The Villages of the Heartland

I think Lynne has more fun setting up the Christmas villages than with anything else, once the tree is decorated. We start bringing them down right after Thanksgiving to set up, and she continually adjusts, (with some help from the cats), tweaking and rearranging, right up to, and past Christmas Day.

Lynne was panicing this year for a while, though, because she couldn't find her tub full of 'little people' that occupy the villages and bring them to life. She did finally find them this past week, thank goodness, and now the villages all are bustling with kids and carolers, Santas and snowmen. Some of the villages are collector sets, but many (especially the ones at the bottom of this entry) were hand-painted through the years by Lynne.
It's a true joy to walk about this house this time of year and see the signs and listen to the sounds of Christmas.


The family will all be over soon, and we will experience the fun, noise and excitement as our children and grandchildren open their gifts, then sit down to a late afternoon dinner of turkey and ham and all the trimmings, sit around and tell stories of days gone by, as we continue to make new memories.

From our house to yours, we wish all who stop by to visit 'Heartland Ramblings' a Very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!!

Peace and Love from The Heartland, where everything continues to be Wonderful,

Lynne and Tom

More scenes around the house

Mom's Christmas, 2005

Mom also gets into the Christmas spirit, but she's in that spirit all year long. She is in touch with some missionaries overseas, and all year long she makes little gifts and ornaments for the children of the villages the missionaries are in.



Once those boxes get mailed out, she starts decorating her tree and setting up her hand-crafted village and winter scene in the living room. Lots of old ornaments, and many many hand made ones adorn her tree... The finished product, Christmas Eve, 2005.

Outside at the Heartland...

Things get decorated as well. A year ago, Lynne and I had only been engaged a month, so Christmas, 2004, was sort of a learning time, getting to know how Lynne and her family celebrated the holidays. I was still living and working at the beach, and wasn't here for most of the decorating. We strung a few lights outside along the roof, and as has been traadition, set out Mom's luminaries along the road into the driveway.


This year, however, is much different. Right after Thanksgiving, Lynne said "The outside is yours to take care of this year." So while she puttered around getting the inside ready, I got busy outside with the lights and garland.