Elf on the Shelf

This year was our first year to have an Elf on the Shelf.  I'd been wanting to get an elf for the past few years, and decided that I HAD to when Carson came home from school last year asking why we didn't have an elf because "everyone else in my class does".  About mid-October we received a box from Grandma Larsen and it had an Elf on the Shelf in it!  The boys were so excited and we immediately pulled out the book that came with him and read it.  I noticed the copyright on the book was 2005, so I guess that we were super slow in jumping on the Elf bandwagon! I hadn't even heard of them until about three years ago.

When our Elf arrived, he made a mess of our tree decorations! We soon named him Ernest, and he had some fun adventures while in our home. He played with the boys' toys, brought back letters from Santa, got into Christmas treats, wished Mason a happy birthday, and when it was time to leave he left a sappy letter for the boys telling them to be good all year long.  I was surprised at how attached the boys got to him and Carson had a hard time when he left. We can't wait for him to come again next year!