The tradition began in 2006

After some discussions and and looking and figuring things out, I think all the gingerbread houses made since 2006 have now been accounted for. It wasn't as easy as I first thought! Apparently I wasn't diligent enough in the picture taking process, and if not for Melanie, we wouldn't have all the houses documented.  

A couple of things discovered during this process....and in the grand scheme of things, what I'm about to say isn't so bad. But it IS disappointing. After looking through my pictures and Melanie looking through her pictures, it seems we only have one photo of the 2007 house and no proper "finished product" photo of the gingerbread house from 2008. Melanie did take the ones we have so be grateful for that.  

I know, I know. 

I don't know what happened. Maybe I didn't care. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was eating pie. While any or all of those excuses are valid options to choose from, we will never know the correct answer. Hindsight is so clear that a ball was dropped. It also reminds me of life before all people in the family had a phone with a camera. There was a time when no homestyle paparazzi existed for us.  

But NOW what I'm saying is, get over it. The one picture that is.... I do have some pics of the making, but there is no money shot.

Now that that news has been broken, I'm of course starting with the first year it began. Once again, in hindsight, it may have been overly ambitious to begin the gingerbread house making in the manner it was begun. As I recall, the gingerbread was baked by the makers on the premises and while that's all well and good, it was baked that evening after our Thanksgiving meal ended. The reason that matters is because the gingerbread was still warm and somewhat pliable and that's not good for house building. What did happen when the problems arose during the building, caused all hands on deck pitching in to figure things out. And therefore I think laid the groundwork for the future years of gingerbread making. We all gather in the kitchen the evening of Thanksgiving and make a house...or watch it be made and if a problem arises, someone has always found an answer to fix it. 

And lets not forget what Mrs. June from church used to tell us, "You'll know how to do it when you've finished." No smarter thing has ever been said. Especially when being a construction engineer on a g bread house. 

I'm gonna tell you right now I'm already tired of typing out gingerbread so it's gonna be shortened now and then or all the time.  

In the end, in 2006, even with the structural problems that had to be figured out, I think it turned out beautifully. A building inspector might not have given it a stamp of approval, but in the end, after Christmas, even a cherry bomb couldn't blow it up. Believe me. It was tried.     

Lets scroll and look at the offering from 2006...

And so it begins...

 See? There I am with chin in hand not taking pictures. The proof of my downfall for the 2006 gingerbread making is documented. Also the person blurred in the pic isn't in the witness protection program, but I would have been had I published the photo. 

Oh wait, I've changed positions and I'm scratching my head. Maybe I'm thinking, "Wonder where my camera is?" 

Once the sides show they will not stand with regular royal icing, the glue gun makes its first appearance and BAM! things start holding together. 

Becky with the short hair, took over from Connie. 

The back's looking good.

The front's looking good. 

That gumdrop snowman's not looking so good. And that's all I have to say about that. 

I'm gonna say it was a job well done. 

Pretty sure that little tree was made from a box.

And with that, ends the photos of the 2006 gingerbread competition. But it's really not a competition. How can there be a competition when all people are working on one house? Now I'm tired of typing competition. 

The house is really quite lovely. 

OK here's the deal people. It really is 3:52 in the morn as I'm finishing this. See what happened was.... I started working on this post again between midnight and one o'clock. Well, I decided to start watching Hallmark's The Nutcracker Christmas while I was writing this and then I got enthralled in the movie and it took me this long to watch and write. Not a good idea or combo. SO. I fully expected the movie to be terrible and when it wasn't, I had to watch much more carefully...or totally....and therefore it's now 3:55 and I'm just now going to bed. 

I'm sure there has to be more than one typo in this, but I'll find it later today when I come back and check.

It's now 3:56 and not one creature is stirring in this house but me. 

Staying up this late was such a bad idea. 

3:58 and I'm posting. 

And to all a good morning.