I'm Dreaming of a White SAND Christmas!

Okay...so we didn't get to make a snowman for Christmas but we did get to make a sandcastle!

We spent Saturday, 12/27 at the beach. It was 80 degrees and absolutely amazing!

(And, for all of my Chick Fil A fans...there is a CFA right across the street...YES, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!! How magical is that!?!?!)

Anyway, we had a great day of chair setting, magazine reading, people watching, beach walking and more! It was a great day!

Oliver climbs his first tree!!!

Oliver gets outside priviledges because he is such a good boy and he "usually" stays near the front of the house. One day, I couldn't see him so I went in search of my boy. I cornered the side of the house just in time to see him run right up our tree.

Dan was just coming back from a walk and got to see the magical moment. We were so excited because this is what cats are born to do...right?!?! But then, in the back of my mind I remembered a show on Animal Planet about why firemen always have to rescue cats from trees. Cat's claws are curved so they are able to grip to climb up trees but they are unable to climb down trees. HUMMMM! Was my boy going to be forced to live the remainder of his life in a tree???!?!?!

NO! Dan got the ladder and rescued him! (I love DAN!!) Of course, Dan got REALLY scratched up but Oliver is fine!!

Has Oliver learned his lesson? NO!! Dan caught him today starting up the tree again. Dan clapped and yelled and IT SCARED OLIVER! Oliver's tail puffed out really big and he jumped down and ran inside. So basically, he is not scared to do it again. Dan is NOT excited about this!

But...all this said.....I LOVE OLIVER!!!

A very merry Christmas!

Dan and I (and of course, Oliver, Booger and Tippy -- they each got a present from Bryan, Cate and Abby) enjoyed a fabulous Christmas day! While we didn't have many presents, we enjoyed the day just as much! Dan wrote a poem for me...how romantic is that!

We visited 3 nursing homes. We made some new friends while singing the songs of the season! Dan and I make a pretty good duet!!

It was a balmy 80 degrees, rainy and a perfect day to celebrate Jesus' magic day!

Our new baby cow - SLATE!

One morning we looked out the window and then I screamed..."Dan, we have a new baby cow!!!" And Dan immediately named him "Slate".

He is just precious. He just loves his mom (she's the one with him in the photo...I think he's adopted). He "moos" really loudly when he is hungry and Mom isn't close enough. And he is usually behind the pack ... but he always catches up to Mom (at least when he's hungry!)

So, we now have 14 cows (10 big ones and 4 babies)...they are just great! We enjoy them every morning. I can actually see them from my bed. I would prefer to lay in bed and see them longer each morning...but when I get up I can still enjoy them while drinking my coffee!

I always wanted a cow ... and now I have 14! (No, they aren't "really" mine but I get to enjoy them and I don't have any of the work....kinda like being a grandparent!")

Disney's Magic Kingdom...A Day of Fun!

The Lord blessed me with free tickets to Disney (from my Auburndale Angel again...Patti)...so, I got to go to the Magic Kingdom with my family.

We had decided to make this our family Christmas celebration. What fun it was to celebrate our first year in Florida ... with my family at Disney....how very FLORIDA.

I got to ride in a teacup (see photo), I got to see Goofy, Micky, Minnie, Donald Duck, Pooh and Tigger! And, I got to enjoy it all through Abby's eyes (my 2 1/2 year old niece). She loved every minute of the day ... she actually complained less than I did. (It was a long day. But on my behalf...I never got to ride in the stroller :)

It was a fabulous day...except for the one ride..."It's a Small World". I don't know why but I have always hated that ride. See the photo from this time...same effect! :)

Dans first post

To my friends up North. Need I say more... (Hopefully they are still my friends)

The Chatman's celebrate early!

What a thrill it is to have my family here for a pre-Christmas celebration. Mom and Dad are here for a few weeks in their winter trailer. Darla is here from VA and Bryan, Cate and Abby are here from AK. What fun we are having!

We have enjoyed the Christmas Parade in Auburndale/Winter Haven (see photo) and the Christmas Boat Parade in Winter Haven (on the "Chain of Lakes"). And, this week we will be enjoying a day at Disney, some Christmas caroling at local nursing homes, Dan and I will be babysitting our sweet niece Abby and celebrating Cate's Magic Day!

We are just thrilled to have everyone here. We always have such a great time together and those times are all too far apart. God has blessed us this year!

Our Caregivers are Trained!!!

On Friday, 12/5, we held our first training/orientation class for the first 7 At Home Senior Services caregivers. What a great day!

We are thrilled with the 7 that God has blessed us with and we are hitting the pavement to find clients! We have been praying for the caregivers and clients God had chosen for us. Now that we have seen the caregivers, we are anxious to see the clients!

We are thrilled with the new path God has placed us on. We love our new jobs! Thanks for your continued prayers as we seek to build At Home Senior Services.

Best Friend Debbie and Yahtzee fun!

Debbie and Mom D (Debbie's Mom) got here the day after Thanksgiving and we got to enjoy them until 12/4...HOW FABULOUS to have them here.

One day, Dan and I found a gift under the tree from us to Debbie. Come to find out, Debbie had wrapped OUR Yahtzee game so we could play with her. That is what she wanted from us for Christmas :)

Now, Dan HATES Yahtzee but Debbie and I love it! It was great fun for Dan finally when he got TWO Yahtee's in the same game....Debbie helped him celebrate. But, the next time we played, we let Dan sit that one out!

I had the BEST time with Debbie and her mom. God was so good to me to send them at just this time! They are cruising right now (12/7) but I get to spend a few more hours with them tomorrow before they fly home! WHOO HOO!!

Duane and Heljä's Visit!

What a treat to have Duane and Heljä here for Thanksgiving week. Our visit started by joining them at the Wycliffe Center in Orlando for the Last Languages Celebration!

We were able to celebrate some recent translations and kickoff the thrust to start the last 2200 un-translated languages!! It was such a great day of celebration, challenge and encouragement.

Scripture says that Jesus will return when everyone has heard. How exciting to be a part of the return of Christ by sharing about Jesus' love and forgiveness! Over 200 million still cannot read the word of God in their own language. How fortunate we are to have the Bible in our language!

Read more at: http://www.lastlanguagescampaign.org/ or if you want to support real, live missionaries in this work...I can set you up with Duane and Heljä. Until God allows them back into Indonesia, they are working on translation long distance and Duane is teaching other missionaries at the Institute of Linguistics in Dallas.

Photo: Duane is the one on the right. He is in a band that played and sang at the celebration. They use instruments and sing songs from around the world. It was amazing!

It's Begining to Look a Lot like Christmas!

I know that Christmas is not about the weather, or the gifts, or the music but it has been hard to get into my normal, Christmas, euphoric state! I love Christmas and all the lights, music, shopping, etc. But, with all of our life changes, it was hard to get in the "mood"! So, Dan and I decided to put the tree up and enjoy the season.

While we won't be doing much (any) Christmas shopping this year and we won't enjoy the snow and cold ... I am so excited about Christmas! We are going to visit some shut-ins in our church and we are so excited to share the joy of Jesus' birth with others on Jesus' magic day!

It will be a very different Christmas for us....and I can't wait to enjoy it with Dan!