Christmas Traditions.

[okarol]

Fabulous houses what kind of ivy is that, it is beautiful and the gingerbread house looks yummy...Boxman

If you mean the vine on the left, that's a Cecil Brunner climbing rose bush. Thanks.

Home and 2 pics of the gingerbread houses we made.

I would love to know your recipe and or how you make them if you don't mind sharing.

I actually buy pre-made gingerbread houses pieces, they have kits at the market or at Target. The icing is just powdered suar and water. The larger building has Snickers bars for siding (snack size and fun size) - you can even decorate a box if you don't have a house.

[angela515]

Thanks hun. I looked all over Walmart but they were out, which was why I made the Gingerbread Xmas tree instead. I use that frosting recipe to frost the christmas cookies we make so thats great at least I got that down. Ty again, I am gonna make them next year

[okarol]

I think I have a thing for old guys with white hair - I have been collecting Santas' for about 20 years. They don't cost much, and I only buy ones I have never seen before. These are 3" to 12" tall, made of metal, plaster or wood, some are old, some new, but and they all are different. There's something that I like about each one, most have a hooded robe, although a few have hat and coat - but they are less like the Coca Cola Santa and more like St. Nick I suppose. Anyway, here's the collection.

[Wattle]

We have always made Ginger Bread Houses too. My children have the fun of decorating the outside ( Aged 11 and 13)
They love the ginger bread too. Here are the ones we did this morning.   

[angela515]

Awesome!

[okarol]

On Christmas eve we went out to see Christmas light displays:

Photos 1, 2, 3 - Near Pasadena: Balian Ice Cream Mansion - For many, many years the Balian family (they own an ice cream company) has decorated their mansion and the three and one half acres that surround it. There are over 10,000 colored lights, with scenes like Santa Claus with his reindeer, elves, a nativity scene, and many others. Live groups sing Christmas carols and there's photo ops with Santa Claus.

Photo 4 - Kids at Balian Mansion.

Photo 5 - A home where the yard and trees on the street are filled with Chinese lanterns.

Photo 6 - A tiny house with a bazillion decorations.

[MyssAnne]

Karol, those are good pictures!  That mansion is just breathtaking in the dark with the lights on. Is it as
good looking during the day as well?  Can you take tours in it?  Or is it still a private residence?

[okarol]

Karol, those are good pictures!  That mansion is just breathtaking in the dark with the lights on. Is it as
good looking during the day as well?  Can you take tours in it?  Or is it still a private residence?

It is a private residence. Many of the homes in that area are large estates built in the 1920's and really beautiful.
I volunteer for an organizations that does fundraising by renovating a different mansion every year and selling tickets to the public. I love to have the opportunity to see inside some incredible homes. We have never done that house but I bet it's nice inside too!

[goofynina]

   I would love to have my home all lit up like that (wouldnt want the electric bill though)  

[Sluff]

Thanks for sharing all those pictures karol. I would have eaten those candy houses long before they were put together. 

[angela515]

Great pics! Every year when my mom decorates our yard and house, we have more and more lights and decorations. The day after Christmas, every year, she goes and buys everything cheap to get more stuff each year, in the hopes of one year having just a totally awesome awesome setup.

[brenda]

We do the P.J. thing on Christmas eve. Even now. Everybody gets their new jammy's and a Christmas ornament to open that night. We always make our own Christmas crackers for dinner time. We draw names and everyone brings a gift to put in the persons cracker. Years ago when we lived on the farm my dad would get out the old poppin' Johnny tractor and we would tie the sleds to it. Every year someone would get a face plant in the snow. It was lots of fun.

[Romona]

 
Merry Christmas! This is our traditional Christmas celebration with my in-laws. It started a few years ago when Grandma called to cancel Christmas. We got a huge snow storm Christmas Day and she wanted us all to stay home and be safe. My husband's family is very large. He comes from a family of ten. My mother-in-law died in 2005. I got sick the day before she died. A few months later I found out about my kidneys. I miss her so much. She was a wonderful person that fought diabetes and cancer. 

