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December 2013 Jack Journi Kendall Grace Eliana Reagan Hailey Nikki Ella Angelina Joey Alyza Julianna Nina Aiden Gurneet Danielle Mia Taylor Ava Jenna Lauren Gia Paige Emily Sammie Samir Skyler C. Charmi Jamison

Zohair

Skyler M. Avneet Kimberly Saveya Caitlyn Bianca Tommy Every my family and I have a family party. All the kids come and play while the parents mingle. My whole family loves to cook so every Christmas we have delicious lobster and crab. I love the presents and all, but I absolutely love the Christ- mas carols. It’s the best! My family likes them too, but for some reason the song is no one’s favorite but mine. But after all the food, presents, and Christmas carols it’s the end of the day so I’ll have to wait till next year to celebrate. By Reagan Grade 3

Maya Grade 2

Thanksgiving Traditions

I celebrate ! We eat turkey, , and pea soup. We have a lot of fun. We play lots of fun games and play together. We spend time with our families and cele- brate holidays. We celebrate Christmas, , and other holidays. For Christmas, we wait for Santa to come and we open our presents. We have fun. We eat good meals. Like pie, soup, rice, and other food. We drink water, juice, and other things. But the best thing to do when you celebrate holidays, is to have fun.

Ben Grade 2 Traditions

I celebrate New Year’s Eve by going to my cousin’s house. We wait till midnight and then blow our whistles like crazy. Then, some people leave. I leave last, sometimes. So, I play with my cousins. Once I leave, I say goodbye. We drive home. I wish I could have more fun, but it’s past 12:00. I can’t wait till next year. I go to bed thinking about next New Year’s Eve. I wonder who will be there again. I know one thing, my cousins got to be coming.

Cosette Grade 2

Thanksgiving Traditions

For Thanksgiving, we do fun games. We talk about ourselves, and we eat turkey, potatoes, and bread. Do you like Christmas? One the tradi- tions I do during Christmas is decorat- ing my . I spread white, red, orange, green, blue, and violet lights around my tree, they even glow at night, morning, and afternoon! Jinil Grade 2

I celebrate Christmas from dawn till night. My tradi- Do you celebrate any holi- tion is my family celebrates days? I celebrate Thanksgiv- Christmas while eating pota- ing. Thanksgiving is fun be- toes and steak. We also ride cause you get to have family bikes and swim at our grandma’s pool. Lastly, we over, eat turkey, and you get to open presents. play games. My family is nice, Nick P. also they have came over on Grade 2 holidays, too. Anthony Grade 2 110

For Thanksgiving, I pick out a turkey from a farm, cook it fresh, and then eat it fresh. For Christmas, I decorate my tree really good! Dane E. Grade 2

A tradition that my family does is during Christmas we pray together. Leonardo Grade 2

Let’s go bake some cookies for Santa!!! First we need to get all of the ingredients. All of the ingredients are in our kitchen like eggs and dough. Next we have to put the cookies in the oven. While we wait let’s play a game. Then the timer will beep and the cookies will be done. They look deliciously yummy, let’s taste them. Our whole family will be able to eat them. Making the cookies was fun to eat. I saved two of the best looking cookies for Santa! By Lexie Grade 2

I do a Christmas tradition by writing a Christmas list. First, I get a paper and pencil and I write what I want. Next, I ask my brother to write the letter because he has good handwriting. I want lego friends and I want a Hex Bug that’s a bug that you turn it on and it moves. I put the list in my mailbox and put the red flag up. The mailman comes and gives it to Santa. Then I sleep and Santa comes at night and puts the presents under the tree. I wake up and run downstairs and I see the presents. I wake up my family and tell them that Santa came. We take turns opening gifts and I got what I wanted. Finally, I had a wonderful awesome Christmas! By Olivia Grade 2

Ho Ho Ho Santa is here. One tradition my family has is Santa coming to our house. First we open our presents and play with our toys. Some of the toys we got were a bay , toy car, and a rainbow loom kit. Next we play with our new toys. Then we eat and cookies and we go to bed. That’s our tradition, what’s your tradition?

