Allie was so excited she could hardly sit through church. It was the Sunday before the Christmas Festival. Today was the day they were going to find their Christmas trees. For Allie it signaled the real start of Christmas and this year because of everything else going on they were getting their tree earlier than they usually did. Nathan had arranged for a wagon from the livery to carry the trees they selected. Allie had packed them a lunch and brought extra blankets to ward off the cold temperatures. They'd dressed casually for church intending to leave right after service. Nathan and Sarah had both been busy the past couple of weeks so had spent very little time together. They were looking forward to a fun day together.

Nathan was trying to stay calm and not give away the surprise he had planned for Allie. He'd met Bill at the bank a few days ago and signed the necessary papers to take possession of his land. He smiled anticipating Allie's reaction to the news.

All three climbed up onto the rumble seat of the wagon. Nathan with the reins and Allie situated between him and Sarah. They were covered with blankets and all three were feeling optimistic about finding the perfect trees. As they passed through town they waved to friends they saw walking in town. Florence and Ned Yost commented to each other how good they looked together. Florence told Ned she thought Nathan was happier than she'd ever seen him. Ned had to agree.

Once they'd made their way to the outskirts of town Allie noticed they weren't going the same direction they had gone in past years. "Dad, did you miss the turn? I think we're going the wrong way."

"Nope, I know exactly where I'm going. I heard of an area that has better trees so I thought we should try it this year." Nathan tried to remain casual and not make Allie suspicious.

As they got closer Nathan saw something out of the corner of his eye that he hoped Allie would notice too. "Dad, what's that over there? Someone put a big red bow on that tree over there."

"We better go check it out." Nathan steered the wagon into the clearing. Allie jumped off the wagon before it had completely stopped and ran toward the tree.

"It has a card on it that says Merry Christmas. Who do you think left it?"

"Well I don't know, why don't you read it?" Sarah eyed Nathan knowing he was hiding something.

Allie pulled down the card. "It says Merry Christmas." Allie flipped it over reading the message "It says Welcome Home Allie." Her face had a look of total confusion. "I don't understand."

Nathan helped Sarah down from the wagon and together they walked over to Allie. "Merry Christmas sweet girl. This is your early Christmas gift. This is our land. I bought it last week from Uncle Bill. This is where we're going to build our forever home." Allie jumped into Nathan's arms tears streaming down her face.

"Are you serious? Our own house? Why didn't you tell me?" Allie sounded only mildly upset that Nathan had kept it secret from her.

"Well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" Nathan was thrilled with Allie's reaction.

Sarah couldn't help but tear up seeing the love between Allie and Nathan. She had never seen Nathan so animated and could tell he was just as excited as Allie.

"There's a lot to see and we can explore while we are looking for our trees." Allie finally let go of Nathan and ran off wanting to take in every inch of their new land. Nathan looked at Sarah with a smile he couldn't get off his face. "What do you think Sarah? Do you like it?" Nathan started sharing his ideas for where the house would be positioned, where the barn and workshop would go. "I hope you like it. It's not too far from town is it?" Nathan was suddenly worried that Sarah might not want to live out here. Though they hadn't discussed their future since they first started courting Nathan had bought this land with both Allie and Sarah in mind.

Sarah was touched that Nathan wanted her opinion and found his enthusiasm endearing. "Nathan I think it's beautiful and your ideas for the buildings sounds perfect. It's a bit outside of town but with the horses you and Allie should have no trouble getting back and forth to town."

Nathan pulled Sarah into his arms and kissed her deeply. "I bought this for our future that's why it's so important to me that you like it."

Sarah felt her insides somersault at Nathan's words. She looked into Nathan's eyes and whispered "it's perfect." She brought his lips to hers and returned his kiss.

Suddenly they heard Allie calling "Hey break it up, I think I've found our tree!" Nathan and Sarah couldn't help but laugh knowing Allie had purposely interrupted them. Nathan groaned. "She may pay for that later." He quickly gave Sarah one more kiss and they headed toward Allie.

Allie had indeed found not only the perfect tree for their house but the perfect tree for Sarah's apartment. Before cutting them down Nathan wanted to show Allie the creek that ran along the side of their property. Allie couldn't believe how easy it would be to go fishing. Nathan hoped that as she got older she would still want to go fishing with him. It made him nostalgic for when she was younger and was happy to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon with him and their fishing poles. Sarah slid her arm around his waist and whispered to him. "Don't worry Nathan, she'll always want to go fishing with her dad." Nathan looked down at Sarah and smiled realizing she was reading his mind.

They found a clearing near the creek and sat and had their lunch. Nathan was already picturing some Adirondack chairs that could be placed there to enjoy the sound of the creek. Allie was talking a mile a minute about what she wanted in the house. First on her list was indoor plumbing. She also insisted that her room face west since she liked to sleep in and she didn't want the sun waking her. They talked about what rooms they wanted and how long it would take to build it. Nathan was hopeful they could have it done by the beginning of summer but that depended on a lot of factors including the weather.

After lunch they got the trees cut and loaded onto the wagon and headed back to Hope Valley. Their first stop was Sarah's apartment where Nathan set up the tree while Allie and Sarah made hot chocolate. Warmed by their drinks they quickly decorated the small tree. The smell of pine was already evident. Sarah took a deep breath enjoying the smell of Christmas that was permeating the apartment.

Over at Allie and Nathan's it took a bit longer to decorate because the tree was much larger. Allie showed Sarah all the decorations she'd made at their last Christmas festival. Sarah admired her work. "Oh Allie these are beautiful. You've done some very intricate work here. I think the kids will definitely have fun making these."

Allie beamed at the compliment. Sarah was always so encouraging to her it made her feel like she could do anything. "Miss Sarah, can you tell me about Christmas when you were growing up?"

Sarah smiled. "I would love to Allie. When I was little, before my mother died, she would make me a special Christmas dress every year and I wore it to church and then all Christmas day. We would bake so many cookies that we gave out at the bookstore. My mother was an excellent baker and she loved to share it with others." Sarah smiled remembering the smell of gingerbread and sugar cookies in their kitchen during the holidays.

"Maybe we could bake Christmas cookies and give them to our neighbors." Allie thought that would be a nice way to thank their friends for helping out when her dad had to go out of town.

"I think we have time to make some today if you want. Let's see if you have what we need." Together they went to the kitchen and found everything needed to bake cookies. While they baked Sarah continued to tell Allie about her Christmases growing up. "After my mother died my father still made it special. We made sure the bookstore was always festive." She told Allie about the big tree in the middle of the store and serving cider and gingerbread.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Allie hoped she hadn't made Sarah sad.

"It's okay Allie, I guess that's something you and I have in common. We both lost our mothers when we were girls. I was lucky to have a father who loved me so much and helped me through it." Sarah thought about how her father always wanted to make Christmas special for her.

"Yeah, my first dad wasn't a great guy but my dad now always tries to make Christmas special. When my mom died, dad was the one who took care of me, not my first dad." Allie was so thankful that her uncle had adopted her.

Nathan came in from chopping wood and found Allie and Sarah in the kitchen deep in conversation while they baked cookies. He stood for quite a watching them talking and laughing thinking what a beautiful sight they were. He couldn't ever remember feeling so at peace with his life.