Gingerbread Houses and Candy Trains

My kids always look forward to decorating gingerbread houses. Henry and Molly went to the store to pick out candies to use. Our store has a nice bulk candy section so they picked out gummy worms and bears, gobstoppers, red vines and all sorts of other candies. A little of each goes a long way.

I made some gingerbread and then cut out the house shapes.  We invited some friends over to build with us and they brought supplies to make Candy Trains. We hadn't ever done candy trains before. 

 Ian started his his house well.

 Sophie and Molly worked together on a house

 Henry made a house with a little friend.

 Here is the start of a candy train.

 Ian's house looks great. A candy bar walk way up to the door and strings of twizzler "lights" along the roof.

 My kids decorate the yard around their houses almost more than the house itself sometimes.

 Oh No! Ian's house fell down! It still tastes great!

 Sophie braced hers with candy canes to make sure hers didn't fall too.

 Molly always has to strike a pose

 Those girls sure got a lot of candy on and around their house.

 Here is a cute candy train.

 There is a lot of details that were added to this train. It even has a face like a Thomas train.

 Here is the finished product made by Henry and his little friend.

Now we eat it! Not that a lot of candy wasn't consumed already while we worked. 

A fun evening with sugar and friends! Great way to spend a Monday evening.

Ward Christmas Party

 We had our first Ward Christmas Party. I say first because we are a brand new ward and this was our first large scale Ward event.  Of course I didn't take a whole lot of pictures.  But it was a fun evening with good food, friends and some Christmas performances for a program.

The primary kids sang a song and put on a Nativity. Here is Molly sitting so primly. Henry was one of the wise men but I didn't get a picture of him in his costume that wasn't fuzzy. 

 There was a little photo area in the lobby where people had fun taking pictures with a few props.

Henry and one of his BEST friends!

Fun Friday Night

We made the attempt to go and see the Nutcracker Ballet again this year. I say attempt because in the past this event hasn't gone well for us. Molly was sick one of the tries and I ended up spending most of the evening in the bathroom cleaning myself and her of dinner she had brought back up. Then at another attempt Molly couldn't sit still and had to run around and go to the bathroom or get a drink every 5 min. So I ended up spending most of the show in the lobby. We hadn't even tried to attend the show last year. But Sophie really wanted to see it this year so we arranged tickets. 

It ended up being a really fun evening. And Molly more or less stayed in her seat and we all were able to watch the entire production.  In the past thy didn't have an orchestra play along with the dancers so that was a fun change. It certainly made me more aware of what instruments were playing what parts. I kept thinking "My that Oboe player is really good!" or "Wow that flute part is fast and HIGH!. When you have the instruments right there to see you are more aware of the music. Plus it helped that we were up in the balcony and were looking down on the stage and orchestra pit. We really had great seats!

 The venue is also one of the draws to this performance. You can't beat Temple Hill at Christmas for a performance location.

 We always run into people we know at events like this. We haven't seen these guys in a few years so it was fun to catch up!

 The temple grounds have been renovated (is that the term to use when describing changes to a garden layout?) The waterfall and pool in the front of the temple used to be grass and flowers. This is a lovely change to the grounds.

It was a wonderful night and a great way to really get the Christmas activities started.

Brace Face

Let the Monthly payments begin!

Busy Weekend!

Thanksgiving is always a busy time of year. This year it was even a bit more busy because my nephew was getting ready to leave on his Mission. He threw a whole lot into one weekend.

So I was assigned dessert for the big Thanksgiving event. I made 6 pies:  2 pumpkin, 2 berry, and 2 chocolate. I also attempted a pumpkin roll with cream cheese icing. All turned out well and tasted yummy! I think the chocolate pie was the favorite of the evening.

Here is only a sampling of my desserts. The chocolate one and the pumpkin roll were in the fridge!

 My kids had a great time hanging out with cousins. My sister and her family came up from So. California so everyone was there except the Sister who lives out in North Carolina.  We did get to Facetime with her and her adorable daughters that day though.fd

 There was plenty of food and lots of dishes to wash afterward.

 We had a great meal and enjoyed each others company and even squeezed in a game of Settlers of Catan.

 The next day some of us headed up to Sacramento to attend the temple. The nephew who is leaving on his mission in a few days was able to go for the first time.

 I don't often get to go to the temple with my mom and this was the first time I had actually attended the Sacramento Temple. We usually head to Oakland.  Sacramento is a whole lot smaller but felt very personal and it was a wonderful experience.

 My kids made sure our Christmas tree went up! The cat was excited to see a new place to climb and play.

 On Saturday we missed the Nephews Court of Honor. There were just too many events and we had other things to attend to that day so missed that one even of the weekend. On Sunday we got together yet again since the Nephew was going to be speaking in church. He enters the MTC Wednesday so this was our last chance to see him.

 Sophie was very excited to see some of the girls she attends school with. When you only see each other virtually via online classes. It is fun to get to see one another in real life once in awhile.

 We snapped a quick picture of the family in the lobby at church. We hardly ever get a picture of our whole bunch so don't be surprised if this one is made into Christmas cards to send out!

 It was hard to say goodbye to friends.