Christmas is just 144 days away and preparations for the holiday are fully underway in one Leixlip home.
Aisling and Pat Carey transform their house into a winter wonderland every year for charity and have droves of visitors come and admire their lights each December. The couple live next to Pat's sister and brother-in-law, so the entire family work together to create the incredible display.
Last year the Careys raised over €10,000 for Bumbleance and Sienna's Steps. The couple have chosen Make A Wish as their charity partner for 2022 as they were a Wish family back in 2007 when their son Aaron got to meet the Liverpool football team. The pair are already flat out preparing for December's festivities. Many of their decorations are homemade by Pat and he has been working in the shed every evening after work creating new additions for this year's display.
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Aisling told Dublin Live: "He's already making some new ones. He has two new big ones on the way, so he's in the process of making them now. In the evening time after work he heads out to the shed to work on them.
"By the middle of September or October, he'll be pulling all the other bits out to check the lights and make sure everything is working. He has a few more ideas for this year. He gets me to Google the bits and materials that he needs for them, he has me driven demented already!"
Aisling said she knows it's too early for most people to be talking about Christmas but explained it takes the family a huge amount of work to put on their lights display each year.
"I know people are always giving out and saying don't talk about Christmas so early but by the time we get everything done and we have to organise the raffle and our opening weekend, it's a lot of preparation," she said.
"The raffle always generates good money so we're organising good prizes for it. I always want to better it each year and get more people involved.
"Pat makes so much of the stuff and puts a massive amount of effort into it. When he told me his ideas I thought it was going to be too hard but it's amazing what he's able to do. He's making some of the decorations with insulation that you put on walls, it's brilliant He does months of work for it."
The opening weekend will take place at 32 Sli An Chanail, Leixlip on December 11 and 12 and Aisling has promised there will be "Santa's grotto, carol singers, hot chocolate, surprises and lots of fun".
There will also be a raffle with great prizes on offer. If you would like to get in touch with the Careys about sponsoring a prize for the raffle or helping out in another way, you can reach Aisling here.
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