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...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

When I came to the computer this morning, checking email and thinking about the blessings of the year, I looked out our office window to see this...
...and it reminded me that Peace and Freedom come with a price. I think about the bombings in Mumbai, India the past few days and all of the families that went through a period of time not knowing of the safety of their loved ones, some of those being Americans. The Taj Hotel is the lodging of choice for many American business people, including Delta employees. We were thankful that Natalie was state side yesterday, but not everyone had that blessing. I can't help but be even more thankful that the Lord continues to lavish His grace, mercy and blessings not only on our family, but our country!

On November 19, 1988, then President Ronald Reagan in a radio address, spoke these words “… in America, freedom seems like the air around us: It’s there; it’s sweet, though we rarely give it a thought. Yet as the air fills our lungs, freedom fills our souls. It gives breath to our laughter and joy. It gives voice to our songs. It gives us strength as we race for our dreams. ... Yes, as we gather together this Thanksgiving to ask the Lord’s blessings, as we of whatever faith we are give praises to His name, let us thank Him for our peace, prosperity, and freedom.”

For us, this says it all...Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

HALLOWEEN

A little bird told me that some interesting things would be going on at McMaster Physical Therapy Clinic. Some really got into the idea of the a theme. The Grinch showed up and most of Santa's reindeer, but Santa and his elf were missing...oh and the poor little Grinch Dog did his best to keep up...Of the reindeer that showed up, we had (right to left) Dasher, Cupid, Dancer, Comet & Rudolf (middle), then Blitzen (left seated-as in Blitzed) and Vixen (reclining in front)!

Now if the last time you had to have therapy, the physical kind that is, and it wasn't much fun, maybe you should try another clinic! There's no telling who might make an appearance on Thanksgiving!

It wasn't long after I returned home and began working, that I hear the mail truck. My desk just happens to be in the front window and look out to find the wicked witch of the west...literally delivering mail!!! I couldn't resist, I had to have a picture.

It was a fun afternoon and evening...here are a few of our favorites!

It had been quite a number of years since we had received trick or treaters at home and it proved to be fun!

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.