Meet The Welle Family: Putting Faith and Family First

When you walk into the Welles’ home during Advent, you walk into a bona fide domestic church.

“One of our favorite family traditions is setting up an Advent tree by our dining room window,” says Desirae Welle. “We have minibook ornaments that we hang in felt pockets — which I made — on the tree. The little books tell aspects of the Christmas story, such as the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. It is our Advent countdown to Christmas! We have a Jesse Tree as well, and we love to read the Christmas stories that go along with it.”

Desirae and her husband, Jon, enjoy teaching their five precious daughters — Karina, Abriana, Natalia, Brielle, and Gianna — to embrace sacred liturgical seasons like Christmas, and bring them to life.

“I like to help our family focus on what Christmas is really all about,” Desirae says. “For example, we read stories about the Nativity, and not just about Santa. Jon built a manger to put in front of our Christmas tree, and we keep it empty until Christmas Day so that we can ‘wait’ for the Christ Child to come. We go to Christmas day Mass together, which I believe is so, so important. We also keep our decorations up throughout the entire Christmas season because we understand that Christmas doesn’t just end right after Christmas Day.”

Bearing in their hearts the charity of the Christ Child, the Welle family reaches out to those in need around the holidays as well.

“I coordinate the Children’s Liturgy of the Word at our parish,” Desirae says. “As part of that ministry, the kids and I put together Christmas gift packages to hand out to all of the children at the end of Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We love making up the packages together as a family!”

By raising their children to love the Catholic faith, Desirae and Jon are fulfilling the primary purpose of their vocation. They are also heeding the call to stewardship, which in essence, “begins at home.”

“I love having a big family, and it doesn’t feel too overwhelming to me,” Desirae says. “The most important job we have as parents is to raise our children to love Jesus and their Catholic faith. There is great honor in recognizing our role in doing this. We must take it very seriously. By giving them this gift, we are giving them a heritage to live by — one that will help them get to heaven.”

Further, by being active in our parish and school community, Jon and Desirae hope to plant hearty seeds of faith, hope and charity in their daughters’ souls, so that one day they may fully blossom and bear fruit in eternity.

“We just love having our daughters attend the parish school!” Desirae says. “We love the sense of community it has. When our children leave for school each morning, it is wonderful to know that they will be in a supportive environment that respects the Catholic values that we are trying to give them at home. It builds a foundation for our children and helps us fulfill our mission as parents.”

Desirae and Jon Welle enjoy teaching their five daughters — Karina, Abriana, Natalia, Brielle and Gianna — to embrace our sacred liturgical seasons and bring them to life.