Christmas Parties and Vote for Your Fav Gingerbread House

We crammed four Christmas parties in this weekend. Lydia never got to bed before 10:30pm every night, poor thing. But we did have a great time.

Friday:

Our first party was for Jake's work. Hung out, chatted, ate BBQ, played Rockband where Jake killed it on the singing. Nice job honey. Good times were had by all. We all like "The Office" right? So do all of Jake's co-workers. Jake and Marci decided to create their own version of the Dundee awards and give them out that night. Jake was the ring leader of course and handed out all the awards. It was hilarious. And it's not a party without Jake (at the request of many) doing his "But they'll never take our freedom" speech from "Braveheart"...always the center of attention.

Saturday:

Ward Christmas Breakfast. Watched a slide show, watched a play members of the ward put on (Jake was Nephite #7 and of course one of his lines had to have a valley girl accent; always the funny man) and we visited Santa. Lydia didn't cry. She just sat there wondering why she was sitting there :) Later that day Lydia and Madelyn had to go play in the many inches of snow we got that day.
Sunday:
Annual Johnsen cousin get together. I forgot my camera but let me tell you, it's a madhouse. Jake's family is SOOO big I think the church gym is even getting too small. No exaggeration. But it was fun catching up with everyone.
And finally, we had our
4th Annual
Gingerbread House Making Contest
with our friends Danny and Katie on Saturday night. This is a VERY competitive event for us. We hate the candy they give in the box, so we always go out and get our own after thinking of marvelous ideas for our house. Anyway, we put it to a vote and leave it all in your hands, the viewers of my blog. Please look at the pictures closely and vote for your favorite house. To make it fair, we leave it anonymous and after all the votes are tallied, I'll announce the winner in a week. One vote per person, but everyone in your house can vote. C'mon people, this is serious business. This year, we got to the point where next year we might use a sheet so there is no looking and cheating. If you know the Johnsen's, you know their competitive nature :) If you don't have a blogger account, you can leave a comment anonymously but put your name after your vote. We don't want anyone cheating now! Happy voting.
HOUSE A
House:
Front Yard:
Roof: Ariel View:

HOUSE B
House

Front Yard: Roof:Ariel View: We had 19 votes last year and hope to break that record this year, so please vote and let's just hope our's wins. This is my blog after all :)