  He comes out of his room when he hears a lot of excitement, but then usually falls asleep quickly in the middle of whatever they are playing, which can be pretty funny to see him fast asleep surrounded by dolls and blocks.

Of course, he doesn’t sleep all the time, just most of the daylight hours.  It seems like as soon as we turn out the lights Ryan gets a burst of energy and can be heard moving around downstairs and getting into mischief {or Elfcapades, as we call them}.  We’ll come down in the morning to find he’s emptied out the entire drawer of board books and read them all, been “snowshoeing” across the dining room table, or fallen asleep in the branches of the Christmas tree with his mini elf, Eric. 

He also gets hungry at night so we often come down to find he’s helped himself to crackers and ice water during the night.  Thank goodness he’s learned to clean up after himself after that first night when he left a trail that took three of us to clean up.

I can’t tell you how much fun Ryan is to have around.  Now that we’ve all bonded and he’s truly part of the family, I really can’t imagine celebrating the holidays without him.  It’s fun to add silliness and mischief into our holiday traditions and we all look forward to his silly Elfcapades each day.  

If you would like to start a wonderful family tradition for the holiday season, you can check out Elf-Magic.com and see all about how to send Santa a letter requesting your own boy or girl Elf-Magic Elf visit you this holiday season!  You can also click on the Elfcapades tab and see what kinds of adventures other families have had with their elves!

Connect with Elf-Magic on Facebook and Twitter and see great stories of Elf-Magic elves all over the world!

A big thank you to Santa for answering my daughter's letter and sending Ryan the elf again this holiday season.  He will be a welcome addition to our family each and every year!