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The Christmas Card (2006)
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Let nothing you dismay remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray "Dear service member, "I hope this card finds you in good health "and preparing to enjoy the holidays. "At this time of year, "I always reflect on what I can be thankful for. "I was raised in a loving home "by wonderful parents. "My folks, Rosie and Luke, "send their Christmas greetings to you "along with mine. "Nevada city has been home "to the spelman family for 3 generations. "I could have left, "but everything that was important to me "was here. "Our lives are not about things. "Family and friends... People... are at the heart of it. "You won't find a chain store or mall around here, "and... and that suits us just fine. "Our local church organizes operation Christmas card "every year for our troops overseas. "The church is at the center "for many of our activities and social events. "The doors are open "24 hours a day to anyone. "Believe me, "you have many friends here. "You just haven't met them yet. "I'm sure being far from your loved ones "weighs heavy on your heart. "I know a little about that. "When I met my boyfriend "he was everything I was looking for. "Since then, his business has kept us living far "from one another. "I bet you'll be back with your family long before he and I live I in the same zip code." hallmark channel and friends of nci oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh hey - jingle bells - ho ho ho. Hey, sarge. What are you up to, Jones? Hey, hey, how about snappin' a photo, chief? Where'd you boys get those hats? From the dancers at the u.S.O. Show. Oh, a Christmas card for you from our admirers back in the states. The church group from my home sent us all Christmas cards. Give it to one of the boys who didn't make the show. Can't do that, sarge. The army entrusted me with the assignment of giving you this card. Mm-hmm. Ho ho ho. Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way "if you're ever out west, please come visit us. "We'd love to thank you in person for your service and sacrifice." "I speak for everyone in Nevada city "when I say that we are grateful to you "for making sure that we're safe and secure. "I'm attaching a photo of our church. "Know that the lights there are burning for all of you tonight "in the hope that next Christmas you'll be home. "And the world will be at peace. "You're in our thoughts, "and you're in our prayers. "With loving best wishes for the season, faith spelman." Did you get a nice Christmas card, team sarge? I did, jonesy, thank you. Looks like you've got quite a handful of goodies there. My fiancee liddy would like you to have a cookie. - She would, would she? - Said so herself. Thank her for me. Oh. This is her most recent photo. She gets prettier every day. You're a lucky man. Merry Christmas, sarge. Merry Christmas. Man, I don't know about you, Lewis, but I did not sign up for this. You got that right, brother. Hey, me and liddy picked a date last night. Nice. Valentine's day. Congratulations, jonesy. Thanks. Liddy and I would like you to be there. Incoming! Uhh! - Jonesy! - Get out of there! Just let it go! Man, go! Jonesy! First squad, secure that hill! You'll be fine, buddy. Come on. Ahh... Edo, get a medevac. You're gonna be all right, jonesy. Everything's gonna be ok, buddy. - I need a medevac. - At check point zulu, one priority. Over. Fragment wounds and crush injury. Over. U.S.S.F. W.I.A. This is Charley 2-2. Out. At ease, master sergeant Cullen. Mind if I sit and talk a sec? Please, sir. I was sorry to hear about sergeant Jones. Lousy luck. It was, sir. You're about to rotate home. I'm thinking of extending, sir. I think you need to take some leave, Cullen. Look, Jones wasn't your fault. Time for some r&r. That's an order, sergeant. I need you to do something for me. There's a young widow stateside that needs these. And while you're home, don't think about the army. Think about your life... What you want, your family, a career out of this uniform we wear. You've stood watch a long time now. Maybe it's time to find out what's next. Hello, liddy. Sergeant Cullen. I would've recognized you anywhere. Jonesy used to send me pictures of you all. I would have given my life for him. If I had the chance. I came here because I wanted to tell you... He really loved you. - Howdy. - Afternoon. Hmm. What can I get for ya? Uh, you have chicken salad club? Curly fries. - Mm-hmm. - Extra crispy. - All right. - White, wheat, or rye? Rye. And a hot chocolate. Marshmallows? Even better. How you doin'? Know where the latrine is? Hey, bill. Molly... Can I get some ketchup? Thanks. Mmm... Molly. I thought I ordered it to go. Faith, that isn't yours. Whose is it? It's his. You ordered a chicken salad club on rye with crispy curly fries and hot chocolate with marshmallows? Yeah. Heh... I'm so sorry. What are the odds? Oh, yeah, that never happens. Let me give you some of my fries. It's ok, really. It's fine. Come on! I've gotta go. Um, I'm sorry about the fries. Oh... merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Afternoon. Oh, good afternoon. What can I do for you? I was hopin' you had a room available. Ah, yes, quite a few, actually. But that's only for