AUBURN – When Rachel met Andy Pratt in 1991, she wasn’t too excited about getting involved in a relationship.

She was busy raising three boys, doing fine without romance.

But on their second date, Andy hooked Rachel by telling her how much he loved Christmas.

She went back to the office and announced to shocked co-workers: “Oh my God! I’m going to marry this guy! He loves Christmas as much as I do!”

Since marrying in 1993, Andy and Rachel Pratt have celebrated Christmas in style. Inside their home, it seems like every inch is decorated. The kitchen has a snowman theme, the family room a North Pole theme, and the front room is wall-to-wall Santa. Stockings for their extended family – his two and her three grown children and their families – line the stairs.

“We’re running out of stairs,” Andy said.

Outside, their yard is a Christmas wonderland. Two 30-foot spruce trees are covered with lights, as are other trees. There’s a sleigh with music playing, several snow globes, a manger and three buildings Andy has built: a reindeer barn, a gingerbread house and a church. “I’ve told my children that when I die, they’ll inherit real estate. They just don’t know what it is,” he joked.

He begins putting out decorations on Veterans Day and turns them on Thanksgiving night.

“I keep telling him to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but he can’t because he’s too excited,” Rachel said.

For years, he’s volunteered as chairman of the holiday decoration committee of the Auburn Business Association, helping raise money and decorate the city. Many people drive through Auburn. “We have to give them a good impression,” he said.

Rachel’s Christmas fever isn’t much cooler.

“She plays Mrs. Claus all year long,” he said. “She’s always giving somebody something.” When she pays the bill in restaurants, she hands the cashier a candy cane and says, “Merry Christmas!”

Then there was the time, the Christmas season of 1996, when they dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus and took a balloon ride, thrilling children when they landed in a yard.

The couple has much in common besides their love of Christmas. They’re friends as well as spouses, and they have fun whether it’s the two of them or they’re in a crowd. Both stressed that they don’t take each other for granted. “We put 100 percent effort” into the relationship, Rachel said.

Andy keeps her in line. “He keeps me grounded.”

As for Andy, without her he’d always be in his chair or in the garage working on a project. “We make a good team,” he said. “She makes me whole.”