Dahianna

This is Dahianna. She's in 5th grade and is one of the sweetest girls at Anija.

Although she has been at Anija for a couple of years already, she officially joined our sponsorship program this year. As she sees her friends getting letters from their sponsors and doing projects to send them, she keeps asking me if she has a sponsor yet and each time I tell her, "Hang tight, I'm looking!" She has already written a letter and has drawn pictures to send to a sponsor. Seriously, I think she would be one of the best kids to sponsor. Please think about sharing the need for sponsors for our kids at Anija and pray about you or maybe a friend or family member sponsoring Dahianna. I have letters, drawings, and her Easter project all ready to send!

A drawing I'm saving to send to her first sponsor.

A letter she wrote to her (future) sponsor.

A letter Dahianna wrote to me and gave me when I visited her at home earlier this week. She would be a great pen pal for children and grandchildren. :)

Dahianna (on the left) with a friend from school last year at Anija.

My Friend in the Library

I have this friend who likes to follow me in the library, although unlike other friends this one usually scares me. Seriously though, this lizard is ALWAYS wherever I am. If I'm by the computers, it's there, by the bookshelf for teachers, it's there, by the table where the books are returned, it's there, by the window, it's there, by my supplies, it's there. Usually only the first sighting of the day makes me jump a little but I try to prepare myself and expect it to be there wherever I turn. Anyways, a couple days ago I saw the lizard shedding its' skin and then he ate it! I should have taken a video but at least here's a picture.

Valentine's Day

This morning I woke up and asked God to fill my day with joy and boy did He!

Here are a few pictures from the day...

The DR celebrates Valentine's Day but it's more of a "Friendship Day." The kids were able to wear red, white, and pink today. They all looked so good!

Isn't she the cutest?

Recess!

Nice face, I know...

Visiting Tervens and his family.

It was the saddest thing when Tervens (left) went to get his younger brother Mickey (right). Mickey thought we were there to give him a shot (American nurses have come to help with immunization shots so he thought that's why I was there). I wish I had taken a video of his mother chasing him down the street, it was pretty funny. In the end, he came inside and sat with me and took some pictures and his video for our Easter project.

This is Mickey and Tervens little sister. I'm not sure what her name is but she made me feel loved. She wanted to sit on my lap and kept playing with my hair and trying to take my camera!

Jessica and I spend a lot of our time together working out, whether it's running, doing P90X, Insanity, or a Jillian Michaels video. I thought I'd share a few snippets from this Valentine's Day workout.

We thought this was a much better way of cooling down. :)

Valentine's Day picture with my roommates!

Library with the Haitian Boys

As the year has gone on, a couple of the Haitian boys (who came over after the earthquake) have been asking me when they get to go to the library. So after talking with the Directors, we had our first library class last week. We've practiced signing the note cards, turning the pages correctly, and putting books back correctly on the shelf. It was funny trying to explain everything right in Spanish and then realizing that they probably aren't understanding everything I say anyways.

I think Jeff really likes Bible stories. He would tell me (or at least try to in Spanish) all about the story in the picture on every page.

Helping each other sign the note cards.

First day of officially checking out books for these boys!

Sleepover!

Here are some pictures of our girls sleepover on Saturday. We had all the Kids Alive missionary girls over to do facial masks, paint nails, give hand massages with satin hands, watch movies, and of course eat good food(chips, pizza, cookie/brownie, and baked oatmeal)!

Sponsorship this Week

Here's a look back on the week so far...

Today we visited David while doing home visits and took this video. Our goal for this year's Easter project is to take a short video of the child at their house and send it to their to sponsors... but David hasn't gotten any sponsors yet! He's super cute, lives on the outskirts of town and his house is above another (you legit walk on the roof to enter the house) and has only one bedroom. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor him please let me know! :)

Bryant finally got his first sponsor (each child needs 3)! We made a welcome card this week telling things like his favorite color, food, and subject in school. He wrote on the other side, "I love you with all of my heart!" Can't you tell he's happy? :)

Earlier this week I got to bring some Christmas and birthday gifts to Jazmin from one of her sponsors. She was so excited and they were the perfect gifts. She (along with all the girls here) LOVE anything princess!

Celebrating February Birthdays

Overall it has been a good week! Thank you for all of your prayers. Please be praying for our kids in Awana each week. And especially with the second and third graders that I work with on Tuesdays. They are a rough group and need a lot of love and patience!

New Bulletin Board

Here's a picture of my new bulletin board in the library.

I'm trying to memorize verses along with the kids in Awana.

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Starting from the top left corner going clockwise:

*Michel, Loida, me, Rebeca

*Picture of me welcoming a new girl when in Haiti last August

*Kids Alive Women in Jarabacoa last year

*My newest nephew, Levi

*Rachel, me, Traci, Molly, and Heather- one of the sweetest work teams

*My sister and I with a few kids from Anija

*Genesis, Mariana, Walkiris, me, and Sarah at a wedding last summer

*Group picture with the 8th graders

*My nephew Jack

*Another new kiddo from when I was in Haiti

*Summer interns (Emily, Salome, Jillian, Alicia, & Rebeca) with Jenilea, Yovanny,Roberto, and myself

*Arizona postcard

*Picture of the 5th graders from Chandler Christian School

*Picture of the 4th graders from Chandler Christian School