As Christmas approaches, nothing is going well for fortysomething Eben MacCallister. The family ranch he has devoted his life to is about to be foreclosed upon. He has just been notified that the sister he raised but has been estranged from since she ran away at age 17 has been killed in an accident. Now, a lawyer has dumped Eben's four orphaned nieces and nephews on his doorstep. The witness to all this heartache is Maddie, the childhood sweetheart who had gotten away but who, now widowed, has returned to run a dude ranch on her neighboring Arizona spread. The children seem bent on making Eben miserable--the twins want to celebrate Christmas, which also happens to be their birthday; the seven-year-old won't do his homework; and the baby cries in need of diaper changes and food. What's a curmudgeon to do?