Christmas Body_fb_s_12_14_2016-ilovepdf-compressed

A Christmas
Surprise
for Layne, Finley,
and Avery
from Mom & Dad

for Layne, Finley, and Avery
Merry Christmas!

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Just one creature was stirring: a small Christmas mouse.
While Layne, Avery, and Finley peacefully slept
This brave little mouse in the Hunters’ house crept
Her red bag was empty, her mission completed!
The journey was long, but she had succeeded!
She carefully scampered towards the tiny mouse door
Through which she had entered only moments before.
But before she went out, she quietly said,
“Merry Christmas, dear children, asleep in your beds!”
Then she wiggled her whiskers, and scurried away
Thinking how it would soon be Christmas day.
What was this Christmas mouse doing, you ask?
Where did she come from? What was her task?
Let me tell you her story, and soon you will hear
An amazing adventure that brings Christmas cheer.

This little mouse’s story began earlier that same
Christmas Eve night...

...while she was home in her cozy mouse hole.
She was drinking hot chocolate, listening to Christmas
music, wrapping the presents that she would
give to her forest friends, and thinking about how very
wonderful Christmas is.
But, despite her overflowing Christmas joy, something
was bothering her. She knew that Christmas joy was
not something to keep to herself; she knew that sharing
with others was at the heart of Christmas.
She was so very warm and cozy there in her
mouse hole, but she couldn’t stay there! She had to share
her Christmas joy!
The mouse packed her red sack full of
some special surprises, and set off!

Pulling the mouse-sized bag after her
as she emerged from her tree hollow, the mouse
thought over her plan. She would carry her gifts
all the way to the Hunters’ house, and then she
would sneak the surprises into Avery, Finley,
and Layne’s stockings!

But once she stepped out into the cold, snowy storm, it became clear that this journey
would be harder than she first suspected. Old Man Winter was delivering his
Christmas present, a snowy winter storm.
The tiny Christmas mouse
tried to push her way right through the storm...
...with stubborn determination, but she was getting nowhere. Then she realized that
instead of fighting against the wind and snow, she needed to join winter in its
Christmas dance. She danced with the swirling wind and snow across the meadow and
found that Old Man Winter is a very good dancer!

As she waltzed through the snow and wind, the Christmas mouse
thought of Avery Hunter. Avery turned 8 in 2015. This year she had a great year playing
soccer and became a real pro on the longboard skateboard. She also won the school
spelling bee and was on safety patrol.
The mouse remembered how much Avery loves Christmas and that one thing that
makes this holiday special for her is reading the Christmas story on her parents’ bed on
Christmas morning with the whole family before going downstairs to open presents.

The mouse danced with the
winter storm all the way across the meadow...
...only to find an enormous mountain in her path. The climbing became
easier, though, when she remembered that soon she would be delivering gifts.

AT
T H E
TOP OF THE
MOUNTAIN...
...the Christmas
mouse looked down,
down, down into the
valley below, the lights of the
houses twinkling so far away. It
looked as though she could walk until
morning and still not be halfway! But she
would not give up!
She just needed to find a way to move faster.
Noticing that the wind and snow had created
a smooth sheet of ice on one side of her bag, the
clever mouse had an idea. That icy surface
would make a great sled...and sledding was another
thing she loved about the Christmas season!

Sliding down the mountain on her makeshift toboggan,
the mouse thought about Finley Hunter and wondered if Fin would also enjoy this sled
ride. Sledding was a Christmas tradition in the Mouse family.
This was Fin’s 7th Christmas and she was excited about the Hunter Christmas family
traditions. One of her favorite family traditions at Christmas is putting jams on, getting in
the car, and driving around the nearby neighborhoods looking at the different lights. She
also loves jamming out to Christmas music!

The mountain was so tall
and the sled ride down it so long...
…that she also had time to think about the
third eldest child in the Hunter family,
Layne, who turned 6 this year!
In 2015, now that it was winter, Layne would soon be
enjoying running out and playing in the snow, drinking
hot cocoa to warm up, and watching movies by the fire.
Those are some of the things she loves about winter.
The Christmas mouse was having so much
fun with her wintry sled ride at that very
moment that she didn’t see the GIANT snow
bank until
it was too LATE!

C R A S H !
!
!
Both the mouse and bag
sailed headlong into the pile of fresh
snow, sinking into a deep hole.
A mouse-sized avalanche crashed
down after her, filling in the hole and
trapping the poor mouse in the
snow.

SURROUNDED
BY SNOW ON ALL SIDES...
...and buried beneath the pile of icy whiteness, the Christmas mouse felt her
Christmas spirit begin to waiver. She had crashed deep into the snowbank
and snow had closed the hole behind her. Even if she could dig her way out, it would take
so long that she would miss Christmas altogether.

Then, just as the mouse was about to begin
the impossible task of digging her
way out, she heard s omething scraping at
the snow above her and a fuzzy antler
poked through into her hole.

It was a raindeer!!!

The raindeer had seen the crash
and had come to help.
“Where is a small
mouse with such a big red
sack going on this Christmas Eve
night?” the reindeer wondered in
a friendly tone.
The Christmas mouse explained her mission
as her heart sank with great disappointment, knowing
that she could not reach her destination in time for
Christmas. The reindeer, moved by the mouse’s
giving spirit, decided he wanted a Christmas mission of
his own.
He offered to journey the rest of the
way with the mouse sitting upon his antlers.

It was all the mouse could do to hold on as
the reindeer leapt so high and so quickly
across the snow that it just may have been flying.
It was a reindeer, after all. Her hope renewed, she
found herself thinking of Madeline and John Hunter and
some things they had said about Christmas...
“Christmas is a reminder for us about the birth of Christ. It is a time of
giving and finding ways to give and serve others in our neighborhood and community.”
“Every year we get to see Christmas through our children’s eyes. How excited
they get over the simplest things like seeing lights and singing Christmas carols! Their innocence
brings a newness to it all, year after year. And of course, the presents!!!”

THE
REINDEER
DROPPED
THE
MOUSE...
...right in front of the secret mouse-sized door that
leads into the Hunters’ house. She scurried inside, nearly bursting
with Christmas excitement. Creeping past their bedroom
doors, she found the Christmas stockings and happily
began to empty her big red sack.

Placing the gifts carefully into Layne’s stocking, then Finley’s, and
then Avery’s, she worked without stopping!
It was true, thought the mouse, that giving was better
than receiving. She closed up her empty sack and scurried back
towards her mouse hole, but not before whispering Merry
Christmas into each door.

A n d that brings us back to
where we started...
...with one very happy Christmas
mouse who has completed her mission of
sharing her Christmas joy. Outside, her
swift-footed friend was waiting for her.
And once again, with the mouse sitting upon his antlers, the reindeer
“flew” across the snow-covered night, bringing the mouse back to her
home in no time at all. Before the clock struck twelve, the mouse was back in
her cozy bed, dreaming of Christmas and one very special family.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and one Christmas mouse
Was peacefully sleeping in her Christmas mouse house.
She was warm and content, her spirits were lifted
Not by what she would get, but by what she had gifted.

Merry Christmas,
Layne, Finley, and Avery!
Merry Christmas,
Hunter family!

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Mom and Dad have been parents for 8 years. They spend
their days driving minivans and changing the world with their
amazing daughters. This is their second children’s book.