tonight. After that I'm filled up through Christmas. No, one night would be fine, ma'am. Oh, good, then I'll have you fill this out. If you don't mind. So, you visiting folks for the holidays? No, I'm... - I'm just passing through. - Well, then we'll have to do our best to impress you quickly, won't we? Uh, breakfast is at 8:00. I was thinking of attending church in the morning. It's right at the top of the hill. We could sit together. If you'd like, I mean. Oh, ma'am, that'd be great, thank you. Oh, your keys, sir. God, rest ye merry gentlemen let nothing you dismay remember Christ our savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray oh, tidings of comfort and joy comfort and joy oh, tidings of comfort and joy oh, come let us adore him Mornin', bill. Hi, Dennis, Phyllis. Good to see you. Hi, there. Welcome. Welcome. Oh, mornin', son. Morning. - Nice shine on those shoes. - Oh, thank you, sir. Oh, I bet you're the visitor that Selma wants to sit next to today. Yes, sir. She's quite the host. Well, you couldn't pick a finer church. It's beautiful. What's your name? Uh, Cody Cullen, sir. Deacon of the month, Luke spelman. It's a real honor to meet you, sir. Honor? I guess you haven't caught wind of my reputation. Oh, come let us adore him oh, come let us adore him Christ the lord - good morning. - Good morning. There's an old Hebrew saying, "be kind to strangers. By doing so, we may be entertaining one of God's angels." - That's right. - So we'd like to welcome and warmly greet any of you who might be a stranger among us. Here visiting for the first time. A... a-any visitors, please stand... - At this time. - Come on Cody, stand up. We wanna make you feel welcome, make you feel at home here in God's house on this fine holiday season. Ah, welcome, young man, welcome, sir. Now we'd like to invite you for refreshments after the service. All right, let's sing number 240. Hark, the herald angels sing. Hark, the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king peace on earth, and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled joyful all ye nations rise join the triumph of the skies with angelic host proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem hark, the herald - angels sing... - May the lord blessing keep you. May his face shine upon you. Go forth in peace. Nice to see you again. Joy to the world the lord is come let earth - receive her king - oh, glad to see you're awake. What I mean is... Reverend ives gives a poignant sermon, but sometimes it's a poignant, long-winded sermon. Well, I liked the message. And the music. No, they're great. Shiny shoes and the "sir" bit, I gather you must be army. Well, I'm currently on leave. - Yeah... - I-I served, too. Vietnam? I-it wasn't the crimean. - Heh heh. Here. - Come here a minute. - That's all right. - Excuse me. I'd like to steal my daughter for a second. - Aww... - Oh, oh... Cody, this is my somewhat attractive daughter, faith. We saw each other in the diner yesterday. You two already met? We're both fans of curly fries. Extra crispy. Eh, um, Cody's army. Sergeant. On leave. Oh, do you have family in town? - No, no, I'm just... - I'm just passing through. Faith, honey, would you mind taking Mrs. Cleveland to her car? She wants to go home. Well, Cody Cullen, it was nice meeting you. Um, hope you have safe travels during the holiday. I'll take you, Mrs. Cleveland. Um, it was really great meeting you, sir. - Great to meet you. - You come back, anytime. Soon. Cody! Hold up. Dad, look out! Sir, out of the way! Unh! - Is he ok? - Are you ok? Dad? Dad? Are you ok? Somebody go call an ambulance. Here he is. The hero. - No, no, no. - Right time, right place. How you doin'? Oh, banged up my bad hip, bruised my shoulder, but thank God for your special ops reflexes. Oh, we haven't had a chance to meet yet. I'm Rosie spelman. Cody Cullen, ma'am. I'm just so grateful you were there. We all are. Oh, I'm just glad you finally got to meet the love of my life. Well, you'll just have to come home and have dinner with us tonight, Cody. I mean, we gotta be able to thank you in some way. I-I'm gonna head out, um... Ah, come on. Humor the injured. Been a long time since I talked army with a fellow grunt. Well, I won't take no for an answer. Besides we've got plenty of extra rooms at the house. You could just stay the night. Be smart. Be smart. Surrender now... We'd love for you to join us. Consider it settled. Welcome to the spelman family. Mush! You can go ahead and put it right there next to pop's. Oh, ok. Wow. Somethin' smells really good. My mom was baking blueberry muffins this morning. She bakes morning, noon, and night during holiday season. You like it? Oh, yeah. It's everything I thought it would be. I'm sorry? You know, when you imagine someone's home. It's very cozy and inviting. Come on. I'll show you the guest bedroom. These are some of the men who served with dad and never made it home. He salutes them everyday. I don't need to tell you about that bond. My mom calls them his mistress. She always credits the army with teaching dad the skills for a good marriage. Loyalty, commitment, love of family... And the ability to do his own laundry. I believe she really taught him that, but... seems more masculine to credit the military. Come on. So, this'll be your room. The bathroom's