By Shawn Grade 2

Yippie! Making a snow man is a tradition in my family. We roll big fat snowballs with my family and friends. We all work hard together. Next getting the tools for the snow man is fun because I get to stick a nose in he snowman. Then we get the berries for the eyes. Finally making a snowman is fan- tastically fun especially with my family and friends. By Maria Grade 2 Ho,Ho,Ho Santa is coming to town! My Christmas tradition is writing a Christmas list. First, I get a pencil and paper. Next, I write things I want for Christmas and I get an envelope. Then, I put the paper in the envelope and I write an address. Finally, I put it in the mailbox and send it to the . I hope Santa will bring me toys. By Jakub Grade 2

Oh my, Ho Ho! On my family has a tradition. First my sis- ter and I check Elfonzo and the gifts. Next my family goes to the Service. While I go to Sunday School I learn about God. Then we go home and open gifts. Last we eat cookies. It was so much fun. By Solomon Grade 2

I wonder if I will pray first? One of my family’s traditions is to celebrate Ramadan. First I watch TV while I eat a meal. Next I go to see my grandma at the cemetery. Finally I eat a Daal Mash , pray then eat a meal. By Adam Grade 2 Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas. A tradition I have is to look for my Elf on the Shelf. First I decorate my Christmas tree with a chain we go all the way around. Next we look for our Elf on the Shelf and look under and above everything. We look behind and in front too. Then we open our gifts and presents at night. Finally we go to sleep with our bellies full.

By Filip Grade 2 What do I do on Thanksgiving? Every Thanksgiving we have a tradition. First I look for my Elf on the Shelf because he comes back on Thanksgiving. He brings me a present to keep me busy when my dad cooks his fa- mous mash potatoes. When I get to my Grandma’s house we wait for the food. For an appetizer we have cheese and crackers. Next we have dinner, turkey, , mash potatoes and for dessert we have pumpkin pie and cake. Then we talk, do crafts, and play. I can’t wait for next years Thanksgiving because it’s awesome! By Alexa Grade 2 Do you know how to make cookies? One of my family’s traditions is to make cookies. First take out the recipe and supplies. Next mix the supplies. Then bake the cookies in the oven. Finally my mom, my sister, and I decorate cookies to give to friends and eat the rest. By Shivam Grade 2

When you decorate a snowman you need snow, decorations, and a hat. One tradition my family has is making a snowman. First I roll with my brother the snowball. Next we decorate the snowman. Then I put the arms on the person. Finally we roll the snowballs to make the snowman. By Sam Grade 2

Yahoo presents! My tradition is opening presents with Carter. We spent Christmas day opening presents. First in the morning we exchange the presents. Next Carter and I play with all of the presents for 12 minutes. It feels like a short time but it is long enough. Then we play with the paper for a while but we are going to need teamwork to help clean up the paper. Finally we go to bed and dream of wonderful memories. By Mason Grade 2

Crunch, crunch, crunch goes Santa eating the cookies. My tradi- tion is getting ready for Santa. First I make a list for Santa so he can read it. Christmas is going to be fun because I get to make cookies for Santa and play in the snow. Then Santa comes on Christmas Eve at midnight. Finally I open my gifts at 6:00 in the morning.

By Hubert Grade 2

Do you like Christmas? I do. A tradition in my house is when Santa delivers toys every year. First Santa writes if I am on the bad list or good list. Next Santa delivers toys to me. Then I look at my toys from Santa. I feel happy be- cause I think Santa delivers the best toys. I think Christmas is the best holiday! By Khushi Grade 2 Do you like Christmas ? I do. Christmas list shopping is fun and the tradition I am doing is fun too. First I grab a piece of paper to write on. I grab a pencil with it. Next I think of what I want for Christmas. Sometimes I order some toys from catalogs. Then the elves make it. Fi- nally I open presents on Christmas day. I’m happy with my toys I got for Christmas. By Julianna Grade 2

Vroom ,Vroom did you hear that? We’re going to the car to go to the tree farm that is a tradition. When we get in the car it is long and exciting. Next we get something to eat. I always get a burger. Then I always pick out a pine needle tree. Also sometimes we to the petting zoo next to the tree farm. Last we had a wonderful time! By Mia Grade 2 Yum yum delicious fun! It is a tradition to bake cookies for Santa with my mom! First we get ingredients and get dishes. Next we get in- gredients in the dishes and mix it up! Then, we put them in the oven and decorate them. Finally, put them by the chimney and get some milk for Santa. My mom and I feel happy about baking cookies for Santa. By Natalie Grade 2

Tear! Tear! It’s a tradition that my family makes cookies and for Santa and his reindeer every year. First we make the carrots as good as ice cream. Next I put the dough on the pan. Then my mom puts the cookies in the oven for an hour. Finally my dad takes the cookies out of the oven and puts them by the tree. We all hope Santa will like the food and give us a lot more than we wanted.

