Spreading holiday joy through decor

Windermere’s Tom and Leah Fina always have had an affinity for Christmas, its traditions and its reason. 

About five years ago, Tom Fina brought home small inflatables to put in their yard: A snowman, a Santa, a penguin and a polar bear. 

Much like their love for Christmas grows every year, so does the inflatable collection in their yard. 

Today, five years later, the family has more than 70 inflatables in its yard, some standing as tall as 14 feet in height.

Looking at the house from the street, the yard is decorated with a big Santa and Whoville arc, as well as an inflatable with baby Jesus. 

“Star Wars” fans will love seeing a Darth Vader wearing a Santa hat, a Christmas-decorated Yoda, as well as an AT-AT Walker next to it, one of Tom Fina’s favorite inflatables. 

Christmas trees, snowmen and different types of Santa Claus are seen all throughout the yard, complete with different animal inflatables, like frogs, hippopotamus, penguins, horned cows and more. 

It’s an overwhelmingly joyful sight. 

Christmas inflatables

It all started when the family made a trip to Walmart, and Tom Fina decided to buy some inflatables to add to their yard. 

Leah Fina was against the purchase, but Tom Fina had their three children on his side. It was four against one, so the inflatables came home with them.

The inflatables vary in characters from “Star Wars” to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” to classics such as Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen, Christmas trees and more. 

Tom Fina credits his neighbor, Danny McBride, as he created a fun and friendly competition between the two households. 

“He’s like, ‘Well, I did this this year, so what are you going to do to respond to that?’” Tom Fina said. “We’re both kind of excited that we push each other.” 

And although it becomes more work to put all the decorations and lights out in the yard every year, it’s all worth it to the Finas. 

For years, Tom Fina took responsibility for decorating the yard himself, but now, as his children have grown older, they assist him, making the process more enjoyable for them. 

“We still laugh about how crooked all the light paths are because the kids did them,” he said. 

Recently, the family made a tunnel over the sidewalk so families and children can take pictures under it. 

“The kids, they love to have their picture taken under it every year with the backdrop of the rest of the house,” Tom Fina said. “And so at night, it looks really awesome. We’ll just walk through it, but I really do think the kids really love having that.” 

Although Leah Fina is not the biggest fan of the inflatables — she’s a self-claimed minimalist — Tom Fina had a perfect explanation as to why he chooses inflatables over outdoor-glittery figures. 

“They end up taking up a little bit of space to have a huge impact in the yard,” Tom Fina said of the inflatables.

And that’s why the family grows their collection every year. By deflating them, Tom Fina is able to minimize the space they take in the attic.  

“You can end up filling out a lot of the yard with not a lot of storage, whereas some of the deer and the stuff that (Leah) loves ends up taking up space because those boxes are significantly larger,” Tom Fina said. 

The Finas said they have reached their yard capacity in terms of new inflatables. 

“At this point, I’ve been given a budget,” Tom Fina said with a smile  while looking at his wife. “Now, it’s more like replacement, maybe some select items that are really good. But we are entering the limit of what we can put out there in terms of electrical usage.” 

What they’re focusing on now is ensuring those decorations last a long time, with Tom Fina replacing fans and lights to make the inflatables work for years to come. 

Every year, the Finas see cars stopping by and people taking photos of their yard with all the colorful and tall Christmas decorations. 

“We get letters from our neighbors; we get letters from people in the mail saying ‘thank you for what you do and what you create. It’s really joyous for our kids or our grandkids. This is going to be a core memory of our kids growing up,’” Tom Fina said. 

While at Windermere’s Holiday Hoopla, Leah Fina said a family came up to her to talk about the Christmas decorations out in her yard. They thanked the Finas for their holiday display as they love to walk through the yard every year. 

And the Finas love the impact they have on the community, especially being able to see kids having fun out in their yard. 

“Our neighborhood really supports it, so it’s been really good,” Leah Fina said. 

Christmas traditions 

To the Fina family, Christmas is more than just inflatables. 

Tom Fina proposed to his wife while she sat on Santa’s lap 15 years ago.

“Christmas has been a big part of our lives ever since we met each other,” Leah Fina said. “ He knows that I love Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday, so I think it was a joyous moment for both of us.” 

Tom Fina knew how much Leah Fina loves Christmas and thought proposing to her around Christmastime would mean the world to her. 

And it did. 

Since then, the Fina family grew and the traditions were passed down from Leah and Tom Fina to their three children. 

Tom and Leah Fina grew up in families who celebrated Christmas and made it all about family. 

Leah Fina grew up in Iowa and recalls Christmas memories having to do with snow and the cold weather. But more than that, her memories are about going to church on Christmas Eve, being with her family and being relaxed, happy. Then, on Christmas morning, she remembers the joy of opening presents with the family. 

Tom Fina recalls being with family, having a good time and enjoying different foods. 

They both combined their families traditions and brought it over to their household, introducing them to their kids. 

“So Christmas Eve, we try to do a seven fish thing,” he said. “It’s like a New England, Italian thing, so we’ll have seven fishes and then Christmas Day, we like to wake up early, open the presents and then eventually take a nap during the day.”

Every year on Christmas Eve, the Finas read “The Night Before Christmas” to their children.  

“We try to just do the same things every year and our kids really, really appreciate it,” Leah Fina said.

The family also has made it a tradition to see Santa Claus at Icon Park on International Drive every year, with the kids and parents equally