Christmas comes alive with miniature models

You can almost feel a chill and hear footsteps crunching in the snow in the Mayer household. Classic Christmas villages have been making spirits bright with a family holiday project spanning 20 years.

Children in snowball fights, shoppers carrying armfuls of presents, and churches, homes and shops brightly lit are part of the merriment in three detailed minuature villages in different parts of the house. Classic scenes from Christmas movies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Story,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and even weird Cousin Eddie from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” are frozen in time in familiar famous poses.

Mercedes Mayer said the detail of each building is uncannily detailed.

“There is a lot going on here,” Mayer said. “We really like dogs, so you will see a lot of dogs running around. Somewhere in there is a hidden bigfoot and sasquatch, but I haven’t found them yet.”

If you are an Aledo Bearcat fan you may already be familiar with two of the family members. Aledo High School student Breleigh Mayer is a photographer for “The Community News” and provides photos for the spirit page each week, and mother Mercedes is the public Information director for Aledo ISD, and you can hear her as part of the radio broadcast team of Bearcat games.

So how do you turn on and off hundreds of lights in three Christmas villages plus a thousand lights on five Christmas trees? Mercedes shows how easy it is.

“Alexa. Turn off Christmas.”