At home with the Harpers: Holidays

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
I can't believe Christmas is over!! Well, it is TECHNICALLY over. We are still acting as if it is Christmas every day at my house. All of the lights are on and the Christmas tree is plugged in as soon as we walk downstairs. :) I do not know what I am going to do once we take all of the decorations down. Little E-man still "ooos and ahhs" over every little thing, EVERY time I plug things in, or light a candle, like it is the first time he has seen them. So sweet! I find myself getting sad, thinking of the holidays being over. I LOVE this time of year! So much thought and preparation goes into planning for the holidays. Not just the gift part... though that does take a lot of planning/effort/thought. I'm talking about the "magic" of the season. I remember Christmastime in my early 20's prior to having children. The "magic" was missing. I still loved Christmas and being with family, etc. But the "magic" was missing. My daughter's first Christmas... there it was! Back again! I think it is being able to witness the season and all of the excitement through their eyes that brings it back to me.
Our family had a wonderful Christmas! To help keep the magic alive, we had an Elf ("Nimble") come to live with us. He arrived right after we got home from Thanksgiving in Ohio (which I will be posting pictures of a little later). The kids thoroughly enjoyed his presence. He left little notes, hung around in weird places (like the ceiling fan, light fixtures, Christmas tree), he left a special candy canes, hung a Santa hat on our tree, hung tons of paper snowflakes in the family room for Christmas Eve morning, had a tea party with my daughter's stuffed animals (she was actually very angry about this!!), rode on some of the reindeer decor, among other things. Nimble was not as mischievous as other elves that I've heard about.Thankfully our elf encouraged good behavior! ;-) My daughter enjoyed him, finding him every morning. Surprisingly E-man was TOTALLY into it! He seriously looked for him every morning. They also enjoyed an advent book basket from Grandma Locke. We tried a new routine this year for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the Locke family, had our own Christmas morning at home and then spent Christmas evening with the Harper family. It seemed to work well and the kids didn't feel rushed around on Christmas.
Unfortunately I have been unable to visit with either one of my grandfathers due to illness and bad weather. Hopefully we will be making those trips VERY soon! Anyway, I just wanted to share a few pictures. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, had safe travels and spent lots of quality time with loved ones. Keep that Christmas spirit alive!!!