Monday, March 15, 2010

Cracker Town

The family gathered at Linda and Jim's for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner. We had a gingerbread house decorating contest in the past and thought it would be fun to do it again. As time drew near, our visions of highly decorated yule tide gingerbread houses crumbled when we realized that we weren't going to have the key ingredient - gingerbread. I'm not going to lay blame on anyone (Linda) for this oversight, it just happened. Being resourceful people, we resorted to the next best thing - Graham crackers. After all, it's been said that they are the plywood of the confectionery housing industry. With frosting, candies, cookies, and cake decorating accessories, we teamed up and the contest was on. In a short while, where a desolate plain once existed, Cracker Town was born.

The first structure at the edge of town was a shack.
A high rise condo with a fountain in front provided homes for those choosing not to live in shacks.
An open air lean to provided an outdoor living experience. Hope it doesn't rain.
What would you call a town without sanitary facilities, Smellyville? The town outhouse.
No town is complete without air transport facilities. The Cracker Town airport.
At the center of town stood the tallest structure, the Animal Tower of Power. No one was sure what it was. Whether a radio tower or a temple of worship of an ancient animal cult, the towns people felt secure in the knowledge that in a lighting storm, the Animal Tower of Power would be the first building to go.
Let's just call this a giant Easter egg factory.
At the other edge of town, trailer parks sprouted as winter visitors piled into town to enjoy the mild winter climate. Here's one of their trailers decked out in Christmas lights.
In the end, Steve and Carol were unanimously declared the winners with "Christmas decorated trailer". They were made honorary mayor and town manager of Cracker Town. Their first mission is to clean up the construction site. Let's hope there are still federal stimulus funds available.

Ann and Peter Engaged

In a romantic setting at the Scottsdale Gainey Ranch, Peter popped the question.
Wedding in September.