Weihnachten is Christmas...let me just start by getting that out of the way :-) And Weihings? Well, the Weihings are family that accepted me as their daughter and over the course of the last five months, have become my family. Although I only live with six of them, there are over twenty others within an hours drive of my house and every single one has welcomed me warmly into the family.
Once the great stocking adventure had come to a close on Christmas morning, everyone began preparing for an afternoon to be spent with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins drinking one too many cups of coffee and eating...well, it's Christmas time, so all rules that once applied to sweets are no longer valid, right? Let's just say that between the baking of Mama and each of my three aunts, there was what seemed like an unlimited supply of goodies to ensure a delicious afternoon.
Once the children began growing restless and the adults began feeling quite full, we all shifted away from the dining room and into the living room, squeezing more than twenty bodies onto sofas, benches, and chairs that were dragged in. The stack of thin red advent songbooks was set on the table and although everyone picked one up, I was among a minority who actually needed one. :) After a few favorite songs, all the mothers slipped out of the room to gather the gifts they'd stowed away. As soon as they returned, the Christmas songs stood no chance against the eagerness of twelve children and so round three of exchanging gifts began.
As the last of the gifts were opened, a bit of peace fell over the house--and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that all the boys went to play outside ;-). Several more cups of coffee were poured, new gifts were admired, and relaxed conversations full of laughs and love sprung up all around the living room. Several people slipped into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on our dinner--that was thankfully neither big nor heavy because my tummy had long ago put up it's "No Vacancy" sign!
Once the great stocking adventure had come to a close on Christmas morning, everyone began preparing for an afternoon to be spent with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins drinking one too many cups of coffee and eating...well, it's Christmas time, so all rules that once applied to sweets are no longer valid, right? Let's just say that between the baking of Mama and each of my three aunts, there was what seemed like an unlimited supply of goodies to ensure a delicious afternoon. Once the children began growing restless and the adults began feeling quite full, we all shifted away from the dining room and into the living room, squeezing more than twenty bodies onto sofas, benches, and chairs that were dragged in. The stack of thin red advent songbooks was set on the table and although everyone picked one up, I was among a minority who actually needed one. :) After a few favorite songs, all the mothers slipped out of the room to gather the gifts they'd stowed away. As soon as they returned, the Christmas songs stood no chance against the eagerness of twelve children and so round three of exchanging gifts began.
As the last of the gifts were opened, a bit of peace fell over the house--and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that all the boys went to play outside ;-). Several more cups of coffee were poured, new gifts were admired, and relaxed conversations full of laughs and love sprung up all around the living room. Several people slipped into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on our dinner--that was thankfully neither big nor heavy because my tummy had long ago put up it's "No Vacancy" sign!
The evening came to an end with all the children upstairs playing games. I'd joined them and after using up my beginners luck in the first round, did a wonderful job of losing quickly and still having a great time. We bundled back up, gave our one last round of Christmas wishes, hugged everyone goodbye, and next thing I knew, I was home and the wonderful day of Christmas had come to an end.
Your post is wonderfully written, as always. I could just see the scenes in my mind. Happy New Year, Julianne, & blessings as you enjoy your German family! :)
ReplyDeleteJoel