Some of the Boys

Daniel spent part of the morning with Megan and I. He is getting so big and so handsome. And so so cute when he calls Nicot "Co".

I don't know what inspired Herman to make this face but I love it. He has so much energy, i mis him everyday .

And little Dave. I love those teeth and he is so cute and smiley.

Jeffy just keeps growing on me. I couldn't believe how big he is now. No matter how bi he gets, he still comes and gives me big hugs many times a day. He's my buddy.

Issac Nicot Burnit (yea i know it's spelled wrong but I just wanted to let you know how he says his name.) Even though this picture doesn't show it, he is such a big goober. I cn't wait to share more of the pictures so you can see what a big goober Issac Nicot really is.

Who's the best Monkey?

I don't know why but every time that I try and get pics of Nata, she always makes faces at me. So of course we had to act like monkeys in this one.

Can you guess what happened next? Thats right everyone one decided to be a Monkey. First came Daniel.
Then came Steeve.

Of course Jonas had to join (most of the time he acts like a monkey though, haha) I love you Joe!


Then came along Fritz.

And who can forget Ti Moun and her cute little face.

This was an eveing of enjoyment and monke faces. Not long after these pictures Reggie came out ot join us. In the spirit of animals he led the kids in singing 'Who let the Dogs out' and let me tell you once they get started it is the longest version of who let the dogs out that I have ever heard.

The First Supper, puzzle pooker and Good Eight!

This was the team and I right before we left to go to the airport, it was a sad day at least for me.

Reggie!!!!! He is amazing, Jimmy and Reggie taught us Haitian Casino and we taught Reggie Poker. The of course is my friend Megan but she is now known as the Queen of Puzzle Poker

And this is the !st Supper. Our team re-painted the dinning buildt tables, painted cabinets and much more. The Kids and the Nannies were very excited to have a new dinning area. This was the First meal, Dinner on Thrusday Nov. 13th.

Happy Birthday Jeffy!!!!

I can't believe you are four already. You have grown up so much since I meet you in December 2006. I remember the first day I meet you and how you and I became a team. It was on that day that we took the last picture here on this page. Two years later we are still best friends. I can't wait for you to be home with your mama and papa. I miss you Jeffy and I love you!

HAPPY FORTH BIRTHDAY JEFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally

One of the many faces of Nata! I love her energy it is amazing.

Caleb is getting so big but is still so happy.
Cara I had to share this one I took it on the last day after we were back at the "O", your boy cracks me up.
John tooks this picture, it is supposed to me as a haitian painting hints the wooden frame.
Jeffy, best friends for almost wo years!
This is a crew, Steeve, Sarmara, Nata, Matu, Samu, and Herman. No trouble here, hehe.

I This is Matu and John, at the beginning of the week she didn't like him but by the end they were best buds.

I know I have been back for over a month and I am just posting pictures it is shameful. O well at least I am posting them now. I hope you enjoy them there will be many more now that i have finally put them on my computer.

And O yea Happy Birthday Nicot! He turned three today! I love you little brother!

Trips and Proposals

I got back from my 6th trip to Haiti last night. Like all my other trips it was one of the best times in my life. I got to know the gets even better this week and I miss them already. I don't have any pictures loaded into my computer yet but I will post as soon as I do.

On the way there my flights got all messed up and I had to fly in later than the team but was so so blessed to get to meet up with Mia, Hope and Michelle. It was great to see them on thier way home. Then the week started. I meet some amazing people who had so much love for the kids at Angel House. I got to learn new things about my siblings. I grew closer to God. We had a birthday party. I got to experience a haitian beach. I got to see Steven and Belle. I even got proposed to. I'm not kidding either. Though this was a proposal that was unexpected and not by someone i was in love with. The man sitting by me one the plane from Port -Au-Prince to Fort Lauderdale proposed marriage to me like three times. It was so funny but extremely akward, I mean I was stuck there was no way I could walk away I had to sit there. That is sure one flight I will never forget.

All in all it was a great week. I loved it and will always treasure my time in Haiti. I will post again as soon as I get mmy pictures loaded.

Pou Papa Troy

Dad,

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!

I love you so much. And I know I should tell you that way more often than I do. I just wanted to let you know again that I love you. Thanks so much for being there for me as I grew up. I always thought I had the best dad. Thanks for always supporting my decisions and encouraging me to follow my heart. Thanks for understanding when I didn't think I was supposed to be in college last year and for understanding the reason why because I know that not all parents would do that. As I told Mom, the closer the day gets for me to go to live in Haiti the more excited I get. But the closer it get I realize just how real that is going to be. I know when I am there my Daddy isn't going to be there to fight my battles for me. I know you can't be there to reassure me that I am doing the right thing. I love you so so much.

I hope that by next year Nicot and I can spend your birthday with you and the rest of the family. Love you always, Bethany

Pou Mama Cathy!

So today is of course Mother's Day and my Mom is again celebrating it without all her children. I am included in that because I am currently in Yorktown with my God-Family.

Mom,

I love you more than you will ever now. I am so glad that God called you and Dad to adopt Matu and Nicot. This is not only becuase it lead to me being called to be a missionary to Haiti but it also lead me to take a year off of school. The last year of my life I have learned so much. One of the best things I learned is that you can be one of my best friends. At times when I am at my lowest point you are there to help, cry with, and to pray with me and for me. You have taught me to listen for God and the importance of drawing closer to him everyday. I am so so glad that God's plan was for me to be your daughter. I don't know what I would do without you. I am so looking forward to the day when God tells me that its my turn to go to Haiti and fullfill his call on my life. But I know that especially after this past year that when that day comes I will also be sad because my mom won't be there with me.