By Jeremy Grade 2

Ding Dong they’re here! We were waiting for my family to arrive at the house so we can get started for our Thanksgiving tradition. First we play all kinds of games at my house. Next we go around the thable to give thanks. I gave thanks for my brothers. Then we eat all the food and the dessert. Finally my family goes home to go to sleep. I feel happy and had fun. By Dylan Grade 2 On the first week of , my family cele- brates . Diwali is a festival of lights. In India, lots of people hang up lights and candles. My family celebrates by having a party. Lots of people come and celebrate with us. After the party is over, my family eats sweets. Mayuri Grade 2

A tradition my family does sometimes around Christmas, is a game called White Elephant. White Elephant is a wacky game where before, you are sup- posed to go out on an awkward gift hunt, then when the Christmas party starts the game, you are sup- posed to pass around your wrapped present to a story. In the story, if the reader says left, right, or across, you are supposed to trade gifts with the per- son that is to the left of you, the right, or across from you. When the story is over, you unwrap your pre- sent, and you see what funny gift you received! One year, someone got a flyswatter that said cheesy words when you hit something with it! Bianca Grade 5

One tradition I do is on Christmas before we open presents we watch a Christmas movie and eat in my family room. Aidan Grade 3

On New Year’s Eve, my family goes to Indiana, to celebrate New Year’s Eve. I go to my uncle’s house on New Year’s Eve because it is his birthday. For Thanksgiving my whole family comes over to my house to decorate my Christmas tree.

By: Nathen Grade 2 On New Year’s Eve, I have all my relatives come to my house to celebrate my birthday. On Christmas, I decorate my Christ- mas tree in my room. My tree is blue and it is small. Once I saw Santa’s feet, his shoes were , and he wore red.. By: Prudence Grade 2

On Christmas, I go to my church. I go to my church to celebrate lots of things. We play games and go outside. We run around and do silly things and eat yummy food, and even write on the teacher’s board. It is really fun. We like to jump rope in church. I eat the whole cake sometimes. I like to sled down the hill.

By: Esther Grade 2

Christmas Eve

Leave out the cookies, Get you pajamas on, Go to bed, DING, DING, DING, it’s midnight, While laying in your bed listen for jingling bells from Santa’s sleigh, For soon he will be here tonight! By: Kimberly and Skyler 5th grade

My Christmas By: Nadia R. 4th Grade My name is Nadia, and my family celebrates Christmas by going to Las Vegas every year and celebrating at my aunt’s house, and there, we have a fancy dinner. Also, we like to open 1 or 2 gifts on Christmas Eve. Then, we bake Chocolate Chip cookies and set them out for Santa. In the morning my family and I wake up and open our gifts! Christmas time for cheer

Jingle bells Presents are swell Twinkling lights are on the tree Happy songs All around And everyone is filled with cheer

By: Skyler and Kimberly 5th grade

The Turkey and the Pilgrim By: Charles

Once upon 2 days ‘till Thanksgiving… a pilgrim was walking to see if the turkey had been cap- tured. “I will hunt if there’s no turkey,” said the pilgrim. FINALLY, the pilgrim arrived at the place. There was no corn or turkey, except, the corn was down. Just then… a turkey walked in. The pilgrim immediately took out his net and started chasing the turkey. He chased the turkey all the way to the rain forest. Left, right. Left and right they went. Finally, the pilgrim caught the turkey and had a good Thanksgiving feast.

One of my traditions is on Christmas. Every Christmas, we go to my aunt’s house to celebrate my dad’s birthday. It’s fun for the parents because everyone picks a number and everyone brings a gift, and after dinner number one goes first. There are a lot of gifts. They pick a gift then, if the 2nd person wants that gift, they can steal from them. That how the game works. Those are the things I do on Christmas. By: Catherine N. Thanksgiving Gobble gobble, yummy yum, eat that Black Mania dinner all day long until your stomach explodes! Biggest sale,

Don’t fail, By: Kimberly and Skyler 5th grade To get all your things, All the bling, Thanksgiving Feast To be a princess, By: Haley R. 4th grade That you need,

For real cheap, Gobble, Gobble Turkey Time If you don’t be careful, Add the , it tastes divine. Those crazy shoppers, is so yummy Will get you! It makes me want to rub my tummy.

