When the Blankenship family moved to White Eagle from Oklahoma two years ago, their new neighbors probably had a few questions. Then came the pumpkins. Not one or two tucked beside the front door. An entire garage full of them. “We definitely turned some heads and maybe confused a few neighbors,” Christine Blankenship says with a laugh.

There was, however, an explanation. Christine wasn't stocking up for an exceptionally ambitious Halloween display. She was bringing with her The Pumpkin Concierge, the seasonal decorating business she had launched in her hometown of Oklahoma City in 2022. And as Christine, her husband, Scott, and their two children, Bennett, 7, and Vivienne, 4, began putting down roots in White Eagle, her growing business was about to do the same.

Two years later, the pumpkins arriving at the Blankenships’ house probably aren't quite as puzzling to the neighbors. The Pumpkin Concierge now serves clients in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Chicago's western suburbs and has expanded beyond fall into Christmas and holiday decorating. What began with Christine styling porches while Scott delivered the pumpkins now employs more than 22 people across its driving, design and warehouse teams. But for Christine, the story was never really about pumpkins. “I built a business around something I genuinely love doing — decorating, creating beautiful spaces, hosting and helping people celebrate the seasons,” she says. “Pumpkins were simply where that journey began.”

The Blankenships’ journey to White Eagle began with an unexpected opportunity. In 2024, Scott, a computer and electrical engineer, was offered a position with McDonald’s, one of his consulting clients at the time. Today, he leads the company’s Global Products Team. The job meant relocating to the Chicago area, and although leaving Oklahoma meant saying goodbye to longtime friends and family, Christine and Scott saw an opportunity to build the kind of life they envisioned for their children. “We wanted to raise our kids in a larger suburban community with great schools, strong career opportunities and a place where we could really put down roots,” Christine says. They found that place in White Eagle.

Bennett is now a second grader at White Eagle Elementary, while Vivienne attends pre-K. Both are outgoing, happy and loving, with personalities all their own. Bennett, who Christine says “has never met a stranger,” is endlessly curious and currently fascinated by extreme weather. His latest ambition is to become a storm chaser, a fitting interest for a child with Oklahoma roots. Vivienne is the family’s creative, even-keeled little artist. She loves gymnastics, cheerleading at ICE All Star Naperville, Taylor Swift and all things girly, while also counting Spider-Man as her favorite superhero. She’s happiest when she’s drawing, painting or creating something.

And lately, the siblings have found a new interest to share: making movies. Inspired by their grandfather, they’ve jumped into stop-motion filmmaking—and, in typical Blankenship fashion, gone all in with green screens, microphones, tripods and music. Christine is also half Chinese, and she loves watching her children embrace that part of their heritage. Bennett, in particular, proudly shares his family’s culture with friends and classmates. At the center of it all is a partnership that gives each member of the family room to grow. The quality she admires most in Scott isn’t something that appears on a résumé. It’s the way he shows up for his family. “He makes room for everyone in the family to grow, while being steady enough that we all feel supported doing it,” Christine says. “Whatever I or our kids are passionate about, he’s all in.”

The couple has been married for nearly 13 years and has known each other since they were preteens. Through careers, moves, risks and changes in direction, Christine says they’ve given each other room to evolve while remaining equal partners. But building a life in White Eagle meant more than finding the right house or schools. After leaving an established community in Oklahoma, Christine and Scott were intentional about creating that same sense of belonging here. “When we moved away from Oklahoma, one of the things we knew we wanted to do was intentionally rebuild a sense of community for our family,” Christine says. “Starting over somewhere new can be intimidating, especially when you’re leaving behind longtime friends and family.” So they jumped in.

They met neighbors. They said yes to neighborhood activities whenever their schedules allowed. They practiced tennis together at the HOA courts, walked to the parks, spent summer days at the pool and watched their children find friends just down the street. Some of their closest friends now live on their own street. “A lot of our favorite things are pretty simple—being outside, spending time with friends and neighbors, hosting people at our house and enjoying everything that comes with raising kids in a neighborhood where they have friends nearby,” Christine says.

