MODERN FAMILY RECAP: THE OLD MAN AND THE TREE

Phil’s going to Canada! Well, not really but last year Phil got an elliptical machine for Christmas and promised to walk the distance from his house to Canada in one year, and if he didn’t Claire got to move the elliptical machine in the garage. Now that it’s Christmas Eve he has 10 miles to go and he is determined to make it!

Gloria’s Mother is visiting and she’s driving Gloria a little crazy, so she asked Claire to come over and babysit. Claire thought she was babysitting baby Joe, but she was there to babysit Gloria’s mother. Gloria and Joe went to go run errands.

Mitchell was excited that he finished his Christmas shopping weeks ago. Lily only had one thing on her list and he got it, so he thought. There was a little mix up because she misspelled Puppy Pound and wrote Guppie Pond so Mitchell had to make a trip to the mall on Christmas Eve to get it. Good Luck with that.

Jay doesn’t like the fake tree and is determined to save Christmas by taking Manny to cut down a real one. Once they find a tree, they have a lot of trouble trying to cut it down. Jay said to Manny, “Trees are like women, the best ones make you work a little bit harder.” Ha!

When Gloria came back from running errands and saw how well Claire and her mother were getting along, she got jealous. They were cooking together, laughing and her mother was brushing Claire’s hair. When Claire did a headstand to get extra cookies, Gloria had enough. She knocked Claire down and they started to argue. Gloria’s mother was disappointed in them and said family shouldn’t treat each other that way. Claire admitted that she was jealous that Gloria’s mother would come from Columbia to visit, and her own mother only sent her slippers every year. Gloria’s mother pointed out that maybe she sends them because she remembered a time when slippers made her happy and she wanted to remember that time. Claire never thought about it that way and felt bad.

Cam and Lily went to what they thought was a fundraiser for charity, but it was an event for the needy. The attendees were families in need. Whoops! Before Cam could get out of there, Santa gave Lily the Puppy Pound that she wanted and Cam felt terrible.

Phil was within 5 miles and wanted to give up, but Luke wouldn’t let him. He didn’t want to see his Dad fail (or to see that he hadn’t been doing the recycling and let it pile up in the garage) and encouraged him to finish, which he did. Way to go Phil!

Alex and Haley took jobs at the mall as Mrs. Claus and an Elf. Things got out of control when Santa took a 45 minute break and everyone went crazy. They were chanting Santa, Santa, Santa! Haley and Alex tried to hide in the house but the kids broke in through the paper windows. Alex and Haley screamed and got out of there! It’s dangerous working at the mall during the holidays!

Cam tried to get Lily out of the charity event in a hurry, but not before they were offered a holiday meal and a new coat. Mitch came to pick them up and when Cam opened the car door presents fell out everywhere. Cam grabbed them and started handing them out to the children before Mitch could tell him that they were gifts for Pepper’s party. So kids were opening gifts like His and His towels. Mitch took a gift back from one child because it was inappropriate and the boy said, “That’s ok. All I really wanted this year was a Puppy Pound.” Lily walked over to him and gave the little boy her Puppy Pound and Cam and Mitch were so proud.

Jay and Manny have every tool they brought stuck in the trunk of the tree and they still couldn’t get it down.  As they made a final plan to get the tree, the car rolled backwards down the hill and knocked the tree over. Mission accomplished!

We close with a montage of the family opening gifts on Christmas. Phil got a T-shirt that read “There is no Can’t in Canada, Lily got her Puppy Pound, and Claire loved her slippers from her Mother. Everyone gathered around the tree (that Jay and Manny brought home) for a family photo! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Modern Family we all love so much.

Modern Family airs Wednesday nights at 9/8c on ABC.