haRVey in Dunedin, Florida

Our house is more level than this photo appears. The moss in Dunedin is beautiful. I am guessing it is not so beautiful when it gets clogged in your lawn mower. Which is why God made the moss to be nest building material. There has been an Osprey swooping around collecting moss and tree branches, (yes, branches) the past two days. This osprey lives on the football field at Dunedin High School, right behind the big lights and across the street from our current home.

While taking a nature walk on Honeymoon Island, no really, that is the name, we saw about 8 Osprey nests and lots of birds at home. The photo is not one we took because we cleverly left our camera at home, but this is a great re-enactment from the web.

Dave and a Mazda

While in Stuart, FL, we were gifted with the use of a Mazda Miata convertible. We looked very cool as we drove to the Florida Keys. It was quite a dramatic change for us tooling around in a small two-seater convertible as opposed to our quad-cab 3/4 ton extended bed pick-up truck. I think the Mazda would have fit in the truck bed.

At one of our toll stops, the attendant said to Dave, "You look like Hulk Hogan." Well, does he?

A Bumper Sticker

While traveling down to the Florida Keys, we were able to get up close and personal with most of the vehicles traveling our way. I was able to get an up close pic of these words to live by!

Cards from Kids

The Third grade class made cards for us. It was sweet. Thank you!

Turning 50

As the song goes..."you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant." Fortunately, I was only looking for breakfast. I had a wonderful veggie omelet and hash browns to start off my 50th year. The waitress kept the coffee coming and Dave and I ate on the patio because that is what you do in Florida. And why not?

On the evening of the 7th we ate out with our friends John and Heidi Goetz, who generously shared their gift certificate with us. It was a fabulous seafood meal topped off with Creme Brulee. I also had my first Martini.

Age is a state of mind and you are as young as you feel. The people we have been serving in Florida have shown this to us again and again. How often we have heard them say, "Well, for 70-something" or "80-something I'm doing pretty good, thanks be to God," or words like these, and we are astonished. They seem younger. I'm sure the climate down here helps, but I am reminded of the youthful elderly we have met across the country who have their joy in Christ to keep them young. May God help me to age "in the Lord" as they have!

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Diapers for AIDS babies

On January 15 Mary will travel to Haiti to deliver what she hopes will be 600 diapers to be used for babies who have AIDS. Disposable diapers are too expensive and pins are too dangerous for these babies. Mary found a pattern on the internet that uses Velcro. She cast her vision, which was caught by the quilting club at Redeemer Lutheran in Stuart. The people who make Velcro supplied them with what they needed gratis. Thank God for this great idea and those who made it happen. Please keep Mary in your prayers as she delivers these diapers which were cut out of tee shirts and sewn by many loving hands.

Farmer's Market

Here is a photo of the fresh produce we bought at a road side stand. We have eaten more oranges in the last week than we have in months. They do not look as glossy as the oranges you find in the grocery store, but we thought we would try them anyway - we are glad we did. Florida oranges, a good thing. :)

Stuart, Florida

Our home for the next ten days! We have had visits from a number of members and learned about all the hot spots in Stuart - including the best beaches.