Christmas 2006

Well, it was Christmas after all. And what is a Christmas without some baking. I wanted to build my first Gingerbread house this year, from scratch. So I invited my Mother-In-Law over to teach me how to bake one in exchange for cookies.
This first picture is one of the walls coming out of the oven with a Jolly Rancher window.

Next you can see the building coming into shape. I'm using chewing gum for roof shingles. I purchased just enough from the store, but my wife and her mother had four sticks of gum while waiting for me to finish. But I wouldn't finish without at least three more sticks of gum.

Here is the finished product. Complete with lights! Above is the back of the house and below is the front, with a pool just out of sight. Special thanks also go to Shana and Aunt Beth for the extensive decorating.

On Christmas Eve I got a jumpstart on a 3D puzzle of San Francisco that I got last year. I got it done in less than a day.

Erin dropped the hint about this book only a few times. Many people were confused why she would ask for such a book, until they knew the subject matter. (It's about crocheting, a form of knitting with a hook-ended needle)

On New Year's Eve I was a barrel of laughs. I started by dancing with Erin until I crashed onto the floor. The Sandman hit me hard.

But while I was down for the count Erin and her mom were partying like there was no tomorrow, apparently. At least they were color coordinated.