Helf the Elf

James had an elf visit him from the North Pole this year.  I tried to name him “Helf,” but James chose “Elf.”   He spent every day of December with us, flying to the North Pole each night to report James’ behavior to Santa, then flying back before morning.  My goal was to take a picture each day, but I somehow missed about 10 days.

{I know he’s not in the last picture of our stockings, but he did land there a couple of times.}  Elf sometimes brought surprises.  He knew when Mammy and Papa were coming to visit.  He knew when we were going out of town.  He’d wake up wherever James was.  One night in Charleston, I found him catching up with his cousin Elves {and some random girl}.

But I guess he got his act together before morning.

James looked for Elf every morning, every time we came home, and throughout every day.  “Ellllllf, where are youuuuuu?”  or “Elf, where are ya?!”  He still asks for him.  He misses Elf.  But Elf is back at the North Pole now.

Elf has one rule.  You can’t touch him.  He will lose his magic if he’s touched.  Since James is so young, Elf usually landed in out of reach places.  Landings seemed a little boring at times, but I guess he thought he’d help implement the no-touch rule.  We made it through the entire month without James touching Elf once.  However, Papa immediately broke the rule, and James’ eyes about popped out of his head.

Don’t tell James, but before Elf flew back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, he got a little excited about Christmas.  I guess after all the hard work all year, Elves like to celebrate.

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication, Elf.  We look forward to many Decembers with you.  “Mommy, Daddy, Elf” and “Mommy, Elf, yeh-yed {Lynyrd}” will probably be said for months.  See you next year, Elf, and Merry Christmas!