And here are all of the big ol' losers. I can say that because I was one of them!
This is my friend and neighbor Tracy. Her hubby was M.I.A. He was out on a job in Texas and his flight kept getting delayed. She was a trooper and flew this night solo! This is her quaint little house titled none other than "Tracy's House".
Here are my friends and neighbors, Mike and Rene. This is a house that I was QUITE
impressed with and I thought should have taken home a
gift card (then again if I was a judge they would all take home gift cards...good thing I'm not!) Theirs was titled "
A Roman Christmas". Another very
detailed house and Rene even broke out the fondant and gum paste.
Here's my friend, Christie, and her husband, Kevin. And let's not forget
cute little Gavin (I really do love babies in
beanies!) Another beach house, this one titled "
Surf's Up". Loved it! Excellent for a first timer! Yet another
creative gal! Loved the fish in the
ocean in particular.
Here's my good old friend, Jules, and her husband, Preston. Can I just say I LOVE this
picture. They're so cute, awwwww! Julie informed me they weren't
feeling very creative this year, but this turned out
cute and colorful. I really do like good old
traditional gingerbread houses. This one was titled "
The house with the Krispie Car". It reminds me of when you're trying to tell someone which
house is yours on the block and you say, "Oh it's the one with...
whatever". You get the idea.
This is my friend, Gennifer. Where is her
partner you ask? He's probably in the house
playing with toys! Gennifer came into this thing this year with her little
nephew, 4-year old(?) Lincoln (Genice's son), as her
cohort. I wish we had gotten him in the picture. Lincoln and Gennifer's house was called "
The Chapel". It had a cute little
cemetery. And let's not forget the
ring sitting in the cemetery; funny, but nonetheless illegal. The ring was
removed (not edible). It was funny because it had a little
Virgin Mary in it, sitting next to one of the headstones...he he.
Here are Zack, Genice, and Aubrey (another cutie). Zack and Genice's house is
always good if you ask me, but has yet to place. Apparently the judges
don't appreciate the anti-Politically correct houses. Makes me
laugh my head off every year. Always good for a laugh, this year's was titled "
Foreclosure". Too funny!
Lastly, here is our house! My friend, Lynae was also
flying solo, so she jumped in with us. Ours was titled "
Blue Christmas" and you can see why it
didn't place. But we sure had
fun doing it and that's all that really
matters! I'm stepping it up a notch (maybe 2) next year people.
This is the 2nd year we didn't place! That cannot be happening...I
need bragging rights!
It wouldn't be a
gingerbread party without at least a mention of my dad. He always got a
kick out of judging these houses and he was really
missed this year! I remember he came in one year with his own
score cards. Apparently
my way of judging wasn't good enough for him. I said pick your
4 favorites (in case we won...we don't take
prizes, just bragging rights as noted above). He had to go and assign a
point system for "most creative", "most colorful", and "neatness counts!". He was cute... I am glad I have yet
another happy memory to associate him with and I will always
think of him when I'm rolling out my gingerbread dough with his
homemade rolling pin (and I'll probably
always be crying...so don't call/come over when I'm making
gingerbread...I'm having a
moment!).
Grayson was (supposed to be) a sheep. He wouldn't have anything to do with the mask. But he would get on the ground and act like a sheep. 
Mabel was the baby Jesus. Sacreligious?? Not a bit. She was the only baby in the family. We could have used a doll, you say? Now where's the fun in that! She was too cute and I'm not a bit bias!
The rest of the cast:
Play
In second place, we had Tim and Nancy with their "Carousel Ranch". This was a fun idea. A little carousel with a grapefruit base off to the side! Ethan and Joshua (Tim's sons) were doubting you guys the whole night! I guess you showed them! Very colorful and just all-around cute! 
In third place, Jay and Kendra with "The White House". I guess I wasn't able to sabotage this one enough! I gave Kendra my gingerbread and icing recipes and neither turned out so great at first (I still am unsure why...maybe it's the baker???) I was absolutely ASTOUNDED by their creation. If you look closely enough you'll see "Obama" standing in front of the White House. This was a very cool idea...I don't get that creative with mine! I'll have to do more research next year.
Aiden lost his first tooth yesterday! He just told me it was loose yesterday morning as I was dropping him off at school. Then he comes home and tells me it came out...that was fast and painless. He was on a field trip to the Stuffington Bear Factory so I don't know who the lucky soul was who got to pack the bloody thing up so nicely in some toilet paper and a little baggie...a teacher, an aide, a brave parent volunteer?? I'm just glad it wasn't me, blech!
