Our Christmas Visitors

Every year after Thanksgiving, our house gets a very special visitor:

 Meet Bruce.  (When Jackson was two, he named him "Elf"...very creative.  So he decided this year that he needed a different name.  Hence Bruce.  I have no idea where he got it, but he was VERY offended when Sadie said it was, and I quote, "lame."  We then had to have a long conversation about not being rude and standing up for things you believe in.

I promise my kids love each other.

Anyway.  Bruce used to just sit around our house... a little like the creepy clown on that scary movie years ago.  But the kids LOVE Bruce.  And as of late (and about the same time I discovered Pinterest, coincidentally) Bruce has gotten to be quite adventurous.  Some days I took pictures of his antics.  It freaked the kids out a bit because heaven forbid I touch him and he "LOSE HIS MAGIC!"

Annabelle liked to test this theory.  She loves Bruce more than anyone else in the whole house.  She was the first to look for him in the mornings and the first to tell him Good Morning.  But I guess Bruce was a little nervous about her getting too close because he always seemed to be just out of reach of little fingers...

One night while Jackson was spending the night with Nannie and Sadie was having a special night of her own, Bruce thought she needed a little makeup...

I made sure I took a picture of her after bedtime, because by the time morning rolled around she'd wiped almost all of it off. :)

Obviously Bruce had a lot of time on his hands at night... 

Aside from Bruce, the kids always look forward to their first visit with Santa at the Hilliard's Santa party.  We always love to go to the Hilliard's house and see all the beautiful decorations and chat with the big man.
There are always so many neat things to see around every corner.  Annabelle is going through a phase where getting a picture of her is hard, and getting a picture of her with Jackson and Sadie is next to impossible.   But if I'm quick enough I can still capture moments of sweetness...

Last year Annabelle had a meltdown, but this year after giving him a cautious once over, she was happy to see him. :)  So thankful for Cara Jordan of Magical Memories by Cara Jordan, who has given us amazing Santa pictures since Jackson was a baby!  They're such special keepsakes. :)