ShawneeDispatch.com

This year, the Kelley family decided they wanted to do something a little bit more meaningful than hanging the usual Christmas lights.

"We just wanted to do something that reflected the true meaning of Christmas," Robert Kelley said.

They came up with the idea of creating a nativity scene in front of their home, and then the five-member family thought of taking part in the scene to make it a living nativity. Eventually, they even sought out and bought some sheep to add to the scene.

"It just became more and more as we went along," Irene Kelley said.

So this Christmas, on Monday nights and some Saturday nights, the family will take a couple of hours in the evening, starting around 7 p.m., to stand in the manger. Robert portrays Joseph and Irene portrays one of the kings. Their children fill other parts: daughters Morgan and Taylor portray Mary and a shepherd, respectively, and son Baylen portrays another king.

The family attracted some attention between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the Grey Oaks neighborhood, the first time they stood in the nativity scene, dressed in costumes borrowed from their church, Lenexa First Baptist, with live sheep nearby in a pen.

Neighbors stopped as they drove by or walked through to chat, and the Kelleys said they spent time in between those visits talking about the scene they were representing.

"We've talked about how the Christmas story doesn't stop here - it continues until (Jesus) comes back," Irene Kelley said.

Braving Saturday evening's winds also helped instill the idea of what the original creators of the scene had endured.

"When you stand out here, you think, 'I'm tired,' but then you realize what they went through," Irene Kelley said.

They chose to start Saturday because that was to be the night of the neighborhood's annual hayrides, though that activity was rescheduled due to winds.

The family made the manger after studying some similar structures at Earl May Nursery. They made shadow cut-outs of each character, plus some manger animals, so the manger wouldn't look empty at the times they were not filling it.

A doll was used to represent baby Jesus, and the family actually bought the sheep from a petting zoo after finding out it would be more expensive to rent them, though they plan to return them. They prepared candy canes and printed versions of the Christmas story to hand out to visitors, who may also feed and pet the sheep.

It's not hard to sacrifice their time in order to fill the manger, the family said.

"It's one of those things that the kids will remember and tell their children about," Robert Kelley said.

"Baylen wanted to watch the game a little bit, but I said 'Will you remember the game in 20 years, or will you remember this?'" Irene Kelley added.

The family plans to continue their efforts when possible through Christmas.