By Gabriella Payne
After a turbulent couple of years, there’s no doubt we could all do with a bit of Christmas cheer in our lives – and one Pakenham family are doing just that!
Hoping to spread a bit of festive joy throughout their neighbourhood, the Kenyon family have pulled out all the stops with their Christmas decorations this year, and it’s a sight you certainly don’t want to miss.
With a six metre tall inflatable Santa in their garden, you can spot the family’s Lakeside home a mile away and their flamboyant frontyard display has been delighting almost everyone who passes by.
Having two young kids of their own, Ben and Emma Kenyon said that they had always planned to put up some decorations, but their small idea had quickly snowballed into a winter wonderland.
“Normally we just put up a few inflatables and a couple of lights, but this year we kind of went above and beyond,“ Ben said.
“It took us two weekends – we started off with just a basic display and things kind of grew from there.“
“…and grew and grew!“ Emma added, laughing.
“I think we never found ourselves empty handed leaving the shops!“
Emma and Ben’s two young boys, Hudson and Kyelan, were clearly thrilled to show off their amazing frontyard and their Nan, Cher-ele, said that everyone in the neighbourhood absolutely loved it.
“This year the decorations went to a whole other level,“ Cher-ele said, “but the neighbours just love it because they’ve got grandkids too.“
“We have had a lady who’s come back three times with her grandson already,“ Emma said.
“We get a lot of comments and we try and come out nearly every night to speak to some people.
“It’s just so nice to socialise again and to have something to talk about,“ she said.
“We started a little early, but we wanted to bring as much joy as we could this year after all we’ve been through as a state.“
“Yeah, it just kind of grew – but we’re doing it to make everybody happy,“ Ben said.
“Everybody’s had it bad the last two years with Covid and we know a lot of families are struggling, so we’re trying to put a smile on everyone’s face.
“We get a smile every time we come out to talk to people, but we hope it puts a bit of enjoyment in other peoples’ lives too.“
The Kenyons’ Christmas display is located on Oaklands Way in Pakenham and is best viewed in the early evening, so make sure to swing past for some festive spirit!
