The Glee of Being A Klinge: Christmas Time for the Klinge Duo

Well, folks. We are moved into Chicago and enjoying the feet upon feet of snow we are getting these last few days. I thought before showing you the new place that I would share with you all the times we shared with friends and family this most festive time of year.

we began our festivities in the comfort of our own home by filling stockings and opening gifts we bought for each other. Caleb did far better than I did with buying of gifts as he is better at giving gifts than I am. I got THE MOST BESTEST GIFTS EVER! Caleb unfortunately did not get the stocking stuffers his mother has spoiled him with over the years and I got a stocking LOADED with lovelies. Caleb did not get shorthanded in gifts, I just got more in quantity as he got in bigger gifts. We finished gifts in time to make it to ~~our~~ my favorite breakfast place one last time, "The Copper Dome". Little did we know this place was under new ownership and will forever be pish posh food now. The hash browns used to be the reason people came to "the 'dome" but now nothing is to write home about. Little time was spent there and we were off to pack the car and make our commute to Wis Dells for five days relaxing at the mother's home.

We arrived just in time to settle in and chit chat with mother. We went to the outlet mall to pick up last minute gifts and then came home in indulge in the legendary tator tot casserole. We always include the grand-ma-ma in all activities including coming over to compete in the Christmas tree decorating contest. My mom has many (5+) Christmas trees that she puts in her home over the holidays and we all take a tree to decorate. The winner gets the honor of hearing their praise for the rest of the Christmas weekend. Caleb won but we don't talk much of that any longer. Grandma also came over to play parcheesi and a german snowman game. Caleb knows the name of it but I did not study German intently like he did (he didn't study that hard peeps, don't let him fool you.) The following day we made it to church in the 6 inches of snow that came down over night, ate a fantastic breakfast loaded with buckets of cinnamon that I ate all of and visited my grandfather. We came back to Wis Dells to watch football for the remainder of the day and to enjoy pork, red cabbage, and rutabaga dinner. This dinner is something I look forward to anytime I am able to enjoy it while in Wis Dells. My mom is a bomb cook and she really does her magic with this simple but delicious meal. The following day we woke up to go shopping in Baraboo and to eat at High Rock Cafe. We also went to "Saving Mr. Banks" movie with the grandma and mother which was a VERY good movie. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. The following day we got ready for company at my mom's house along with at my Grandpa's house. This threw me in a tail spin as there was a lot to do at my grandpa's to get ready. Christmas Eve service was just okay because of this as I was rushing all day long and unable to focus on the real reason I was at church. I regret that a lot thinking about it. We then went to Grandpa's to visit with family we never see and to open presents. There are two little ones on that side and to watch them was the highlight of our time there. That family is literally coo-coo for cocoa puffs when it comes to living life. We could have a holiday special on TV and I am sure we would get people to tune in. There is swearing, smoking, hilarious commentary along with a family that is all the same while being oh so different. As the night concluded, we came home to a welcoming crew of cousins and my aunt along with an invitation to watch "Despicable Me". It was fun to be with so much family in one given night. Tis the season. Christmas morning, my mom, Caleb, and I opened presents in the early morning and waited for my cousins to wake up. We enjoyed time together and even played a 3 hour game of Monopoly to make my cousin Ezra get away from his computer for awhile. Half the family then went to "The Hobbit" as the other half went to Grandma's to watch "Mary Poppins". Caleb and I split up to do this as I am not a Hobbit fan in the least. Don't judge me. My opinion of Mary Poppins? It is a pretty long movie for the little that they do in the movie. I used to LOVE that show due to there being no scary parts to hide under the covers about... way better than any of the other villain-filled Disney movies. After the movie, we all went over to mom's house again and played games along with having dinner around the table. The weekend ended with us all watching "Despicable Me 2" and going off to bed.

In the morning, Caleb and I woke up to go on our next adventure. I woke with a terrible sore throat and fever so the car ride was far from enjoyable for me. We arrived in Waverly via a backroad-country route and were welcomed by the partial family already cozied in. We had these amazing beef/au ju sandwiches that Momma Klinge made and waited for the rest to arrive. I was miserable for the day until my fever broke and then I turned a new leaf to go shopping at Wally World with the girls of the family to get a gift for the family, I mean Papa Klinge... a new and improved coffeemaker. Let me share with you folks, the coffee maker that the household USED to have was a beast of a maker. It needed an upgrade and the kids were happy to supply this need. It was nice to share time with the girls and just chit chat for a little while being away from responsibility. We arrived back home and enjoyed time just sitting around. We Klinges do a lot of sitting around, looking at each other when we are together. There are too many of us not to do that being that we are only together like 4x in a given year so we love just being together. The Chicago Klinges and MN Klinges took over the living room for the night as we were crammed in to the 3 bedroom home. I dont think I love anything more about Klinge Christmas than tripping over people so many times in a given day. There is something special about a family that allows their separate lives/bubbles/personal spaces to be put on hold so we can all be together. We woke in the morning to open gifts and to add more chaos to the mix... feet upon feet of wrapping paper to cover the floor. We are all so blessed by each other with the gifts we are given. This family sure knows what to get the person they are assigned. Being that we moved to Chicago, we gave our peeps, the Chicago Klinges, a gift card to a tapas restaurant and a coupon to ship Miles, our nephew, off to our house for the night. I think they are really gonna enjoy us here for that reason upon many more reasons. The rest of the day consisted of extended family coming over for lasagna and fellowship. Some of us went sledding and the rest stayed home due to a miscommunication on my part to bring snow stuff to play outside in. I had the assumption that we all would being that three days together would probably roll over to time outside but I am just learning this big family communication stuff. I can only get better from here. That night we as a family watched home videos of past Christmas' and literally cried laughing at some of the moments shared. Oh heavens, I really wish I could have been apart of this family Christmas sooner. This family is a riot to watch on tape. I mean, most of the it is lame footage but there are the jewels in there that really get your belly rumbling with laughter. We then went to bed to awake to another day in the life of a Klinge. The last day was pretty calm and uneventful but we just love being together so that is what we do.

We then traveled home that nigh to sleep in our bed for good rest to start packing in the morning.

Here are some moments shared via photos: Enjoy!