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December 25, 2006
Christmas is not Christmas without the pickled herring
I learned something very important this year. The traditions that our parents build for us must one day meld together with the traditions that your spouse's parents have built for them. Some of those traditions just aren't right....like the pickled herring.
As you readers probably figured, the Kleitschs have had a very expensive year. I was trying to cut a few corners this Christmas. One thing that got the axe was the pickled herring that only a few of the relatives will come near. Seemed the obvious thing to cut but little did I know that you can't have Christmas without the pickled herring. Andy put in an emergency call to his mom and Christmas was saved! Hurrah!
The other tradition that had to be compromised was in Andy's family you open all the presents on Christmas eve and only stockings on Christmas morning. This isn't right either. This year Santa left some cool toys on Christmas day. This meant less presents opened on Christmas eve when Santa showed up at our house but I appreciated that he made the rounds again during the middle of the night. It was a good compromise in my opinion.
The kids had a great Christmas. Britta got her doll house and Karsten got his R2D2. He told me, "Mom, we have a new kid in our family." R2D2 almost didn't survive the tumble he took getting out of Karsten's bed this morning but Andy was able to piece him back together.
Britta knows all about Santa, even the songs about him and reindeer. We think having an older brother to show her the ropes has really helped. When the kids were opening their presents this morning Karsten said to Britta, "I'm going to show you how you open presents" and then he narrated step by step how to unwrap a package.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Posted by jana at December 25, 2006 10:09 AM
Comments
You are definately the one in the fancy dress in the middle. Your belly, however, was never that big even pregnant. That is a long haired Andy on the left. No, he isn't checking the fruit. He is checking the wind so he can leave the chick party and go wind surfing.
Posted by: Laura Beth at December 26, 2006 6:27 PM
YES!! You're reading my mind L.B.... scary! :-)
Posted by: Andy at December 28, 2006 4:24 PM
Hi guys! Yes...Christmas IS NOT Christmas without the pickled herring indeed! (I was going through withdrawls on the cruise ship!) Although they did have smoked salmon - YEA! I also had es cargot, but had to pass on the FROG LEGS - gross! The myth is FALSE: The Kleitschs really don't eat EVERYTHING disgusting and nasty!
Posted by: katie kleitsch at December 30, 2006 3:39 PM