Baby-Sitters Club doesn't belong to me. The creator is Ann M. Martin.

I was helping my stepmom, Sharon, putting a Christmas tree up we picked out together. This would be our first Christmas together as a whole family since my dad and I celebrated on our own for a long time after my mom died when I was an infant. I don't remember her at all. Dad told me Mom was alive when we had first Christmas as a family when I was three months.

I'm Mary Anne Spier I'm 14 and grew up on Bradford Court until Dad and Sharon got remarried. Like me and Dad, she grew up and they went to high school together. In fact, they used to date back then! Then, she got sent away to California for college, got married, and gave birth to her two children, Dawn and Jeff. Unfortunately, Sharon got divorced and was back here with her kids until Jeff moved back to California. He might be here for Christmas. I can't wait for it. I'm glad Dad and Sharon got married. Dawn, who's my best friend, and I are now stepsisters. We attend Stoneybrook High School, here in Stoneybrook, Connecticut, for ninth grade.

"Do you girls mind getting the Christmas decorations?" asked Sharon.

"I don't mind," I replied.

"I'll help you," said Dawn.

Sharon wanted to surprise Dad, who's away in Chicago for a business trip, before he returns this weekend. He and I usually do the lights after the house decorations. But Sharon mixed it up this time.

We went downstairs in the basement to get them. They used to be in the attic before Dad and I cleaned it out to be a bedroom after he announced he and Sharon decided to adopt an orphan. That's how Carlos Peters, joined my family. He became an orphan when he was only eight years old.

Then, Meredith Sousa came along. She became an exchange student from London, England. She wasn't with us for long when she learned that her mom and sister died in a fire. She already lost her father a few years earlier. We share my room and enjoy it.

This is their first Christmas with us and are excited about it. I came up with the box of Christmas lights. I love decorating Christmas Trees. Lights are very pretty when they lit at night. We did the lights before we put up the ornaments like Dad and I always did.

It was only us anyway. Carlos had a basketball practice and Meredith's a cheerleader for his team.

We finished the tree in no time. Christmas is in two weeks. I can't wait for that to arrive.

"I have an idea. Why don't we have a Christmas Party on Christmas Eve? We can invite your parents, our friends and their families," I said.

"That's a great idea," said Sharon.

"I like that, too," said Dawn.

"Yeah. Grandma Verna is planning to be here anyway on Friday night," I said. "I'll mention that to the other girls tomorrow at the meeting."

"That's a nice idea. We can do it from six to nine at night since it's on a Tuesday," said Sharon.

"True," I agreed.

After Mom passed away, Dad was so upset that he decided to let my grandparents raise me in Iowa for awhile so he can recover. Baker was my mother's maiden name. He didn't take me back until I was about 18 months old. Unfortunately, my grandfather had just died of colon cancer before Grandma Verna and I got back together, so I didn't get a chance to meet him.

That night, Sharon and I went to the mall. I was doing Christmas shopping for the girls. Logan's brother, Hunter, got sick with a cold and didn't feel like going out for dinner, so his mom asked us. I already got plans, so Dawn volunteered to do so.

We planned to eat in the food court and have Burger King. I had a hamburger with Sprite and Sharon had a ceaser salad with water. As you can see, Sharon isn't a fan of sugar, sweets, or red meat. Dawn's the same way. Salad is one of the things we can agree on as a family. Eggs are the other. I looked at my Christmas list and realized I forgot to get gifts for Kayla and her twin, Kaylee.

"I just realized I should get something for the Willis girls while we're here," I said.

"Good idea," said Sharon.

"I'm not sure what to get for them yet," I said.

"I can help you with that," said Sharon.

"Okay," I agreed.

"We can do that after dinner," said Sharon.

They moved here from New York not long ago. We already met during a family trip. We're now best friends.

After we ate, we went to other stores. I spotted lockets. I found one for Kayla, but nothing for Kaylee- not even her initial.

"That's a nice idea," said Sharon.

"I know. There is one small problem: the slots for Kaylee, including K is out of stock," I said. "I got pictures of the three of us I plan to use. I plan to do the same for Kaylee."