right around the corner. I'll hang you some towels. Yours'll be the green ones. Ok. Thank you, um, faith, I wanna, um... Faith, we're back! Can you come help with dinner? Coming, mom. Take your time, settle in. I'll see you later. Ok... Cody. Come meet Rosie's cousins from brass valley. This is Jack and Suzanne. - Hey, Jack. - Hi. My boys Sammy and Henry. The scalawags. My daughter Rebecca. The beauty. Cody, would you mind going out to the garage and grabbing a couple of folding chairs for the boys. Point me in the right direction. I'll show you. Ah, ah, ah... ok... But no lifting for you. The doctor doesn't want you using that arm at all. Fine, fine, I'm just goin' for a walk with my hero buddy. It's really great to have you here. Great to be here. - Man... - Looks like somebody's got a couple of hobbies. Yeah, I wanted to build a sleigh, but one with wheels on it. Rosie gets a kick out of this thing. She says it's romantic. Yeah... I suppose that hog's for Rosie, too, huh? Oh, no, no, no that one's for me. Not too much lately, though. The eyes are slowin'. Hmm. Wow, what a great spot. Yeah, that's up off of highway 49. That's, uh, got a beautiful view of the yuba river. You oughta see it before you leave. - That view. - Yeah. It's a California memorial site dedicated to those who died in Vietnam. My dad died in Vietnam. I'm sorry to hear that. Hit my mom pretty hard. She passed away after I graduated from high school. You know, sometimes I think that's why I joined the army. Hmm. I thought it'd fill that void somehow. So... w... What are you doin' for the holiday? I'm not really sure. Yeah? I got a business proposition for ya. I own a mill... Family business. Now with this injury, I really could use your help here. Especially during the holiday. It's one of the busiest times of our year. I don't want to take your money, Luke. Maybe I could work for room and board, somethin' like that. Well, yeah, great. Great, that'll get Richard off my back squawkin' about takin' on more help. Yeah. That's good. Hmm... yeah. Wh-what are you doin'? Oh, I wanna surprise Rosie. So, you know, it's like fate brought you here. - Yeah... - Sure. Uh... not fate... Exactly. Huh? Well, I got this Christmas card. - What? - It's been a real lifeline for me. I... She brought you here. Don't you think it's a little odd that a grown man would travel this far based on a card? Have you told her? Maybe we should keep it to ourselves for now. Ah, no problem. It doesn't matter how you got here. It's just great that you're here with us now. How fast was that crazy guy goin'? 40. I'd say 40 up that hill. - Jeez. - Without him I'd be pushin' up... Food's out! Happy new year! - Ha ha ha. - Oh, boy. Perfect timing, Uncle Richard. I know my cue, dottie. Hey, the gang's all here! How is it that you always seem to arrive after all the work is done, and at the very instant that the food is out? Genius timing. Richard... Meet Cody Cullen. A real, live hero. Well, I don't know about that. Well, you'll be getting to spend extra time with this real, live hero. Because he just agreed to stay on through the holidays and help us... I should say you... - At the mill. - Great! I'll teach ya everything I know. Where's your sling? Oh, Rosie, you know I heal fast. Well, might as well eat while it's hot. - Yeah, look out. - Come on. There's nothin' for you. Let us give thanks. Thank you, lord, for the meal we are about to receive. And thank you for our family and friends both old and new. Please take care of those far away from their homes this day. And during this Christmas season, please let us all find peace. Amen. - 37! - Hut! You're all over it, baby! Yeah! - Yeah! - Aah! [All yelli yeah. Yeah, come on, Richard! Why didn't you sweat like that when you worked for me? 37, hut, go! Go back! And he's in the end zone! Look at twinkle toes. Dishes are done. Oh, that's good. Off sides, off sides! Get back over here! Boy, I wish I could play. They'd probably kill me. - Come on, dad. - What? The way Uncle Richard plays we could use a referee. That's an idea. I'd love to blow the whistle on him. Come on. - Hut! - Whoa, whoa, whoa, he's offsides! Whoa, ho ho! That's not fair! Ha ha! Those kids are tough. Bye, Henry! Bye! - Bye, Sammy! - Merry Christmas! See you in a few weeks. Hey, you're up late. Hey. I was just gonna get somethin' to drink. Help yourself. Hot chocolate. Ooh. Hm. Your parents are great. Aren't they? They both know when to lead and when to follow. Neither feels the need to compromise. It's really inspiring. I'd love to have that with someone one day. Got quite a few cards to write there. Oh, not really. I already sent the ones to the troops at Thanksgiving, so... Now it's just friends and... family. It's a really special thing that you do. Not really. It doesn't make that big of a difference. Faith, it makes a huge difference. In many ways it saved my life. My mom and I, we made a card for my dad when he was in Vietnam. I know he got the card. And it meant a lot to him. Did he make it back? Oh, no. Well... Getting a card from someone you know has got to have a lot more meaning than getting one from a complete stranger. I got a card once. The words kept me going. We pretty much do all things wood. Logging, lumber, firewood, Christmas trees. Mostly cedar. Some Doug fir, little northern pine. And, of