Some of her favorite moments are when their home—or the entire cul-de-sac—is full of people. She describes it as trying to give their kids a little taste of the ’90s childhood she and Scott remember.

That love of home, gathering and creating memories didn't begin in White Eagle. For Christine, some of it goes all the way back to her own childhood. She grew up watching her father and brother build businesses, planting the idea that she might someday become an entrepreneur herself. Her mother nurtured another side of her. “My mom inspired my creative side,” Christine says. “She went all out decorating our Christmas trees for every holiday and created the kind of magical memories I now love recreating for my own family.” Eventually, those two sides of her came together.

Christine had built a career in software consulting, but she left with a goal she'd carried for years: someday, she wanted to build something of her own. In 2022, she saw her opportunity. Fall had always been Christine's season. Her birthday, wedding anniversary and Vivienne's birthday all fall during it, along with college football and a beloved tradition from her alma mater, Oklahoma State University: America's Greatest Homecoming.

She loved the cooler weather and celebrations, but she especially loved what decorating could do to an ordinary space. A front porch, she realized, wasn't simply something pretty to look at. “It's the first thing your family sees when they come home, the backdrop when your kids head out to trick-or-treat, and what welcomes friends and family when they come over,” Christine says. The Pumpkin Concierge grew out of that idea: create the experience for families without requiring them to haul the pumpkins, plan the design and do the work themselves. At first, it truly was a family operation. In those early days, Scott's support was quite literal: He delivered the pumpkins while Christine followed behind, styling them. Then the business began to grow.

By the time Scott's new position brought the family to Illinois, Christine had built something in Oklahoma. But moving didn't have to mean leaving it behind. She saw an opportunity to continue growing the business there while introducing the concept to an entirely new community in Illinois.

White Eagle became both her family's new home and the starting point for The Pumpkin Concierge's Chicago-area expansion. And her new neighbors soon began to embrace it—even if that first garage full of pumpkins required a little explanation. “I’m so grateful to this community for supporting my business when I was getting it up and running,” Christine says. “Our garage full of pumpkins definitely turned some heads and maybe confused a few neighbors, but I'm so glad they stuck it out with us!”

Soon, Christine's designs began appearing on porches throughout White Eagle and beyond. Her customers also began asking a question that would change the direction of the business: Once fall was over, could she come back? “Many of the same families whose porches we decorated for fall started asking, ‘Can you come back and do my Christmas decorations too?’” Christine says. The answer was yes.

The Pumpkin Concierge expanded into Christmas and other seasonal decorating.

For Christine, there's something particularly meaningful about building this next stage of the company from the same neighborhood where her family is building its next chapter.

At home, the Blankenships embrace the seasons just as enthusiastically. Every Halloween, Bennett and Vivienne wait for one particular decoration to make its appearance: the family's giant inflatable pumpkin. “Our kids ask every year when we get to put the ‘big pumpkin’ in front of the house,” Christine says.

For her, going big has never been just about having the most decorated house.

She loves seeing her children's excitement. She loves when neighbors stop to look. She even loves seeing people driving past slow down, smile and share in the fun. “There’s something special about how seasonal decorating can create a little moment of joy and connection,” she says. “That’s really what I strive to do through my business.”

And now Christine is watching some of that creativity pass to another generation.

Vivienne, in particular, has developed her mother's eye for decorating and has begun styling her own spaces at home. “It brings me so much joy to see her finding joy in it as well,” Christine says. Perhaps that's fitting. The Pumpkin Concierge may have started with pumpkins in Oklahoma City, but its roots go further back—to a mother who transformed ordinary holidays into magical childhood memories and a little girl who grew up wanting to create some magic of her own.

Now Christine is doing exactly that—for her clients, for her children and in the White Eagle community her family has come to call home. “It's really special to be growing this next chapter of my business in the same community where we're raising our family,” Christine says. “I'm truly so grateful for this community's support.” And these days, when a truckload of pumpkins arrives at the Blankenships' house, the neighbors probably know exactly what's going on.

Christine Blankenship, Founder & Lead Designer

Email: christine@thepumpkinconcierge.com

Web: thepumpkinconcierge.com

IG: @thepumpkinconcierge