This night was such a blast. By: Kimberly and Skyler 5th Why did it end so fast? grade

One Snowy Night, the weather didn’t seem right. The sky was shedding a million little frozen tears. The ground covered in white powdery snow. It was VERY hard to not run out of my room, get on my snow pants, my coats, gloves, hat, and boots, and run outside. It was nearly impossible to sleep. When I did get sleep, it was about playing in the sparkling snow. Sledding, snowball fights, forts, igloos, even shoveling snow for people! In one dream, I was a snowflake, flying around. I got to see tons of great sights; Times Square, Paris, , Niagara Falls, Colorado Mountains, even where my grandparents grew up: ! I was beautiful; shimmering boldly in the crowd of snowflakes. When I finally reached home, someone was there, waiting for me. I come to realize, that was me! I was eagerly trying to find a pretty snow- flake ;maybe the prettiest around! So, she found me! Just then, my mom woke me up, and said we could play in the snow! ~Skyler 5th grade My family celebrates New Year’s Eve by… having a big balloon fall. We put gold and black up. Then, we go outside and shoot fireworks. I do this with my cousins, aunts, and my aunt’s friend. By Mia A.

I like Christmas because it snows on Christmas and, I like snow. so I can play in the snow on Christmas. Lots and lots of people do something on Christmas. Some put trees up for Christmas. They like it. Some people do Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

By: Rameen M.

Every Thanksgiving we visit our Things I love about Christmas…… Nana and Papa’s house. I help my smell of Christmas trees, grandma cook the delicious meal and set pretty ornaments the long table. Someone says a prayer sparkling snow and we dig in.. We have stuffing, turkey, hot cocoa cranberries, and more! Everything is to laughing die for! I always feel like a kid in a snowball fights candy store! But I remind myself that Christmas!!!!! Thanksgiving isn’t just for the terrific Oh, the joy Christmas brings!! meal, it’s about giving thanks to those you love and for reminding them how Skyler much you care. After the meal, my Grade 5 cousin always makes up a fun game that we all like to play. They are usually sing- A holiday I celebrate is because ing games because he loves to sing. It is it’s for my religion. always the worst moment when I have to We all gather and take a box full say goodbye. I never don’t have a blast of beans and I love being with family. It is always and we read something special a fun night and we don’t want to leave. and each time we read it, we put a When we do though, I always think, bean in the pile! “Well, we still have Christmas!” Caitlyn M. Zohair Grade 3 Grade 5 On Christmas I sit by the fire. On Thanksgiving, we AL- WAYS have turkey, and I al- ways get the leg.

Vincent L Grade 2 On Thanksgiving my family all gets together. My grandma makes a turkey for the family, I like to eat the leg. We like to play games and make decorations for Thanksgiving at my grandma’s house. For dessert, we eat and pumpkin pie. We also play with the toys. But, my favorite part is to play with my cousins. Jack K. Grade 2

Easter is something that I celebrate. At Easter, I go to my cousin’s house. Then, we go out- side and have an Easter Egg Hunt! Krzysztof S. Second Grade

A snowman was rolling around and it was sad be- cause he had no friends. Then another snowman was rolling around and it was sad, too. The snowmen decided to become best friends for- ever. The snowmen played games like tag, board games, hide and seek, and snowball fights! One time, their parts fell off because the snowball was too hard! The snowmen were the best friends in the whole world!!!

Jackie

I am Thankful for… Joshua all the food I want. Luka “Angry Birds” and “Star Wars II”. Kameron the “Angry Birds” game. Dominick cleaning up my mess. Andrew watching Star Wars movies with my family. Kiran eating my turkey on Thanksgiving. Nicholas eating all the food and turkey my mom prepares. Nathan memories of my dog Shamrock. Lucas playing with all of my friends. Mohammad coloring beautiful pictures with crayons and markers. Dakota my friends. Annabelle all of my food. Tashi fun things. Natalia my pets. Kaidyn my school. Nicole my dog. Madison dogs and kittens. Emily my family. Julianna all the things I get. Kallie my baby sister Kacie.

