It began in October when Ed and Becky Ayers put a yellow wreath on their door and a yellow ribbon on a tree to support the troops. Their son Edward had just been deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division.

Then some neighbors, the Babsons, asked if they could also put a yellow ribbon on their mailbox.

"I just thought it would be a nice gesture," said Dave Babson, a software entrepreneur.

What he didn't tell the Ayers was that he had ordered 75 yards of ribbon and asked neighbors to join him. A lot of people took him up on the offer.

"We actually had to get more ribbon," Babson said. Eventually, almost everybody did -- Babson estimates that more than 50 of the 70 homes in the subdivision have ribbons.

Meanwhile, the Ayers began to take notice.

"Every day when we would drive out of the development there would be more ribbons in the neighborhood," Mrs. Ayers said. When they found out what was going on, they were moved.

"Lots of neighbors didn't even know our son ... My husband and I are just overwhelmed by the kindness and support," she said. "It's nice to know that, whatever your views on Iraq, everybody has a ribbon."

The couple sent photos of the yellow ribbons via e-mail to their son. "He said it was awesome," Mrs. Ayers reports.

Edward Ayers is somewhere north of Baghdad. Although the troops will get some sort of special dinner on Christmas, it won't be a day off. Enjoy yours, but please remember the troops.