Gingerbread House

During the holidays, Shawn's family gets together when they can and decorates a gingerbread house. They take things fairly seriously with each sibling having a binder that includes instructions, photos from years past and a pattern. And as crazy as this may sound, when I first happened on this binder after moving in with Shawn, I knew fitting into the Bratt family wasn't going to be too difficult :-) The Bratt Gingerbread House historically includes things like an ice rink and a peppermint candy roof - once perfectly lined up but now mixed in with a variety of gumdrops, and any other sweet candy that doesn't land in the grandkids mouth first. A black santa is usually climbing up the chimney adding a bit of diversity to a seemingly snow white holiday. In 2002 the house mysteriously collapsed causing much speculation over the presence of weapons of mass destruction. Thankfully, faulty construction was discovered before any preemptive strike proved necessary. By all accounts we might still be at war if the truth hadn't come out :-) Although a bit off tradition this year in that we (gasp!) bought a gingerbread house kit, things went smoothly and everyone involved enjoyed working together. Santa didn't make the trek to the east coast to stand on the roof but at Ellen's request, Shawn built a princess tower for Ariel. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon together!