Mrs. Conway’s A.M. Kindergarten Class

I am Thankful for…

Maha all of my friends. Sophia the school I go to every day. Adi being a good friend. Emma my family because they love me. Allison pumpkins because they make great pies. Rose my sisters because they’re nice to me. Dora my family because I love them. Shrina my friends because they play with me. Milica vacations because I can ride on an airplane. Matthew pets because I love dogs. Nick A. my cat because I get to give her treats. Nicholas John toys because I like to play. Nicholas my brother because he plays with me. Michael my dog because I like her. Ty crayons because I can color with them. Eshaan veterans because they fight for our country. Kevin my pets because I get to feed them. Jake my brothers and sister because they’re nice to me. Hadi my family because I love them.

Mrs. Conway’s P.M. Kindergarten Class Cookie Day By Lauren Grade 4 Every year, my family has a tradition where we all get together by my Nana and Papa’s house. We start off early in the afternoon, having lunch together. My Nana makes the dough for the cookies while we are all eating. After lunch, the fun begins with all the kids making cookies of various shapes. We make Christmas trees, snowmen, , ornaments, and of course, reindeer. After, we cut the cookies into all the shades, we deco- rate them with Christmas colors. All while listening to and drinking hot chocolate. My Nana, then starts baking the cookies, and we all start making or- naments for our Christmas tree. When the cookies are fin- ished, we wait for them to cool down and enjoy some cookies and milk. Christmas is a special time of the year, when I enjoy doing fun things with my family.

One Snowy Night… By: Avneet Grade 5 One snowy night, a little girl and her mom were baking cookies for Santa. It was Christmas Eve, and her mother promised her that she could build a snowman for Santa once the cookies were done. The little girl looked out the window, and sure enough, the bright white snowflakes were softly dropping, creating a very thick blan- ket of snow that was perfect to make a snowman in. And, of course, creating traffic. Her dad was stuck in traffic, and the little girl was worried that he wasn’t going to make it home for Christmas. She was hoping for a Christmas Miracle. “C’mon honey,” her mom said, “Let’s go make that snowman.” So, they bundled up and headed out. The little girl forgot how fun a White Christmas was, because there hasn’t been one since she was 4. Oh, she had so much fun! The icy, frosty snow felt soft and perfect to make a snowman. So, they got started. Making the 1st 2 snow- balls were easy, but the last one was hard. They couldn’t get the snowball to get big enough. “Here, let me help you with that,” a voice said. The little girl turned around to see Santa! “Santa, is that really you?” the girl said. “HO HO HO! Yes, it is me!” “Wow, Santa, I’d never thought I’d see you. Here, I made this for you,” the girl said. “This year, you’ve been a really good girl, so I’ll grant you one wish.” said Santa. “I wish that Daddy would be home for Christmas.” HONK! HONK! Just then, her dad’s car pulled up in the driveway. “Daddy! You’re home!” “Merry Christmas honey! Is that Santa?” said her dad. “Yup! He’s the reason- Santa? Where did you go?” “He has to go deliver presents to the other little boys and girls that were good too honey. Come on, lets get some rest.” The next morning, there were so many presents under the tree! The little girl and her parents had so much fun opening them! This really was the best Christmas ever!

The End! One Snowy Night… By: Caitlyn Grade 5 One snowy night my family gathered around the fire- place. We all went to home depot to gather some wood for a fire. When we got some in the back of my dad’s truck, we paid and then went back to our cozy home. Our family hur- ried back to the fireplace. We were going to make a fire! As I helped to set up the logs in the fireplace, I noticed that my mom had left the living room. I wonder where she is? I walked into the kitchen and saw her making a tray of graham crackers, hershey’s chocolate, marshmallows, and sticks. It’s s'mores time! “We have to get the fire going before we start the s’mores,” lectured my mom because she knew how much we loved s’mores. We really didn’t want to wait, but we did anyway. In the meantime, Jordyn taught me how to play a game called sticks. It’s a game that you play with your fingers and you try to make the other person get all ten fingers out of the game to win. Finally it’s time to make s’mores! Jordyn, Skyler, my dad and I grab a marshmallow and a stick each. Then we set our marshmallows on fire and blow it out as fast as we can. My mom hands us each two graham crackers, and a piece of Hershey’s chocolate to put on our s’mores. Yummy! The s’mores were so delicious that we all had to have an- other. After we all finished our second more we had a third. All of us even had a fourth!

