'Twas Two Christmases: A Frazzled Tale and The Tree Ornament's Gift

By Diana Warren

‘Twas Two Christmases: A Frazzled Tale and The Tree Ornament’s Gift is a whimsical two-part story for families to enjoy as they gather around the Christmas tree each season. Joe, the hand-carved red fox, and his animal ornament friends, are brought to life through the bond of an honorable soldier and his grieving son's Christmas wishes. Every Christmas season, generation after generation, the family is blessed with these helpful ornaments, called the Trust League by their maker.

The Trust League's Directives:

-Encourage Christmas Season traditions for the family.
- Initiate new traditions for future generations.

The delightful animal characters' busy antics, along with their determination to continue Christmas traditions, makes ‘Twas Two Christmases: A Frazzled Tale and The Tree Ornament’s Gift a heartwarming storybook. It will likely be unpacked every year from the storage box labeled CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Jul 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781489748263

Diana Warren

Diana Warren lives in Maui, HI. The ocean foam cools her feet when she and her husband, Sam, walk the beach. They spent many years designing and building custom homes and remodeling in WA State and built their home in Kihei. Diana’s grandchildren urged her to write the story she recited every Christmas Season. Joe and Hot Chocolate Charley became familiar names in the family. This story that simmered on the back burner for so many years is finally in print. Enjoy! Mackenzie (Kenzie) Weiland was born in Spokane, WA, and fell in love with the fantastic creatures around her. She combined her passion for ecology with drawing and painting, winning a state art championship in high school. Kenzie previously published several watercolor animal images as a college student. Having recently graduated college, she now does campus ministry and creates whimsical watercolor illustrations whenever possible. She aspires to use her artistic talents to glorify God and effectuate stories that magnify Him.

Book preview

‘Twas Two

Christmases

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A Frazzled Tale and The Tree Ornament’s Gift

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Diana Warren

Copyright © 2023 Diana Warren.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in

this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

LifeRich Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.liferichpublishing.com

844-686-9607

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed

since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and

such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4825-6 (sc)

978-1-4897-4824-9 (hc)

978-1-4897-4826-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911458

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 06/28/2023

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Dedication:

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This storybook is dedicated to all parents and children who embrace Christmas with all its meaning, and actively celebrate each Christmas season with family traditions brought forward for future generations.

Bake, trim the tree, light the candles, and celebrate together. Our children are watching, learning, and building memories to pass on Christmas season traditions to their children. Jingle on!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

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I am forever grateful for the One that created all of us purposefully. And for my husband Sam, a true blessing who has always held my hand.

In appreciation to my daughters and grandchildren for your abundant imagination, and persistence in asking me to pick up my pen. Each of you provided unique inspiration and allowed me a glimpse through your adventurous eyes. Special thanks to West and Chase for the extra push of encouragement because that’s exactly what it took to finally write about Joe and Hot Chocolate Charley.

I’m grateful for my grandmother Edna, who made our childhood Christmases magical. I can imagine her hands are happily knitting jingly slippers for the angels. It’s quite an honorable and daunting task, however, one day she will say, Done and done.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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The Frazzled Prologue: A Father’s Gift

Chapter 1 Fire!

Chapter 2 A Frazzled Tale

Chapter 3 What Shall We Do Next?

Chapter 4 The Honorable Soldier

Chapter 5 All Your Heart

Chapter 6 The Footprints

Chapter 7 Show and Tell

Chapter 8 Needles and Pins

Chapter 9 The Best News!

Chapter 10 The Request

Chapter 11 Edna’s Thread

Chapter 12 Seen!

Chapter 13 The Special Mission

Chapter 14 Jingly Joy!

Chapter 15 Christmas Spirit

Chapter 16 The Very Fastest

Chapter 17 The Tin Box

Chapter 18 The Special Gift

Chapter 19 An Incredibly Good Day

The Tree Ornament’s Gift Prologue: A Mighty Storm

Chapter 1 Something Stinks

Chapter 2 The Discovery

Chapter 3 The News

Chapter 4 A Sad Goodbye

Chapter 5 The Mission at Home

Chapter 6 The Bits and Pieces Shop

Chapter 7 More Bits and More Pieces

Chapter 8 Home Work

Chapter 9 Hook Gets a Christmas Tree

Chapter 10 Homemade Divinity

Chapter 11 Edna Gets a Bow

Chapter 12 The Message

Chapter 13 Charley Goes Fishing

Chapter 14 Tillie Mae’s Story

Chapter 15 The Return

Chapter 16 Rescued!

Chapter 17 Memories

Chapter 18 The Christmas Tradition

Chapter 19 Christmas Day

Chapter 20 Visitors

Chapter 21 Sweet Edna

Chapter 22 The Fishy Gift

Chapter 23 The Spirit of Christmas Passed Along

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The Frazzled Prologue:

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A FATHER’S GIFT

The scent of freshly cut fir tree wafted into the well-worn cardboard box labeled Christmas Decorations and Fragile. Mama carefully lifted out the ornaments and unwrapped them, each in turn.

The handcrafted red fox in his smart military jacket was joined by the carved bunny with eyeglasses. She wore a sweater with buttons, knitted slippers, and carried a small set of silver knitting needles.

Next, the tissue revealed the spunky-looking round mouse ornament. He wore a brown leather satchel handsomely across his shoulder. It was a tiny twin to Papa’s satchel, which Mama had placed in the cedar chest at the foot of her bed. Then out came the last of the set, the wooden chipmunk with a warm stocking cap and pink mittens that matched her cheeks.

Handle these with special care, Mama whispered so close to Thomas that her breath tickled his ear. Remember, they were a gift from your papa, and I outfitted each of them properly. Someday you will share these ornaments with your children.

It had been a year since Papa passed away, but Thomas could still hear the jagged edges of sadness in Mama’s frail voice.

Thomas lined up the four ornaments atop the dresser, next to his most prized collections:

• Jar of pennies (secretly saved to buy Mama’s Christmas gift)

• Three colorful marbles

• Papa’s old pocket watch

• One sock (Where is its mate?)

These carved animals were his absolute, most favorite Christmas decorations. Of course the wooden red fox was most admired because he wore a snappy military jacket like Thomas’s Papa. His eyes seemed to have such deep compassion, almost as if he was ready to defend his country and home. Words were carved on the soles of his boots—his name, Joe, and Trust League.

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Sometimes Thomas imagined them to be real friends, standing at attention from across the bedroom. He had no brother or sister to play games with, whisper secrets to, or share life’s sorrows and joys.

Thomas grabbed the red fox, kicked off his shoes, sat across the bed, and leaned his back against the wall. With his bedroom door shut, the tears came. He spilled out everything to Joe. His