It's finally here!!!

It's the day we've been counting down to...

CHRISTMAS!!!

...I can't believe it's finally here!!!

For me it's been a crazy 24 hours.  There has been so much to do.

Before I could tend to my family obligations, I needed to finish up my elf responsibilities.  All the toys were made. I double checked the naughty/nice list, and last, I labeled and packed the gifts for Santa's sleigh.

As one of the directors in the Minneapolis division, another responsibility that I have is to coordinate the delivery route for Santa.  When Santa reaches the Minneapolis division, he comes to our workshop to not only pick up the toys, but also to pick up one of the directors in the Minneapolis division to help guide him through our city.  It was my turn this year.

Since Santa needs to make sure he isn't seen during his delivery, us elves will go into each house with him to keep guard.  Technically the children are not supposed to see Santa or the elves, but in necessary situations, an elf can reveal themselves to keep the child from seeing Santa.

I'm really good at my job, so I've never had to reveal myself to a child.  This year though, this adorable little guy snuck up on me and I didn't have enough time to warn the big guy, so I had to scoop him up and reveal myself.

Luckily I distracted him long enough that Santa was able

to finish delivering his gifts without being seen.

Outside of that one encounter, we had a successful night delivering gifts to all the good children in the Minneapolis division.  Once Santa dropped me back off at the workshop, my elf duties were completely finished until next November.

With my elf duties out of the way, I locked up the workshop for the year and headed home. To say I was tired would be an understatement.  I probably could have slept for the next 5 days, but Reilly woke me up at 700am, eager to go see what Santa left him in his stocking.

He was beyond excited to see what Santa had left him in his stocking.

After checking to see what Santa had left for us, I always make Reilly a special Christmas breakfast.

Click here to see the video on YouTube.

I hope you have had as much fun following my antics as I have had creating holiday antics.  They say that you should save the best for last, so as we close the chapter on Christmas 2012, I leave you with this.

Click here to see the video on YouTube.

While this holiday season is over, let's not forget that there are a lot of holidays between now and next Christmas.  Chances are that the antics will continue periodically throughout the year, so make sure to Follow By Email*.

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