2006 Christmas Letter

WE MOVED IN 2006
Last spring we moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, where Peter began as Senior Pastor at Goshen Baptist Church (www.goshenbaptist.org). God has led and cared for us through this transition. We’re very grateful for our new church family, our new home and neighborhood, and a new venture of faith walking with Christ!

STUFF LYING AROUND
Here’s a closer look at life inside our new home. A little quiz: guess which family member is responsible for the following items left lying around the house (don’t forget our very nice doggie Pepper):
1. Backpack, lacrosse stick, needle-nosed pliers, 15-lb. dumbbells, dirty socks, lacrosse balls, jacket, Bible, lacrosse catalog, DVDs, Play Station games, lacrosse bag, Axe deodorant, air-soft pellets, lacrosse mouth guard, dirty shoes, glasses, mesh for lacrosse stick, clumps of used athletic tape, CDs, empty ice cream cartons, lacrosse gloves…
2. Backpack, horse books, riding boots
3. Backpack, laptop, climbing shoes
4. Backpack, books, file-pile, camera
5. No backpack, paint brush, worship music
6. Globs of black fur as “dust bunnies”

NELSON UPDATE
ELLIOT (age 18):
· Graduated from high school in Illinois (good work!)
· Participated in a service project in New Orleans with church youth group in July
· Began at Wheaton College in August
JEREMY (age 14):
· Played with his new lacrosse team on the first day after arriving in PA
· Graduated from middle school in PA (way to go!)
· Broke his arm at church youth group (!) in November.
EMILY (age 11):
· Graduated from elementary school in PA (good work!)
· Been riding horses ever since arriving in Chester County (home of Barbaro!)
· Played soccer both spring and fall
· Loves going to youth group at church

POINTS OF INTEREST
Since coming to Pennsylvania last spring, we’ve visited area attractions such as Washington DC, Lancaster County, PA (Amish country), the Pocono Mountains, the Jersey Shore (not beach!), Philadelphia’s historic district, and more. We’re still waiting to get to New York City, Ellis Island, and Six Flags Great Adventure (with the 456-foot-high “Kingda Ka” roller coaster). If you haven’t been to the Philadelphia area yet, come and see us! You can stay in our home and help us pick up after the kids.

GOD’S BLESSING
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Peter & Cheryl Nelson
Elliot, Jeremy, Emily


NOW, FOR SOME PICTURES FROM 2006...

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Christmas picture attempt!

It's hard to get everyone looking just right in the same picture. (Click on photos for larger version.)

Another attempt...

In these digital times, I suppose we could just copy and paste everyone's face in to create one ideal picture.

New heads for all!

Here's what can be done to a Christmas picture with a little digital editing. Nice, eh?

Last January

A family photo from last January--remarkable how much the kids have changed since then (especially Jeremy!).

Visit to DC

We stopped in on "W" earlier this year. Notice that our nice doggie Pepper came along for a day in Washington!

Emily plays soccer

Emily (4th from right in back) has played soccer since Kindergarten. She's a hard working player and tells us that she prefers to win.

Emily and horses!

Emily is truly crazy about horses. Here she is with Darby (left) and Lady. A friend from church owns these horses and often lets Emily ride with her.

Emily loves horses

This is Darby the horse, Emily's special friend. She and Darby have put in a LOT of miles together.

Cantering with Darby

Good form, Emily!

Jeremy plays lacrosse

There goes Jeremy chasing down the guy with the ball. Jeremy is in the orange in the center of the photo.

Jeremy in pursuit

The guy in the white jersey has the ball, but Jeremy chases him down and drives him back.

Jeremy broke his arm

Here's Jeremy in the hospital after having his arm set and put in a cast. He broke it during an active evening at church youth group!

Elliot high school graduation

Elliot graduated from Hinsdale Central High School in Illinois June 1st of this year. Good job Elliot!

Time for a swim

Elliot hosted the church youth group in July for a swim at a lake near our home. Elliot is seated at the right.

Elliot at Wheaton

Elliot arrived at his new dorm at Wheaton College in August. Mom and little brother say goodbye.

Our new house

This is our new house in West Chester, PA. (Actually, it's 60 years old--but new to us.)

Crossing the river

In Ridley Creek State Park near our home, Elliot and Jeremy make their way across the creek in April (cold water!).

Emily and Pepper

On a hike in Ridley Creek State Park in April, Emily really wanted Pepper to climb up on the rocks with her!

Liberty Bell

Here's the famous crack in that famous bell.

George Washington's pew

Our kids (and cousin Katie) sitting in George Washington's family pew at historic Christ Church in Philadelphia.

21st anniversary

Here we are at the Dilworthtown Inn for our anniversary dinner on June 22.

Jersey shore

Jeremy and Emily with boogie boards for a little surfing near Ocean City, New Jersey. They had a lot of fun!

Laundry day

It was a Monday when we took a drive all around rural Lancaster County, and this sight was very common at Amish farms.

Fall colors

There were some remarkable colors here in Pennsylvania this fall!

More fall colors

This is a maple tree in our front yard. In the sunshine the trees looked like they were on fire.

And more fall colors

These vines were on a church wall in the town of Jim Thorpe in the Pocono Mountains of east-central PA.

Our church in PA

Goshen Baptist Church. In the foreground is the sanctuary building. In the back is the a multi-purpose / gymnasium building.

Worship Center

Sunshine streams in from the rear of the sanctuary in the morning at Goshen Baptist Church.

Family Life Center

Multi-purpose building at Goshen Baptist Church, completed in 2001. Plenty of room for breaking arms, stuff like that.

George Washington's Headquarters

This house, which is a few miles south of our home, was Washington's headquarters prior to the Battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777.

SHOPS IN WEST CHESTER

We live about a mile from the center of West Chester, Pennsylvania--an old city about 45 minutes west of Center City Philadelphia.

IN WEST CHESTER

This is the Chester County Historical Society building here in West Chester. Lots of important American history has happened in Chester County.

Moving to PA

This is our house in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, on moving day in late March.