Jack Vasen This story is about what happens when a newly blended family tries to blend their traditions for Christmas. They do a good job of showing how traditions are bittersweet when someone is no longer there to share them. We see that these kids are not selfish and in fact very mature for their age in that sense. Giving up the traditions is like losing that loved one again.This is not your stereotypical Christmas story, although I'm sure elements of it have been done before. The ending could have gone a couple of ways.All the acting is good. Two of the kids seem especially mature for their age. I was particularly impressed with John Ratzenberger who was nothing like he was on Cheers and presented a Christian retired pastor as a reasonable man of faith and love.There was a Bible reading about Christmas and saying of grace that was more than rote. The movie may be a little preachy, but it is not about religion. It is about the importance of family.

Carolyn Downing I watched this 3 times to see Lewis Smith. i guess he was on the cutting room floor. Lewis is the best contemporary actor I've seen since the day of big studio & big stars. I'd buy anything he does but the business is more interested in nepotism than quality of performance. The story line touched on real issues & confusion in blended families. Many hallmark stories portray realistic content but entertainment still needs to give an escape from some of the daily conflict. Inspiration is so much desired in a very difficult political & financial climate. More period/teaching story lines are great for taking us away from daily disappointments.

windtar A+ to everyone involved in this Christmas movie.This is a perfect example of how a family holiday movie should be made. It had every angle covered to keep your interested with a ending that makes you happy and tear.This movie is about 2 families who each lost a mom/dad who come together in marriage and each side "kids" wanting their own tradition Christmas. Not giving in and sticking by their own "selfish" desires causes tension within the family.I really liked John Ratzenberger in this movie as the logical calm grandpa. His chemistry between the kids and parents was only over shadowed by his sincerity to Dixie Carter, the mother in law. Ratzenberger is a very good drama actor, a far cry from Cliff on cheers. John, can I have your autograph? heheThe storyline between the mom and dad's tension was well written, and even better was how everyone intermingled with their own sub-plots. In the end, the entire story was wrapped up perfectly.SPOILER -- *** When Dixie carter goes home and Ratzenberger goes to get her, WOW, that was so well written i would give a award to John for that alone. The tears rolled from my eyes from there, and my heart made me think of my family until the final climactic ending with grandma walking in living room.The only thing I would have changed a bit was the ending and families reaction when Dixie walked in. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but they could have did something a little better, maybe a bow around Dixie, lol.... They should have put a dramatic momentary pause in the kids faces when they saw grandma, maybe tears in their eyes before they ran to her.To me, this movie was Christmas perfection.It's a MUST SEE for anyone who loves family movies. A+++MERRY Christmas 2008

ctomvelu-1 Christmas is jeopardized when a newly blended family can't seem to get together on how to celebrate the holiday. All is seemingly made well when the two kids from the dad's side decide to go with what the daughter of their stepmom wants, which is to spend the holiday in Boulder. Unbeknownst to them, that daughter has decided it will be best to skip Boulder and stay in town for a Christmas Eve pageant in which her two step-siblings usually perform. To complicate matters, the former mother-in-law of the wife shows up for an extended stay and has her own ideas. The heart of this typical Hallmark TV movie is Dixie Carter's performance as the grandma to the Boulder-loving daughter. As always, Carter is terrific. And she is nicely supported by John Ratzenberger as the fun-loving and very shrewd grandpa to the pageant-loving kiddies. Ratzenberger and Carter play off each other very nicely. A pregnant-looking Julie Warner is the wife being pushed and pulled by the three kids.