John the Elf

Every year, at Thanksgiving, John the Elf arrives.  Even more importantly, John the Elf brings the kids their yearly Advent Calendars. It’s a tradition all the kids, big & small, look forward to each year. In fact, they look forward to it so much that as early as September, when school first starts, I’ll start hearing:

“When is John the Elf coming?  Will he bring my Advent Calendar?” I’m excited every Thanksgiving just because John the Elf is finally here and i no longer have to hear the questions of when he will finally be here.

John the Elf was born Thanksgiving of 1994.  It was our first Thanksgiving as a family, as a new couple, with three young sons.  It was a shock to our system, and an even bigger shock to the grandparents to suddenly go from 1, or 2, grandsons to 3.  Trust me, three boys under 5 are overwhelming for anyone.

That Thanksgiving, as we toured both sets of grandparents, and one set of great-grandparents, all in one day, all with the three boys in tow, our patience and their behavior was tested.  On the day that we really wanted to put our best foot forward. That first day as a family, at a family holiday. We were all being tested and getting testy.

And suddenly, John the Elf showed up.  Invisible to children, of course, but nonetheless earnestly recording every move, every word, every act in his little book for Santa.  One page for everything good, another for everything bad. The boys were obsessed with where the Elf was.  Was he watching them?  A brother?  Was he in the kitchen with Oma? With Gramma? With Nanny?  Suddenly their behavior, while still loud, and the talking still non-stop, was manageable.  John the Elf was our hero!

That first year John the Elf did not bring Advents Calendars. In fact, it took another three years of John the Elfs yearly visits, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, before the Advents Calendars became part of tradition.  But just like John the Elf was immediately, and permanently ensconced in Westberry Family Lore, the Advent Calendars yearly arrival on Thanksgiving was  immediately ingrained as fact and tradition.

This year, this Fall, was a crazy busy time.  We had The Football every weekend, and in between Dave squeezed in a visit to his Dad and I squeezed in a weekend trip to Amsterdam.  In between all of that we had both our cards in the shop multiple times.  We both drive old VWs.  Fantastic workhorses that get us everywhere, literally everywhere.  But they need their TLC and this Fall they both needed new tires, brakes and various upgrades.  That meant, most of this Fall, I had no car.

No car = no problem.  I have my tiny village, and everything is a two minute walk away.  Except. The Advent Calendar store.  And, of course, I wanted not just any Advent Calendars, and not at regular price, so the two minute walk store did not do.  That result in a frantic two-day search for the elusive, hard-to-find Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar! Just before Dane got out of school on Thanksgiving (it’s not a holiday in Germany), Dave walked in the door with the very last elusive, hard-to-find Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar in the entire Stuttgart area.

It was a quest well-rewarded because Dane’s face lit up as bright as Christmas Tree and he bounced into the room with such joy.  I love this time of year.

Close-up of the most important of all the Advent Calendars: the elusive, hard-to-find Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar!

Dane is intently studying the tiny directions for his first lego piece:

The final result of the Day 1 Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar: