The last shopping weekend before Christmas has passed. I can happily and proudly say that I didn't get out into the hustle and bustle. It's the least I can do to help alleviate traffic and mall over crowding while still maintaining my own sanity.
Instead I stayed at home, enjoyed my own decked halls and did a little entertaining - family style. We hosted my brother and his wife on the southern most portion of their holiday tour. They began their travels in mid-November, leaving their home in Alaska to visit with friends and family all up and down the west coast before returning home in the new year.
It was nice to catch up on each others lives and reminisce a little, too. We looked at some old slides and watched some favorite Christmas movies.
But the highlight was when we all tried our hand with decorating gingerbread houses.
Intended to be an activity - not a contest (you don't know how many times I said that over the course of the afternoon) the only rule was that you could only decorate with what came in the kit. Oh there were some initial grumblings over that, but I think that everyone overcame the challenge quite nicely.
A closer look at each entry -
The Princess and The Boyfriend were very creative in turning their gingerbread men into a Santa and a snow angel in the yard. Kudos also for usage of the coconut as smoke from their chimney.
Brother and Sister-in-law did a great job bringing their Alaskan roots to their house. Clever piping turned their house into a log cabin. And they creatively carved the parts of their tree into a moose rack, a bear (which really looks more like a wiener dog to me) and a chimney with some rather frightening frames emanating from it.
As for the home team, we didn't stray that far outside of the box - but we had a great time. The Relatives are on their way to their next destination. We are nesting just a little more, making plans for dinner at The Princess' later in the week and a big get together with The Boyfriend's extended family all before the 'main event'. Time for me to make like Santa Claus, make my list (grocery list, that is) and check it twice. There's still a lot yet to do.