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December 25, 2025 21 mins

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It's the Boys Ranch Christmas Special!!!

We swap carols, movies, and traditions while tracing why Christmas music unites people and how simple rituals build belonging for families and kids at Boys Ranch. Stories of Santa surprises, caroling nuns, and a candlelit Cantata bring humor, hope, and heart.

• favorite parts of the season, from lights to gifts
• when to start Christmas music and why it lifts mood
• why shared carols feel universal and participatory
• top three Christmas songs with personal reasons
• family traditions that create belonging and meaning
• tipping servers, gingerbread builds, and tree light sleepovers
• Christmas movie rankings and what they teach us
• It’s A Wonderful Life as a lens on purpose and worth
• Boys Ranch memories of Santa, gratitude, and joy
• Cantata, transformed dining hall, and caroling nuns




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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Merry Christmas! Welcome to our very special
Christmas episode.
Today I'm joined by three wisewomen.

SPEAKER_05 (00:06):
Suzanne Rott.
I oversee the trainingdepartment at Bois Grant.

SPEAKER_03 (00:09):
Julie Ortega.
I am a director, staff trainer.
Tracy Griffin, house parent.

SPEAKER_01 (00:15):
Alright.
Today we're gonna do something alittle different.
We're gonna have a Christmasspecial.
Like those old school Christmasspecials that used to come on TV
that were so much fun.
To kick it off, we're going tocelebrate Christmas by talking
about some of our favoritethings about the Christmas
season.
So, what are some of yourfavorite things about the
Christmas season?

SPEAKER_04 (00:31):
I love all the Christmas music.
I love the lot.
I just like the I'm a sinker forChristmas decorations and I love
all the lights and thefestivities.

SPEAKER_03 (00:42):
I like buying presents that people are not
expecting.
Oh when I get the kids somethingand they're not expecting it,
and just the look of surprise ontheir face, but they're so
happy.
Uh-huh.
That's very thoughtful, Tracy.
That sounds exactly likesomething you would do, right?

SPEAKER_01 (00:58):
Yep.
All right.
So, Suzanne, you mentionedChristmas music.
I love Christmas music.
When when is it okay to startlistening to Christmas music?
I know this is a very hot buttontopic for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_05 (01:07):
I say why, why ever stop, right?
So at random times throughoutthe year, I am known to play
some Christmas music.

SPEAKER_04 (01:15):
I always listen to Christmas music, especially if
you're having a bad day or goingthrough a rough spot or just
something you need to pick meup.
Christmas music will always doit.

SPEAKER_03 (01:26):
Sometimes I'll just burst into a Christmas song and
then the boys will start singingwith me.

SPEAKER_01 (01:32):
My middle daughter, she is a very hard line on it.
Because she says that thatviolates the sanctity of
Thanksgiving when you try andinvade Christmas music into
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving time.

SPEAKER_05 (01:45):
I do like the local radio station that plays only
Christmas music during duringthe holidays.
I'm a I'm a fan of it all thetime.
Not, you know, I don't listen toit year-round.
I do like it to be special, buton occasion you do have to bust
out a Christmas song or two.

SPEAKER_03 (02:00):
If we're going to be thankful all year, shouldn't we
celebrate Jesus all year?
Amen.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
So what do you think it is about Christmas music
that's so unifying?
I was thinking about this theother day that just about
everybody loves Christmas music.
And most Christmas music's notnew.
It's not pop music, it's alltimeless.
So what is it about Christmasmusic that just makes it where
everybody loves it?

SPEAKER_04 (02:21):
I think it's because everybody knows the Christmas
songs, the Christmas carols, thetraditional songs.
And you just if one person'ssinging, everybody's joining in.

(02:42):
Everybody knows Christmas music.

SPEAKER_05 (02:43):
We were all in Christmas plays in elementary
school where we learned the samesongs.
And so now, regardless of ourage or what part of a country we
are from, we almost always knowthe same Christmas songs.

SPEAKER_01 (02:56):
I think it's fun to rank things.
We're gonna go around the roomand rank our top three favorite
Christmas songs, starting withnumber three.
So who wants to share what theirthird favorite Christmas song
is?