Ding Dong! I wonder who was at the door? It was my grandparents, and they wanted some s’mores too! After my grandparents had two s’mores, we all played a game of “concentration 64” and laughed at the silly names that we came up with. All of a sudden our cousins, aunts, and uncles showed up at the front door. Now it was a “mini family reun- ion!” So my mom went to the store with me to get a ton more graham crackers, hershey chocolates, and marshmallows to feed all of our s’more-craving relatives at our “mini family reunion.” When my mom and I got back to our house, no one was to be seen. But, all of a sudden everyone jumped out from where they were hiding and shouted “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” My mom was so overjoyed and extremely happy. Jordyn and Skyler walked into the room “happy birthday to you…” I was pretty sure that their wasn’t a frown to be seen at the “mini family reunion.”

Thanksgiving By: Olivia K. Grade 2

Once upon a time there was a turkey named Bob. He liked to look at the sun every day, but if the sun wasn’t out, he wouldn’t even go outside. One day the sun wasn’t out and someone told him that it was Thanksgiving and he should run away. A man walked around looking for a turkey and saw Bob. He started to chase it and finally caught Bob and took him home. Then, the man invited people to his house and served Bob the baked turkey for dinner. They all had a happy Thanksgiv- ing, but Bob the turkey didn’t. One snowy night…..

On a Dark cold night Foster is sitting by the fireplace drinking hot chocolate and writing her letter to Santa. Her letter to Santa said “ Dear Santa all I truly want for Christmas is snow.” On the night of Christmas eve Foster’s mother said “honey time for bed so Santa can come.” but Foster just couldn’t fall asleep if it was going to snow she wanted to be up to see the snowflakes fall one by one. The later it got the more tired she grew and eventually she fell asleep. In her mind she could her Santa’s sleigh bells ringing followed with a HO HO HO. When Santa came he laid the presents down one by one and filled the stockings with Christmas goods. But before he left with a HO HO HO and a snap of his fingers it started snowing. Snowflake by snowflake fell delicately to the ground. Each snowflake different than the other. The wind grew stronger and as the wind blew stronger the more snow fell and the tree branches started tap against Foster’s window. Tap tap tappity tap tap. It was like Morse code saying “wake up wake up my dear Foster.” Suddenly Foster woke up and looked out her window. She saw the snow and whispered “thank you!” Strangely she saw a human figure. Who could it be? Is it possibly ? The human figure got closer and closer and wrote on the window with frost “Yes”. H-h-h-how is this possible is he reading my mind. A new message was appearing on the window “Goodnight”. It took Foster a while to figure out what that meant and she got it it meant to go to bed and once she curled up in her soft blankets she slowly drifted asleep. The next morning Foster woke up very early and went to go wake up her parents. “WAKE UP WAKE UP” she yelled to her parents. “ IT SNOWED IT SNOWED”. when Foster went downstairs she saw many presents and her stocking over filled with Christmas candy. She was surprised to see all those gifts when she didn’t ask for it. She say a note next to the milk and cookies. it said “ Foster I know you didn’t ask for all of this but you’ve been extra good this year so this is your special reward.” Next to the note was a small trophy that said “to the nicest girl in the world.” Before Foster got into her Christmas best she played in the snow. When she opened the door to go outside the snow was like a glittering white blanket. She was so happy that she couldn’t get out of the snow. Her father had to pry her out of the snow. “This is the best Christmas of my life!” She yelled out. THE END. By: Kimberly 5th grade

Our tradition is to do Elf on the Shelf after the day of Thanksgiving, Also we put up our that are really cool and we put that on our gutters so Santa can see us when he is flying in the air on his sleigh with eight reindeer. We wake up in the morning knowing that Santa had come. We open up our presents with family and friends. We are all excited when we get our presents. That is the our tradition.

