Last week I traveled to Omaha to have fun with four of our grandkids while their parents enjoyed a weekend of fun in New York City. I always get home from watching the grandkids exhausted, but satisfied and happy. I love being able to treat our sons and daughters to a little time alone with his/her spouse, and I also love being able to have time alone with the grands. If you throw a teeny tiny pekepoo puppy into the mix, it's heaven.
Last night after our kids arrived home, we went to the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters. Winter Quarters was a temporary settlement along the Mormon trail where Mormon pioneers waited during the winter of 1846-1847, before they made the trek west to Utah. The Church has erected a visitors' center in Omaha that helps tell the story of those amazing pioneers.
Every Christmas Season the center hosts a gingerbread display. People and organizations from all over the area contribute to this family-fun event. I thought you might like to see some of my favorites.
Some gingerbread displays take on the theme of the visitor's center, namely pioneer life or the trek west...
These were two of my favorites and were more traditional gingerbread houses...
Here are a couple of "larger buildings" that might be representative of places in the city (not sure)...
This was very touching. In loving memory of the Brown Street Church of Christ in Texas and those who were killed there in November someone paid this tribute...
And my favorite was a beautiful gingerbread panorama with the theme, "Anne of Green Gables." Having just been to eastern Canada, it couldn't have been more sweet to me. I should have taken a front view of the "town," but can you see Anne Shirley sitting on the front steps of the thatched-roof school?
Visiting this amazing event made me want to pull out the cookie sheets, turn on the oven, and start assembling. Then I remembered our family's last attempt at making gingerbread houses, and I came to my senses. These are the finished products of a boys against girls gingerbread contest we had in our family one year. I'm sad to say an impartial judge gave first place to the boys -- but it was only because they used power tools and geometry.
First Place
Second Place
