Our Christmas In, Like, A Gazillion Pictures

We've had the craziest December weather I think I can remember. Some days it's been so cold that to go out we looked like this:

Then some days felt like fall...And a few days the week before Christmas we actually went jogging in shorts and short sleeves it was so warm!

I think I've finally almost perfected my fruitcake recipe as of this year.
Trimming the tree:"Wonderland of Lights" in Marshall:
Making Christmas cookies:Cookies and eggnog for Santa:I think Josh spent his whole Christmas taking things out of boxes and assembling them.Waiting for morning...
Day-before-Christmas-Eve-morning at home:Christmas morning at Mae Mae and Pop's:Christmas Morning at Grammie and Grampa Jim's:Christmas evening with the Gleasons:And lots of ichatting and skype-ing with Oma, Opa and Uncle Ross and all the folks up north:

Other:

More, um, actual words to follow. Promise.

Happy Christmastime

Remember that post I promised? The one that wouldn't just be a whole bunch of pictures?

Well, this isn't it. Sorry.

As part of my annual campaign to cram as many Christmas-y activities into the few short weeks that are the Christmas season, and because Frazier has been sick this week, so we've been more or less confined to the house, we spent this past Monday decorating gingerbread houses!

I bought this Wilton kit at Wal-Mart for $9 and it was worth every penny. This is how gingerbread house making should be...easy peasy. It came with everything you needed...though I may have added to it a little...

I had to add my own arsenal of candy...Frazier was excellent at this, which didn't surprise me a bit. I had a feeling he would be. He worked diligently for an hour and a half and decorated all five little houses! I did the preliminary construction and let them dry ahead of time, then I just iced the roofs of each house and spread icing all around their bases so Frazier could stick candy on the tops and in the "yards" of each house.

We may have made a little mess. And there may have been a little bit of candy on the floor when we were done. Or this much:

...but it was a pretty quick clean up really. And it was worth it. Just look at these results!These two are going to stay here......while these are all wrapped up to be given away!