By: Joey Grade 5 One Snowy Night…. By Saveya Grade 5 One snowy night, a girl was walking through a forest trying to get home for Christmas. Unfortunately, the snow was holding her back, so she decided to take shelter in a nearby cot- tage. The snow was pouring down on her. She was shivering so much that you could hear her teeth chatter from a mile away. The girl knocked on the cottage door twice, but nobody an- swered, so she went in. Suddenly, all the lights went out! As the girl tried finding the light switch she heard a sharp noise. It was like some large bird was swooping past her. The lights start flickering on and off as a big shadowy creature flies right in front of the frightened girl. The light stop flickering and turn on. The girl falls back, astonished by what was in front of her. An enormous OWL! She tries to escape, but the doors click as they magically lock. The girl looks in front of her and blinks. The owl then smiles and says, “How do you do, dear?” “You can talk?,” asks the girl. “Of course, I can. Now tell me what is your name?” “Merliah,” the terrified girl re- sponses. The owl gently helps Merliah up and leads her to a room with a table. A bowl of soup is on the table. The owl leads Merliah to a chair and urges her to sit down. “So, tell me, why are you here? Where are your parents?”, asks the curious owl. Merliah explains that she was on a journey to go get some medicine from the local pharmacy because her dad is ill. On the way, she got lost. Plus it started snowing. She explains how she encountered the cottage and stepped in for a closer look. “I never meant any harm,” Merliah stated after she has finished telling the owl about her journey. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I fear I won’t make it home in time to see my family.” The owl looks at her for a minute and simply tells her to go to bed. Merliah opens her mouth to object, but the owl stops her. “Don’t worry! I will take care of everything! You are still a young girl, and you need your sleep. Now go to bed.” Merliah finally gives up and goes upstairs for bed. She gets into bed, and stares at the ceiling. Merliah tries keeping her eyes open, but fails and falls into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Merliah wakes up refreshed and ready to get home in time for Christmas. She gets off the bed and blindly goes to the bathroom, until she realizes that the bathroom isn’t there. And the cottage isn’t there either. Just her bed in the mid- dle of a white, snowy backyard. Merliah sees a house in front of her that looks vaguely familiar and decides to take a closer look. She knocks on the door and her… MOTHER answers the door. Merliah shrieks, then hugs her mom. SHE WAS HOME! ON CHRISTMAS! That evening, Merliah tells her family of her adventure until suddenly they hear a jingle outside. Merliah’s family and herself run outside to see a glowing light in the sky. A sleigh- SANTA’S SLEIGH! OMG! And what’s that, it was an owl. A giant owl. The owl that saved her life. Just before the sleigh flew away, Merliah could make out a wink. The owl winked at her. Then, as quick as it came, the sleigh disap- peared. Her parents astonished, but Merliah was smiling. She knew that this was a Christmas Miracle. :) One Snowy Night… One Snowy night a person was walking in the snow, and it was wearing a maroon suit and black shoes. And it seemed like it had reindeer by its side. Could it be Santa? I was in my bedroom when I saw it. It was scary because I did not know who or what it was. The next morning I was like to my brother “It’s Christmas Morning!’’ He was still sleeping but I zoomed down the hall and went to our Christmas tree and I saw a lot of presents by the tree! My parents walked in and they said “You could start open- ing your presents now kids. My first present was Halo 4 and I was screaming and shouting because I wanted it so badly. My next present was a iPad mini and it was the black one and my sister got the white one. The next present was my all time favorite and it was the Xbox One and I got a lot of games with it, the games were Forza Mo- torsport 5, and Minecraft. After opening my presents I went in my room and hooked up my iPad to the charger and I downloaded Youtube so I could watch How To Hook Up The Xbox One. When I was done doing that I walked into the living room and I saw a present! And it was for me! I opened it as quick as I could possibly can and it was… Clothes. Aww man, clothes I don't need clothes I got a ton of clothes! I told my mom “why did Santa bring clothes” she said “don't take clothes for granted, some people don't have clothes” I guess you're right mom. Wait I got a good idea I can give the clothes to charity! “Ok” my mom said. She said that is really sweet of you to give clothes to people who are in need! That night we drove to the clothes drop off place we dropped off the clothes that I got for Christmas. There wasn't that much clothes in the bins but we put them there anyways. When we were going out of the place the snow was 5 feet high! We could not drive in the snow so we had to wait until the snow truck went by to get all of the snow out of the roads! It took 1 hour until that truck went by to pick up all the snow. Finally we got to go home and I could play my video games that I got under the Christmas tree. It was 10:30 so I only got approximately 29 minutes to play Forza. When it was time for me to go to bed I was thinking about playing my other games that I had on the Xbox 360. My games were Mario Kart, and Halo. But I fell asleep and when I was asleep my parents told me I was sleepwalking in the middle of the night and I was playing Forza! They said I was talking in the mic! By: Tommy Grade 5

Our family Christmas tradition is that we go by Auntie Samie’s house. It is really fun when my cousins and I track down Santa. We read Christmas stories in our PJ’S. My family bakes delicious cookies. I think the best thing about Christmas is that my family is very healthy.

By: Nina Grade 5