SPEAKER_05 (03:07):
I think my third favorite Christmas song is Hark
the Herald Angels Sing.

SPEAKER_04 (03:11):
So I had a really hard time identifying just three
songs.
But one song that I really,really like, and it's not a
common one, but it's May EveryDay Be Christmas by Louis
Armstrong.
And so I grew up listening toLouis Armstrong and lots of

(03:31):
jazz.
And yeah, that's one of myfavorites.

SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
I would say my third is Silent Night.

SPEAKER_01 (03:38):
My third one is Oh Holy Night, and it would
probably be higher on this thelist, but the range of the song
is so vast that I cannot singthe high or the low parts.
Like it's so beautiful, but itfrustrates me that I can't sing
it all the way through.

SPEAKER_05 (03:51):
So you just sing every third word in the middle.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (03:55):
But I think it's very beautiful.
All right.
Coming in at number two, what'sour number two favorite
Christmas song?

SPEAKER_04 (04:00):
Silent Night is my number two.
I really like all the songs thathave been mentioned, and I can't
come up with a number two, but Ilove anything by the classics,
Dean Martin, Mel Tour May, FrankSinatra.
You can throw Leslie Odom Jr.
in there now.
So any anything by any of themwould be my number two.
So if you're just cheating,Julie.

(04:23):
I have a number one.

SPEAKER_03 (04:26):
Well, my number two is copying Josh and it's Oh Holy
Night.
Okay.
But I like the Vince Gillversion.
His he's just so smooth.

SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Yeah, yeah.
So my number two is Go Tell Iton the Mountain.
I think it's just such a funjazzy song, and I just love all
the different kinds of versesthat are in it.
And it's yeah, it's just reallyfun to sing.

SPEAKER_02 (04:45):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (04:45):
All right, coming in at number one.
What's our top favoriteChristmas song?

SPEAKER_05 (04:50):
You're a mean one, Mr.
Grinch.
No surprise that.
You could not have guessed thatone, right?
So many versions, so many peoplesing that song, and I I love
them all.

SPEAKER_01 (05:01):
Suzanne, how much Grinch paraphernalia do you
have?

SPEAKER_05 (05:04):
I have a lot of Grinch things.
Probably uh most famously, Ihave a blow-up Grinch that also
lights up that sits in the frontseat of my car.
And so the the day afterThanksgiving, Mr.
Grinch becomes my travelingcompanion.
And I do I do love the Grinch.

SPEAKER_04 (05:21):
My number one is Little Drummer Boy.

SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
Oh.

SPEAKER_04 (05:25):
I love that song.
I love the for King and Countryversion.
And it speaks to my Enea Gramone heart as a good reminder.
It's my favorite.

SPEAKER_03 (05:40):
My number one would be away in a manger.
Just those four words, youautomatically get the picture.

SPEAKER_01 (05:47):
So I'm gonna cheat on my number one.
I'm gonna combine two songs.
Mine's gonna be Silent Night andJoy to the World.
At our church's Christmas Eveceremony, the candlelight
ceremony, we do Silent Night andthen we transition into Joy to
the World as we light ourcandles.
So I just love how those two gotogether, and I have to add, I
I'm gonna cheat.
So I'm gonna do two for two formy number one.

SPEAKER_05 (06:08):
Well, the precedent was set by Julie about cheating,
so you're in good company.

SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
Thanks, Julie.

SPEAKER_05 (06:13):
Sure.

SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
All right, so in my opinion, traditions for
Christmas is what keeps familytogether and really make
Christmas special.
So I thought it'd be nice tohear some of your favorite
Christmas traditions that you dowith your family every year.

SPEAKER_05 (06:23):
When my kids were younger, we always made
gingerbread houses.
And I have I was given apampered chef mold so that you
could actually bake the wallsand the roof of the gingerbread
house, and it just it smells sogood, and it was always a lot of
fun uh to put that up togetherand decorate it together.

