Ornaments of Love
A family’s rich tapestry of Christmas memories
Julie and Joe Mavencamp with their two sons, Peyton and Kayden, take down every picture and piece of artwork in their home weeks before Christmas. “We empty the house,” Julie says. “It’s bare-naked for a week. My mom comes over and helps me clean and then it all goes up.”
Christmas goes up. The walls are decked with colorful winter scenes along with the boys’ pictures and artwork from many Christmases past. “I’ll bring up boxes from the basement,” Joe says, “and Julie has a room done.”
It’s a big production, readying the house for Christmas. It takes time to place thousands of ornaments that adorn ten trees spread throughout the family home. It boils down to traditional tree trimming at its finest, steeped in layers of sentimental journeys.
Nostalgia plays a key role in the family’s holiday expression. It starts with the farmhouse in which they live. “My grandparents built it in the 1930s,” Julie says. “Kayden and Peyton are fifth generation on the land.”
The couple has extensively upsized and modernized the original footprint in recent years, but family roots grow deep on this timeless plot of ground northwest of Billings. The Mavencamps continually honor their grandparents as they add a new layer of history and new Christmas memories each year.
“When we travel, we pick up ornaments,” Julie says. “We visit Great-Grandpa, who is 100-years-old and lives in New Mexico. It’s fun for the boys to find ornaments.”
Every tree décor they discover represents that unique destination and shared experience.=
The Travel Tree sits in the foyer, decorated with a large assortment of ornaments gathered from years of Mavencamp family excursions. From the southern desert to the mountains of Montana, with Las Vegas in-between, bears, angels, signage, and all the memories that come with them trim this beloved tree.
The Big Tree reaches for the great room’s high ceiling, sparkling with over 2,000 red, white and silver adornments. “We try to get the big tree up by Thanksgiving,” Julie says. “It takes us a full four weeks to decorate.”
The stunning Tannenbaum stands 14 feet and is topped with an angel in red. “This is my tree,” adds Julie. “It’s what I pictured as the perfect tree when I was a girl. I’m particular about what ornaments go on it. They have to be just right.”
Each ornament is intentionally placed. Julie makes sure of it. The bigger ones are spaced, and the pattern goes from big to medium. “Ones that mean a lot to us go in front,” she says.
The lavishly adorned tree presents a dazzling storybook of delicate glass figurines, glittery silver stars, red Santa jackets and black boots, plus a myriad of other treasured pieces.
“There are multiples (ornaments) on the backside,” Joe says. “We also put on extra lights and layer them.”
Icicle lights weave through the tree, giving it a dimensional look from all sides. “I don’t know how many thousands of lights are on it,” Julie says with a giggle. “Thank God for LEDs.”
The Show Tree sits in the play area, loaded with Kayden’s and Peyton’s favorite movie ornaments, mainly Disney shows. A bright and colorful Mickey Mouse hangs close to a red guitar paying homage to The Beatles.
It’s a fun display of everything good. Sitting beside the tree is Santa kneeling before baby Jesus. “We bring this out every Christmas Eve,” Julie says with a wistful smile. “We adopted Grandpa Jim at The Springs (at Grand Park Assisted Living) and he gave this to the boys the year before he died. It was a special moment.”
Christmas is a family effort. “The boys help decorate every tree and they decorate their own trees,” Julie says.
Peyton’s Tree comes alive with collectables from designer Christopher Radko. “The Nutcracker is from Grandma,” says 13-year-old Peyton as he removes a couple ornaments from the tree and holds them in his hand, “but my favorite ornaments are the Christopher Radko collection. I remember these the most.”
Peyton figures he has about 80 ornaments on his personal tree, including a skiing Santa from his grandma. A few Lego characters he created hang on the tree, while the good-sized Lego train he fashioned sits on a nearby shelf.
Kayden’s Tree boasts a white tiger ornament he acquired after the family attended a Siegfried & Roy show in Las Vegas. “It’s my favorite one,” 15-year-old Kayden says excitedly. Several other fancy tigers, Santas, red trucks, a butterfly or two, and horses enhance his cherished Christmas tree. Many of the ornaments come from grandparents and loved ones in local nursing homes.
“The boys buy each other an ornament each Christmas and we write their names and the year on them,” notes Julie.
Nana’s Tree belongs to Lorene Oswald McCarthy. “This was her house,” Julie says, about her grandmother, “and the tree is covered in all the ornaments she loved. Three of them are from when she was a little girl. She loved butterflies, birds, deer, and she loved owls. She loved angels. She’s definitely our angel!
A ladder leans next to Nana’s tree that holds her beautifully crocheted afghans.
The White House Tree overlooks the great room from its perch at the stop of the staircase.
“We have every ornament since the tradition was started in 1981,” Julie says. “My friend Arlynne lived in Washington, D.C., and, after her brother Bob passed, she gave all his ornaments to me. What I didn’t have, she filled in all those that were missing. This is a memorial tree to her brother. Arlynne still brings me a White House ornament every year.”
The Rose Tree pays tribute to other grandmothers in the family, particularly Julie’s Grandma Juanita Swanson. The tree situated in the master bedroom blossoms with red and pink roses. “She had over 200 rose bushes,” Julie says. “She hosted Christmas Eve dinner every year for 50 to 60 people. Everyone had a place to go.”
The vintage blown-glass tree top belonged to Juanita’s mother, Julie’s great-grandmother, Martha McGuire.
‘My Lady’ Tree is dressed in a vintage-inspired, lighted, sparkly, white Christmas skirt. Her bodice is wrapped in a luxurious fur stole sealed with a silver pendant. A silver bow is tied around her waist. “She’s a pretty lady,” Julie says, of the mannequin she enjoys dressing up for the holidays.
The Kids’ Homemade Tree reflects the years Kayden and Peyton have hand-crafted ornaments either at home or at school. “We’ve had to upgrade the tree due to more ornaments the boys have made,” Julie says. “It’s now seven feet tall.”
After all the themed trees have been dressed and have filled the home with holiday spirit, it’s clear each one keeps this family’s rich tapestry of memories vibrantly alive.
Julie sums it up well. “It’s magical for the kids.”
