Christmas 2025

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to share the comfort of my home at Christmas with you. I am not one to leave up decorations for very long and these are now all packed up and put away for Advent 2026. It was a small and quiet Christmas for our family. Lily was the only one home. We didn’t have an open house this year – just a few friends over for dinner. It was a harder Christmas for me this year. I was really missing my Joe and his wife, Michelle. Whenever they would come to our house for Christmas, they would bring their two large dogs with them. It was always a three-ringed circus but it was MY three-ringed circus and I loved making big meals and baking and making candies for everyone to munch on while we played card and board games. Watching the boys get upset because their little sister beat them at Settlers of Catan was fun to watch. The Celtics would be on TV and the noise level was a dull roar. Each year since Joe’s death has become quieter. This year was the first year we didn’t have Tim with us. We have had weird weather here in Montana and there was no snow on the ground. We had a crazy call on Christmas Eve, and a couple on Christmas Day. There was no green bean casserole (Tim’s favorite)….no special mashed potatoes (Joe’s favorite)…no prime rib (a waste for three of us). It was just quiet, and I realize that is probably our new norm. However, I LOVE the way our house feels and looks like during Christmas. I feel like this house was made for the Christmas season. I wanted to share what it looked like.

How do YOU decorate your tree? I love looking at Christmas trees and what their ornaments represent the family they belong to. Christmas ornaments are my weakness. Each year as I unwrap an ornament, I have a flood of memories for each one….either from the person who gave it to me, the place where it came from (I always buy an ornament from the places we travel to) or just an admiration of the beauty of the item. Besides collecting ornaments from other countries, I also collect Swarovski crystal snowflakes each year. They make a tree sparkle and I have always loved snowflakes and these are so beautiful. I also like the annual Willow Tree angels. Each year in September or October, I order the ones for that year. Although it wasn’t planned, each year we have gotten at least one ornament to memorialize our Joe. We have ornaments the kids made when they were little and ornaments given to us from my Grandma Neitzke. We have a random Garfield head wearing a Vikings football helmet from when we lived in Minnesota. We moved there in 1997 and lost all of our ornaments in a flood that swept away the town 3 weeks later. Our church gathered Christmas ornaments from all over Minnesota and a brown paper sack full of them were left on our doorsteps that Christmas season. That is the one that has stayed with us for the last almost 30 years now. I have ornaments given to me in ornament exchanges with coworkers over the years. As a school secretary, I got some from families at the school as well. My mom, in her infinite wisdom, started buying ornaments for her kids when I was in middle school. We each got one every year and they were ones that reflected our personalities. I have those. I have a couple of ornaments from Rich’s Gram, when we first got engaged. See…lots of wonderful memories…and a lot of those people are no longer here. Moving beyond the tree, I have a beautiful Willow Tree Navity set that I adore. I also have a collection of international santas. Joe always called them the creepy santas but I still like them! Every country’s idea of Father Christmas is different. Anyhow, I wanted to share our home with you. As I said before, I think that this house was made to be decorated for Christmas. I don’t have any special talent decorating…I think a Charlie Brown Christmas tree would still look good.

My view from my favorite overstuffed chair. When it snows, I love to spend time in this room as it is covered in windows and I feel like I am in a reverse snowglobe.

The stockings….one for all six of us, even though only three were present this year. The international santas are to the left and to the right is a decades old nativity ceramic set that Rich’s mom made for her mother about 50 years ago. Rich got the set back when his Gram died almost 30 years ago.

These pictures were taken on Dec 27th…when the decorations were still up and we had just gotten an inch or so of snow. Better late than never!

My mom quilted this table runner and it looks awesome out for the season.

The quilted wall hanging was from my Grandma Neitzke in the first few years of our marriage. The Santa hat is one I used to wear to the elementary school I worked at on party day. The BELIEVE blocks were a gift from one of my former principals and I LOVE them! Below are the holiday cards we received this year. I keep thinking that one of these days I won’t send out cards to all these folks that never send one back. Many are family….stamps are getting so expensive now that sending out over 100 cards a year may have to stop. I have whittled down quite a bit, but still….

The first thing unpacked every Advent season is our Advent wreath. The quilted table piece underneath is one that my Grandma Neitzke made me decades ago.

The Willow Tree Nativity with a quilted banner made by my mom and a Silent Night painting given to me by my Grandma Neitzke when I was first married.

For several years, I took our family Christmas photo and made a igloo cube with them…filled with fake snow and small ornaments. I only did it for 13 years…but I enjoy looking at my kids’ faces from years gone by.

Tallinn also loves Christmas. He loves the Christmas tree lights. He was guarding the tree and not happy with me in this photo because I pulled out all the bins to put things away.

This year’s addition. It just seemed to fit. We have a firefighter one, an army one, and a silver heart with his thumbprint on it.

A Swarvski crystal snowflake

The Willow Tree annual angel ornaments. This one wasn’t an annual addition but an angel holding a little boy that struck me deep in my heart. The idea of my boy being held in the arms of angels, even as an adult, comforts me.

This angel made of wool was a Christmas gift from my Grandma Neitzke decades ago. One of my favorites.

This is one of the ornaments I got from Sicily…the homeland of the Messinas!

Very delicately painted thin glass Christmas ornament from the Prague Christmas market.

Our little Tim (or Timmy back then) from his preschool days in Colorado Springs, CO

One of my pretty new ornaments from friends from the fire department. So beautiful! I love it!

Love this little angel handmade in Bratislava, Slovakia.