On Friday evening our church had a Gingerbread House construction competition. 32 families which amounted to 142 people showed up for dinner and the contest. Our church provided the graham crackers and royal frosting and families chose their own edible decorations.
Our Colville kids participated. Jamie was also part of the committee that organized the event and she was in charge of the food. The committee did an amazing job of planning and pulling off the very successful event!
I was impressed with their creation!
They even included a carport!
On Saturday we finally got some sunshine which was a welcomed sight because of all the rain and flooding in our state. Our community did not have any overflowing rivers or threats of flooding like the western side of our state and places in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and British Columbia.
Our son, Josh, made a stop at Snoqualmie Falls to see the incredible amount of water flowing. These falls are on the western side of the Cascade Mountain range in our state.
Here’s a photo of the same falls in January of 2017.
March of 2014 with the runoff from snow. Our daughter, Katie, and I made a special visit to the Falls.
The same falls frozen in 2009.
Back to the present…
Our ‘Grands’ embraced the sunshine on Saturday out of doors enjoying pineapple.
On Sunday in our service we enjoyed the Children’s Sunday School choir performing a special song for Christmas.
I zeroed in on our favorite one in the choir.
Some of you might notice that our Addy now has bangs!
The older set, aka Baba and Gramps, had a relaxing weekend and I’m astonished to report that all our Christmas gifts are wrapped and under the tree! Now I can concentrate on plans for meals and treats for Christmas and beyond while we are all together.
How was your weekend?
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
The gingerbread house decorating activity looks amazing! Some people put a lot of effort into planning the event. I enjoyed all of the pictures of the falls from different years. And Addy looks adorable with bangs.
Hello,
Wonderful photos of the waterfalls, I heard about the flooding.
The gingerbread decorating and the concert events look fun.
I am looking forward to seeing our grandsons Christmas concert on Friday.
Take care, have a great day and happy week ahead.
Great pictures, Ellen! The gingerbread event looks so ¨sweet¨ from the church decor to the houses themselves. What a fun family event and great job to your DIL for her work on the committee. Boy, the falls are amazing! Enjoyed seeing your pictures of the falls from over the years. I heard about the flooding in the NW- just devastating. Glad you haven´t been impacted and that the sun made an appearance. Happy Monday!
…Ellen, you have two sweet architects!
Everything is so beautiful.
I am impressed with their Gingerbread House!
I’m impressed with their gingerbread house, too! That checkerboard effect is really clever! And a carport!!
I’m glad you were spared the terrible flooding. I wondered about you but got the impression the areas affected were farther west of you.
I remember visiting Snoqualmie Falls when I lived in Seattle (Renton). Such a breathtaking sight. The comparison snapshots are startling. Washington is a beautiful state.
Great job on the gingerbread house. What a beautiful waterfall.
Ellen – I am so pleased for Jamie that the event was well-attended! It makes an organizer feel that all the hard work was worth it. And I love the creativity of your family’s house – who would have thought of a carport?
The comparison photos of the Falls are shocking – of course, we have seen many photos and videos of the flooding, including the communities in western Montana, which are only an hour from here. I feel for the families affected so close to Christmas!
Thanks for your visit to my blog – I am enjoying the season, but I will admit that I am still trying to “catch” the Christmas spirit – I just got home last night after a trip that began November 12! Christmas presents have been ordered and are trickling in, but the house is not decorated! I am trying to focus on Jesus and not all the trappings!
Looks like the gingerbread event was a grand time! Your family created not just a cute house with a carport, but edible architecture!
Love the photos. That Gingerbread House at church was awesome. I will be doing one with James on Saturday. The falls are beautiful. How sweet with the church service and the kids singing.
The gingerbread houses would be fun for children and adults I would imagine. Lovely series of photos. Always wanted to see those falls. How lovely it would be to hear the children singing.
That’s such an impressive event indeed, a lot of families participating – how wonderful is that! We have been very thankful here to not have any issues with flooding, but our hearts break for those that are going through so much! The falls are absolutely amazing, incredible the amount of water! Loved seeing the past pictures too! So wonderful that you have all your gifts wrapped and under the tree. I just got our tree up. This year is different for us, but so very sweet. It feels good to have all these things ready for the excitement ahead. Many blessings to you!