Christmas and Chanukah Kirnukkah in the Kirn family

On the first day of Kirnukkah my true love gave to me…

Not the traditional line used for this song. Then again, Kirnukkah isn’t the traditional holiday.

“Our holiday is so unique because our family is so unique,” Senior Jamie Lang said. “We are creative, loud and outgoing. Whether we go out together or stay in for Kirnukkah, there is never a dull moment.”

Kirnukkah originated from Jamie’s uncle Tim, whose kids decided that when they came to town early for a few weeks during the Christmas season, they wanted a different present every day leading up to Christmas. So, he made up a new form of the holiday combining their maiden name of Kirn and the idea of multiple days of gift-giving during Chanukah.

Kirnukkah.

The festivities start the day after Thanksgiving and go all the way until Christmas Day. During these weeks the members of the Lang family get together and do various activities like Demolition Ball and family color-coded competitions.

“Oh my gosh the Demolition Ball got intense,” Jamie said. “We make shirts, props and go crazy during the competition.”

Probably the favorite of all the activities is the one done on Christmas Eve. All of the cousins get together and make a “12 Days of Kirnukkah” song using funny things that happened to the family members that year. Once they memorize the new song they perform it for all of the adults.

“We make all of the parents laugh so hard they are crying,” Jamie said. “We always use embarrassing but funny things and we make sure to save the best thing, our number 12, for last.”

The parents enjoy this activity as well.

“Every year I can’t wait to hear what they came up with,” Colleen Lang, Jamie’s mother said. “Seeing all 11 kids lined up laughing so hard they cannot breath and trying to sing the song is my favorite part.”

Sometimes inspiration for the song comes while they are actually making the lines for it.

“One year when they were all upstairs coming up with the song, they actually broke the bed we had in one of the bedrooms,” Colleen said. “They were all sitting on it brainstorming ideas and the bed literally collapsed! So, instead of just telling me this, they actually put it in the song and I found out that way. That was probably the best line they have come up with.”

To Jamie, Kirnukkah is not only a fun holiday. In her opinion it has brought her family together and taught them some great lessons.

“Everyone has those loud families and special traditions, but ours gets us so close that it lets us know the tradition will carry on even without our aunts and uncles,” Jamie said. “It’s something we will always want to do.”