course, the last few weeks, we've been selling Christmas trees. Definitely everyone's favorite season. Oh, yeah. Someday, it'll all go to faith. Wow. What's all this for? Woodworking. The guys use it whenever they get the urge. Usually just my brother-in-law Richard. He's a master craftsman. And since his wife died, I guess he just likes to pass the hours in here. Let's go look at the office. That way. Hello, everybody. Morning. This is where the beauty and brains of our outfit hang out. Needless to say, my chair is over there. That doesn't mean we don't let him buy us lunch. Faith, our lovely daughter sits over there and handles all the accounting, plus counting the dots. Counting the dots, what's that? Hm, well... - It's silly, really. - Never mind. - Good morning, all! - Oh, no. Armin messed up the Hartland lumber order. - Really? - Yeah. You know, he can't load logs, and he can't load lumber. - Yeah. - My order says, "1,200 board feet of cedar," and armin, he stacked up about a thousand. Oh, Richard. All right, let's go work that out. Faith, would you finish the tour with Cody? And be sure and show him our magic spot. Sure. Come on, Richard. Are you ready? See ya! Ok, this is our headrig, our edger and resaw. These cut the logs into 3 sizes, 6 by 6, 6 by 4, uh, 8 by 8. And then the jackets go up over the chipper and down to the chip truck for hauling. The chips get used in playgrounds and gardening mulch. The rest goes to electric plants. If we didn't use every inch, we wouldn't have a profit. Come on, I'll show you the best part of the tour. You really love working at the mill, don't you? - Can you tell? - Yeah. I do. I love it. One day I was gonna go away and work in the city, but... I love my mom, my dad, I love the work we do, I love being outside. See? Look how beautiful this place is. This... Is my parents' favorite place in the whole world. I can see why. This is where my dad proposed to my mom before he left for Vietnam. When he was gone, she came here every day to pray for his safe return. When he got back, they were married here. And they named me faith, because they never lost faith that they would always be together and have a family. ...have the Miller delivery a day later. I hate it, but go ahead. Anybody shoot at you? Not today, dad. Did you show him our magic spot? Oh, it was beautiful. Mm-hm. Why don't you take Cody with you and check on our load? Right. Keep him out of trouble! - You betcha! - Talkin' to Cody. - Ah hah hah hah. - Uhh. What's scary is, he meant it. I'm known to be a bit reckless around here. Kinda keeps things exciting. How long have you been with the company? Since high school. I introduced my sister to the boss' son for job security. Looks like it worked. - Didn't expect to see him. - That's Paul. Faith's very long-distance boyfriend. She's like job, waiting for him to take things to the next level. He's been moving slower than molasses. Oh, this is 1990. Yeah, well, use it later. Hello! What a surprise! Oh! Rosie, Luke. How nice to see you, Paul. - Paul. - What are you doing here? I wouldn't miss Christmas with my girl. You were supposed to be traveling through Europe. I know, but I'm going to work out of the napa office for a couple of weeks. I'm so glad you're back! I brought some delicious wine back to go with your great cooking. Wow! Then you better come over for dinner tonight. I'd love to. If you don't mind, I'd like to steal faith away for lunch. - What do you think, boss? - Can I take an early one? - Well, uh... - Have fun! - We'll see you later! - See you tonight. Hey, there. I could use that quarterback arm of yours out in the mill. Ok. Um... If you require a hammer, I'm your man. I got a little woodworking project. I was kinda hoping you could help me out with it. Sure. All right. - So he's staying here? - In the house? Yeah. Well, do you know anything about this sargeant-hero? There are some twisted freaks in the army, too, you know. Your eyes are about the same shade of green as our guest bathroom towels. I'm not jealous. I'm just protective. You mean a lot to me. Hi. - Hi! - Hey. Sure put in a lot of hours today. Hope Richard didn't work you too hard. He looks like he can handle it. Hi, I'm Paul. Cody. Faith told me how you saved Luke the other day. I'm impressed. Sure you would have done the same. Paul's in the wine business, and we were about to have a tasting. If you'd care to join us. - Oh, that'd be great. - Let me clean up, and I'll come back and start a fire. No need, I got it covered. Great. Here, honey, have a seat. It's good to be home. It's been a long time. Whew! - Whoo! - Hi. Hi, Paul! Time to get dinner started. Oh! You brought the wine. I'll get some stuff to go with it. Ok? I'd say this is a fruity wine, isn't it? This wine you brought is really good, Paul. Yeah, this stuff really does taste... What was it you said, Paul? Full-bodied and romantic? Aromatic. I picked it up when I was in France last month. I toured the chateaus of the alsace region. They're known for their whites, especially their rieslings, which are sometimes confused with German wines. - Why's that? - Ah, because the grapes are very similar. Ah, speaking for myself, I find I always prefer a French fry to a French wine. Me, too. Here comes the boss. He's a good worker, dear. Pull over in here. We're running