August 2014 Update

My Mom typed this up so that you don't have to figure out my handwriting. On page three to five it got quite messy so I don't think you could read that easily.  

See the full version with video and photos at this link.

Time to get to the truly stimulating stuff. I am so excited for numerous things within the next six months. I will name those things.  

First, my awesome friends Jeff and Dave come back to Port au Prince on 8/19/14 - in other words, tomorrow! 

My birthday is coming up on September 7th and this will be the very first time we get to celebrate on the actual date of my birth. (I did not know my right birthday because my adoption paperwork listed the wrong date but my birth family told me about the real date this year.) Also, I am becoming an uncle in October, I will be called "Uncle Ike" to my nephew. Then, also pretty exciting, Lydia, Phoebe, Paige, and Hope all have birthdays late in the year as well. 

In January my family and I are going to fly to Florida for my sister's grand wedding. Paige's wedding will take place at a gorgeous ranch in south Florida. I saw photos and it is pulchritudinous. At the wedding me and Noah will be groomsmen. A groomsmen stands by the groom in an act of solidarity he supports the marriage and the groom, Michael. 

My Grandma told me this just yesterday. I cannot even believe it yet. My grandma and grandpa and me and my family are going on an opulent cruise. We will be on it for one week and we will visit Jamaica, Cozumel in Mexico, and the magnificent Caymen Islands. I am psyched! I am a Caribbean boy and can not wait to explore more of the greater Antilles.

Thoughtful comments and questions are allowed.

An apology and an update

I am writing tonight and my mom is going to type it up for me.

I did answer a few questions last year that my mom never published for me.  She said she was busy and forgot.  Sorry about that.

I am hoping you enjoy my update!

COMING SOON! 

Hi Everybody! Check out our Christmas Play!

I have a long car ride to go on TWO times before I go home to Haiti.  If you want me to answer anything, just leave me a comment here and I will write it while I am on my long road trip. I can take at least two questions.

I'm excited to answer! 

Isaac

Hello from Texas Everybody!

Good Morning everyone, today I have some great news. Noah and I were hastily searching through google to see what cool animals we could learn about. So we looked up facts about crocodiles and orcas then one idea hit me. "Since we miss our dogs so much, why don't we google them", I said to Noah, and so we did. Although the ipad was mistaking us for other things instead of what we were really saying. We did however use the ipad's internal microphone. Astoundingly we saw our dogs on the internet - it was as if they were famous. I love our dogs Peanut and Hazelnut.

Dear Ashley B -

Ashley B, asked about things that are important for her soon to be adopted Haitian son to know about Haiti ... and things to bring back to the USA for him from Haiti.

Isaac said,
Hello Ashley this here is my answer you asked me. I think it is cool you guys are adoptiong a little boy from Haiti. I hope the adoption is doing good so far. Here are important things taht he should always know about his Haitian background.

No 1 - Haiti is a beautiful mountainous place everywhere you look you are bound to see a mountain.
No 2- The beaches are found in many areas and are very gorgeous.
No 3- Haiti has very good and I mane really good food - its main staple is rice.

There is not one but TWO great things you can bring him. 
No 1- Paintings can be found in Haiti while you are driving around, usually hanging on walls.
No 2 - Metal geckos, these are also found hanging on walls on the streets.

I'll pray for you as you are in the process of adopting. Thanks for reading Ask Isaac.

Dear Brista-

 Isaac writing this answer while playing the Nintendo DS

Isaac, you have a very impressive vocabulary! Do you read a lot of books? What is your favorite book or favorite type of book? When I was your age, I really enjoyed mystery novels and the Babysitter's Club series.

Brista

a tale about my saturday

Good morning everyone,
Today I have some good and bad news. The bad news is my right eye doesn't see things as well as my left eye. The good news is, I was able to go to the eye doctor and find that out so the matter would not get any worse than it already was. I will get glasses pretty soon. That was my very first time getting my eyes checked. It was a very modern office, it was as if I was in the U.S. Once we got there we entered the gate of which our goal destination awaited. Then we saw some exorbitantly big gourdes, much bigger than the magic gourde movie by Disney, that one was small.

After that we sat on some comfortable chairs for somewhere around ten minutes or so. Next, a lady called my name so me and my dad went with her to this room. There she told me to sit down and look into this funny looking machine which I do not know the name of but when I looked inside it, I saw a house in a vast field. She then told me to stop looking inside of the funny looking white machine and grabbed another weird light thing that she flashed in my eye for like 45 seconds straight and I did not like the feeling of which something or someone touches your eyeball.

After the whole light and funny machine she grabbed a little bottle and said something like this, "I am going to put this in your eye and it is going to sting a little." BOY did it sting more than a little. Then she called me again, "yes", I said.  "Everything you see will be a bit blurry for five or six hours than you can go back to doing normal things you'd usually do",  she said. So we exited the room and sat down and I had to keep my eyes closed because they told me to so my pupils would get dilated from the stinging medicine she had given me. Once 10 or 15 minutes passed, we did the whole light and funky white machine thing again. It was a fatiguing process. Then we finally left and went home and had substantial shakes (smoothies).
Thanks for reading Ask Isaac, hope you loved this.

