A couple teamed up with their flight crew to make some Christmas magic for their young girls.
The Freeman family, who live in the Nashville metro area, were flying from Nashville, Tennessee to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on their way to a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. Nearly everyone had boarded their Southwest Airlines flight except for two VIPs who "delayed" the flight.
But it turned out the VIPs were a couple of special Elf on the Shelf dolls – Peppermint and Snowflake – who belonged to Jeff and Christy Freeman's daughters, Ava, 10, and Mia, 6.
Jeff Freeman shared an Instagram reel and then a TikTok post of Ava and Mia's complete surprise at seeing Peppermint and Snowflake -- in their special carriers -- join them on their trip. The videos have since picked up millions of views.
In the video, Christy Freeman calmly explains to her daughters that they are waiting for "two VIP passengers" to board the plane, which the crew had announced over the PA system, to which Mia replies, "OK, mama."
Then, Ava and Mia are unable to hold back their excitement as they notice a flight attendant walking down the aisle, holding their cherished dolls.
"Peppermint! Snowflake!" Mia exclaims.
"Oh my God, they're here!" Ava adds.
Southwest Airlines re-shared Freeman's heartwarming video and told "Good Morning America" in a statement that crewmembers loved seeing the girls' reactions.
"Our People are the Heart of our Company and helping Peppermint and Snowflake with their arrival is just another example of our legendary Culture at work," Southwest said in a statement. "We love seeing our Employees bringing smiles like these to our Customers and all of our Very Important Passengers this holiday season. Good luck topping this one, Peppermint and Snowflake!"
Jeff Freeman told "GMA" he and his wife started their Elf on the Shelf tradition last year and although the family was going on vacation this December, they didn't want to "miss out on a week of doing Elf on the Shelf for the girls."
"As our kids are getting older, we still want to preserve the magic of Christmas," the dad of two said.
He said he knew he wanted to film his girls' big reactions because they had really wanted their beloved elves to come with them.
"For the first six days leading up to us leaving, the girls, knowing that we were going to be out of town, they kept begging the elves to come with us. 'Please come with us. Please come with us,'" Freeman recalled. "And so we knew we had to take the elves."
Jeff Freeman said it was his wife's idea to ask the flight crew to assist, and when he inquired, everyone quickly agreed.
"The flight attendant said, 'You know what, I understand, we'll take it from here,'" he recounted.
He added that he and his wife love to give their girls magical experiences year-round.
"Anything that we as parents can do, we want to do, to keep the magic going," he said.
