Trimming the Tree 

A cold and snowy evening 

Can warm and joyous be 

When Hoss, Joe, and Adam 

Are trimming up the tree 

Together in the great room 

Beneath Pa’s watchful eye 

Laughing, teasing, singing 

As the hours go by 

Hanging little treasures 

To grace each fragrant bough  

Telling stories remembered 

About baubles they hang now 

Eating not just hanging 

Hop Sing’s iced gingerbread 

Along with ribbon candy 

And striped canes of white and red 

Placing wooden animals 

Carved by Hoss’s hand 

Making sure that candles 

Tall and steady stand 

Nestling in the silver bells 

Adding wreaths of golden grain 

Wrapping it all in popcorn 

Twenty feet of snowy chain 

Then aloft on Hoss’s shoulders 

Joe, breath held reverently, 

Crowns it with three angles  

 In their mothers’ memory