SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE — Between planning for Thanksgiving with her three children and mother-in-law in from out of town, Lynne Patterson was grabbing the Christmas props with her husband in mind.

The Pattersons were one of about a dozen military families who recently videotaped holiday greetings for loved ones away from home because of a deployment.

"We've got experience with deployments," said Patterson, whose husband, Col. Chris Patterson, has been deployed to Southeast Asia since July and is expected to return in July. "We're always thinking of the holiday long before the actual holiday comes."

"We celebrate holidays in the future," added her mother-in-law, Gloria Patterson of Portland, Ore.

Army Maj. Ron Lipinski knows the feeling.

"We were concerned our kids wouldn't know when the actual holidays were because we celebrate a lot of different events at different times," Lipinski said. "We've had to celebrate birthdays early or late just to fit our schedules."

To ensure these tapes arrive overseas in time for the holidays, volunteers from the United Services Organization — or USO — set up a makeshift studio inside the library at Scott Air Force base to videotape greetings earlier this month.

For the Pattersons, donning their festive gear and singing Christmas carols for the taping as their lives revolved around Thanksgiving plans wasn't too awkward.

Lynne Patterson dug out her Christmas sweatshirt and festive T-shirts for the kids to wear.

Ross, 10, sported a T-shirt that read, "Dear Santa, save time and skip my sister." Rachel, 13, opted to play her flute. Ryan, 17, fit into his father's favorite Christmas T-shirt that reads, "I'm on Santa's diet," with a picture of milk and cookies underneath.

Lipinski and his sons, Roman, 10, and John Paul, 8, carted their nearly piano-size keyboard and stand so the boys could play their latest piano pieces for their mother, Air Force Maj. Jeannine Lipinski.

She left for an in-country deployment just after Labor Day and is expected to return home in March.

Lipinski said he hopes the videotaped greeting will come as a surprise for his wife on Christmas.

"This way I won't have to hold up the phone to the keyboard, and you can have your own recording," he said into the camera shortly before Roman launched into Beethoven's "Für Elise."

Lipinski said he knows the video greeting will go a long way to boost his wife's morale, because it would have helped him get through his first Christmas away from home.

He deployed to Kuwait on Dec. 22, 2002.

"We did our Christmas during Thanksgiving that year," he said. "Sitting there having all the memories of the previous Christmases when you're away from home makes you feel alone. A phone call is nice, but being able to see everyone makes you feel more like you're together."

The idea for the video greetings morphed from another USO program, in which volunteers videotape members of the military who are about to deploy as they read books to their children. The families expressed interest in taping messages to their service members, said Sara Colvin, USO spokeswoman.

"It offers them a touch from home," Colvin said.

Though the tone of most of the recently taped greetings was upbeat and light, emotions surfaced at times.

"I just miss you with all my heart and every part of my body," Roman said to his mother into the camera as his chin began to quiver. "I wish you were here every single day."

Tears filled Gloria Patterson's eyes as she thought of how her son would react to seeing his family and how much his children have changed.

Pamela Anderson said she tries to keep emotions in check and stay busy to make the time apart from her husband, Master Sgt. Sedric Anderson, go faster. He deployed to Iraq in July and is expected home sometime next year.

It's his first deployment overseas, Anderson said.

She and her son, Breon, 15, and daughter, Ashley, 23, along with her grandchildren Aliayah, 3, and Antonia, 1, sang Christmas carols during their greeting.

As for their Thanksgiving wishes to him, they sent that card in October.