Christmas Traditions: Old and New

We LOVE going to search for the perfect tree every year!  This year, we had to change our venue since Wilfong's is going out of business.  We traveled a bit farther and ended up at Eby Pine's.  We were not disappointed.  There were so many trees to choose from, a horse drawn wagon, and popcorn.  We also got to visit with Santa.  The kids BOTH did a great job talking to the jolly man in red and sitting on his lap!  Apparently Landon wants a race track that he saw on tv and Emmy wants something that Mommy has: a jewelry box (even though she already has a jewelry box! :)).

Our tree is behind Emmy

Our new Christmas tradition has to do with a little elf the kids named "Tricky".  He is an elf on the shelf and he watches the kids during the day.  Then, at night, he magically flies back to Santa to report what he's seen.  Each morning, then, he appears in a new spot.  The kids, especially Em, LOVE trying to find where Tricky is hiding each morning.  So far he's been in the Christmas tree, wreath, the lights, and in a packing box (see below).  We've really enjoyed seeing the kids' faces light up when they find the elf.  They're at a great age to REALLY believe in the magic of the season!  They've also had fun changing the numbers on the days till Christmas chart and adding something each day to our Advent calendar until we finally get to Jesus on the 25th.