#Gingerbread Houses - #SaturdaySnapshot

In the spirit of Christmas, the Auburn (Washington) Community Event Center is hosting a gingerbread house competition. I've pasted photos of the entries below. Which one would you vote for?

(Click on photos for a closer look.)

I couldn't resist including this gingerbread house that's a replica of the Banff Springs Hotel (now the Fairmont Banff Springs), Alberta, Canada. This is an old photo. We skied near Banff at Christmastime, many, many years ago.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

To join in or to view photos from around the world: 

Post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on West Metro Mommy Read's website (link: HERE) Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

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White #Christmas - #SaturdaySnapshots

On December 25, 2017, Seattle and surrounding areas experienced their third white Christmas in the last 100 years. I had to take some photos of that amazing event.

View from my back door

Out front.

Monitoring the weather online. The ad for
snow boots is timely!

My granddaughter's version of a snow angel.

Although the snow was beautiful and I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood in it, I was glad it only lasted a couple of days. Is the weather snowy in your part of the world?

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 
To participate: 
Post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on West Metro Mommy Read's website (link: HERE) Photos can be old or new and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

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Memory Tree - #SaturdaySnapshots

Our Christmas this year didn't work out exactly as we'd planned. In fact, we haven't exchanged gifts yet! That's because our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have all been sick with a highly contagious virus. So we'll keep our tree decorated for another week and celebrate a delayed Christmas in a few days. In the meantime, here's a photo of our tree. It's artificial because of my allergies. [Click on photos to enlarge]

Our collection of ornaments has grown over the years and many of them represent a memory or were given to us by friends. This Käthe Wohlfhart brewmeister (and a couple of miniature nutcrackers) came home with us from Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, Germany.

This guard left his post at Buckingham Palace to perch on our tree.

A side trip on our Alaska cruise resulted in this ornament.

Closer to home, we picked up this moose while skiing at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. My granddaughter loves it because the moose jumps when she pulls his string.

Since we're both native Texans, we have lots of ornaments from our home state, too.

And for many years my sister-in-law Judy has sent us official Texas capitol ornaments, each one with its own history. Here's the one for 2016.

When my son was young, I did a lot of crewel embroidery, including these two ornaments made from kits.

My friend Nan created this ornament for me because we share a love of quilting.

And Sandra gave me a herd of candy cane hobby horses.

Add in a bottle of wine, some jingle bells, and much, much more and we have a one-of-a-kind eclectic Christmas tree full of memories!

I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or other holidays have brought you peace and joy. Wishing you a glorious 2017!

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

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Texas Capitol Ornaments - Saturday Snapshots

Over the years my husband's sister has sent our family special Christmas ornaments to remind us of our Texas heritage. Each item relates to the Texas State Capitol.
[Click on photos to enlarge] 

The Texas Goddess of Liberty ornament from 2006 represents the 16-foot-tall statue that crowns the capitol building. 

The 2004 ornament is a replica of the interior of the capitol's dome.

This year's selection "...pays homage to the most iconic Texas image ... the Lone Star."

Each ornament comes with an explanation of its significance (click to enlarge)

We're delighted to receive these ornaments and think they add interest and a sense of history to our tree. Thank you, Judy! 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate 

for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. 

Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Christmas Creations - Saturday Snapshots

My four-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at our house, and we had a great time crafting together. (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Here are the snow globes we created.

You can find detailed instructions for making your own snow globes on quite a few blogs (just do a Google search for "Snow Globes Children's Craft"). Martha Stewart even has a how-to video. We used baby oil for the liquid inside the jars and glitter and sequins for the "snow." One observation: The jar with the gold lid sealed better than the one with the red lid, mainly because it required more twists to close it. I ran a line of hot glue around the rims of the jars before affixing the lids.

My granddaughter also had fun gluing sequins to some painted wooden ornaments I had. We used Elmer's Glue on this one. The center of the ornament is supposed to hold a photo, of course, but she wanted to put sequins in there instead. Who am I to stifle her creative instincts?

We had a great time, and my granddaughter was proud of her special Christmas crafts.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.  

To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) 

have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. 

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate 

for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. 

Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Christmas in Seattle - Saturday Snapshots

My daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and I had a great time this past Thursday in downtown Seattle. We visited a Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton Hotel (benefiting juvenile diabetes research) and then rode the monorail to a model railroad village at Seattle Center (near the Space Needle.) Here are a few of the photos I took on our fun expedition. Click on photos to enlarge.

Here's the Seattle skyline, done in candy. The artist included the Space Needle, Great Wheel, our cool downtown library, a car ferry, and lots of other landmarks.

Santa's elves were hard at work on this edible tree. The "12" on the crane is in support of Seattle's football team, the Seahawks. You see 12 banners all over town.

Then we took the monorail over to The Armory at Seattle Center to see the miniature railroad village. That's my granddaughter and daughter-in-law looking through the glass. The display was charming with amazing attention to detail.

One of the biggest thrills for my granddaughter was the ride on the Monorail. She and her mom sat in the front seat by the driver. I think the expression on her face says it all!

What a great day!

Here's wishing all of you a joyous holiday with family and friends. 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.