Dear Marla -

Q.
I love this one, Isaac! Thanks for sharing. I already asked you a question at the beginning of the summer, but I have another one. I know you love words. (I do too!!) Do you have a list (a mental list or a real one) of your favorites?

Would you be able to share your 5 favorite words (and a brief sentence about why you like it so much)? And if you can't narrow it down to 5 (or 5 is too many), then 3 or 7 or 10 are great too!!

Thank you!! 

Marla

A.
Hello Marla,
I will tell you five of my favorite words that I use.
No. 1 Exhilarating. It means excited. I like to use this word to describe movies and many other things. No. 2 Lustrous. It means shiny. So you could describe something shiny as lustrous. No. 3 Utterly. Meaning total. The room was utter darkness, that is another way of saying the room was total darkness. No. 4 Exorbitantly, meaning extremely. I learned this word  recently and I now like to say that (my) room is exorbitantly messy instead of what I used to say. No. 5 this word is commonly used but I love it. PERFECT is the word. Everyday I come home from school and my parents ask, "How was your day?", I answer "My day was perfect!"  Thanks for asking, hope you were intrigued by my paragraph.

Dear Anonymous-

Hello to readers of my summer blog,
I heard my Mom is not posting enough right now. I regret that she has not had time. Today I am posting the answer to an older question. I am almost running out of time to write for this summer because my seventh and final week of summer school is imminently beginning on Monday, July 15, 2013. Can you believe six weeks of summer school are complete already? I am getting exhilerated thinking about going to the states soon and I cannot wait to see my friends and family.  I have time for about five more questions.
Thanks for reading!
Isaac

Q.
Isaac,
If you could choose between spending one whole day in space or under the sea, which would you choose, and why?

A.
If I could spend an entire day in either space or at the bottom of the sea, and be able to breathe doing both of them, I would choose to spend the day at the bottom of our abysmal ocean.  Here are some reasons why...

Space is capricious and you could get lost pretty easily out there, so you die if one day passed and you are lost without oxygen - you just get disoriented out there, unless you had a space ship that could travel at a bewildering speed.

Even if you almost run out of time in the ocean you would stand more of a chance of reaching the surface using a submarine.  Under the sea seems safer to me than space. Also, the ocean is teeming with life (unlike space which is defunct of life) and it would be exorbitantly fun to be near so much undersea life. So, to answer your fabulous question, I would choose a day under the sea.

(Photo of paper not available due to spilling of vibrantly colored red juice.)

Dear Pwofese Becky -

Jimmy and Becky have been teaching the Livesay kids and serving in Haiti for two school-years. They just welcomed their second daughter to the world on Sunday! We are happy to share that they are going to teach again in 2014. Today's question came from Becky in Texas.

Howdy Isaac!

I really miss seeing you every day and love reading the excellent writing you are doing on your blog. My question is: What do you think heaven will be like? What do you most look forward to about heaven? What do you hope to do there? Any questions you want to ask God? I'm so thankful for the sure hope of heaven in Christ - aren't you? Can't wait to see you next month.

-Becky

Mrs. Becky -

I think everything in Heaven will be gorgeous. Streets made of gold, verdant fields, and an opalescent sky for us to gaze upon. Also, Heaven could be as effulgent as a star maybe even brighter!

What I look the most forward to in heaven is seeing my friends, my family, Elijah, the well known follower of God who rode up to Heaven on chariots of fire, and last but not least the dinosaurs who once roamed our vast and colossal world.

What I hope to do there is talk to a lot of people and ask them about their lives on earth. If this is possible I would like to enter Heaven by riding a dragon, it would be very cool.

I only have one question for God momentarily. Did bees have stingers before sin came in the world because stingers are used to protect the bees. So, if someone harassed a bee the punishment is being stung. My theory is God knew sin was coming so prepared them. (the bees)

I hope you found this mesmerizing. Say "HI" to super-baby and the newcomer side-kick-baby, Rachel.

Isaac 

The last out to eat at the UN base with Paige before she left 

Dear Lisa S ...

Dear Isaac,

Our family has been following your family's blog since before the earthquake.  When the earthquake came, we followed you more intently while praying for your safety and for your friends there.  We really enjoy watching your Christmas videos.  Hahaha!  We are greatly encouraged by your family's love of Jesus and how that love for Him pours out into other people's lives.  

My question for you is, what characteristic of God do you find the most intriguing?  And, why?

Also, what is your favorite Haitian snack?  I ask out of curiosity as we have 3 boys (12,10 & 9yrs) and they always want snacks.  Wondering what they would do in Haiti for a snack...  Here they chow down on Doritoes, Cheetoes, Oreos, popcorn, and other forms of first world junk food.

