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36 x December 15, 2016 - January 4, 2017 x www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com<br />
OPEN ON<br />
CHRISTMAS DAY!<br />
Traditional Christmas<br />
Dinner will be<br />
available<br />
,<br />
DELECTABLE DINNER & CHAMPAGNE TOAST!<br />
FOR RESERVATIONS, VISIT<br />
ITTABENADINING.COM/ORLANDO<br />
OR CALL 407. 757.2910<br />
9101 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE, SUITE 2210 | ORLANDO, FL 32819<br />
Located on the second floor of Pointe Orlando<br />
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35<br />
Then Mom yells, “Get off your video<br />
games, you two. It’s Christmas Eve!”<br />
“It’s Christmas?” I ask, feeling dazed by<br />
the last hour spent staring at the screen.<br />
“No, it’s Christmas Eve,” Mom says.<br />
“Oh,” I reply.<br />
“Also, make your Christmas list,” Mom<br />
shouts from the bottom of the stairs.<br />
“After this level, please?” I plead, hoping<br />
to buy just a few more minutes of time.<br />
One level later:<br />
I get off the chair, get a piece of paper,<br />
and write my Christmas list. This is<br />
what I write from worst to best: iPad, Wii,<br />
Nintendo 3DS and Xbox.<br />
My mom reviews the list and replies,<br />
“You can’t have anything on this list! You<br />
don’t need any more technology in your<br />
life.”<br />
The next morning I wake up but don’t feel<br />
very excited, because I already know there<br />
won’t be any technology presents. Those<br />
are the only things that I could possibly<br />
want. Then I hear something. It’s a squeaking<br />
sound. It sounds just like the Night of<br />
the Living Puppies video game. What could<br />
be making that sound when we aren’t allowed<br />
on video games today?<br />
It’s my present! A real, live Bichon puppy!<br />
He runs up and licks my face. I laugh,<br />
pick him up and hug him.<br />
“I’ll name him Mogul,” I say.<br />
This is the best Christmas gift ever! I<br />
guess my mom knew what she was talking<br />
about when she said that there is more to<br />
life than technology.<br />
Bob, Mom and I rush outside to play in<br />
the soft, cold snow with Mogul. It is so much<br />
fun! We chuck huge snowballs at each other<br />
and laugh for an hour. We almost lose<br />
Mogul once since he’s the same color as<br />
the snow. After that, we go inside and eat<br />
mint chocolate-chip cookies. Mogul has a<br />
dog biscuit. I guess there is more to life than<br />
video games!<br />
Honorable Mention<br />
The Snowflake<br />
by Grant Williams<br />
Stoneybrook West<br />
Once there was a boy named Max, who<br />
loved snowflakes. He loved to make snowballs<br />
and have snowball fights. He loved<br />
the taste of snowflakes on his tongue. Max<br />
had an entire collection of snowflakes.<br />
When he was little, he dreamed of having<br />
a world of snowflakes.<br />
One night, he saw a giant snowflake in<br />
a field. Max had to add it to his collection!<br />
He began to chase the snowflake. He ran<br />
after it in a forest for five hours. Then Max<br />
was hit by a snowstorm!<br />
The storm was really bad, and he<br />
couldn’t escape. Max got lost. When the<br />
snowstorm finally stopped, Max saw a tree<br />
that had a smiley face carved into it. Next<br />
to the tree was a chest. Max grabbed the<br />
chest and took it home with him. When he<br />
got home, he opened it. Inside was a huge<br />
snowflake.<br />
Later that day, he went to search for<br />
snowflakes online. He found a legend<br />
about a snowflake king and queen, who<br />
lived in an ancient forest deep in the<br />
woods. To find the forest, you had to find<br />
a tree that had a smiley face carved into it.<br />
Max was shocked! Was that the same tree<br />
he’d seen? How did he get the chest?<br />
Every day, Max searched and searched<br />
for the smiley face tree, but he never saw<br />
it again.<br />
Honorable Mention<br />
My Favorite Parts of Christmas<br />
by Jack Slattery<br />
Lake Butler Sound<br />
The most wonderful time of the year is<br />
upon us! The Christmas season is the most<br />
holy and joyous time of year. Christians believe<br />
Dec. 25 is the day we celebrate the<br />
birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. Our families<br />
gather together to worship, eat and<br />
show how much we love and appreciate<br />
each other. Christmas carols, decorations<br />
and gifts make us feel happy and joyful.<br />
Christmas in our family is considered<br />
very special. My family travels to each<br />
other’s homes, but usually my family<br />
comes to my home in Windermere. My<br />
cousins from Seattle love to visit us in the<br />
warm weather to celebrate Christmas.<br />
This time of year is one of the only times<br />
we get to see each other, so Christmas<br />
has an important and special place in my<br />
heart for my two little cousins, Alison and<br />
Olivia. We love to play outside, bake<br />
cookies, go to special holiday events,<br />
and eat delicious food. My Uncle Paul<br />
loves the hot tub.<br />
Christmas is special because we have<br />
time off from school to spend special time<br />
with family and friends. It’s fun when we<br />
don’t have to worry about schoolwork or<br />
baseball, and we can really sit down and<br />
talk with each other. We like to play board<br />
and card games, especially Old Maid
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