SANTA COMES EARLY!

I have the best "Santas" in the world! I love anything tropical! My favorite vacation is the ocean. We have been working the past few years to transform our backyard into an oasis for the times we cannot get away to the beach. The last time both girls got to be home at the same time, they and Ron went Christmas shopping for me. Natalie was planning to come home on Sunday of this week to see the Christmas program and for us to have our celebration together. The blizzard in the northeast changed those plans.

Well, today was to be the day that "mom's" gift would be delivered! As you can see, they certainly surprised me...

I love the new addition to our tropical oasis! Thank you Ron and Girls!

You are my most precious gifts!!!

GENESIS CLASS SOCIAL

Last weekend was the Genesis Class Social with fun in the pool and karaoke provided by Mark Manning, our local fun DJ! Leave it to the little people to break the ice for the adults. They were not afraid to make a joyful noise.

Thanks Mr. Mark for keeping the fun flowing! You are great!

TRAVEL FRIENDS

One never knows what new friends will cross our paths and what a blessing they will be. And who said that air travel was down over the holidays? Well, it wasn't anyone in the airports! Our plan was to fly with Natalie on Christmas morning to come home from NYC, but things didn't happen quite as planned. It took several tries but we finally made a flight. We are people watchers and watching people during the holiday rush can be quite interesting if not entertaining.

One of our flight attendants, Amy from Hawaii! We are now friends on FaceBook and I told her that we want to visit HER home!

As were were people watching...I see Laura, one of Natalie's former roomies. She also was on our flight. It was almost like having family close.

Atlanta...next stop...home...
Can anyone say tired?

Communication with Natalie and Amber...
...who just missed seeing Natalie in Atlanta by minutes.

We are looking forward to more new friends on our next travel!

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARY

We love to celebrate birthdays and "someone" has a birthday this week! It doesn't matter to us which day of the month we celebrate because at The Raders, a birthday lasts all month long.

This is a year of milestones for us with both of us turning 50 and then the end of the year bringing 30 years of marriage. We were all four home, an unusual thing these days, so the girls fixed dinner and a cake. When we saw the card, it had BOTH of our names on it as well as Happy Anniversary! I'm thinking, hmmm, what is this all about? When we opened the card, we discovered that our girls had gifted us with a cruise! It was first, shock and then excitement immeasurable!

Thank you Girls for your sacrifice and generosity! We love you more than life!223 days till sail...

NATALIE-CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Recently when Natalie came home after a 9 day journey to the ends of the earth and back...well almost to the end, we loaded some of the pictures that she had taken. Actually the trip was to Cape Town, South Africa with a stop in Dakar, Senegal. There were a lot of fun things to see and hear about, but I narrowed it down to a few that I thought were exceptionally interesting. She was with a senior crew that had been there numerous times before so they knew many interest knowledge of the area was very beneficial. Just in case you wondered just how far it actually is...from NYC that is...

Cape Point is the southern most tip...

...where the cool waters of the Atlantic and the warm waters of the Indian Ocean meet causing waves to "crash" perpendicular to the shore! They do roll into shore, but if you notice in both of these images, they also crest in a way that I had never seen before. Isn't God's creation just amazing?

The picture that she was most proud of, follows. A breaching whale!

Both of our girls have always been fascinated with penguins. Maybe because when they were little, when they would get tired, they would sit on the tops of our feet with their back resting against our legs like baby penguins do!Graycen Nudd will appreciate these next two...

Needless to say, this has been one of her favorite rotations. Lots to see and an outstanding crew to share it.

ALOETTE of ARKANSAS CONNECTION

I have fallen a bit behind sharing some of the exciting things happening in Central Arkansas! One of those being the celebration of Amber's 20th birthday! And what better way to celebrate than at Aloette of Arkansas's Connection for September.

"Somehow", there were those that found out about this special day...

...and had a few sweet gifts for her.

Encouragement is a big deal in Aloette of Arkansas.
Two of "Amber's Angels" are Megan... ...and Secret.
Tom Judson, President of Aloette from the home office in Atlanta was there to celebrate and recognize Arkansas's three newest Managers In Training...
Donna Dial, Patricia Williams and Amber Rader.

Aloette of Arkansas's newest Field Executives are Melanie and Mark Hamilton of White Hall! Tom presented the Hamilton's sponsor, Angela Lewis with a dozen red roses representing her love and devotion to her team. The Hamiltons received a dozen orange roses representing their fire and passion to see their team succeed.
When a new Field Executive is recognized, Aloette literally rolls out the red carpet!

Mark and Melanie also received individual pink roses to give to three others that they wanted to see succeed. Amber was one of those chosen by Melanie to receive a pink rose of sweetness and innocence. That was certainly an unexpected blessing!

Aloette of Arkansas is #1 in recruiting and the fastest growing franchise in North America. Twenty two years ago, a surgical nurse by the name of Dana Davin purchased the Arkansas franchise because she had seen the difference it made not only in the health and look of her skin, but because of the positive change in had made in her life and the life of her family. She wanted to share that positive change with as many people as would listen. Passion is contagious, especially when it is truly shared from the heart. That passion has obviously spread like wild fire.