Frisco family brings holiday cheer with extravagant Christmas lights display
FRISCO, Texas - A Frisco family has once again gone all out for their Christmas lights display.
They were first inspired to go the extra mile because of their children. Now, they are using their display to support another local child.
At the Burkman holiday home, Jennifer Burkman says her family has a case of OCD.
"We call ourselves ‘obsessive Christmas disorders,’" she said.
The Frisco family is all about decorations — big decorations.
"We moved to Texas in 2013, and we took to heart everything is bigger in Texas," Jennifer said. "And we went big, big and really big."
Jennifer, who begins decorating with her husband, Corey, each September, doesn’t know exactly how much money she’s spent on the display throughout the years.
"It’s best that she keeps me in the dark on the money side of it," Corey said.
Jennifer does, however, keep track of how many candy canes her father hands out to kids each year.
"Last year, we handed out 40,000 candy canes," she said. "So we’re estimating at a minimum we saw 80,000 people. But this year, we’re ready. We’ve got 75,000 candy canes."
This all started because of their boys, who are now grown but live on the autism spectrum. Alex, specifically, is fascinated by lights.
"He loved Christmas. Had lights everywhere," Jennifer said. "This was a way to honor our boys and all the hard work that they’ve done."
Now, they’re using their 75,000 light display to help out a local kid.
"Her name is Liyana. She has epilepsy. She’s had several brain surgeries," Jennifer said. "The reason we picked her though wasn’t just because of her medical condition. She actually started a foundation when she was 12 years old to collect toys for children in the hospital."
This year, they’re collecting donations for her.
Jennifer says it’s all about giving back, even though she enjoys competition.
"I had to go buy some brighter lights, and we put them up," she said. "We are here until the Lord decides that I can’t do it anymore."