Catching up with Christmas

I know, this post is almost a month late but here's all the happenings with the first Woodhouse Christmas!  Christmas morning was on a Sunday this year.  We got up early so we could exchange gifts, headed to our 9:00 Church service, and then rushed to the airport to catch our flight to Pittsburgh PA.

Our first Christmas Morning!

We had a great time in Pennsylvania, what a treat it was to be with the ENTIRE Nelson gang!  Mom and Dad were amazing hosts--feeding 21 people every evening and afterwards we would all gather for family devotionals.

Dinner Time!

Geoff only had one request of what he would like to do in the Steel City and that was to experience the 'almost famous' Primanti Brothers coleslaw and french fry sandwich.  Eric, Dean and Andrea, and Janna all piled in the car to join us.  Janna ordered some Cajun fries which appeared pretty spicy, but when we checked in with Janna to make sure she wasn't burning away, she claimed (through her runny nose) that they were just wonderful.

After the restaurant, we headed downtown to experience "The Incline" on Mount Washington.  The sun was shining and gave us a beautiful view of the three rivers.

Panorama of Pittsburgh

A trip home wouldn't be complete without the boys getting their hands dirty.  Dad had some trees that needed to be chopped and Geoff jumped in on the action with everyone else.  (Although, Geoff did not volunteer to lumber jack up any of the trees like the rest of the crazy Nelson brothers did.)  Dad seemed pretty grateful to have all the wood that came from that project.

Janna and I had fun playing games every day.  Scrabble, Kerplunk, Upwords, Connect Four, and Balderdash were all on her list and we enjoyed every one!

Leah watching the exciting action of Connect Four

We were also excited to give Janna a beanbag chair for Christmas this year.  She seemed pretty excited to plop down in once it was all fluffed up!

Janna beached out in her chair

A Family Photo was of course in order.  It truly was a delight to be with the entire clan!

For New Year's Mom made her yummy pizza and fabulous chicken wings and we enjoyed snacking on all the food throughout the night.  I'm very happy to report that Geoff kept his New Year's Resolution to stay up until midnight to bring in 2012.  Last year when I found out Geoff had called it a night at 10:00 on New Year's Eve, I set that resolution for him.  Little did I know then that I would actually be with him when that goal was fulfilled.  Needless to say I was thrilled to be by his side through these wonderful holidays,

and that I finally experienced a New Year's Kiss which was well worth the 32-year wait.

Geoff and I are so excited to see what wonderful experiences 2012 brings.