Loretta wanted to have Christmas at the house this year so I went out and bought a couple small animations to help decorate the basement. Since my father pretty much was living in the living room due to medical complications we had no choice but to work on the basement.

We went out and bought a couple of blue tarps that would act as a background and a few small trees. We then took strands of lights and laid them on top of boxes, then covered them with “snow” (actually cotton rolls that you can buy at Christmas time). The lights beneath the snow gave it a soft glow that looked really cool.

The party was a big success and we decided to do it again the next year.

Continue reading “Christmas 1989” →

In the past Mark would set up his Christmas Train display in the living room, however this year the display was set up in the basement. This year Mark really outdid himself as the display was very elaborate. This year Mark is having a little fun with the billboards in his display as he placed a school picture of Criss in the billboard. These are strategically placed around the display because Mark has a video tape in his train engine so everytime it goes by the billboard, a picture of Criss (that she hates) is displayed on the TV.

Once again Christmas dinner was upstairs and put together by Aunt Louise and Ron. Ron is taking cooking classes in college and is making some excellent dishes for the holidays. A great time was had by all, but was their really any doubt.

Continue reading “Christmas 1988” →

This was a very special Christmas as there was a surprise visitor who came to see Natalie. The visitors name was none other than Santa Clause and let me tell you, getting the one and only Santa to show up at a Christmas party on Christmas day is no easy feat. Santa had a very busy day yesterday (Christmas Eve) so that made this visit all the more special.

The Christmas day fun was only beginning as after Santa’s visit everyone opened up gifts and had a grand ol time. Natalie especially enjoyed the day and why not, its not every Christmas you get to see the one and only Santa Claus in person.

Continue reading “Christmas 1986” →

Sandy and her family were in town for this celebration, along with her mom Aunt Terese, and the Trenton home never looked more festive for a holiday celebration as it did today, with an angel these both on the tree and on the dinner table. A very nice touch.

The Trenton house has been a fixture for so many parties taking place throughout the years that we lost count. In fact one could say every weekend was a party atmosphere as the family get together for a meal and then a card game. All are welcome and everyone knows where you will find members of the family on Saturday, at the Trenton house playing cards

James Dad was in Korea at the time and was unable to attend, but her heard nothing but good things from everyone in their letters about Christmas so he felt like he was there.

Continue reading “Christmas 1982” →

James Dad was in the army and missed this years Christmas in Trenton. The Trenton house has a huge picture window that goes from the ground to nearly the ceiling which makes it ideal for displays that can be seen not only from the inside dining room but also the outside. With that in mind a large Christmas tree in the picture window is about as close to a Christmas tradition as we have.

One thing about any visit to Trenton, whether it was for a birthday or holiday, the evening always ended with a game of cards. Pinocle was the game of choice and the Trenton card players were extremely good at the game. So much so that years later the “little friends” would challenge the sisters Loretta and Louise to a pinocle game each year on Labor Day at Camp Dearborn. The final score after 4 years of battle was Loretta and Louise 4, the little friends 1.

Continue reading “Christmas 1981” →

This Christmas was a little different because Kathy was going to sing in the Christmas Choir this year, so after everyone opened gifts and had a super Christmas dinner, there was a journey to hear Kathy and the choir singing at St Tim’s Church. The choir sounded great and everyone was proud to have a family member in the choir. Once the service was over the card games began, pinocle of course.

Aunt Terese showed up along with Sandy and Little Joe which added to the festivities. Criss and Danny were also there so it was a full house in Trenton this Christmas.

Gifts were plentiful as one might expect, without a doubt the toy phone Renee was using was one of the highlights of the day as she took plenty of incoming calls from various people.

Continue reading “Christmas 1978” →

I remember this Christmas very well because in the summer someone stole my bicycle. Now you might say to yourself what does a stolen bicycle in summer have to do with Christmas Eve at Grandmas? Well after my bike was stolen I was really dejected. When you are ten years old your bike is your main transportation to anything away from home, even if it was just next door. On this particular day my Mom (Loretta) was doing work at the Altar Society and asked me to stop by to help her take some measurements (hold the tape measure basically). Well I stopped in, held the tape measure, then went outside the Church to find someone had stolen my bike…from a Church.

Needless to say my faith in humanity was gone and even my faith in God was in question. How could God let someone steal my bike while I was inside the Church helping his altar get the right measurements?

Well God works in mysterious ways, I got a phone call that evening from Grandma who said she was sorry to hear about my bike and wanted to buy me a new one. I was really surprised since I knew they lived on a fixed income pension and could not really afford to spend too much extra on things, but yet they were willing to spend what money they did have on me to get a new bike. I thanked her very much but said I was ok without the bike but that I really appreciated the offer…and I did.

I was so touched by her offer that the pain of the bike was completely gone and I hoped that someday I would be like her. Up until now as a ten year old I was very selfish and my allowance went to baseball cards, candy, and pop. That changed that summer as I actually saved up my allowance to get Grandma something really nice for Christmas. I think it was the first time I actually bought a gift for someone that was out of my own money and when I gave it to Grandma I felt great, much better than I felt receiving a gift.

This was also the last time I would see my grandma as she died in spring of the next year, but she passed along a huge lesson in humanity to a very selfish ten year old boy (probably not the easiest thing to do).

Continue reading “Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Kleibers 1971” →

Every Christmas eve we would go to Grandma and Grandpa Kleibers and celebrate Christmas Eve. Aunt Ginny was always there (she was sort of the caretaker of the two) and usually we would see Uncle Dons family (Uncle Don, Aunt Maryann, Mike, Bruce, and Sandy) along with Cousin Barbara and her family (Barb, husband Joe, and the twins, and sometimes Aunt Dorothy). From our family we had Criss, Peg, Chuckie, Loretta and Charles.

Each year we would get pizza and it was always awesome. I think the pizza was better in the sixties and seventies because they heaped on the grease and butter without health concerns. After the pizza we would open gifts and everyone had a great time.

Sometimes this was the only time we would get this side of the family all together, but it was always an annual event and at least we got together once a year.

Each Christmas at the Kleiber household Aunt Peg would set up a Christmas train display to celebrate the holiday. This consisted of either a figure 8 or even the more elaborate three ring design. Aunt Peg loved Tressalls to elevate the train and this year was no different as she used the tressalls so that the train would be elevated as it passed over its own track.

The tradition of the train display is also continued in Trenton with both Uncle Joe and Cousin Mark who also do elaborate train setups for Christmas.

I think the tradition began with Pappy Graf who would carve and make his own homes from scratch and were so good that the newspapers would come out and take pictures of his display.

Continue reading “Christmas Train Display 1967” →