Christmastime—a season filled with laughter and memories, carols and gifts, eggnog and cookies, friends and family, and Christmas decorations, of course.

For some people, decorating means hours of stress and frustration, detangling miles of lights, hauling awkward, dusty boxes out of attics, rearranging furniture to accommodate the tree, and wrestling fake reindeer in the yard as frostbite threatens their fingers.

For others, however, decorating for the holidays is not a harried experience, but a joyful passion project because of the happiness it brings others.

Can’t wait for Christmas

Jim Moe, 71, finds it hard to wait for Christmas. Last year he knowingly broke one of his family’s household rules by putting up a few Christmas lights two days before Halloween. They were promptly taken down and put back up on November 1.

Moe never decorated much in the past, but shortly after moving into a new home in December 2009, he made a spur-of-the-moment stop that changed all that.

“I just happened to go into the Habitat [for Humanity] ReStore and they had oodles of lights,” he said. “I bought every one of them.”

When his wife, Cheryl, asked what he was going to do with them all, he said, “I have no idea!”

But he said it’s been wonderful.

“I’ve had more fun in the last six years. I probably put 50-60 hours into decorating outside each year, but that includes all the time I spend talking to people,” he said. “I’ve gotten to know my neighbors, and the kids are fun, too. I thoroughly enjoy doing it.”

Moe’s collection of decorations has grown annually with additions from Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, after-Christmas sales and donations from neighbors. Nowadays he decorates the inside of the house just as much as the outside. He likes inflatable decorations because they deflate and fit in his attic easily.

“When we first moved here I was the only one that decorated, and then other neighbors started, too,” he said. “Now this block is the most decorated one around,” he said. “When I tell people where I live, they say, ‘Oh, you’re the house with all the Christmas lights!’ I’m known for that. This is pretty much my thing.”

Spreading cheer several times a year

Lonnie Williams’ eyes light up when she talks about her collection of nearly 400 snowmen candles, which she proudly displays in her home during the holidays.

Her husband, Ron, 76, is a newcomer to Christmas decorating by comparison, but by the size and grandeur of his decorations, you wouldn’t know it.

“Before retirement, he had no patience for decorating,” Lonnie, 70, said. “If he was going to decorate, I had to leave the house.”

Ron has more time and patience now. A November trip to the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Missouri really set things in motion. Ron and Lonnie were mesmerized by large pine trees at the park’s entrance, which were completely covered with different colors of lights.

“Branson got our heads rolling and I said, ‘You know, we could do that with little trees,’” Lonnie said. “It was just beautiful, and Ron didn’t need any convincing.”

They planted four pine trees in the front yard of their corner lot, which they decorate each year with 3,000 lights—red, blue, yellow and green.

“We switched to LED lights,” Lonnie said. “You can put a million lights out there without flipping the breaker.”

Fortunately, they have a spacious basement to store their ever-growing display of decorations, including inflatables of Snoopy on a sled, a snowman family and Santa. They shop after-Christmas sales and have been given decorations from neighbors who moved.

Each year, positive feedback from neighbors and passersby bolster Ron and Lonnie’s enthusiasm to continue decorating. They have inspired many others in the area to decorate as well.

“Dragging out all the boxes and checking the lights isn’t fun,” Ron said. “But we continue with it because people enjoy it.”

Ron started with Christmas but has now expanded into decorating for Halloween, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Bronco season (when the team is doing well). Children knock on his door months in advance asking if he will put up his Halloween decorations again.

One year, Ron and Lonnie received a card from a neighbor, who hadn’t been too friendly, thanking them for putting up the Christmas lights and telling them how much he appreciated them.

“Things like that make you feel good,” Ron said.

Ron and Lonnie also decorate for themselves.

“We’re usually by ourselves for Christmas, so this helps keep us in the Christmas spirit without feeling sorry for ourselves,” Lonnie said. “I’d hate to give this up just because we’re getting older. The energy we put into it keeps our spirits lifted.”

Ron and Lonnie often hear kids outside when they’re in the living room.

“We peek out and there they are, pointing and giggling,” said Ron. “It’s worth it.”

Bigger is better

Bill and Karen Meador start putting up their Christmas decorations the first week of October and sometimes aren’t finished by Thanksgiving.

“We started 20 years ago and it just kept getting bigger and bigger,” Bill, 65, said. “The most fun is coming up with new ideas each year. Ninety-nine percent of our decorations are outside and can be seen from I-70. Every year limos and people on light tours come by our house.”

The Meadors have five kids and 14 grandchildren who all look forward to seeing what’s new each year. The couple isn’t slowing down at all, as they add to their decorations each year from after-Christmas sales without getting rid of any old decorations.

“We have a shed that’s 8-by-10-by-8, just for Christmas decorations,” Bill said. “If you open the door, everything will fall out.”

The Meadors love the thrill of creating a new Christmas extravaganza each year, and they encourage others to get in the spirit and join them in the fun.

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Tour the Grand Valley's holiday light displays