And who does Grandma teach

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to make and decorate gingerbread houses. I have very fond memories of Christmas parties at Grandma Fizz's, sitting around with cousins decorating the houses Grandma made for each of us. We all brought bags of candy to share and left with a home covered with as much candy as possible, just in case we could eat it later.

Grandma made each house from scratch, rolled the dough, cut the pattern, baked the pieces and made the icing. She would even save newspaper clippings of fancy gingerbread houses to show us some ideas. I still have her pattern and recipe in her handwriting.

There have been years when I have made the houses from scratch and filled my home with the warm scent of baking gingerbread. Other years, I have cheated and bought the premade kit, hotglued the house together and let the kids go at it. Either way the tradition still holds joy for me.

This just happened to be a year to buy premade, hot glue it, and just enjoy.

We invited cousin Carson over and the kids had fun decorating.

Below is Mitchell just getting started...

From left to right - Carson, Kassidy and Mitchell
Kassidy has gotten quite good at handling an icing bag and she is always creative and artsy.
Mitchell's finished product

Kassidy's finished home above is wonderful. I love watching her talents blossom.

I am grateful for the joyful holiday memories that are mine to hold and mine to share and pass on to my children.
Kassidy was invited to share a holiday tradition in school. She took in some white paper folded just right, made a few snips and VOILA'! She unfolded the magic before their eyes and produced 6-pointed snowflakes. She explained how we make the snowflakes and hang them up in our windows to make it snow. Just as she showed the class, the magic began and the snow started to fall outside the school. She shared the magic.

To my parents, siblings, friends, hubby, and children,
Thanks for making the magic of Christmas a reality. Traditions make us feel closer to one another and therefore feel more love for each other. What a special gift to have been given for this season.