"Hanging 104 Christmas stockings on a fireplace mantle is quite the logistical challenge. "There is one long board with nails in it, and the stockings are permanently attached to that board. As family members are added, you squeeze them in with that little cluster of stockings from each sub-family," explains mother of four, Martina Gieske. "You just sit it on top of the fireplace so they don't have to take them down and put them back up every year.""
"And Julia made a Christmas stocking for each one. "She actually had her sewing machine out the other day," Martina tells TODAY.com. "Even just having gotten out of the hospital from surgery, she was making stockings." Julia had to catch up on her needlework before Christmas - between a recent engagement and new babies, she had to officially welcome new family members."
""It's loud!" Martina laughs. "It was very overwhelming trying to remember just the names of his siblings alone, and then all the nieces and nephews tend to look alike. So it took me a few years to memorize all the names." Almost all 104 Gieskes live in northern Kentucky, so they descend on Walter and Julia's house on Christmas morning for brunch and presents."
One family displays 104 individually made Christmas stockings on a single board above a fireplace, adding new stockings as the family grows. The stockings belong to Walter and Julia Gieske, who raised 14 children and made a stocking for each child, spouse, grandchild and great-grandchild. Julia continued sewing even after surgery to welcome recent engagements and babies. Martina Gieske married the 13th sibling and, as an only child, took years to memorize the many relatives' names. Nearly all 104 relatives gather at Walter and Julia’s northern Kentucky home on Christmas morning for brunch, presents and holiday chaos.
Read at TODAY.com
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