[Krisna]

Well, I'm chiming in a little late on this but I was without my computer for a while so here goes...

When hubby's parents lived nearby we would have spaghetti dinner at their house on Christmas Eve.  Then we'd open presents and have some sort of desert.  On Christmas Day we would gather at my dad's with my sisters and my grandmother when she lived nearby. 

Now we go to my dad's along with my sisters, brother's in law and the 3 kids.  In past years we had the big turkey dinner but this year we just had cold cuts and pie.  We opened presents and hung out for a while.  The Saturday after Christmas hubby and I went over to my sister, Kelli's, and I made that taco casserole I had planned on making on Christmas but didn't feel up to doing.  Kelli, had her heart set on it so I had to go make it for her.  Even though she could have done it herself. 

Sunday we went to the movies and saw Enchanted. 

New Year's Eve I had dialysis from 12:15-3:15 so I didn't feel like doing much.  We got some fast food and went home to relax.  Watched the Space Needle fireworks on tv which screwed up because of a computer glitch.  The fireworks got out of sync with the music.  It was actually quite funny because they spend so much time and money on trying to make it perfect and then the computer screws up and they have to reboot it!  New Year's Day we went out to dinner then came home and watched a rented movie-Georgia Rule! 

Now Kelli wants me to come over and make that casserole again!  lol  I keep telling her she could make it by herself.  lol  Every one of my sisters calls me for the recipe again at least once a year.  That and this one cake I make are the most popular recipes I have. 

[Krisna]

Well, I'm chiming in a little late on this but I was without my computer for a while so here goes...

When hubby's parents lived nearby we would have spaghetti dinner at their house on Christmas Eve.  Then we'd open presents and have some sort of desert.  On Christmas Day we would gather at my dad's with my sisters and my grandmother when she lived nearby.  We had the big turkey dinner and would do presents and pie for desert.  Then we'd go out to hubby's parents to see everyone who wasn't there on Christmas Eve. 

Now we go to my dad's along with my sisters, brother's in law and the 3 kids.  In past years we had the big turkey dinner but this year we just had cold cuts and pie.  We opened presents and hung out for a while.  The Saturday after Christmas hubby and I went over to my sister, Kelli's, and I made that taco casserole I had planned on making on Christmas but didn't feel up to doing.  Kelli, had her heart set on it so I had to go make it for her.  Even though she could have done it herself.  Hubby's mom was killed in a car accident in Jan. 2005 and his brother in Nov. 2000.  His parents had moved to Montana in 2001 so we didn't get to see them on the holidays very often.  Now his dad is in Colorado most of the time. 

Sunday we went to the movies and saw Enchanted. 

New Year's Eve I had dialysis from 12:15-3:15 so I didn't feel like doing much.  We got some fast food and went home to relax.  Watched the Space Needle fireworks on tv which screwed up because of a computer glitch.  The fireworks got out of sync with the music.  It was actually quite funny because they spend so much time and money on trying to make it perfect and then the computer screws up and they have to reboot it!  New Year's Day we went out to dinner then came home and watched a rented movie-Georgia Rule! 

Now Kelli wants me to come over and make that casserole again!  lol  I keep telling her she could make it by herself.  lol  Every one of my sisters calls me for the recipe again at least once a year.  That and this one cake I make are the most popular recipes I have. 

[Krisna]

We have always made Ginger Bread Houses too. My children have the fun of decorating the outside ( Aged 11 and 13)
They love the ginger bread too. Here are the ones we did this morning.   

I used to make this gingerbread Christmas tree out of star shaped soft gingerbread cookies.  I got the recipe out of a Betty Crocker cookie cookbook.  The tree called for 3 batches of dough and the dough had to be refrigerated for a while.  I used to make two of them and take on to hubby's parents and one to my family's gathering!  It was a lot of work but it was soooo good! 

[okarol]

Oh that's a good idea Krisna - I found a similar recipe on the Karo Syrup website - I will add one to our gingerbread home next year - thanks.

[boxman55]

That looks pretty good guys, I wouldn't wait till next Christmas, If it where me a test run would be in order...Boxman