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Yule Goat (1/1)

"Mommy! Daddy!" Angie barreled towards her parents at top speed the second they entered the Rollins' condo. "Guess what me and Grandma and Grandpa and DJ found at the store. Guess." Her eyes sparkled as she gave them each a hug. "I love it! It's so cute. And I never even knew they had them."

Elizabeth came into the room behind her chuckling. "She's been a bit excited since we got home from shopping."

"We went to the Christmas store," the young girl reported breathlessly. "The one with all the pretty trees and sparkly lights. There was a very nice lady there and she knows all about the kind of ornaments people in other countries hang on their trees."

"They have an entire tree full of international ornaments," Elizabeth explained. "DJ and Angie were both enthralled by it and the owner of the store spent quite a lot of time telling them about all kinds of different Christmas traditions."

Steve smiled. "It sounds like you had a fun day."

"You have to guess what we found." Angie vibrated with excitement. "It's the best ornament ever!"

Steve and Catherine shared a glance. They weren't sure what Angie had found but judging by her level of excitement they had a pretty good idea what it involved.

Finally she couldn't stay quiet any longer. "IT'S A GOAT!"

She clapped her hands together and hopped in place. Her enthusiasm and exuberance were contagious and her parents quickly found themselves caught up in it.

"A goat?" Catherine replied gleefully. "How fun."

"That's so cool!" Steve added. "Can we see it?"

"I'll be right back." Angie dashed from the room and returned a few seconds later carrying a straw ornament tied together with red ribbon in the shape of a goat. "It's called a yule goat," she reported happily. "Miss Luann at the store told us how lots of countries have them and they're good luck. Grandma said we can go to the library tomorrow and find a book about them."

Steve knelt down to Angie's level and examined the ornament. "That's pretty awesome. We'll find a special place for that on the tree."

Elizabeth grinned. "Oh wait. There's more."

Catherine looked at her mother questioningly.

"Tell Mommy and Daddy where Grandpa and DJ are," Elizabeth prompted her granddaughter.

Angie's eyes lit up again. "They're at Home Depot. They went to get things to build a goat!"

Steve looked at Elizabeth warily. "What does she mean, things to build a goat?"

"Come on," Angie said. "I'll show you." She led her parents into the living room where they saw the image of a towering straw goat paused on the tv screen. She looked at it with wonder. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Very pretty," Catherine agreed. "But that goat has to be 25 feet tall."

Angie picked up the remote and unfroze the image. "Grandma helped me find videos."

"This isn't even one of the really big ones," Elizabeth said. "They can get up to 50 feet high."

"I can't understand what he's saying." Angie referenced the man in the video speaking Swedish. "But I think it's about how pretty the goat is."

Steve smiled. "You're probably right."

They heard the front door of the condo open and a second later DJ burst in.

"I saw your truck out front and I remembered Mommy rode with you today so I knew you were both here," he said as he hugged first Steve, then Catherine who asked, "How was school today?"

"It was good. I have a little homework," DJ said. "Grandma said it was okay if I went to the store with Grandpa because it isn't much and I can do it after dinner or even tomorrow since it's the weekend."

Catherine nodded. "That'll be fine."

DJ looked at his sister and saw her gaze was transfixed on the television screen. "I guess Angie told you about the yule goat," he said with a smile.

"She did." Catherine turned to look at her father. "Please tell me you didn't go to Home Depot and buy enough wood and straw to build a 20 foot goat on our beach."

"Don't be silly." Joseph grinned. "10 feet at the most."

"If it's that big you can build it in your own backyard," Catherine said good naturedly.

"I would love to but those pesky condo association rules," Joseph chuckled.

"Grandpa said we can't build one that big." DJ pointed to the screen. "So the man at the store helped us figure out how much wood and straw we would need to make a life-sized Felix."

Angie, who had been swaying along with the people in the video performing a traditional Christmas dance, suddenly registered what her brother had said and turned to him with an expression of delight.

"Are we gonna build a goat this big?" She held her hands as high up in the air as she could.

"Maybe not quite that big," DJ laughed. "We're gonna make it as big as the real Felix. First we have to make a frame out of the wood we bought and then we cover it in straw. I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna work." He looked at Joseph with complete confidence. "But Grandpa will figure it out."

"If my grandkids want a yule goat," Joseph said. "I'm gonna do my best to make sure they get one. We just need to go to the craft store tomorrow and get some wide red ribbon to decorate it with after it's done."

Catherine wrapped her arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. "You're getting as bad as Mom," she teased.

"Maybe while we're there we can pick up some supplies to make yule goat ornaments for our family and friends," Elizabeth suggested.

"That'd be so fun," DJ said.

"Then we can go see Felix and tell him all about the yule goat and we can show him pictures and maybe even a video," Angie said. "He'll love it. So will his mommy, daddy and all his friends at the zoo."

"I'm sure they will," Elizabeth replied. "Sounds like we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. I can't wait to get started."

THE END

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