These Aren't Cookie Cutter Houses... Or Cookie Cutter Cookies.

It’s not too late to share a feel-good story from the 2017 holiday season is it? We don't think so. In fact, if you're looking for some great ideas for Valentines for your neighbors, keep reading. Have you ever been stuck trying to think of the best holiday gifts for your neighbors? This last Christmas, the Goeckeritz family in our Hill Farms community dealt with this very dilemma. Issac Goeckeritz shared his experience by saying about a week before Christmas, he and his wife Becca still hadn’t done any neighbor Christmas gifts. The pressure in their minds built as it seemed every night one of their neighbors was dropping presents off on their front porch. Issac then come up with an idea inspired by a project he’d just competed for his job. He’d just created a holiday E-card for Weber State University that showed Waldo the Wildcat making Weber State themed sugar cookies. The cookies were shaped as WSU logos, wildcats, and… ARCHITECHTURE! He wondered if he could take this same idea and create something special for his neighbors. If he was going to do it, he had to act quick. In Issac’s own words: I was pretty ambitious and took photos the next day of a couple dozen homes in our neighborhood. We then printed out the images and made stencils for the cookies. Becca went shopping for a few decorations and the day before Christmas Eve my sister Keisha came over and helped us.  These were pretty intense cookies. We carefully mixed the frosting colors (adding multiple colors) to get the house tint right. Keisha cut out out the cookies and did some amazing detail work of bricks, windows, pillars and exterior wood. Becca and I added snow, sprinkles and Christmas lights. For the cookie of our neighbors, the Richardsons, we made sure we included a giant wreath above the porch that Brett Richardson risks his life every year to hang up. We figured he earned an honorable mention. Here is the final result. I took the cookies around on Christmas Eve after church. Neighbors immediately began texting Becca telling them it was the most amazing cookie they’d ever seen! I don’t think any of them ended up eating them.   Thank you Issac and Becca for sharing your story and your talents with your neighbors and with us!