SPEAKER_04 (06:41):
We do gingerbread houses, but we don't bake our
gingerbread, we make them fromPop Tarts.
Oh, Pop Tarts.
That works good too, right?
Wow.

SPEAKER_03 (06:49):
Then the icing's already on the roof.
Yeah.
That's right.
Yeah.
I'm not sure since my mompassed, it's hard to think about
traditions anymore.
So we all kind of do our ownthing with our family instead of
all coming together.
But it's always been the bigmeals.
I remember grandma's aluminumChristmas tree and then her
snowflok Christmas tree with thecolored light spinning on it.

(07:12):
She always had a good Christmasfor us.
So I think we're overall, we allof me and my siblings have a
good basis for Christmastradition with our own families.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:22):
One of my favorite ones is on Christmas Eve after
we go to our candlelightservice, we always go to the
Chinese restaurant here in town,which is called China Star.
We follow the star to go, youknow.

SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
But we always go there afterwards, and then one
of the things we girls and I dois we save a little bit of money
every month, and then when we gothere, we always try and leave a
hundred dollar tip for thewaiter or waitress, whoever's
taking care of us on ChristmasEve, since they have to work
that night.

SPEAKER_05 (07:48):
Yeah.
So is that still open?

SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
No.
We've had to unfortunately it'sclosed.
We've had to jump to a differentChinese restaurant since then.
But we we carried it on eventhough the star is gone.

SPEAKER_05 (07:58):
Oh, okay, okay.
There's not a kitschy sayingthat goes with your new Chinese
spice, Josh.
All right, work on that.
Work on that.
When my kids were little, it wasalways always a tradition that
one night during December theycould sleep on the fold-out
couch in the living room infront of the tree with the
lights on.
That's fine.
And they they always thoughtthat was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
And when we were kids, we'd go to my aunt's house
for Christmas Eve and we'dalways have chili for Christmas
Eve.
A chili cook-off for Christmas.
I don't know what chili has todo with Christmas, but we always
had chili.

SPEAKER_05 (08:25):
Was this in Wyoming?

SPEAKER_01 (08:26):
No, Nebraska.

SPEAKER_05 (08:27):
Okay, Nebraska.
Go Nebraska.

SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (08:29):
Okay.
Well, it's chili at Christmastime.

SPEAKER_05 (08:31):
Oh, that's gotta be it, Tracy.
That's gotta be it.

SPEAKER_01 (08:35):
All right, now let's talk about Christmas movies.
I love having family movienights with throughout the year
with my kids, but I thinkthere's something special about
watching Christmas movies everyyear with your families.
What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_05 (08:46):
I think it's a great, a great tradition.
I have a a friend who is postingevery Christmas movie that he
and his family have watchedduring the month of December,
and it's quite impressive.
And and there are no children inthis in this household.
And so it's very I'm veryimpressed with his dedication
and his commitment to watchingChristmas movies.

SPEAKER_04 (09:06):
I love Christmas movies.
I mean funny ones, sappy ones,just I'll watch them all year
long.
I don't wait for Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 (09:13):
Yeah, there you go.
I I don't watch the cartoon oneslike I did when growing up
because you didn't have achoice.
Yeah, that was all there was.
But I do like new Christmasmovies.
And and now my husband the otherday asked if we could watch a
Christmas movie.
What?
I know.
I think he was not feeling well,but he stayed awake for the
whole movie.

(09:33):
Wow.

SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
All right.
Now we're gonna rank our topfavorite three Christmas movies.
So let's start with numberthree.
What's your third favoriteChristmas movie?

SPEAKER_05 (09:42):
I really like the old claymation Rudolph the Red
Nose Reindeer movie.
And I recently read some historyonline about that movie and it
it made me like it a little bitmore.

SPEAKER_01 (09:52):
That's my mom's favorite as well.

SPEAKER_04 (09:53):
Yeah, I love that.
I I will I like when they're onTV.
We also have them on VHS.
But I love when they play themon TV.
It's always a good night towatch them.
My third favorite, I think, iself.
We like to watch elf.

SPEAKER_01 (10:10):
It's so silly.

