Christmas Events!

It's been a very busy week of Christmas programs, performances and parties at school!  Kealon had his music program on Tuesday and did a great job singing with his class.  Haidyn had a short performance with her ballet class this week, too!  This is her first time in dance and she has only had a few classes, but she is doing really well!  Merry Christmas!

Anne's Haiti Trip!

I returned yesterday from a week long trip to Cap Haiten, Haiti.  It was an amazing trip!  We were able to work with a group called Welcome Home Haiti to complete a block home (replacing a stick and mud home) for a family in need.  Welcome Home Haiti works through another ministry called Haitian Christian Ministries who hosted us for the week.  God has been using HCM to transform the village of Pillatre for over 25 years. It was started by Pastor Manno and his wife Prisca.  Pastor Manno has established a church, school and medical clinic there.  He believes strongly in the importance of spiritual and physical health, as well as education. The children that attend the school receive at least one meal a day and also free medical services.

Each year about 70-80 children join the school and need to be sponsored so they can continue to attend!  The cost is $25 per month (or $300 a year) and 100% goes to the child's tuition, books, uniform, meal and medical services.  If you would like to sponsor a child at the school or are just interested in learning more, click HERE!   Our friend's sister and her husband started Welcome Home Haiti 3 years ago and their mom passionately runs the child sponsorship program for HCM.

So, that's a brief background of the ministries we worked with and how we are personally connected to them!  It was really cool to see the work being done in Pillatre and how God is blessing the ministries there.  I loved meeting the people and getting to know them.  The trip was such a reminder of how much we have here in the USA and how much help is needed elsewhere in the world...especially in Haiti!   I was also inspired by the faith of the people there.  They really know what it is like to depend on God for every basic need and the way they so freely glorify God and express thankfulness for the small things as well as the big things is so moving.  Did I praise God like this family when we moved into our new home?  Nope....I've got a lot of growing to do.

Here are a few pictures!  As I get more pictures from our team members, I will keep posting!  Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us and supported the trip financially!  The entire home and everything inside of it was made possible through monetary donations and your prayers.

**You can make the photos larger and see the captions for each picture by clicking the link below, then "View Album" and "Play Slideshow."

Click here to view these pictures larger

Back to Blogging!

It's been a while since I have posted! My excuse is that I started working again. :)  There was a part time teaching position open at the kids' school, and I decided to go for it!  It was all pretty sudden...I found out about the position on a Friday afternoon and by Monday I was hired and off to work with the rest of the teachers for the staff's first week back to school!  It was a scramble to get supplies and curriculum ready and to get the room set up before the first day of school, but thanks to the help of many teachers, I was ready!

I'm teaching Jr Kindergarten where the children are old enough for kindergarten but not quite ready yet! Our kids love that I am working at their school, and it's very nice to work in an environment where staff and parents pray for each other and where I can teach my students about God and His Word. It's made life at home a lot busier, so hopefully I will develop a good balance between work and home before the end of the school year!  

In other news, the kids are doing great in school (Kindergarten and 3rd Grade---ahhhhhh!) and Stetson is continuing to do well at work and gain more and more experience in the company!  Haidyn just lost her 6th tooth and looks so cute with 2 top teeth missing; Kealon will be starting soccer again in November with the league here in our new neighborhood.  We are fortunate to have my parents here in FL and they were able to come to the school for the kids' Grandparents' Day Celebration and then we headed to the beach!  We also had a fun weekend with them at a state park while Stetson was away.  (SEE PICTURES!)  We wish our Knight grandparents lived closer, but we enjoy every moment we get to spend with them, too. 

Stetson just returned from a mission trip to Haiti with our church.  Our church supports a group called Welcome Home Haiti.  Stetson was able to participate in building a home for a family in need!  It was a great experience.  I'll also be going to help with a second home in November.  (SEE NEXT POST)

Enjoy the pictures!  I'll try to be more on top of the blog posting!  

Grandparents' Day 2013

Look what I found, Mom!  Kealon spotted lots of fish and even a sting ray!

Silly girl in the tub

Trip to Homosassa Springs State Park

Checking out the manatees! FL is so pretty!  

One of the manatees checking US out!  

Rock climbing

Haidyn almost made it to the top!  

Going for a swim with Pop

Love that cute face!

Happy July 4th!

Every year we go to the Brandon Parade to start off our Indepence Day celebration!  Coined (by us) "the hottest place on earth", we usually sweat through the parade while the kids (unphased by the oppressing heat) jump around excitedly as the floats ride by, and they never fail to gather up a ridiculous amount of candy and beads every time.  This year, we had overcast skies and even (dare I say) a refreshing breeze...and to top it off we found a spot under a huge shaded tree = Best parade day ever!  :)  

After the parade, Stetson (aka grill master) whipped up some amazing burgers and we basically vegged for the rest of the day.  I think we are still recovering from the busyness of the past 2 weeks!  When evening came, we met with friends and neighbors in the community square for music and fireworks.   Then we came back to the culdesac to hang again with neighbors on our street, and we set off a pretty impressive (and incredibly LOUD) display of fireworks for a entire hour!  It was a great day!  

Keith and Kelcie's Wedding!

I can't believe my baby brother is all growed up and married!  Keith and Kelcie had a beautiful wedding and we wish them many years of happiness together.  Enjoy the pictures!

Warner Family Bash 2013

The second round of cousins arrived on Wed, so before Keith and Kelcie's wedding, the whole family got together at one of our community pools and clubhouse.  We spent the whole afternoon there swimming and playing,  Stetson grilled burgers and dogs, and we had a huge cake to celebrate all the kids' birthdays together (half of the bdays are over the summer months).  Everyone had a ton of fun and it was great to relax together before the wedding!