Gingerbread Houses Show

Last week I took my boys to the Festival of Trees held at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah, a fundraiser organized every year for the last 40 years to benefit the Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City.  For more about its history, read here.

People donate hundreds of Christmas wreaths, the most creative Christmas trees, amazing quilts, crafts, etc. These items are auctioned off the day before the Festival opens to the public, and all items remain on the floor until after the show. The Primary Children’s Medical Center receives 100% of the proceeds of this fundraiser, making it possible for the hospital to provide charity care and other programs for its patients.

Although there were thousands of Christmas items, the highlight of the event for Christopher and Ryan was the Gingerbread Houses display! They were tired after walking for over two and a half hours, but they would not leave the Expo Center until they took pictures of their favorite gingerbread houses.

As they walked around the tables where the houses were displayed, their eyes shined and their mouths watered while appreciating each one. I was so happy they resisted the temptation to jump onto the tables and feast on all that candy! Likewise, when I looked at the gingerbread houses I kept thinking of how much fun it would be to take them down, bit by bit, and eat all that lovely construction material they used… Shameless, I know.

Here are some of the amazing houses they featured, all photos provided courtesy of Christopher Russell:

Awesome creations, huh? Some of them took more than 100 hours to assemble!

When we left, Christopher and Ryan were begging me to let them eat the fudge we bought. Mean mother that I am, I made them wait until after dinner and only allowed them to eat half their pieces, or 1/8 of a pound of fudge. Yeah, I am crazy, but they loved it! I keep telling them: if they are nice to me I will be nice to them…