I am praying along with Matu that we will get to be a family soon! I love you so so so much.

Bethany

The Questions

I am: Going to post again soon.
I think: that this weekend is going to be just what i need
I know: that today is my God-Brother Bradens 17th Birthday
I want: To be in Haiti
I have: to finish my laundry so I can pack for my trip up north
I wish: I was at Three Angels
I hate: when people are mad at me
I miss: Matu and Nicot, all the kids at the O, and my friends that are away at college, and Sophie
I fear: always being alone
I feel: blah
I hear: J.D. talking on Scrubs
I smell: finger nail polish
I crave: a closer walk with Jesus
I search: for excuses to go to Haiti and stay
I wonder: When my turn will come
I regret: not always telling people how i feel
I love: My parents, my siblings, the TA's kids, my best friends, and JESUS!
I ache: to hold the TA's kids in my arms again
I care: the way I look.
I always: try to serve God and be the best friend I can
I am not: sure when my siblings will get to come home
I believe: That God will give me the desires of my heart as long as they are his desires too.
I dance: even though i am not very good at, ask Belle and Mia they will tell you how bad I am.
I sing: All the time, for no reason at all, I love singing!
I cry: a lot more than I used to.
I don't always: feel confident in my-self
I fight: thinking negative about everything
I write: all the time, in my journal, on my computer, all the time
I never: stop thinking about Haiti
I listen: to music a lot
I need: to clean my room and my car
I am happy about: Getting to go and visit my God-family this weekend

So there you have it. I will post again soon and by soon in mean sometime in the next week.

Home

I love Spendy, he was so much bigger than I remembered, he is consistently in mt heart and prayers.

I could never get enough of Anchise's smile, this little girl is contangious.
My little buddy Daniel, I love this boy so much. He has such a wonderful and loving spirit. Him and Mati are awful good friends too! I have stories about them for a later post.

Reece and the red cup. I just love this picture, Reece is such a handsome boy and how could his smile not melt you.

Fritz, what can I say I love you too! Since Fritz had the chicken pox he couldn't go to school so me and him got to spend some time together while the non infected kids went to school. He is still the same entergetic boy but it makes me love him even more.


My trip was all in all way to short, but it was good. I enjoyed every moment with the kids. I tried to soak up as much Haiti as I could. Enough of Haiti to last me until I can go back. As much as you soak in though when you leave it hurts. It was hard for me to leave as it always is. When we got to the airport and on the plane and it actually soaked in that I would not be going back to the orphanage for a while I just wanted to fall apart it took everything in me not to cry. When we got to Miami, Lizzie noticed that there was a flight going back to Port Au Prince, I was so so tempted to go and exchange my ticket and go back. If Gretchen and Megan had not been there, I think Lizzie and I both would have been on that plane. But I am here, I know I have to wait. So I am going to cherish the time I was there and hold on to it. Part of holding on to it is sharing it with you. I know since it took me almost a week to post this it might seem unlikely but I promise more updates soon.

I did throughly enjoy every second of my trip and the time I got with my siblings and of course all the other children. I praise God for the blessings of all the time I have gotten to spend at my home, with the people I love and in the country that is part of my every breath.

Desires

Alright so Kathy I am glad you got yours earlier this afternoon. It isn't yet 3, thank goodness but hey 11 is late when you have to be a work by seven. When I read these verses I knew I needed to share them. They are a group of verses that I know you all have read and I even talked about one of them on my last blog entry but they went right along with what we talked about today. But no matter who you are these verses I think are just so strong. These verses have got me through a lot. So here you go.

Pslams 37:1-9

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your wway to the Lord;
trust in Him and He will do this.
He will make your righteousness shine like dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him,
do not fret when men succeed in thier ways,
When they carry out thier wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret -it only leads to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inhert the land.

Just a little food for thought. I hope those verses help you as much as they helped me.

I am so excited to that I only have seven more days until I get to leave the cold behind and go to the much nicer temperatures of Haiti!

Rays of Light

Homesickness... it is the only way I know how to describe what I feel. A longing that reaches down to my very soul. A longing to just be there. To hold on to each one. To play kids games, to be taught by a little girl. To simply laugh and love with all the Gad has given me. To do the Lord's work. To dance. To get peed on. hear your name called over and over just so you will turn around. Some days I just don't know what to do with myself. I go through my day and do what I am supposed to but deep inside I feel like part of me is gone. My heart is not fully complete because a piece of it is not here with me. It belongs to the children of Haiti.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

This verse right now is the verse I think of often. God is so good and I know that his will is going to fullfilled but it is so hard to wait. He gives me so much.

He gives rays of sunshine.

He provides me with pictures of home, they are on my wll so I can see them when I wake up in the morning.

He has provided me with a job that in turn gives me money to fund my trips. Right now Feb.22 seems so far away, though I cannot wait to be back.

He gives me scriptures and he is there to hold me when I want to just cry and cry and cry.

Looking back and forward all at the same time

First of all I hope everyone had a good Christ-mas and New Year.

Wow looking back at 2007 is crazy. So many things happened this year.
Here is a small look into how my life changed.

We added the 7th member, Nicot Issac, to our family.

I went to visit "my home" a.k.a Haiti three more times. In Febuary, August, and October. Each time reaffriming the the call God has placed in my life to be a missionary.

My best Friend April got married.

Life changed but it really just got better. I am so excited for what the next year holds. I know Gos is preparing me for change and I am ready for it. I am ready for my family to be together and I am ready for Haiti. I can't wait until Febuary, until Iget to see the kids again.

I make one goal for the next year simply to draw closer to God. I want to become closer and gain more understanding. I want to follow were he leads and be content with where he has me now.

I hope you can make the same goal as I did!