Stockings are hung NEAR the chimney with care

Since it's that holly-jolly time of the year, I thought I would reminisce on one of the best Christmas presents I was ever given from Brandon. The first Christmas we were dating, we were still in the 'awkward' should-we-get-each-other-presents-for-Christmas, stage. Brandon didn't own a cell phone back then (I know, can we even remember people who don't own cell phones? Weird.), so I decided to buy a mini cell phone from Dollar Tree. That was my "meaningful" Christmas gift. It obviously outdid Brandon's gift, because, well....he didn't get me anything. You can imagine what that'll do to a girl's analyzation skills: "Does that mean he doesn't like me?" "It obviously means he didn't think enough about me to get me a gift." But, no, I never thought that way. ::sheepish grin::

Well.... by the second year of Christmas (still dating, but a little more serious to know I could at least EXPECT a Christmas gift this time), I came into my house on Christmas Eve to find this:

Santa? Is that you?

No, it is his little Elf helper, Brandon! Brandon and his mom slaved away at making a life-size stocking for me. It was filled with gifts and candy....that Elf sure knew what was on my Christmas list.

Here he is in *Santa's workshop,

So cute
The sneaky Elf made it into our house while we were celebrating at my Dad's house!

And now I have my very-own Christmas decoration to "hang" by the chimney every year. However, it still ::sadly:: sits in my Mom's storage because the stocking won't fit in our house. Boo hoo.

*The "Santa" reference is for any children that might be reading this. I don't want to spoil the surprise. And, you never know if your kids are reading blogs. Kids these days....