KENNEWICK -- Danielle Cannon takes delight in turning her two-story Kennewick home into a veritable Christmas tree farm.
It starts in the living room, where there are more than 10 decorated trees, ranging from a magnificent 8-footer in the window to a diminutive table-top tree in the corner.
In all, she has 36 decorated trees scattered throughout her house.
"I love to decorate, and December is my favorite month," she said.
Cannon is not alone. J.B. and Gail Kay of Kennewick also find Christmas trees as irresistible as M&Ms. No way would the couple settle for just one.
Instead, the Kays have 13 -- down from a peak of 22 just a few years ago.
"We had to cut back; 20 and more was just too much work," he said.
Cannon has trees decked out in robots and lasers, metal toys, Snoopy, breakfast foods, miniature kitchen tools, Hello Kitty and more.
Her youngest son, Cavan, 4, decorated his 2-foot tree with monster trucks.
The Kays have trees with the themes ranging from the tropics and Santa to wine and even travel memorabilia. They also have a pair with color themes -- blue and gold, pink and blue and just white.
For both families, artificial trees are the way to go.
Cannon is allergic to evergreens. For the Kays, they like to enjoy them until the end of January. And each family has ornaments numbering in the thousands.
"Each year, Gail and I swear a blood oath not to buy any more, but we do," J.B. Kay said.
That explains why each household needs multiple Christmas trees if they are to enjoy more than just a fraction of their ornaments each year.
The Kays collect ornaments year-round, and they have been adding for almost 15 years.
"We can remember where we bought most of them," he said. "Anytime we're on vacation we look for ornaments -- San Francisco, Aruba, Crawford, Neb., anywhere."
They also collect certain lines of handblown glass globes including those designed by the famed Christopher Radko.
Cannon said she always has enjoyed collecting ornaments, but the bug bit hard in 2005.
"It was the year the Enchanted Toy Shoppe in Kennewick closed," she said. "It was mid-summer, but Mom and I went in and bought every Christmas ornament they had."
Since then, Cannon has never seen a Christmas ornament she dislikes, ranging from the plastic chandelier she bought at Walmart for $1.97 to the antique ceramics she got online for $50.
"They all have their charm," she said.
There is a lot of work involved bringing them into the open each year.
Cannon began decorating the day after Thanksgiving and finished about a week later.
This year, J.B. Kay estimates they devoted 50 hours into the trees.
"It'll take about half as long to take them down," he said. "Part of it is finding the right box to put them in."
Cannon invested in 16 Rubbermaid ornament containers.
The trees -- those that do not get disassembled -- get covered with plastic garbage bags and stored in the garage.
"My Christmas stuff takes up half the two-car garage. We can't get a car into it," she said.
The sacrifice of space, time and effort is worth it for both households.
"We love it," J.B. Kay said. "It's like opening presents for two or three weeks and finding old friends stored away."