SPEAKER_04 (10:11):
It is silly.
It's so silly, but it's a greatstory about belonging.

SPEAKER_03 (10:15):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think our new favorite isChristmas Chronicles with Kurt
Russell and Goldie Hahn is inthere.
And the boys like it.
I I really like it becausethere's some rock and roll and
there's some crime in there, andthere's, you know, then we all
come together.
Rock and roll, crime andtogetherness.

SPEAKER_01 (10:34):
Yes.
Christmas traditions.
Is it good?

SPEAKER_05 (10:38):
Yes.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
I'll have to check it out.

SPEAKER_05 (10:40):
You you have a uh an assignment over the holidays,
Josh.

SPEAKER_04 (10:43):
Yeah, I haven't seen it either.

SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
I need to review people.

SPEAKER_01 (10:46):
All right, we'll get back to you on that.
My third favorite is a MuppetChristmas Carol.
I love I love all the ChristmasCarol movies.
I think they're just there'ssomething about the that story
that's fun, but I just love theMuppets and how absurd, but at
the same time sincere they are.
I don't know.
And I think it takes the sourcematerial the most seriously, and
it's just such a sweet, sweetmovie.
I I I really love No Muppets ingeneral, so Muppet Christmas

(11:09):
Carol is my number three.

SPEAKER_04 (11:10):
Okay.
That is my son's favorite.

SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
It's so good.
I watched it last night.
All right.
We're into number two.
What is your second favoriteChristmas movie?

SPEAKER_05 (11:20):
I'm gonna go with the Claymation Frosty the
Snowman.
I like I like the oldies.

SPEAKER_04 (11:25):
Yeah, they're great.
My number two is Miracle on 34thStreet.
Oh, I like that too.
And again, I grew up that was mydad's favorite Christmas movie.
And so every year, watch the oldblack and white one like we
would watch with my dad.

SPEAKER_03 (11:40):
I actually watched that movie last night and it is
my number two.
Miracle on 34th Street.

SPEAKER_04 (11:45):
Yeah.
Okay.
It's just sweet and makes youbelieve in Santa Claus.
Yes.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:51):
My number two is Home Alone.
And I think Home Alone one andtwo are equal.
I I can't separate them.
I love them both.
Uh I remember when I was alittle kid when they came out, I
laughed till I cried.
And even the better part waswhen my kids and my nieces and
nephews watched it.
I remember for the first timejust watching them just laugh
hysterically and almost to thepoint of crying.
It's just I just love thatmemory of watching them, them

(12:14):
watch that movie.
All right, now we're to numberone.
What is the number one all-timebest Christmas movie?

SPEAKER_05 (12:21):
All right.
I'm gonna I'm gonna let thethree of you guess about what my
favorite Christmas movie is.

SPEAKER_02 (12:26):
One guess.

SPEAKER_05 (12:27):
Jim Carrey's Grinch.
No, that's the only that's theonly Grinch movie I don't care
for.
Um so the Grinch is indeed myfavorite, uh, and I love the
original, but I also really likethe 2018 Grinch that came out
because they tell you why he'sGrinchy.
And so I think that as Juliementioned earlier, it's also a

(12:47):
story of belonging.
And so I'm gonna go with theGrinch.

SPEAKER_04 (12:51):
Mine is it's a wonderful life.
I love that movie, and nobodyelse in my family does.
And so I have a late night bymyself with the Christmas tree
lights on and my favorite snack,and watch that movie and cry
every time I watch it.
And it's wonderful.
What's the snack that goes withthat movie?

(13:13):
Usually popcorn.

SPEAKER_03 (13:14):
Okay, okay.
Well, Julie and I are old souls,so uh mine is also it's a
wonderful life.
You just you just have to lovebeing alive and it just
revitalizes your feeling foryour life.
Yeah when you watch that.

SPEAKER_04 (13:28):
And it's also about like you think your life is
unimportant, like it's a lifethat doesn't matter to other
people when actually it does.
Like it you don't have to be bigand grand and rich and wealthy
and you know, all the things.
You just be you.

