With the holiday season right around the corner, WCHS families begin to flood their front yards with a multitude of bright lights, inflatables, garlands and more.

One WCHS family that fills their front yard with Christmas decorations are the Fentons. This house, located on Trailridge Terrace, has over 45 decorations, including bright lights lining the roof and santa’s sleigh. The family goes all out for the holidays, spending a full day getting everything out of storage and planning out where they want to place everything. The next three days are then spent plugging in all the cords and hanging decorations on the roof.

“My dad spends at least a whole day on the roof putting up lights,” junior Rachel Fenton said.

This family tradition has occurred every year since Fenton was born and has continued since their move from Fla. to Md. when Fenton was seven years old.

“The hardest part is definitely staying out in the cold for three days,” Fenton said. “When we lived in Florida it was definitely easier, but in Maryland it gets way too cold. We definitely rely on hot chocolate to stay warm.”

The Fenton family begins putting up their decorations right after Thanksgiving and they stay up throughout the winter season. The decorations are close to the school, allowing many WCHS students to pass by and see the decorations on their way to school. If you aren’t up to go to see the Zoo Lights in D.C., or the Winter Lights in Gaithersburg, the Fenton’s house is a winter spectacular that’s just as incredible.

“Many people end up going five miles per hour down my road just to enjoy all the decorations my family puts up,” Fenton said.

The Fenton’s roof is covered in rainbow lights, in addition to santa’s sleigh that sits on top. They have six inflatables on their lawn, including a 10-foot-tall giant santa. Their driveway is also lined with candy canes.

“The Fenton’s house brings a lot of Christmas joy to the Churchill area because it is the only house on their street that is fully decorated,” junior Clare Tobin said. “It is truly spectacular to drive by and see all of the festive decorations.”

This year, the Fentons have put a donation box out in front of the house and have set up a gofundme page to raise money for the Children’s Inn at NIH.

“Recently the Children’s Inn has experienced structural issues and they had no place to house the families that need their help, and my family hopes to help out with that during the holiday season,” Fenton said.