4 4

DECEMBER 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

FULL O F SEN TIM ENT

A stuffed moon that

hung above Nick’s crib

tops the tree in the

family room,

o p p o site .

Kym stands the tree

in an old tub a farmer

gave her years ago.

П

-

■

-

-

ever mind the bone-chilling temperatures or snow piling on

sidewalks. The Christmas holiday is a time Kym and Matt Majka’s

family gets outside. For Matt and the boys, Sam and Nick, there’s ice

hockey on the pond down the street from their Wayzata, Minnesota,

home. For Kym, there are jogs on a quiet wooded trail. “Winter is

long here in Minnesota, so you learn to embrace it,” she says. “We just love nature.”

The natural world doesn’t stop at the doorstep of the Majkas’

1950

s Colonial. Kym’s

Christmas decorations are a simple mix of evergreens from her yard and supersize pinecones a

friend out West sends her. Her natural instincts took over in the everyday decorating, too. The

formal living room seemed too stiff for their lifestyle, so she converted it into a dining room,

page

46

.

“Matt said, ‘You can’t do that,’ but I’m a free spirit,” says Kym, a designer.

That move means Christmas Eve dinner of mostaccioli is now enjoyed beside a crackling

fire. It’s become a tradition, like cozying up to a fire in the family room for Friday movie- or

hockey-watching night (Matt is chief operating officer of the Minnesota Wild hockey team)

and roasting marshmallows in the backyard fireplace on weekends. “A fire signals the start of

winter for us, and makes the holidays seem more special,” Kym says.

Sam and Nick Majka

(with dog Murphy),

a b o ve ,

head home

after a hockey game.

Greenery is the only

outdoor adornment.

“It’s classic,” Kym says.

W INTER W ONDER