Christmas in Lancaster, PA

I am finding out that it is a difficult thing to buy for your parents. Think about it. My sister and I are out of the house. Our schooling is paid for. All of the extra things that go along with raising kids is now absent. Whenever they need something, they get it. If dad needs a shirt, he buys one. If mom needs new pots and pans, she buys them, even if Christmas is just two months away. So that leaves us kids in a dilemma. Now that they have what they need what do we buy? So, Vonnie, my sister Laura, and I came up with a solution. We would send them to Lancaster, PA. So we made up puzzles for them to unwrap on Christmas. As they opened them they had to solve them. When it was all said and done, we all got up Monday morning after Christmas and was on our way to Lancaster. We took them to Sight and Sound to see "The Miracle of Christmas". Afterwards, we all stayed at The Country Inn & Suites. The next day found us at Shady Maple Restaraunt for lunch before we traveled back to Allenwood, PA. The conclusion...They loved it and so do we. It was an exciting time together. Now the only question is, what next year? Oh, well. We have a whole year to decide that.

I'm Back

It seems to be the general conclusion that Christmas time is not a good time for bloggers. At least that is the excuse that I have found listed on various blog sites. If it works for them, I guess it can for me, too. Whether you count it as an excuse or not, the Christmas season was extremely busy for the Ellison family. My parents came up from West Virginia the Friday before Christmas. Saturday night, Christmas eve, things began to unravel. Justin got sick. We called our Dr. around 8:30 am Saturday morning. The doc on call was to return our call but never did. At 11:00 pm, we had to take him to the ER. The diagnosis was a severe virus that needed steriods to help cure. We found ourselves returning home 2:00 am Christmas morning. That was just the beginning. Of course when you have more than one kid, one by one they all get it. So to make a long story short Kayla got and still has it. Oh joy. None the less, we had a good time with my parents and family. I got just about all I was hoping for for Christmas (more on this later), except my Fat Boy Harley Davidson. Maybe next year.

Goofy Gift Award

This year at our Christmas Dinner, we inserted something new. It was the first annual Goofy Gift Award. We asked people to submit what they thought was the most embarassing or stupid thing that they did last year. A comittee voted on all of the entries and came up with three top enteries. We then presented them to the crowd at the dinner and they voted for a winner. This years top three enteries were:
1) Bro. Kohler, a volenteer fireman, arrived at a fire call and jumped out of the fire truck only to find out that
he could not walk. He took off his fire outfit to find he had forgotten to wear a belt and his pants had
fell down.

2) The Steen family have a garbage business. Leland Steen, the dad, was lifting a trash can one day and the
handle broke. This resulted in him hitting himself in the nose, thus breaking it. Another time he was lifting
a bag and it ripped. This resulted in him hitting himself in the eye, thus blacking it. His son, Justin, was
walking around the corner of the trash track when Leland was in the process of throwing in a bag af trash.
It caught Justin square in the chin resulting in him and the bag both in the truck.

3) Sis. Connie Forney one Sunday morning came up from teaching Sunday School a little late. We were
already in the congregational singing. With out paying much attention, she sat down next to Paul Miller
and didn't realize it. Her reaction when she realized it is priceless.

The Steen family won. They won a trophy to proudly display for years to come. Congratulations Steen family.

Church Christms Dinner

Last Friday evening was our church Chistmas dinner. There were 107 people in attendance, up 20 from last year. Things went well, except for a couple minor glitches. Things were a little diferent from previous years. Our young people served the people. It was exciting and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Ski for Sale

Last Thursday evening Andy and Kara Plank, Sarah Miller and Katie Brinkmann came to help Vonnie and I decorate the Allenwood Fire Hall for our Christmas Dinner that was to be on Friday evening. Andy and I had to make a 11:00 pm run to Walmart. On our way we saw a ski boot along the road. We turned around to investigate. We found that the boot was wet and soggy, but it was attached to a snow ski. We left the boot and took the ski for some dumb reason. If you know any one legged people who are looking for one ski in decent shape, send them my way, it can be aquired at a very good price.

Flood Season

As fall has come upon us, the dreaded flood season in Allenwood has arrived. We had our first scare this past week. It rain nonstop basically for two days. When we returned home for being out we came home to this exciting find. THE CREEK WAS RISING!! It stopped short for which we were thankful. These pics show where creek should be and where its not.