Tuesday, December 22, 2009

"...And Threw up the Sash."

This last weekend was round one of Christmas. We got to spend it up at the Suskay Cabin celebrating with the whole family. As a special treat, Mandie and Tim (along with Baby Garity!) flew in from Idaho.


Christmas time is full of traditions. One of the many Christmas traditions my family has had for as long as I can remember was that my Dad would read 'The Night Before Christmas' every Christmas Eve. There was another tradition that went along with the story though, which was this: at the point when it said "Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash", all the kids in the family would make the loudest and most awful vomiting noise they could muster, as if they were "throwing up" the sash. This simultaneously ruined the moment and, in a strange way, somehow made it all the more endearing. Year after year we do this, no matter how old we all are.

Patrick, not wanting to be outdone by his old man, decided that this year he would literally throw up for the duration of Christmas Weekend Part I. He apparently doesn't get that you're supposed to save it for that very specific part in the story. He started about an hour before we were planning on leaving the house for the cabin then kept it coming every 20 minutes or so for the next several hours. Still confused on the timing of it all, he acted fine the entire next day until about 6 PM when he gave it another try. I kept telling him "Not yet! Wait for me to read the story at least!" but the kid refused to listen. In fact, after that night, he stayed cool for the rest of the weekend until this morning when I went to get him up for school and found him and his bed covered in...well, we'll just call it "the sash." And I don't know if it was just motherly empathizing, or confusion over the tradition as well*, but Angie joined in on the fun Saturday night too. Way to give 110% to the spirit of Christmas Tradition, honey!

Despite all the sash expulsion, we still managed to have a great time, tons of good food, and Patrick got even more spoiled than he already was. We also had a mini baby shower for Mandie and Tim. They just found out last week that they're going to have a little boy!


I've put a slideshow from the weekend below and a direct link to the entire gallery right here. You'll also see some pictures from St. Nick's Day which is one of Angie's family traditions we're carrying on. For Patrick, it's just a good reason to not have to wait till Christmas for all the presents.


We hope everyone has a great Christmas week! We'll update after the festivities with more pictures and how Patrick is feeling.

*It could also be that stomach viruses are pretty highly contagious. But, I'm not a doctor so I don't pretend to know those kinds of things.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was great to be home and spending time with you all. Much Love, Mandie & Tim

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas guys!
Latanya

Rebecca said...

I didn't know Mandie was expecting too. How exciting! You Suskay girls make adorable expectant mommies!! Loved the Christmas pictures =)