Ah, family tradition. For the Leder family at Thanksgiving time, that means CANDY HOUSES! Everyone, including the children, look forward to the after dinner event when the adults put out the sweet treats and Nana revs up the mixer. A few egg whites and some powdered sugar later you find the house is quietly buzzing with chit chat and creativity has no bounds. Parents bond with their children while creating true works of art. From the horse/reindeer made from pretzels and Mike-n-Ikes to the house made of layers of frosting and graham crackers. Not to mention the Christmas Train and the train car wreck. There are no rules and no expectations except for one: have fun. Brian and Micaela work together on a lovely sleigh, complete with horse/reindeer. Brian wasn't sure which he would call it so call it what you like. Micaela was his beautiful and patient assistant, concentrating on the task at hand.

Next, you have most of the Cruden Clan. Tristan had given up on waiting for his turn to have help and began doing it his own way. He created a garden of sorts complete with a slide which, as he described, when you go down it, you swoop into the air like this and go flying.
Andrew is helping Samuel with his layered creation. Samuel wanted his to be a delightful, chocolate layered concoction. Not to be outdone by anyone is TJ and his assistant, mommy. They created a lovely traditional scene...























Terrance and Evelena working together on this piece of art with a candy path and and coin pond and lollipop lightposts and more by the time they were done.
Ah, the master begins....Grandpa, that is. I didn't get a picture of his masterpiece, the Christmas Train, but it was a beauty!
Aiden wanted very little help. He proved to be very capable this year. He used licorice to make a path, pretzels to hold up spice drop lights, and lots and lots of chocolate sculptures to decorate the snowy lawn.











Do you remember, I told you we'd catch up to Uncle Andrew later??? Here he is at the bottom of the pile up. After the boys were done with their confectionery delights, it was wrestling time!