Ocala National Forest was Santa's final stop. Just watch out for the bears!
Santa took an extra day this year to deliver some Christmas Spirit. My cousin Yvette lives in the Ocala National Forest, only 3 miles from my boys' grandparents. Yvette's granddaughter Chloe is handicapped. Doctors said Chloe would never walk, talk or see. Well she fooled them all. This year Chloe was really into Santa so since she was coming to visit her Mimi in Florida, Santa just had to make a special visit.
First stop was at Tootsie and Frank's so Santa and the Mrs. could "freshen up" from their trip. This is in front of their Christmas tree.
This is probably one of my favorite pics of Santa. He's pretending he's animated in front of the house. Someone drove by while he was standing there.
Next stop was Yvette's house. Here we are walking in.
Chloe was sooooo excited that she had to get up and give Santa a hug. That's her mom, Katie, helping her. The little blonde at the bottom is Gabby, her sister.
This is Katie, Gabby and my cousin Yvette, watching Chloe and Santa converse.
Not to be left out, Gabby lets Mrs. C hold her.
Chloe with Santa and Mrs. C. Chloe wants to fill OUR stockings next year. She was full of all kinds of questions, like what's the elves favorite food, what do I fix for breakfast, what does Santa want in his stocking. She really made us think quick on our feet, lol.
Chloe getting a snowglobe from Santa. Chloe loves snow globes and this one was squishy plastic, really neat, so it wouldn't break. Chloe also got wheel covers for her wheelchair that are really bright colors.
We also had a surprise for Christmas. I haven't seen my brother's in 6 years (since my mom passed away). Well this is my older brother, Kevin, with my niece Carley. My brother Jimmy was also there, but he chose to stay outside. It was good to see them. My son Wade and his g-friend Erin went with us. It was good for Wade to see his uncles and cousin(who had no idea who we were). Thanks again, Erin for taking taking pictures (you too Wade)
And of course we have to have Santa/animal pictures. This is Santa with Tootsie and Frank's dog Schottzy.
And this is Cocoa with Santa. Cocoa is Chloe's dog that lives with Yvette.
This trailer is the actual "hill" they put the snow on so people can go sledding.
The Fire Department gets in on some action. They bring a fire truck to all these events and the puppet show trailer. The puppet show teaches children about fire safety.
And of course the Police Department sends out their DARE car, with Officer Terry Bowden. McGruff was also at the event earlier in the evening.
This is a train ride they had for the kids. Santa and the Mrs. get to ride in on this every year. McGruff usually is along for the ride. They also had quite a few bouncy houses for the kids. 
Here's Mrs. C and Scott D'elf (thanks Missy).
This one's not so sure........
Mrs. C even had some friendly visitors...some that didn't want to wait for Santa and thought I was the next best thing and other that just wanted to see the "old gal" because she usually stays at the North Pole.
Even Scott D'elf was a popular "Kodak Moment" since elves usually stay at the Pole with Mrs. C.
This is Santa with Jasmine. Hard to see but she has the cutest little dress on.
While Santa was kept busy with lists and wishes from the little ones.....I got to have my picture taken with some really cool people.
Since I was seated very close to the Papa John's booth....it only seemed appropriate that I have my picture taken with the slice of pizza.
This is Erin, our wonderful photographer. Without her these pictures wouldn't be possible.
This is Uncle Billy ( my 2 boys Uncle). He thought he'd be cute and sit on my lap. Can't wait to share this with the rest of the family, lol.
And this is my favorite one of Tinkerbelle. Hopefully you can see that the stocking says "Naughty" on it and she is hiding her face in shame.
Santa, Mrs. C and the elf with one of the deserving families. There were 5 small children at this house.
Another happy family. These guys got bikes as just one of their gifts.
Santa trying to make friends with a little one. She wasn't too sure.
This special family had a wheelchair bound child. There were 4 children with a single mom. Helping people like this enjoy a holiday that would otherwise be sad gives you such a good feeling. I just wish we do this for ALL deserving families, not just a select few. An officer brought up the point that all the billions of dollars spent on just advertisement for the Presidential election would have definitely taken care of alot of need families.
This picture shows Officer Terry Bowden on the left, who makes this program happen. He is the DARE officer for Winter Haven. You also see Santa with a young lady who wouldn't have a Christmas without this program. The little boy in the front is Officer Charlie Bird's son who was along to help. The lady in the forground is Mrs. Waters. Her husband Buddy Waters is our Chief of Police. The Waters have been doing this for many years. As have most of the people who went with us today.
I told you we got to ride in cool cars. This is a Lincoln that was confiscated from a drug dealer. The police department uses it for their DARE program. I got to ride in this one last year. Very neat. They have confiscated a truck this year from the same drug dealer. They are fixing it up to use for Dare also. Maybe I'll get to ride in that next year.
This is Mrs. C and Elf Scott in front of the Charger. Santa got to ride in this last year. I really, really, really wanted to ride in it this year. Well Hut and I were talking to Officer Bird at another event about a week ago and it was mentioned that I have talked about nothing for a year except that I wanted to ride in the Charger. Well it was assigned an officer on duty today, but since Officer Bird is really Captain Bird, he pulled some strings and got it just so I could ride about it. So I've been bragging all day that Santa isn't the only one with pull around here. And Captain Lisa Ashbury gave me the keys when we got back to the police department and let me set in it and turn the lights on. I was like a kid in a candy store.
Santa got to sit in it too, but this is a picture of me in it with the lights on.
Under cover Mrs. C. Here I am behind the wheel with a badge. A real badge. Not mine though. Captain Bird's. We had such a good time. I can't wait to do it again next year and for many years to come.
Not a great pic, but this is where it all began. My mother bought this for me back in 1999 while she was visiting family in New England. She bought it in New Hamshire. Blue being my favorite color and my favorite man looking very much like Santa.....a light just went off in my head. And so it begins....
You know you're a goner when you buy Mickey in a Blue Santa suit. This is my second Blue Santa.
This is the top shelf of my small cabinet that I keep my Santas in and yes I keep them out year round.
And here is the bottom shelf. I have 58 Blue Santas so far. And yes I know some of them in the picture aren't blue, so let me explain. When Hut first became an assistant to the man in red, the gift shop I worked in had this adorable set of 12 Santas. Each one represented a different month. They are in the front here and you can see April thru December. I also have a number Cypress Gardens Santa that I had to have because I worked there. And I also have a Santa with some wolves because the LOML (love of my life) wanted it and who am I to refuse. And yes in the background of the last photo, those are snowballs you see. I've had them for about 10 years. I got them at Cracker Barrel. They look just like snowballs and they smell like vanilla. And yes, even after all these years they still smell. I just love them. 
I bought this corner cabinet a few weeks ago and it's the perfect place for my new collections. This is the elf shelf. There is an elf house in the back. Three elves in front of that with dogs (of course) and then my son Wade bought me kissing elf salt and pepper shakers. On the right are a couple of elves I found at Walmart.....one with dark hair and one blonde. Wade is blonde and Scott is dark headed. So these were perfect.
Last but not least is the dish that looks like an envelope addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the North Pole. I have to tell you that the LOML bought this at Cypress Gardens the last day it was open. I wasn't even with him. He saw it and he said he just had to have it. How appropriate. He may not be the most romantic guy in the world, but he has his moments. After seeing this post I guess you could say we eat, sleep and live the life of the Clauses.
