Gingerbread Houses! 2014

We received a very special invitation from our new ward friends and subdivision neighbors, Richard and Natassia Scoresby. They make gingerbread houses every year. It's a family tradition of Richard's and they asked if we'd like to join them. They were planning on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, but Jared was working an extra shift that day, so they graciously moved it to 9 in the morning on Saturday, November 29th, so we could do it with them. Jake had basketball practice at 9:30, but he got a little creative construction in before he had to go.

We took a few bags of candy to donate to the creative cause. I was expecting graham crackers and little milk cartons that are commonly used for classroom holiday parties. But oh no. This was Extreme Gingerbread House Construction with all the bells and whistles. There were a ton of different candies, bowls of icing and real, legit, sheets of authentic gingerbread that they used to build these adorable little houses--glued together by clear, melted sugar. I don't even want to know how many large jelly roll sheets of gingerbread they had to bake to construct all these little individual houses. This was definitely Advanced Placement Gingerbread House Making. :) The kids had a fabulous time and it was fun to spend some one-on-one time with our new friends.

Left to right around the table:
Calvin, JJ, Nathan Scoresby, Cooper, Karcyn and Aislinn Scoresby.

Calvin (age 6) surprising me with his eye for details.

Nathan focusing hard!

Cooper (age 12) laying the frosting on thick!

Karcyn (age 8) making the roof colorful.

JJ (age 3) doing great things with his house!

Then deciding he needed to eat a few of those chocolate candies. (I'm with you, Bud!)

Aislinn working on her roof.

Wesley (age 1) doing exactly what a one year old should do!

Jared :)

Nathan--caught in the act! :)

I never thought to frost the "ground." Shows you have non creative I am!!

More creative juices are flowing by using crushed up shredded wheat for the "thatched roof" look!

Richard and Natassia hard at work.

Richard's gummy bear bunker!

Jared's house! (The Scoresby's even pre-cut little windows and doors in the gingerbread!)

Natassia doing some amazing things I could never dream of!

Nice job, Coop!

Whoa. That house looks like it belongs in Candy Land!

I love the gummy bear sentinels at the top of Calvin's roof!

Natassia's masterpiece. Crazy.

Richard's!

The three sides of Jared's house.

The kids (minus Cooper, who had already walked back to our house) and their creations. One of these days, I'll get all the kids looking at the camera and smiling at the same time!

Almost!

There we go!