low on Christmas trees. Guess we'll be cutting some more tomorrow. Let's go get the girls. Hey, how's it going? Oh, great! I think we're just about ready to quit for tonight. - What is... - You read my mind! I'm starving. What're the bags for? Care packages for the people in the shelter. Hmm! We're really low on winter clothing. We really need mittens, hats, scarves, and especially sweaters. - Ok. - Where's your boyfriend, faith? He seems to have disappeared. Oh, he's out of town on business. He'll be back when he can. Oh. Hey, Cody! You gonna be a logger, you gotta look the part. - Wow, thanks, Luke. - That's awesome. - Go on, put it on. - We'll be twins today. That's scary. You know, he's just trying to butter you up. He knows that cutting Christmas trees is gonna be the most exhausting day of your life. Morning, boys. Morning, dottie. Paul's volunteered to help cut Christmas trees with you. All the whos in whoville better run for it. - Morning. - Good morning. I'm glad you could make it. - Are you ready? - No. - Come on, Paul bunyan. - Let's cut you loose. I'll see you later. We get a thousand feet above the mill, we hit the snowline. Your cell phone works up here? This is Paul. Don't cut anything under 5 and a half feet. And only the ones that are crowded. No, no, it's ok, I... I told them I was... I, uh... I can't hear you up here. They're operating a chainsaw. Yeah, yeah, we're cutting down trees. In the woods. I don't know if it's a forest or it's some sort of tree hatchery. Have you talked to Roberto about that? And what did Roberto say? Uh, what I told James in the office... No, thanks, I'm glad you called, this couldn't wait. No, I wasn't busy at all. Listen, you have a merry Christmas. I will. I will, you, too. Wow, you guys really went to town. How long was I on that call? About 2 hours. Sorry. James in New York had a problem with a shipment out of France. - Can I help? - Nope. We're done. Little late, but thanks. You boys have fun? - Oh, yeah. - Oh, yeah. Uhh! That was hard work. We'll make a woodsman out of you yet. Come here. Cody, darlin', I'm feeling a little tender. Would you mind? - Ok. Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas. - Hello, ladies! - Hey, what do you have there? You mentioned that you were putting together boxes, and you needed a few extra items, so last night, I went out and bought some stuff. - Oh, thank you! - Oh, so generous. Hey, what do you have, Cody? Oh, just a few things I was gonna donate to the cause. Oh, how nice of you, Cody. Let me help you with that, come on. Thank you. That way. He's such a gentleman. Paul. Everybody was really impressed with what you did in there. What about you? Of course I'm impressed, I'm really proud of you. You see more taken with Cody. What you both did was wonderful. Come here. Hey. Ah, top of the morning. That looks complicated. Eh, I've been doing it a long time. It's pretty simple. We just count the boards with the sizes. It's 4 by 6, 6 by 6, 6 by 8, it's how we keep track of them. We have a code of dots. And each dot counts for a board. You get 5 dots like this, then you just connect the dots with a line. Which also counts for another board. Are these the dots that faith likes? I taught her how to count them before she was even old enough to count. That's why I call her dottie. Would you take that tally sheet back to the office for me? Morning, everybody. Morning. Well, you missed breakfast. - Oh, I got up early. - Went for a run. Oh, why didn't you tell me? I could have gotten up and watched. Nice flowers. They're from Paul for my mom. - Isn't he clever? - Roses for Rosie? Too clever for my Luke to have figured out. He always brings me dogwood blossoms. Not that I'm cheap. I just like to pick flowers from our special place. These are from Richard. I love counting dots. I know that sounds silly, it's my favorite thing to do. So you like to recount the dots, and it makes you happy? Immensely. Your lucky day, Cody. Lesson number 2. How to sharpen chipper blades. Pardon me. Good luck. - Cody! - Sir? Huh. We need you to count up that wood stack over by the multi-head resaw, I'm sending out a load. When you finish up, tonight, tomorrow morning, whenever, I want you to get the totals over to faith. Ok. Thanks. Well, that shouldn't take you much time. You didn't have anything planned for tonight, did you? See you in the morning! If I'm done by then. Good morning! Hey. Do you know what this is? It's a tally for the lumber that's being sent. Hmm. Let me know if it doesn't add up. Dottie. - Hey. - What are you two up to? Just working on a little Christmas project for Sammy. Oh, good, good. Hey, you didn't forget about the Christmas dance tonight, down at the veteran's hall, did you? Oh, um... You know, I think I'm gonna stay here, Luke, and finish up some odds and ends. - What? - Well, good! Maybe I can get a woman to dance with me, with you not there. Richard, Richard, who are you kidding? You don't stand much of a chance with or without Cody. Cody, come on. It'll give you a good chance to meet some great veterans. And if you don't get down there tonight, Rosie's gonna be very ticked at you for not tasting her baby back pork ribs. I mean it. All right, we'll be right behind you. - All right. - Don't forget! Hurry up! Boy, oh, boy, oh, boy. Just what I need. I'm gonna find my lovely wife and take her for a spin. Well, what'll I do? Try amusing yourself. Thank you, Mary Ellis, thank you. How's it going, Cody? Feel like a little, uh, spin with me? No. Faith looks like she's having fun. - Yeah. - She deserves better. He treats her pretty well. - For the moment. - Not for the long run. Lasted quite a while already. Nothing but a long, stretched-out romance. Every time she talks to him about the future together, he disappears. Off to pursue some new goal to secure their future. Maybe now he's ready to commit. Oh, that's exactly what Luke and I are afraid of. I'm gonna grab a soda. You want one? I'm good, thanks. This is yours, if you go dance with Paul. You can buy a lot of bingo cards. Deal. 