Unto us a daughter is given!

We are happy and blessed to announce the birth of Sophie Margueritte Joseph. Sophie was born this afternoon, Tuesday July 31, 2007 at 3:19PM. She weighs 6 pounds 11 ounces; and measures 19.5 inches. Mother and baby are doing well. We thank you for your prayers.



















Sophie with Dr John Greene

Prayer Requests

We would like to request prayers for Dr. Wayne and Virginia Wright. We learned yesterday that Wayne recently had a stroke. We do not have the details of exactly what happened, but he is very weak, and his speech is slightly affected. Please, pray for his full recovery. The doctors said that things could have been worse; therefore, we thank God for his protection.

Mom and Dad Wright, as we call them, are two energetic people who love life and cross country traveling. They visited with us recently in Wilmore during one such trip. They have treated us like their own children, and we love and respect them as our own parents.

In addition, we would like to request prayers for Lara. If the baby does not arrive some time today, she will be induced tomorrow (Tuesday). We have an appointment at St Joseph East at 6:30AM. Please, pray for a smooth and safe delivery. We will update you on how everything went in due time.


In the picture, from left to right: Faith Wright, Wilna (Abson's mom), dad Wright (holding Daniella), mom Wright, Lara, Theresa, Christy, and Jane Waugh (friends from New Zealand), and Abson.

Meet the In-Law!

Cross cultural marriages face a lot of challenges. Similarly, there is a lot of fun and richness. One cool thing is their ability to break some (cultural) rules :-). On June 21, 2007, Lara and I celebrated our fourth year of married life. About a month later, our mothers met for the first time! Under normal circumstances, in Haiti or in Russia, we could not get away with this!

Our parents are having a great time getting to know each other. We are trying our best to expose them to the American culture. In the meantime, they are enjoying "spoiling" Daniella, and cannot wait for the arrival of granddaugther number 2.













Even Daniella could not believe that we got away with this.















Wilna Altragrace Joseph and Maria Donovna Levicheva. Wilna is fifth grade teacher, and Maria in an English teacher. Perhaps, there is a reason why Lara and I both wanted to teach so badly.

Caribbean Wesleyan College's "Nu Look"

The first phase of the campus upgrade is coming to an end. Here is what the new buildings look like.


The refurbished administration block: Library, Chapel, Offices, and a multimedia classroom.

The cafeteria is furnished with state of the art and industrial strength equipments.

The dormitory will house 32 students, and will have solar powered water heaters, and other nice features that should make the students feel more comfortable.

This building has two apartments for visiting professors, and two apartments for married students with families.

Just like the good old days

Back in the days when we lived in Haiti, my mother (Wilna Altagrace) was a fifth grade teacher during the week, and a pastry chef on weekends. People would order all sort of "goodies" for birthdays, weddings, and other special occasions. My brother and I would help with the baking, and everything was done from scratch. The cake on the side is what I call "mom's masterpiece" which she prepared for our (Lara and my) wedding in June 2003.

My mom is visiting with us at the moment, and Lara's mom (Maria) is arriving today (Tuesday). So my mom came up with this great idea that to welcome Maria we should bake a cake! It so happens :-), that my mom brought one of her receipe books with her. So last night, it was like the good old days! We had a lot of fun baking a nice pineapple cake.

The book that I am holding is almost as old as I am.

Daniella took part of the fun.

The final product!

What is new? Quoi de neuf?

Hello,

It has been a very long time since our last post. If you are reading this, you are a very faithful friend. Thank you for checking our blog! We hope to do our best to keep this blog updated in the future. In the next few weeks, we will be posting some highlights of the past year, as we also update you on how we are doing presently.

We are now back in the states for a year so that Abson can focus on completing his PhD studies by next summer, at which time we will return to Jamaica to continue our teaching ministry there. In the meantime, we are counting down the days until the arrival of our second child. Daniella cannot wait to be a big sister. The excitement is all the more heightened by the presence of our mothers (Wilna and Maria) who will be with us until September. We thank God for this great blessing.

We will write more later. We would love to hear from you. Our contact information in the US is:


Abson and Larisa Joseph--SPO 533
204 N Lexington Ave
Wilmore, KY 40390
1-859-858-2091 (h); 859-285-9687 (Abson's cell); 859-285-9688 (Lara's cell).