German Christmas

If I stretch far back into my memory bank and attempt to locate the earliest Christmas memories stored in my brain, it would be when I was five and my family traveled to Germany. We were there for a month so I have quite a few memories of that particular trip. This time, was quite a bit different than the last. The weather was none co-operative for some of my family, while it seemed that others took the weather and snubbed it in the face. Some lost luggage (that after some waiting, was finally returned. Others had no trouble whatsoever with baggage issues. One of the biggest differences by far was the number of people we had in our company. A grand total of 15!

Ty and I actually flew into Stuttgart on Christmas Eve. As soon as we were out of baggage claim and met my dad and brothers, I immediately burst into tears. (Me + long distance airplane travel = a migraine = uncomfortable travel experience). On the way to the place where all of the siblings (minus the youngest, he stayed with my grandparents) were staying, we stopped off at my Omi and Opa's apartment. It was a short visit, since Ty and I were just plain exhausted. Back at the farmhouse (literally), everyone was eagerly awaiting our arrival. Okay, so it was more like the arrival of their husbands and news on if they're luggage had finally arrived. At around 1 AM, we finally settled in for our Christmas Eve nap.

The next day, we got dressed and ready and headed over to my grandparents abode once more for Christmas dinner and presents.

The place settings at the table. It was assigned seating.

After dinner we settled into the Living Room for opening gifts from Omi and Opa.
I didn't get any pictures that night of me or Ty and the others I'd rather not share. However, we did have a lot of fun. Ty and I both love the clock that my grandparent gave to us.

I still have yet to figure out where I'm going to put it in our little home, but it's so beautiful and I'm sure we'll find a place for it.

By the end of the night we were all so exhausted.
These two were so tuckered out that they didn't eve notice sleeping on the little seating next to the table.

After the festivites were over, we headed back and unloaded. We were still somewhat jet-lagged and our sleeping schedules were completely off balance. Again, we found our way to sleep much too late that evening, but a great day in the end.

How was your Christmas?