SPEAKER_01 (13:44):
Well, I'm gonna make it three in a row.
It's a wonderful life, is alsomy favorite movie.
Yeah, and it's funny, it wasn'tuntil last year.
When I was a little kid, I hatedthe movie.
I thought it was terrible.
I hated watching black and whitemovies.
I thought it was stupid, boring.
I didn't get it like why myparents and everyone else loved
it.
And I don't think I've watchedit in like 30, 40 years.
And then I watched it last year.
April wanted to watch it, and soI'm like, fine, whatever, we'll

(14:06):
watch it.
And then all the things you guyssaid, and I balled like a baby
through that movie.
And I think it's because nowbeing a dad and just importance
of you know what did dads do andthings like that.
I don't know.
I just it was it's amazing I'mgonna cry right now.
It's so go watch It's aWonderful Life if you haven't in
a while.
It it's it's wonderful.
Anyone have any honorablementions of Christmas movies

(14:29):
maybe that didn't quite make thelist but you just love to watch?

SPEAKER_03 (14:31):
I'm gonna say best Christmas ever, which I've
recently watched again.
And it's just a sweet storyabout love and loss and then
finding old friends.

SPEAKER_01 (14:41):
Christmas story, you know, that was my number three.
You tell it's wonderful lifeknocked it out.
Uh I just think it's funny andnostalgic and silly.

SPEAKER_04 (14:49):
We always watch Christmas with the cranks.

SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
Let's wrap it up by sharing maybe some of your
favorite Christmas memories witheither your own family or your
boys ranch families.

SPEAKER_05 (14:58):
One of my favorite boys ranch memories is from my
very first Christmas here.
And on our campus, every homehas a Christmas party on the
same evening.
And Santa comes to every everyhome.
And house parents have set asidea gift for Santa to put in his
big red bag and and carry thatin.
And this evening we had avisitor with a child, and so we

(15:19):
had an extra gift.
We put that that child's name onit and threw it in the bag.
But in this home, it was a homeof high school boys, and one of
the the boys was really, reallyfeeling himself.
He was feeling pretty, prettytough.
And he had he'd gotten in afight and won that fight with a
kid who was older than him, andso he thought he was pretty
tough.
But when Santa came in, thattoughness melted away.

(15:42):
And especially when Santa had agift for a kid who was a
visitor.
And this this boy couldn't quitefigure out how did Santa know to
bring a gift for a visitor.
And it you could see thatchildlike wonder.
How did he do that?
You know, and so it was reallygreat to see the true inner kid
who just was able to wonder atthe magic of Santa.

(16:02):
And that's always been one of myfavorite memories here on our
campus.

SPEAKER_04 (16:06):
I have so many favorite memories at Boys Ranch,
mostly about the Christmasparties.
But I think my very mostfavorite was the very last
Christmas party I had as a houseparent.
I spent a lot of time pickingeach individual boy in my home a
meaningful gift, and then wroteto them why I picked that gift

(16:30):
and the things that I thoughtwere special about them.
It our party lasted really longthat night, but it was it was
just so meaningful and so goodto spend that time with them,
even though it was my lastChristmas with them.

SPEAKER_03 (16:45):
I think more than just receiving the gift, I think
the kids begin to see how muchlove is poured into them every
single day, even when you'rehaving to have serious talks or
hard conversations with them.
But at Christmas, when you handthem a gift and you say, This is
from me and Mr.
Griffin, and they open it.
Oh, I really love this.
Thank you so much.

(17:06):
And the one tough kid we have,he was like, Santa won't bring
me nothing.
I said, Well, if you don't, ifyou don't believe, he might not.
So, but every gift they got,they were so grateful and so
happy.
And I take this chance to likerestock hygiene stuff for them,
and they got an electrictoothbrush, and one boy's like,
I really need this.
I'm so glad you you got this forme.

(17:27):
One little boy, he's pretty new,he opened the stuffed animal,
and he just stared at it indisbelief that that was truly
for him.
We do every year now, we do alist of something you want,
something you need, something towear, something to read.
And then I get the choice, thechance, the opportunity to pick
out and fill in for the rest oftheir list.

