Hi all!

Tis the season for decorating at the North Pole. You would think Christmas decorations are up all the time and in some places they are. But not everywhere. North Pole Village actually has an ordinance against that during certain times of the year.

This is not that time of the year.

You see, one of the big events leading up to Operation Merry Christmas is the decorating contest. Every November the elves go crazy — and I mean completely nuts — for decorating. They do it because they love to do it and they love Christmas. But they also want bragging rights. They want to be able to say they won the big prize.

We have to follow a very traditional course with this. Every Thanksgiving after the big meal has been completed and Santa has had a little nap he leads everyone on a walk-about to see all the lights. Every elf is entered into a contest to see who has the most festively decorated house.

They spend days and hours working on it. And if you think their Halloween costumes are any indication you should see what they do to their homes. It’s nuts.

It is also a lot of fun.

The lights are the last thing we see before we go to bed Christmas night. We know then it is really Christmas because the next time we open our eyes we are in the middle of Operation Merry Christmas.

So we are counting down the days now!