Each year, my family puts up the Christmas Village at my parents’ house. This Department 56 collection has grown year after year and it is now an event several hours long to get it all out of the crawl space and set it all up. Despite the inevitable debates about who’s in charge of the road design, whether the battery powered street lamps are worth the hassle (definitely!), and where to put the “commercial district”, this tradition has a special place in my heart as the official start to the Christmas season for myself and my family.