"Maybe a frame would work," suggested Sharon.

Why didn't I think of that?

"I could do it that way," I said. "I could personalize that on Kaylee."

Then, when I saw the frame, I found an initial with K.

"Perfect. May we have that made here?" I asked.

"Sure," replied Sharon.

Luckily, I was able to do that. Adding pictures and put them in gift bags were free.

"I decided to do that for Christmas," I told a clerk.

"Lovely idea," said the clerk.

I had more baby-sitting money, so I used that.

Later, Dawn came home baby-sitting.

"How's Hunter?" I asked.

"He has been resting all this time," said Dawn.

"I bet," I said. "I can't wait to share the Christmas party with the girls during the club meeting."

"Me, either," said Dawn.

The next day, it was snowing and the streets were blocked, so all of the schools are closed. I bet the Baby-Sitters Club meeting might be postponed. Sharon didn't want to drive in the snow. Luckily for her, the office lost its power and had to close. She was glad about that. We lost power ourselves at ten-thirty this morning. Plus, it's a good thing Dad's not coming back until Friday or Saturday otherwise I'd be worried about him. All the flights and trains would be delayed or canceled, too. It would be snowing all day long. Grandma Verna was due to come today because Iowa was predicting snow this weekend, but her flight got delayed because of technical issues, so she may come tonight when it's clear for the planes to come. Otherwise, she'll be here tomorrow.

"We should go out there to shovel," said Dawn.

"I think it's better off if you kids wait until snow stops this afternoon," said Sharon.

"I agree," said Carlos. "I just found out that my basketball practice is canceled."

"Better to be safe than sorry," said Meredith.

Later, that afternoon, it stopped so we can go out to shovel. I was bundled up and Sharon wants Dawn to do the same thing. Luckily, we were all done. All Sharon cared about is the walkways and sidewalks to be cleared.

Sharon said we can quit for the day now. When we got in, we took off our wet coats, mittens, hat, boots, and scarf to hang up them to dry off. I decided to get a book and read in front of the fireplace.

"Would you like some hot chocolate? I'm making one for the others," said Sharon.

"Yes, please," I said.

She went off to the kitchen and came back with mine ten minutes later. We didn't had power. Kristy texted me saying the club meeting will be postponed because Claudia's house didn't had power, either. That night, we all had soup for dinner. Dawn and I made chicken rice soup. We were at the table when Sharon saw a taxi coming by. That was when she went to open the house. It was Grandma Verna.

"Hi," said Sharon. "We're just having soup for dinner. Would you like some?"

"That would be great. Thanks," said Grandma Verna as she came in and joined us.

"Hi, Grandma," I said.

"Hi, my plane was able to take off a couple of hours ago. They kept an eye on your snow weather, too," said Grandma Verna.

"It ended sometime this afternoon," said Dawn.

After dinner, I said, "I'm just tired from shoveling, so is it okay to take a break from helping out for tonight?"

"Of course," said Sharon.

By the time we went to the bed, we still had no power. Even our tree lights weren't working. They say that the wires were frozen from the weather.

The following day, I heard all the schools were still closed since the power didn't come back on. They didn't want anyone to catch a cold in schools. Makes sense. At noon, we had ham and cheese sandwiches. Later, Grandma Verna saw a taxi showing up in front of our house.

"A taxi is here," said Grandma Verna.

"I bet that must be Richard," said Sharon.

"He's early, too," said my grandmother.

"I forgot to tell you that he was coming home early," said Sharon.

That's Sharon- she forgets everything.

That was when he came in.

"Hi. You're home early," said Sharon.

"We're having a blizzard this weekend, so Randy decided to come home early," said Dad.

"Smart idea," said Sharon. "I forgot you told me you were coming home today."

"Iowa is having a blizzard on Friday, too, so that's why I arrived today," said Grandma Verna.

"We haven't had power since yesterday," said Sharon.

I came down.

"Oh, hi, Dad," I said.

"Hi," said Dad.

Then, I told Dad about having a Christmas party on Christmas Eve and he liked the idea.

"Sharon liked my idea, too," I said.