Sunday, December 14, 2008

Dear Mom,
I promised that I would send you a longer letter about our trip to Pennsylvania.

I had an all day class on Saturday so we left Sunday morning. We spent the night in Champaign, Illinois. It was fun to see our old haunts. We ate dinner at Papa Dell's Pizza, one of our favorite places. We talked to Anna that night and she said she had some stuff to do so it would be better for her if we got there in the afternoon so we took our time leaving the next morning and ate breakfast at the Original Pancake House.

On Monday afternoon we arrived at the Harrison House in Columbus, Ohio. It was really nice to be able to stay there again. I feel like the owner is a friend now that we've spent several days there. I gave her my hot fudge sauce recipe and she made it right away, then she called a friend and told her about it. On Tuesday Ellen flew into Columbus. Leland picked her up and we were able to get a room for her at Harrison House too. We had a good time making hot fudge sauce and other edible gift stuff.

On Wednesday we drove down to Indiana, Pennsylvania. I rode with Anna in her car and Jim drove Ellen in the BMW. There was some snow on the ground but the roads were clear. In the meantime Leland drove to Pittsburgh to pick up Tyler. We all met at the Geletkas. That night we went to Leland's grandmother's house (Phyllis's mother) and hade a pierogi dinner. The house really isn't that big so it was pretty crowded.

The next day was Thanksgiving day and we went back to "Bubba's" house for the traditional feast. I think there were 36 people crammed into a rather small house. It was very different from our usual Thanksgiving day with just our small family. After dinner we went for a walk around Blairsville. When we got back the women had a gift exchange. I was warned about it so I was ready with small jars of hot fudge sauce. It was fun and I got a variety of interesting little things.

On Friday some people went shopping. Anna, Ellen and I opted to go with Leland's sister and a couple cousins to a pottery studio. This is the 3rd year that they've done this. The instructor teaches you how to throw a pot on the wheel. I was so excited because I've worked with clay plenty of times before but never got to work on a wheel. I made 2 pots and the instructor said they were really good and that I should take lessons. We had to leave the pots there to dry and be fired so we'll get them sometime next year. I can't wait to see what the final product looks like.

On Saturday we left for home with Ellen and Tyler in the BMW. We all had to be back at work or school by Monday.

Now we're busy getting ready for Christmas. I just finished wrapping all the things that have to be sent. Today I made the Russian Teacakes with Tyler's help. Jim is getting boxes ready. You will be getting your box at Dwight and Jane's. We had a huge box so Jim thought it would be ok to combine yours with theirs.

Well, it has been a long, busy weekend and I'm falling asleep as I type so I better go to bed. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. You will be getting the yearly Christmas letter sometime soon.

Take care,




Love,
Debra