I “” Christmas & A Sportsman’s Holiday

By CHRIS ARNESON for the Missoulian
Photos by TOM BAUER of the Missoulian

Teri & Arnie
Kirschenheiter

1960 Mullan Trail

Arnie Kirschenheiter is an avid hunter. Eleven months out of the year, the Kirschenheiter residence is decorated with deer and waterfowl trophies. But come holiday season, his wife Teri sends the mounted prizes packing.
“This time of the year is huge for us,” she said.
Teri takes over the living room and kitchen, decorating it in an “I ‘Heart’ Christmas” theme, while Arnie turns his artistic eye on the downstairs living room. He decorates the room with a rustic “Sportsman’s Holiday” theme.
It wasn’t until the last of the Kirschenheiter children left home that the couple started taking holiday decoration seriously.
“We couldn’t afford a fancy Christmas when the kids lived at home,” Teri said. For a few years, they had only one Christmas tree. But that didn’t last long. Arnie and Teri had very different ideas about its trimming.
When they started out, Arnie would put his outdoorsy ornaments, such as antlers and duck decoys, on the tree. And Teri would intertwine bright ribbon and hang heart-shaped ornaments.
“They didn’t mix on the tree,” he said. “So we invested in another tree and separated them.”
On Teri’s tree, she piles on the ornaments, “hundreds of them,” she said. In fact, the tree gets so heavy from the decorations that they have to tie it to the wall. Under the tree, she decorates red and green packages with bright, colorful ribbons.
“I love the colors of Christmas,” she said.
But Arnie isn’t one to be outdone. Downstairs, he covers his artificial evergreen with rustic decorations – so many that the boughs of a real tree would snap under the weight, he said. He places presents under the tree wrapped in an outdoorsy brown paper, tied with a natural ribbon.
The two admitted that there is a strong spirit of competition between them. Each tries to out-decorate the other. Teri said she always wins.
“We help each other decorate, though,” she said. “He makes really good bows.”
But as often as they cooperate, they also disagree. Ornaments and arrangements often spark fiery debates between them.
Arnie and Teri have been debating whether or not to take down the stuffed goose in their hallway for weeks, Teri said.
“We’re still not done discussing it,” she said. “But it’s coming down.”
The couple spends months planning their holiday decorations. Teri said they began planning this year’s decorations as soon as they took down last year’s – literally.
Teri said each spouse can be as stubborn as the other when it comes to holiday decorations. But that’s what makes them so great at preparing their home.
“I think we’re both really detail-orientated,” she said. “It has to be perfect.”

Chris Arneson is an intern at the Missoulian and a journalism student at the University of Montana. He can be reached at (406) 523-5240.