Friday night we had our annual gingerbread house building night with my internet shy friend and her family.

(The internet shyness of said friend is seriously reducing the number of “usable” photographs I have of the event).

This is our 4th or 5th year of house building. I bake the gingerbread and make the icing, they bring sinful amounts of candy. This year, my mom happened to come into town the day of the event.

She and my brother got a house of their own to build and bicker over. Amazingly, they were both still standing and smiling at the end of the night.

The husband half of our internet shy friend always outshines us, year after year. I’ve learned to bake him a sheet of gingerbread along with his house pieces, as he likes to add things to his house like dormers, chimneys, outbuildings…. and just like every other year, he showed us up.

I assembled a house and then handed it over to the girls to decorate.

Clark was there, happy to wander around to various members of the group and bum candy.

Now, we’re eating them, and they’re good.

So, the countdown is on ’til Christmas, and we’re finding various ways to pass the time, frequently involving lightsabers.

This morning, we’re planning to go to breakfast and find a Santa to take pictures with.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve, and very best wishes to you and yours.