If the 16-foot-tall Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer on the Robertson’s lawn on cannot clue one in that Christmas fast approaches, then Santa in his sleigh surely can.

Each night until Christmas, kids will climb into Santa’s sleigh, whisper their Christmas wishes and hopefully stay still long enough for mom and dad to snap a few photos.

The Robertsons have always decorated their Oxford home on McIntosh Road for the holidays, but in the last two years the reindeers hit a growth spurt, Rudolph ballooning to his current height.

The visits and photos with Santa are free, as is the hot chocolate, and parents can take as many photos as they’d like.

It isn’t hard to spot the home. Not many in Oxford have giant, white reindeer and 11 Christmas trees made of white Christmas lights, or “Merry Christmas” spelled out in giant letters, bathed in light.

“Everybody says you can tell when you come from Target coming down the bypass, like you’re going to Talladega,” said Kathy Robertson. “You can see us before you get here.”

The person responsible for building all of it is Robertson’s husband, Avery, who, when he’s not building things or helping Santa entertain visitors, is an employee at the Anniston Army Depot. It takes Robertson about a month to assemble it all on the front lawn, his wife said.

Helping Santa give local children a chance to see him up close, and for free, is something the Robertsons look forward to all year long.

But it’s not just children that stop by for a visit with the big guy, Robertson said. They’ve had many adults with developmental disabilities visit, because it’s much easier to drive into their yard and walk right up to Santa than see him at the mall, she said.

Last Saturday, Avery Robertson was nowhere in sight Ð maybe he was busy building a twenty-foot tall snowman or some such thing – but Santa was there, surrounded by Syprina Irene Robertson Brown’s third-grade class from Oxford Elementary.

“That’s his thing,” Robertson said of her husband. “He loves the kids and he loves decorating.”

Visitor can stop by the Robertson’s home at 5895 McIntosh Road in Oxford each night until Christmas. The lights come on at dusk, and Santa is usually in his sleigh shortly afterwards.

Staff Writer Eddie Burkhalter: 256-235-3563. On Twitter @burkhalter_star.