(17:49):
Things that I know and suspectthat they'll like that they
didn't even know they wanted.
And I haven't missed it yet.
And they'll tell you this wasthe greatest Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (17:58):
Mine's similar to yours, Suzanne.
One time we were bringing Santaaround to the to the different
homes, and we had a home ofpre-adolescent boys, and one of
them was just five years old.
And we're just walking up withSanta up the front steps of the
home, and this kid was vibratinglike you would not believe.
He was so he could not believeSanta was coming to the home and
just the pure screams of joythat he had.

(18:18):
And it was so infectious, itwasn't just him, it was all the
house parents, the caseworkers,everyone who was at the house
was like vibrating with joybecause of his vibrations of
joy, and it was just such a fun,fun, merry night.

SPEAKER_05 (18:30):
We have so many special Christmas traditions out
here on our campus, and one ofthose is a program called
Centata that we hold hold everyyear.
It takes place in the chapel,and it is a combination of both
staff members and residents whowant to participate in that, and
every year tells the story ofJesus' birth.
And it always centers our campuson the true meaning of the

(18:53):
season, and it's just alwaysjoyful.
And after that, we go to thedining hall, which has been
transformed, doesn't look likeour typical dining hall, and and
the staff there serve the mostamazing food.
It's really, it's really a treatand it's just a great time.
A lot of our alumni come backfor Cantata.
Sometimes families come out andother visitors, and it's just a

(19:15):
special, it's a special timeevery year.
We welcome visitors.
So if you are interested inCantata for next year, be sure
and contact our campus and we'lllet you know when that is
scheduled.
But it's it's always wonderfuland it's such a a joyful memory.

SPEAKER_01 (19:30):
I'm still full and it was two weeks ago.
So good.
You're so right.

SPEAKER_05 (19:36):
One of the other memories that I really
appreciate is the fact that wehave a Catholic convent located
seven miles north of our campuscalled Prair Town.
And the nuns are frequently onour campus.
They come and get their mailhere.
Sometimes they come for icecream, they participate in a lot
of the activities we have oncampus.
But for the home parties, theycome to campus and they divide

(19:58):
into quartets and They gocaroling at each of the homes,
which is just such a wonderfulthing.
I was at a home party severalyears ago, and the four nuns
came in.
And as they started to carol,one of the nuns beatboxed right
into silent night, and the kidslost their minds.
I don't know how many of youlisteners have ever heard a nun

(20:19):
beatbox, but I have.
And some of my coworkers hereare shaking their heads that
they have also heard that.
But it's pretty special and it'sjust a Christmas memory.
I think that I will neverforget.
And the kids who've heard thatwill never forget the nun who
beatboxed.

SPEAKER_03 (20:36):
She was actually at our house, and one of the boys
said, I am scared of thoseladies.
I I can't do this.
So he stood with his back tothem.
But when she started her part,he turned around and he started
getting with the dancing.
And he went up to her afterwardsand spoke to her and said, Thank
you for rapping.
That was so neat.
So cool.

(20:56):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (20:57):
It is cool.
We one year back when hackysacks were the big thing, all
the boys wanted hacky sacks.
I put a hacky sack in all oftheir stockings, and the nuns
came in and they were openingtheir stockings, and the nuns
hacky sacked with the boys.
And that was so much fun.
So much fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (21:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (21:15):
Well, we here at Brain-Based Parenting and Cal
Farley's Boys Ranch want to wishyou and your family a very Merry
Christmas and pray that yourfamily will have a very happy
new year.
So until next time, you mighthave to loan out your Cortex
Day.
Just make sure you remember andget the back.

SPEAKER_00 (21:29):
Thank you for listening to Brain Based
Parenting.
We hope you enjoyed this show.
If you would like moreinformation about Cal Farley's
Boys Ranch, are interested inemployment, would like
information about placing yourchild, or would like to help us
help children by donating to ourmission, please visit
calfarley.org.
You can find us on all socialmedia platforms by searching for

(21:52):
CalFarley's.
Thank you for spending your timewith us and have a blessed day.
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