'Scuse me, may I cut in? Uh-huh, sure. - You got it. - Thank you. You snooze, you lose. Care to dance? Sure. Will be the same you could be happy, and it's worth the part Mm, mm, mm. Quite a nice couple. Except they're not a couple, honey. Faith and Paul are a couple. Eh. What kind of couple sees each other a handful of times a year? Oh, come on, she's not a child. We have to respect her choices. - Good in theory. - But speaking as a father, he's not the right guy for her. He's not that bad a guy. Besides, he's crazy about faith. Eh, so's Cody. Where you been? Look at them. They don't make 'em any better than him, Rosie. Anyway, I know true love when I see it. You could be happy, and it's worth the part... When she's back in your arms once more Mind if I cut in? 'Scuse me, can I have my dancing partner back? - I need to go... - Freshen up. It's just a dance, Paul. Everything ok? Just marking his territory. The greatest things happen when you're dancing. - Thanks, faith. - You're welcome. - Thank you! - Of course. Paul's still m.I.A.? He's on his way back from a business trip in napa. What exactly does he do for a living? Yeah, faith. What exactly does he do for a living? He's an international wine broker. Ah. He spends far more time internationally than he does with my daughter. - Hey, herb. - Sorry about the delay. Traffic over the bridge is stacked. Hey, I don't believe it. What's that? I don't think I've ever seen you wear jeans. Well, believe it or not, later today, I'm heading back up to help faith sell Christmas trees. You must really love this girl. There's another guy trying to move in on her. Well. This should seal the deal. So you gonna move up to the boonies, become a Mountain man? Ah, no way. Once faith says yes, she's coming on the road with me. What if she doesn't want to leave? She's ready. Well, the problem is, he's supposed to be selling trees with faith down at the lot. I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss out on that. Well, let's stay, we'll have dinner, celebrate. - All right. - Waitress? Listen, Cody. It'd really look bad, if we miss our turn, selling trees down at the children's Christmas charity lot. You mind taking faith down there and getting her started selling? Works for me. Thanks, Cody, that'd be great. Paul can meet us up there. I'll run, go get my coat. One man's loss is another man's gain. Nice meeting you, Cody. Nice meeting you, Mr. lombardo. - Thanks, faith. - Merry Christmas to your mom and dad. - I'll tell them. Bye! - Bye! - That was great! - Really fun. Got a serious catch, huh? - What? - You're covered in needles. That's better. You seem happier than when you first got into town. Oh, what are you saying, I was stuffy? Cautious. Compliments of the army. Wait. I'll be right back. Hey. I have a present for you. Faith. So you can remember your family. Hold on, I want to take a picture of you. Cheese. Cheese. Cody Cullen, this guy's looking for a tree. Cody will help you out. - All for charity. - What do you need? We got 10-footers, 8-footers... Hey. Wait a second, I'm gonna take your picture. That's sweet! She's a beauty! - Who threw that at me? - Was that you? Hold on, hold on. Can you get one of me? Ok, looking up. - You take it. - No, I'm taking it! Ok, smile! No. Come forward. Better. - Ok, smile. - Ha ha. One, two, three. I'm sorry I'm late. - Later. - Traffic was a nightmare. - It's ok. - Everything's working out. - It's not too late. - We can go home, open up a bottle of wine. Sit in front of the fire. Um, I just have to finish off a couple of things here. First. Oh, no, it's ok. You guys go ahead. Thanks, Cody. Oh. Forgot this. - It's cold out here. - You think this is cold? You should have been here this afternoon. Where are we going for dinner? - Hey. - Hi. What are you doing here? I went for an early morning walk. How about you? I was delivering wedges to Uncle Richard. I got to get back. Oh. I'll go with you if you want. What? Oh, no. I... I got to... - Faith. - I got to go. I... I got to get... I got to get back. - Faith! - I'm sorry! Faith! I kissed him, mom. I love Paul, and I kissed Cody. - Oh, it was... - You were just wrapped up in the moment. It was just a... A brief lapse in judgment, no? I'm not sure it was. What am I going to do, mom? Only you can answer that question, darling. You like Paul, don't you? It's who you love that matters. I've always thought... Paul would be the man I would spend my life with, raise a family with. You just have to remember, sweetheart, you've got to follow your heart. I love you, mom. I can come back later. Go ahead, set