Holiday Homeowner Highlight with Nick and Jami

Welcome to another festive edition of Eastbrook Homes’ Homeowner Highlights series, where the holiday spirit comes alive through stories from real Eastbrook homeowners. In this edition, Nick and Jami share their celebrations of family, community, and the enchanting traditions that define their holiday season.

Although holiday decorations abound inside their home, Nick and Jami’s holiday spirit extends beyond their own walls, contributing to the festive ambiance of their community. With dazzling Christmas lights and a close-knit community spirit, the couple is always ready to share the joy of the season with all their friends and family!

When did you move into your Eastbrook Home?

December 17, 2020. This is our second Eastbrook home in the same neighborhood. We originally built it in 2017. 

What community do you live in?

We live in Saddle Ridge in Rockford, MI

What has been your favorite thing about this community?

We liked this sub-division from the start.  We have friends in the community, have made many new friends, and anything around the holidays is incredible. Massive Halloween parties for the kids, Trick-or-Treat night is fantastic, and we have the best community Christmas lights in West Michigan!!! (biased of course 😊)

How do you celebrate the holidays in your home?

With two young boys, it is all about the magic of the holidays. Our sons love every holiday and always want to celebrate and decorate. For many of the holidays, we have inflatables in our front yard, spooky cobwebs, and tons of Christmas lights!!

What is your holiday decoration inspiration?

Everything centers around our two sons. Seeing their faces light up around the holidays makes everything we do well worth it! We have multiple Christmas trees in our house, exterior illumination, inflatables, train sets, and many other things! Christmas mornings are always exciting! Santa’s cookies have been eaten, and there are full Christmas stockings and presents around the tree.

Are you hosting any holiday parties in your home? If so, what does that look like for you?

We do!!  We typically host Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s parties. The openness of our main floor and finished basement with a small kitchen gives a massive amount of space for friends and family to congregate. We love hosting around the holidays and sharing in all of the celebrations with friends!

What does “home for the holidays” mean to you?

Home for the Holidays is creating a warm welcoming area for friends and family. It involves sitting in front of the fireplace, watching Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with our boys. Snuggles in front of the Christmas lights and the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies. We love the holidays!

Are you planning on participating in any holiday event or activity in the greater community you’re now in? If so, which ones?

Christmas lights! Our neighborhood is amazing around Christmas! We have been in Saddle Ridge since 2017 and have decorated the exterior of our house. We have also helped with neighborhood entry Christmas lights every year since 2017. We have a great group of friends that help, and many hands make it easy!!

Any other memories or things that stand out to you about your Eastbrook Journey that you would like to share?

We truly had a Christmas miracle in 2020! We sold our Stockton model in Saddle Ridge in early May 2020 and moved to an apartment temporarily. With shutdowns, worker shortages, and material shortages we were unsure of when we would be able to move into our new home. We worked with Bruce Bylsma, Jessica Balder, and Chris Anderson on the build. Communication was spot on the entire time. Chris was incredible to work and coordinate with through all the uncertainty. It literally all came together one week before Christmas! We closed in the morning while our boys were at school and daycare. By the time they came home in the afternoon, we had Christmas lights and the tree up! Seeing the smiles and excitement on their faces was something my wife and I will never forget. We are forever grateful to the Eastbrook team for everything they did to make it happen.

Nick and Jami’s new home is the Maxwell, and is located just minutes from historic downtown Rockford. With nature trails accessible for brisk holiday walks and the hustle and bustle of Grand Rapids only miles away, the Saddle Ridge community offers Nick and Jami a quiet place to raise their family without sacrificing all the fun activities the city has to offer. Like their home, the local Eastbrook community provides a balance of excitement and serenity: a perfect place to spend the holiday season!

Kickstart your own holiday miracle by moving into your dream home! Buy one of Eastbrook’s move-in-ready homes or build your own based on one of our unique Eastbrook designs! Explore the feature gallery on our website and tour a model home for design inspiration, then connect with us when you’re ready to start the building process!