Gingerbread Party

So besides being all ill at the same time, we really have been enjoying the holidays a LOT. Steve finished up a test block last week, and after that we proceeded to party like it was 1999 (or better, since we were like 14/15 in 1999). We kicked off the weekend with a Better Halves party complete with White Elephant (Steve scored some fudge which has made him a happy man). Then on Saturday we got to head across the parking lot to the Sears' place, where a bunch of us gathered to make gingerbread houses.

Despite the above photo, Steve and I took the task very seriously. Steve was mostly in charge of construction and architecture, and I took over to beautify the project. I'd have to say, the men did most of the work on everyone's houses, and they did a darn good job. We ladies mostly hung around doing things like this:

As the only two babies in attendance, I thought Abby and Gracie did remarkably well. They entertained each other (with only a few tearful episodes as below, usually over possession of a bottle or cell phone) and stayed up until 10 and 11 that night, respectively, snitching marshmallows and pretzels off of unguarded gingerbread houses.

Here David, Steve, and Kris show off the fruits of their labors. They all came out very differently, and, as you can see, are all structurally unique (and sound). David's had an open door and shutters, Steve's and mine had twin two-story towers with a bridge between, and Kris's had a crazy ski-slope roof, a front yard koi pond, and gummy bear residents with improvised Tootsie Roll droppings behind them. Ours is sitting on our counter now, being slowly devoured. Steve made quick work of the licorice roof, and I've been snacking on the m&ms for several days. And Elyse's amazing frosting has held everything together fantastically (its actually pretty hard to get the candy back off to eat it!).

p.s. I stole all these photos from Suzi. :)