her down. Some of that, uh, sapwood, would you? Hold on a minute! No, it's a special order! Keep going! What's going on around here? - I'm sorry? - Uh-oh. He said "I'm sorry." Must be a doozie. I kissed faith. - Finally. - Go ahead, turn it off. Well, judging by the scene in the office, she must have kissed you back. - Did you hear the news? - What news? Love is in the air. What are you talking about? Well, your daughter was outflanked by special forces. Oh? What happened? He planted a big one on her. - What did she do? - She turned bright red! - Yeah. - They seem to like it? They both seemed to liked it. Good. That's going according to plan. Oh, you have a plan? - Of course I have a plan. - I've always had a plan. - Where is she now? - She's up with her mom. Yeah? - Mm-hmm. - Uh-huh. Ok. I got to go talk to her. - Can I come? - Don't be silly. Where's faith? She was upset, so she went home early. - Did you hear? - Y... You're stirring up trouble and looking for a smack on the bottom. Now, Rosie, don't you get me all excited. This is a better batch than the last one you made. What was wrong with the last one? You didn't have enough flour in there. - Look at this. - There's plenty of flour. - Thanks. - No, no. You're wrong. I mean, I keep telling you this, and every year you give me the same grief. - Oh, you... - Don't you see what he's doing? - Hey, everybody. - Hey, it's about time. You're missing all the fun. - You ok, Cody? - Yeah, everything's good. Come in! Hello. Hey. Hi. Hi, Paul. Wow, you guys are doing good work here. - Make yourself at home. - Grab some sugar sprinkles. I'd love to, Rosie, but, uh... Actually, I wanted to know if I could steal faith away for the evening. Ahem. It's getting cold in here. Cody, go get some firewood. My work is done here. Let me help you. I got you a surprise. Thanks! It's so cute. Listen... I know we've only known you for a short while. But I want you to know you've become family here. We've all come to love you I mean all of us. Look, I didn't plan on any of this. Mmm. Soldiers bond with one another. They become a band of brothers and sisters... A family. Their job is to defend and come back home to those who are waiting for them. What you need is someone to come back to. Got it? - All right. You sit tight. - I'll get the umbrella. Here you go. Watch your step. Right this way. Where are all your customers? The place looks deserted. Table ready for you. What's going on, Rachel? We're closed tonight. We have a private party. And for you... Enjoy your meal. What are you up to? I just thought we haven't had any quality time together. So you bought out citrone for an entire night during the busy season? Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. - To us. - To us. Thank you. Ok. I'm having shrimp. Now I know that Christmas is only 2 days away, and I probably should have waited until then, but I can't wait another minute. Will you do me the honor... Of marrying me? Paul... I love you. Of course I'll marry you. We'll spend all of our anniversaries traveling through Europe. Wherever I go, you'll go with me. We'll spend the rest of our lives traveling the world. Morning. Hi. Cody. Um, there's something I have to say. Paul and I got engaged last night. - That's great. - I'm really happy for you. Paul's a great guy. I'm happy for you, faith. Hi, honey. Hey. Did you order for us yet? Uh-huh. I'm glad you called. I needed a break. You know, once we get married we can have Christmas in Belize. Ha ha ha. And miss spending it here with my family? We're gonna start our own family. In napa. Honey, we never discussed leaving Nevada city. You know I love working at the mill. And you know I love spending time with my family. I thought you did, too. We can get a little place up here. We'll split our time. Relationships are about compromise. Never really thought about that. It's gonna be ok. Your dad's gonna... Find someone to replace you, and we'll come up and we'll visit 'em all the time. What you got? Ah, good tidings. Good tidings. I guess you've heard by now? Yeah. Richard's wearing black. Whatever happened to the young man asking the father's permission? Well, if faith's happy, I'm sure you would've said yes. Uh, listen, son... I... I know that you've fallen in love with faith. It's so easy for you to retire from the army now with your tours of duty and years of service. You can stay on here and work at the mill. And run it one day. - I can't stay. - She's marrying somebody else. E-exactly my point. But Paul isn't the one! Where's your sense of fighting for the right thing? Well, there's something to be said for not invading where you don't belong. You can't retreat now. You need to tell her how you feel. It's the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to move on. Ok. To the guy who saved my life. To the guy who saved mine. Hi, this is Paul. I can't make it to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I'll call you... I'm not at all happy about this engagement. - Faith made her decision. - We've gotta support her. Well... Cody's leaving because of it. Yeah, well, I'm sorry about that. But that's his decision. Wh... hold these. Hello? Hey, dad. I'm stuck at the mill and my battery's dead. And I can't find Paul. Can you come pick me up? I'm on my way. Faith's battery died, and she can't find