By Dylan Reubenking
At 5 p.m. on the first Saturday of December every year, the Flott family lights up the entire Carter Loop neighborhood in Yelm with a display of about 80,000 Christmas lights and dozens of handmade decorations.
The Flotts — Anna, Brian and their four children — have hung up and added to their radiant display each year since 2006, and they decked out their residences in previous stops such as Nebraska and Indiana before coming to Yelm. But this year, the Flotts added a little extra Christmas spirit to their eye-popping spectacle.
Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus visited on Wednesday, Dec. 11, to take photos with children and hand out candy. They also helped encourage families to take part in the Flotts’ annual tradition of collecting nonperishable food items for the local food bank.
People often arrive shortly before 5 p.m. daily to watch as all the lights come on simultaneously as the clock strikes 5.
“I love it. I think it’s great. I just like watching all the kids light up,” Brian Flott said. “My favorite thing is to see how excited they get for them.”