LAKE STEVENS — It’s the 12th wonder.
A giant inflatable 12th Snowman billows from the roof. Blue-and-green lights sync to The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.”Goal posts, flags, Homer Simpson and other inflatable figures in Seahawks garb round out the head- turning, car-honking madness on the front lawn.
Sure, homeowners Don Hartleben and Mari Morehouse, who fell in love at a Super Bowl party 10 years ago, are huge Hawks fans. But this display of affection is for their 7-year-old daughter, MariBrooke , who is autistic.
And it reflects the kindness of the community.
In August, thieves stole two Seahawks flags from the family’s front yard while they were inside watching a preseason game. Two flags. Back then, that’s all they had in the yard of the unassuming house with peeling white paint and red trim. The flags were MariBrooke’s, a gung-ho Hawks fan stemming from her fascination with animals.
Her dad took the offensive and sent a message to the thieves.
“I just painted a sign that said ‘Only losers would steal our daughter’s Seahawks flags,’ ” Hartleben said.
He thought maybe the thieves would come forward and return MariBrooke’s flags.
That didn’t happen. Instead, others stepped up. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
“People started stopping by and dropping off things,” Morehouse said. “Someone gave us a signed Russell Wilson flag. One young newlywed couple stopped by and gave our daughter a new jersey. It was so touching.”
Some of the items featured MariBrooke’s favorite player, Marshawn Lynch.
“One time she was watching a piece they were doing on Marshawn Lynch about him not liking to talk,” her mom said, “and she perked up and turned around and said to me, ‘He doesn’t like to talk, either.’ ”
The gifts from strangers just kept coming. Hartleben, a self-employed contractor, wanted to show his appreciation in a big way.
“I made field posts out of PVC. I put up a flagpole. Then I made a lighted box to put on the roof. I went to every Fred Meyer and bought their blue-and-green light bulbs,” he said.
“It got addicting.”
He used a staple gun to cover the front of the house with 900 square feet of Hawks logo fabric, purchased with the help of store coupons.
“We don’t have a lot of money,” he said. “Everything is bought on sale or you make it yourself.”
Except for the abominable snowman. “I saw it online, with the blue face,” he said. “I had to have it.”
It also fit with the Christmas decorations that got thrown into the mix.
Morehouse is a good sport about living in a house that looks like a parade float.
“It’s kind of obnoxious,” she said.
“People honk at this intersection all the time. There’s one guy he goes to work at 4:30 in the morning and blasts his horn here. I was so afraid the neighbors would be upset and they said how awesome it is. This isn’t ours, this is like the 12th Man’s.”
The parents say MariBrooke likes having a yard full of “Hawks.”
“She’s maybe not so good in reading and math but ask her about any animal and she’ll tell you all about it, way more than any other second-grader would know,” Hartleben said.
The team’s avian logo led to her interest in the Seahawks.
“She only really associates with people if they have some kind of animal thing to it,” Morehouse said.
“Whatever she focuses on,” Hartleben said, “we will go all in on. Whatever she likes.”
They hope to get ADA tickets, or special seating for people with disabilities, to a preseason game next year. “She wants to go to a Hawks game, but she has sensory issues,” Hartleben said.
The couple plan to tie the knot next week, on Feb. 6, the date they met a decade ago.
“This being a 10th anniversary, I couldn’t think of anything special to give her, so we are getting married,” Hartleben said.
Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
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