Paul. You want me to go with you? - Oh, no. It... - It's way too cold out there for old people like us. Luke spelman... Hmm? Hmm? We're back. How was the sleigh ride? - Oh, as usual. - Very romantic. Faith's battery died. Would you run to the mill and pick her up? Oh, Luke. I don't think that's such a good idea. Humor me. This is faith's favorite blanket. Ok. Keep the lines tight, but be gentle on the bit. Hmm. She'll do the job. You sure about all this? Positive. Let 'er rip. Hyah! Whoa. This was not my idea. I'm sorry about what happened in the woods the other day. It was unfair of me to give you the wrong idea. I'm not sorry. The time I spent with you, the kiss... I'll have that for the rest of my life. You deserve to be happy, Cody. - I'm gonna be happy. - Come on. It's cold. Thanks. Mmm. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Good girl. Tell your dad I was easy on the bit. I want you to have this. It'll keep you safe and warm after you leave. Thank you. Phew. Come on. - De de de de - come to papa. LA LA LA LA Cody! Grab a girl! Come on! Come on! Ha ha! Come on, Cody! Ha ha! Do do do da da da hmm. Change your partners, dosey-do. Ha ha! I really should be going. What? - I have some... - Stuff to finish off for tonight's service. Aw, come on! I have some things to take care of also. May I borrow the truck? Oh, yeah. Sure. Uh, uh, remember, Christmas Eve service is at 7:00. If I'm finished, sir. Ok, Cody. But try, huh? It's a beautiful service. Yeah. Yes, ma'am. I'll try. In hills where they lay keeping their sheep on a cold winter's night that was so deep Noel, Noel Noel, Noel born is the king of Israel they looked up and saw a star shining in the east beyond them far and to the earth it gave great light you're still here. You're a lucky man, Paul. Love, not luck, had a big part in my good fortune. I need you to know I'm in love with faith, but I know she loves you, and I hope you're doing this for all the right reasons. Understood. In every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing - oh, I saved you a seat. - Come on. And heaven and nature sing he rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove "As the glory of the lord shone all around, "and they were very much afraid. "The angel said to them, do not be afraid. "I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people." The image of the holy family puts me in mind of our own Nevada city and the families here. Jesus came for the world, yet like all of us, he was a small town kid who never strayed far from his loving family. He was surrounded by people who loved each other and had as his example Joseph, who by choosing to stand by Mary set the standard for doing the right thing. For making the kinds of choices that call upon us to set aside out own desires for another's welfare. Is there any greater gift we can give or larger goodness we can do? I don't think so, friends. I just want to remind everybody to be sure to say a prayer for our brave men and women in the armed services who are overseas in harm's way on this holiday season. All right. Now that your candles are lit, let's all sing silent night. Something wrong? Holy night all is calm all is bright Paul. Paul! I'm so sorry. - Ho ho ho! - Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, Richard. Here let me help you with this. I didn't see Cody's bike out front. Know where he went? No. You? - I don't like this. - His bed's made up. Looks like all of his stuff is gone. Oh, look, look, look, look, look! Look, he left the card and... and a map or something. - What? - Um, "dear Rosie, "faith, Luke, and Richard. "The last couple of weeks have meant the world to me. "You invited me into your home "and for that, I will be eternally grateful. "I've lived a lifetime here in Nevada city and will cherish every memory, every image. "I wish you all a lifetime of love, happiness, and peace. "Merry Christmas... Cody Cullen. "P.S. If you follow this map, you'll find your Christmas present." Look. Let's go. Well... When are we gonna open our Christmas presents? Aw, boy. Easy does it. Come on. Oh, look at this. - Beautiful! - Oh, I'll be darned! "Where the magic begins." The time Cody must've spent on this. This is what you two were working on until the wee hours. Guilty as charged. Oh, Richard. Thank you. - Don't thank me. - Thank Cody. It was all his doing. I just showed him how to hold a hammer and nail a nail and work the table saw. Well. Hmm. "Dear faith, "I've fallen in love with you twice now. "Once when this beautiful woman swiped some of my crispy curly fries..." Hmm. "And then the first time, "when a thoughtful, tender woman sent me this card. "I want to thank you for showing me "how amazing love can make me feel. "I hope all your dreams come true. Cody." So... This card brought him to Nevada city? No. You did. Dad, I have to find him. I have an idea. Sergeant Cullen? You forgot something. Chicken salad sandwich on rye with curly fries? Extra crispy. No hot chocolate? You'll have to come back to Nevada city for that. How'd you find me? Dad knew you'd never leave town without visiting the Vietnam memorial. If you ever, ever leave town without saying good-bye again, I swear, I'll... hallmark channel and friends of nci institute ...Www.Ncicap.Org... |
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