so long Eli

have y’all been as “busy” as we have? its a good kind of busy though…lots of family time, lazy mornings of sleeping in and breakfasts of leftover cinnamons rolls and hot peppermint tea, outings to see the city all lit up with lights, the ice skating rink (yes…even in 80 degree Florida!), the mall, birthday celebrations. i’m getting very sad that its all coming to an end!

this is the first i’ve sat down to sort through photos…and boy…do i have a lot!

i’m just gonna cap off our time with Eli today, and then i’ll come back with the full Christmas rundown!
(if you are interested in having fun with an Elf in your own house, you can order one here:  The Elf on the Shelf

we enjoyed our last week with our little friend, and soaked in his last attempts to surprise us with his antics:





we woke up Christmas Eve to him studying some Scripture. he had out all kinds of translations of the Bible:and had highlighted the same verse in every one. he sweetly gave a us a great reminder of what exactly we were celebrating!:
later that night, the crazies said goodbye to Eli, knowing that Santa was coming to pick him up, and gave him one last “grace” talk:
and woke up the next morning to this:
Elf Donuts:
from the best i can tell, i think he covered cheerios with powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar, and then dipped the tops of a few in chocolate and covered them in sprinkles.
that funny little fellow!

Thank goodness for Pinterest, is all i can say!! it made our time with Eli very lively!!

hoping that he visits us again next Christmas. we shall wait and see!

happy New Year, crazies! hope y’all have very fun plans for the night. we are ringing it in with some dear friends, lots of food, and perhaps some impromptu break dancing and lyrical routines to Auld Lang Syne!!

be back next year :)