1st Annual Gingerbread House Decorating Contest

When the weekend before Christmas opened, I decided it would be great fun to start an Everett family tradition: Gingerbread House Decorating! It would be a small family affair, just Tony, Camden, and myself... Then I thought it would be a good idea to share this adventure with people that we love and turn it into a contest... 

and then came the night before the contest. 

After about the 6th hour of baking enough walls and roofs for 12 houses, 2 trips to the grocery store, and creatively substituting ingredients in my gingerbread cookies, I decided I may have bit off more than I could chew.

But it all turned out well... Some of the pieces were a little difficult to fit together, but thanks to a whole bunch of royal icing, the houses stayed together- for the most part. 

I had home-court advantage and picked the best pieces before everyone got here.

The Cho's were excited and got started right away.

Daniel thought he would win, if he paid a little credit to the Big Man upstairs.

Joe suffered injuries and forfeited, so the lady vultures around him took his walls. He had no house

Becky stuccoed her house together with icing.

Mark observed while Lynn got frustrated and played with Camden instead.

Sandra used every piece of candy that was available while Aaron x2 supervised, and Shania and Cad hung out under the table.

Robby made a unique ski in- ski out cabin, but it collapsed under the weight of the snow.

Chelsea ate her cute cottage instead.

And the winner are...

3rd Place: Daniel

2nd Place: Becky

And the winner of the coveted Christmas Trophy went to...

Janice Cho! 

...the host can't keep her own trophy, can she?

Catching Snowflakes

Santa

Two Thanksgivings- and Now Christmas!

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day with the Meyers'. If you want to see something interesting, get a couple of grown men, and a Wii Fit together. You'll be talking for days! Although Tony will tell you he liked snowboarding the best, it was obvious his favorite was hula-hooping. Mark took off on the ski jumps! I'm sure it was his arms stretching that made all the difference.

And I? I ran my ass off in place and barely beat Tony. I think that means I'm going to have to hit the gym ...or buy a Wii Fit myself.

On Saturday, the Texan Lo's  joined the Californian Lo's and EE for our annual Thanksgiving feast. Among homemade pumpkin and apply pie (compliments to the Cho's) and Rachel Rays' yummy roast turkey and other Thanksgiving dishes, a baked bread cornucopia adorned the table. Martin and  John laughed while I made it.... but I think it turned out alright! So there! 

Of course, Eric came by afterwards to finish up the leftovers.

And my wonderful husband spent this morning putting up Christmas decorations, even though he believes we should only decorate the day before Christmas. CRAZY!

Two Weddings- No Funeral

We spent the last weekend celebrating the union of two couples. Makes me want to get married again. Love is so beautiful :D

Congratulations Janine!

Congratulations Mel!

Donning the Tail

Camden's hair is growing so fast. 

The pros:  Finally long enough to put in cute pony tails

 (although mom still needs to take lessons from Lina)

The cons: Bad hair days

Typical Everetts

enough said

Instructions for Hugging A Baby

Here's a cute forward a friend sent me.... and I usually hate forwards so you know this one's good.

Step 1: Find A Baby

Step 2: Ensure the object is indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques

Step 3: Flatten baby before beginning the hugging process

Step 4: The "Paw Slide"

Slide paws around baby and prepare for close-up

Step 5: Achieve the best photo quality by executing the "hug, smile, and lean"

A Few Favorites...