At the same time that the Latham’s were putting out their Christmas decorations, he announced that he was doing the same. “I’d hate to see their electric bill,” he joked, “but I know they’re perfectly happy to pay it for all of the joy that there is there.”īut this year, DeWitte decided to do a little more to compete with his neighbor’s elaborate decor. He’s actually the associate pastor at the church the Latham’s attend, so Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for his family. We really had no idea until that first day after Thanksgiving when everything started going up.”ĭeWitte said he loves the decorations, even though he doesn’t have much time to decorate, himself. I was thinking they might Griswald-up the house and put a good chunk of lights on it or something like that. “Just wait until you see what your neighbors do for Christmas. “We were told, quite often, just wait for Christmas,” he remembered. It was on that day, three years ago, that their new next-door neighbor, Joe DeWitte, came to understand what other neighbor’s had been warning him about since the summer. With help from their adult children, it takes the Latham’s at least a day to get their decorations in order after Thanksgiving.

When the occupants of a house on Emmerson. Bill cuts them out of wood and Trish paints them. A resident in Morphett Vale, near Adelaide, South Australia, had a hilarious response to an extravagant Christmas light display on the property next door. His wife, Trish Latham, will pick a new subject each year. “We started adding one thing, two things every year, and it just started growing from there.”

“We just started with Santa and some reindeer,” explained Bill Latham. During December, people come from far and near to drive past the home and take pictures. During the summer and fall months, it’s become a game to guess what new design the Latham’s will make for that holiday season. The homemade decorations that adorn their lawn have become an important tradition for–not only the family–but for community members. (WIAT) – For the past 26 years, the Latham family has turned their home into Santa’s workshop for Christmas.

Christmas lights ditto