Gingerbread People

Every year my mother bakes some gingerbread people around Christmastime. She usually bakes them around the same time our family decorates our gingerbread house, which I will feature soon! Everyone in the family gets to decorate their own gingerbread person, loading it with as much or as little candy as they would like. I love Mom's gingerbread, and I love this family tradition. Mom also decorates a few specially to give away to people we know, and the rest of the gingerbread she usually cuts into shapes. She usually uses stars, bells, and trees. We normally decorate the gingerbread cookies with red and green candy coated chocolates  and Christmas colored sprinkles. I used to put candies on most of the cookies when I was little, after Mom would cut the dough into shapes for me, and then she would put them in the oven. I love then smell of gingerbread warming up the house. Gingerbread is one of my favorite types of Christmas cookies, and it always seems so special because it only seems to appear around Christmastime. A lot of these cookies will be frozen for later occasions, and if there are any still left then, I might get to enjoy some in January as well!