Snow Family Christmas

by Amelia

Tiny little boots covered in snow
Apple cider warmin' on the stove
Tinsel twinklin' everywhere
Holly hangin' on the stairs
It must be Christmas Eve

The two little whirlwinds ran through the door, stopping long enough to kick off their snow boots, and toss them back through the doorway into the mud room.

"Buck..Buck.. You got to come see the snowman family Vin and I made," JD excitedly shouted to the man leaning against the kitchen counter while he and Vin grabbed the cups of hot chocolate that were sitting on the table waiting for them.

Buck turned around and looked out the window above the sink. Grinning, he called out, “Hey, Chris, you need to come see this."

Chris walked in with papers in his hands that he had been working on. "Buck, what are you yelling about? You know I want to get this report finished for Travis."

"Take a look out the window and see what the boys have made." Buck answered with a smile.

Chris looked first to JD who was bouncing with excitement and then to Vin who was looking into his cup of chocolate. Vin shrugged and said softly, "Nobody should be alone, specially at Christmas."

Chris understood how Vin felt, and knowing Vin had been alone on many in the past, stepped over by Buck. He looked out the window at the sight.

Angels sittin' high upon a tree
Watchin' over presents patiently
Milk and cookies on a plate
Santa Clause is on his way
The kids should be fast asleep

A smile crossed Chris's face. He leaned toward Buck and whispered, “ Keep them busy for a little bit and away from the window.”

Buck nodded and asked the two boys who sat there now with empty cups on the table, "So you guys ready to help me roll out the dough and cut out some Christmas cookies?"

"Yes!" Vin and JD answered instantly.

Buck laid a clean vinyl Christmas table cloth over the table. He grabbed the flour, rolling pin, the large bowl of sugar cookie dough and a bag filled with all the different cookie cutters. Chris slipped out of the kitchen went to collect the different items he needed. Stopping at Sarah's angel that had been placed back in the box instead of being put on the tree, Chris smiled and felt her warm presence. He then headed outside through the front door.

The kids will wake up awfully early
'Cause they can't wait to see
If Santa made it so they can say
Look what he brought me

Every once in awhile Buck would glance out the window, seeing what was being done.

"JD, ya ain't supposed to eat the dough," Vin expressed loud enough to get Buck's attention back on them.

"But we don't need the parts outside where we cut the cookies," JD told Vin.

"Yes, we do, Little Bit. Once we put the cookies you cut out on the cookie sheet and slide that batch in the oven, we can roll all the scrap dough together and re-roll it out and you can cut more cookies,” Buck smiled.

"Are all these cookies going to be for us?" JD wanted to know.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't think there would be so many with that container of cookie dough." Buck frowned realizing they were going to have about 3 to 4 dozen by the time they finished.

"Can we wrap some and give them to Uncle Ezra, Uncle Nathan, Uncle Josiah, and Miss Nettie? And you and Chris can give them out and tell them you brought them for us," Vin hopefully asked.

"That's a great idea, Vin. When we have them all cooked and decorated with icing and sprinkles, you two can pick out the ones for each present. Say five cookies each in a wrapped gift."

"Uncle Nathan's got to be more than everyone else's, ‘cause he’ll be sharing with Aunt Rain," JD declared.

"You’re right. So let’s get to it, boys. I'll put these two cookie sheets in the oven, then get the dough rolled out so you can start on the next batch of cookies, " Buck laughed.

Sleigh bells are ringin' in their heads
Twistin' like little tops in their beds
Tryin' to sleep but it's no use
With hooves tap tappin' on the roof
Peakin' out the window to see what they can see
It's a candy cane Christmas
Sweet as it can be
It's a candy cane Christmas
Sweet as it can be

An hour and a half later, with a table now covered in decorated Christmas cookies, Vin and JD jumped when they heard Chris call out from the living room, "Boys, hurry up and get your coats and boots on."

Without hesitation they ran to the mudroom, slipped the boots back on, and pulled on their coats and gloves. Before they could head back in, Chris was there and ushering them out the back door, guiding them around to where they had built the two snowmen and two snow boys.

Vin and JD stood with mouths open at what they found now. The two snowmen were wearing Chris's cowboy hat and Buck's old cavalry style hat, and the two snow boys, one now had Vin's blue scarf and the other had JD's red scarf. In front of the snow family was the fake tree Chris had stored out in the shed. It was wrapped in blue twinkling lights, with a glowing angel on top. Four two-foot red and white shining candy canes surrounded the tree. And on a piece of plywood staked a few feet away, a painted sign saying...

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE LWTD RANCH FAMILY