Sugar and Spice arrived at the Maier's home on the 15th of November. They came in a large manilia envelope direct from the North Pole. They told us that Santa had used his magic to make them smaller and much flatter so that they could travel around the country for just the cost of a stamp. Wasn't that clever of Santa? They loved the little Christmas village on our sideboard because they said it made them feel like they were back home.
The two little elves went right to work helping us decorate our tree. Lucy and Sugar set a new record for removing the ornaments from the tissue paper.
Ben is hanging the Christmas Bear ornament that he got for his third Christmas. One Christmas tradition we have in the Maier family is the yearly Christmas ornament. We buy four ornaments that are the same or only slightly different and then each child gets one with his/her name and the year and made a little reminder of what the child was doing that year on it. When they grow up and leave home (and we know they do) they will be able to take all their special ornaments with them.
Spice discovered that being little and flat turned our Christmas tree a wonderful playground. When he jumped up and down on the limbs, he had a fine ride. Spice wanted Lucy to climb the Christmas tree with him, but we wouldn't let her.
It turns out that Sugar is a very talented seamstress. She has a whole closet full of lovely clothing she has made back at the North Pole. She was sad that Santa couldn't make her clothes little and flat so she could bring them with her. Maybe some little girl would like to help her add to her wardrobe during her visit at their house. Sugar offered to make Uncle Alan an elf cap like the one she and Spice wear. She was worried that Uncle Alan's head get cold on those frosty December mornings. 
Our Christmas tree is twelve feet tall, which makes it a little tricky and scary to get the ornaments on the highest branches. Spice offered to climb up to the top of the tree to help me, but I knew right where I wanted to put each ornament.
Bromwyn was working hard on her application for admission to BYU and so she wasn't able to spend much time helping us with Christmas preparations, but Sugar and Spice did what they could to bring her some holiday cheer. Getting into BYU-Utah tops Bromwyn's Christmas wish list this year.
Ben, dressed (or undressed) in his Christmas best, worked with Spice to put the ornaments on the tree. Ben and Spice have a very organized approach to ornament placement: put all of the ornaments that look the same on the same three branches of the tree. Too bad Mom has a different tree decorating aesthetic.
Sugar and Spice helped us to decorate our Gingerbread house the day after Thanksgiving. Spice told us that he works in Santa's Kitchen when he isn't on special assignment. He said his favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, Mrs. Clause makes magic chocolate chip cookies that help reindder fly and little elves work day and night without getting tired. I guess that Spice was missing those magic cookies because he spent a lot of time resting while he was here -- most of the time he rested on the cupboard and watched television. Backyardigans and Blue Clues seem to be two of his favorite shows.
