Lorey The Elf 2012

December is such a magical month!  And one "person" that makes it so magical is our little friend, Lorey The Elf.

He dropped in on December 1st with a note rolled up in his arm...

and left his first 2 M&Ms in our advent house.

The kids kept going to check on him...

and were so excited to find him each morning - sometimes, with gifts!

(on the 4th, he strung some lights in the kids' bathroom)

(and on the 5th, he left a pile of our Christmas books all wrapped up and numbered so we could open one each day)

(On the 9th he brought this advent calendar...

 and was clutching baby Jesus in his arm.

Emily asked him to release Jesus...

and he did when no one was watching.)

(On the 10th, he hid up high, away from our cleaning crew...

and because Lauris is an adult, he just couldn't spot him - No matter how many times Emily pointed Lorey out and how carefully explained where he was.)

(the kids enjoyed their M&Ms each day)

(and looked forward to opening their daily book)

(On the 18th, he hung up all of Emily's Cinderella lithographs to decorate her "house" in the playroom and invited all of her Cinderella dolls, etc. to join him in the kitchen.)

On our last morning, Christmas Eve, we found him on the hearth with Barbie.

after the long year of toy making and the month of flying back and forth to the North Pole, he was certainly letting us know that he was ready for a tropical vacation!

Lorey, you are silly...

and we love you.  Can't wait to see you again next year!!