Mark Nagle leaves his better job and home in Seattle when his 6-year-old orphaned niece Holly, who stopped communicating after her mother's death, isn't allowed to pass to the next grade.

BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO [email protected] Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, mistletoe hung where every couple tries to stop, the holly and the ivy – these are just a few of the plants that ...

The familiar carols proclaim this message, with “Joy to the World” resounding in thousands of churches, while its secular counterpart exhorts listeners to have “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” ...

Holly and ivy are traditional rivals in the forest, representing masculine and feminine traits respectively, and they have been customary Christmas decorations since the late medieval period.