You don't have to answer both if you don't have time!  Thanks so much for sharing your insight with the world.  We are blessed to be on the receiving end.

May God continue to bless and lead, provide and care for your precious family.

Sincerely,

Lisa Shay on behalf of the Shay family

"I find these characteristics of God very intriguing: Mercy is number 1. Our God is extremely merciful which is good because everyone could use some mercy.  JUST is number 2.   Our God is just because His decisions that He makes are fair, there is no fault in what He does. Number 3, flawless, our God is every single fruit of the spirit." (Part II below)

Response to my Mom's question ...

Dear Isaac,

Did you think you would ever get a question from your Mom?  

Here it is…. Dad and I observe you and watch you grow and change and we very much see you as a peacemaker in our family. Sometimes we even notice that you lean toward pacifism. My question is two parts, one, please tell us what a pacifist is and two, please tell us if you think you were born this way, or if it is more who you became as you grew up in our house. You are the only person I know that is like you. I am fascinated by you and uber proud of you.

Mom

A.

Dear Mom,

No, I did not think you would ask me a question. I am flattered you asked me a question. 

A pacifist is someone who opposes war or any kind of violence, like shooting, stabbing, or boxing - those are some notorious examples of bad things. As a pacifist I also do not like hearing people be mean or cuss at each other, it is very excruciating for both me and the person who is fighting.

I think it was a combination of being born and growing up in this house that made me a pacifist. I want to keep my attitude as clean as can be. For example, violent games can change your attitude to violent, which is not what God wants. Since I have siblings, it is important that I have a good attitude to set an awesome example.

4 year old isaac ~ does this look like a pacifist? ;)

Coming Monday, I will answer Lisa S. about what I think are the characteristics of God.  Thanks for reading my blog!

Isaac

Dear Marjorie,

Q.

So, Isaac, you are an MK living in PAP. Your circle of friends and acquaintances must be very diverse. I am wondering how many countries are represented among all the people you "do life" with in PAP. Of those countries, which is at the top of your list to visit in the future?

A.

Dear Marjorie

Among all the people I do life with in Haiti, most of them come from these astonishing places: Virginians, Canadians, Bostonians, Dutch, and Australians. It is very cool because just like last week, I met an amazing midwife named Shelly and she grew up in Africa. She seemed as if she lived a very stimulating life in Africa. Although it was sad, because two of her dogs were eaten by savage leopards.  

I don't know where all I want to visit (or live), probably Africa or America and maybe Australia.

Thanks for asking,

Isaac

Dear Gwenn.

Hi Isaac,

I have two questions-- (you don't need to answer both if you don't have time.)

1. You are both Haitian and American. Which nationality do you identify with more, and where do you suppose you will live when you are grown up?

2. What qualities do you look for in a friend? Who is your best friend? 

Gwenn Mangine

In case it is too unclear to read well:

Dear Gwenn Mangine,
Some qualities that I look for in a friend are creativity like in my astouding friend Hayden. Number two, capriciousness, as in humorous, my friend Anson was very hilarious. Number three, liveliness, my friend Ashton was extrmely energetic. Number four, kindness, Jeff, who lives in Haiti is very kind. Number five, Every person might have one of these kinds of friends, can you guess what it is? A Jokester. David Salvant is really goofy. My favorite friend is Hayden Hendrick but I still love ALL my other friends as well.

I am both Haitian and American and even though I live in Haiti, I feel equally both. Where I will live, only God knows. Who knows, maybe Haiti again.

P.S. My vivacious brother Noah will always be at the top of my friend list :) .

me with my best friend, noah - when we were little

Dear Kim,

Isaac,
I really enjoy your blog. I have been reading your parents blog since the time of the Haiti earthquake. I wonder sometimes how you all deal with so much sadness and poverty. How do you stay joyful in the midst of so much difficulty?
Thanks for taking our questions, Isaac!
Love,
Kim

Dear Kim,
I can tell you something, it is not easy dealing with it. Haiti probably features some of the most impoverished places. There are numerous ways to help poverty. For example, let's say there was a person who wanted to learn how to farm so you helped the person learn how to farm. Once you accomplished your job he would be he would be able to sell his crops and make money! Some ways me and my family deal with poverty is to feel sorry. Because its (Haiti's) people don't have shelter or much money. Sometimes we ignore it because we can't do much and are sad so we try not to think about it. Or, at least I do that stuff - not always, but sometimes.

Isaac on theology....

Dear Emmanuel-

Hello Isaac,

I am Haitian-Canadian living in Montreal, Canada. You have a formidable vocabulary and seem to enjoy words and language as much as I do. The city where I live is quite unique, in my neighbourhood people switch between English and French in the same sentence at times, and many people speak Kreyol and Spanish as well.

My question is this. Can you share a list of your favorite words and what you like about each word? Some words are fun to say, some have unique meanings, some just seem to liven up a sentence. I value you thoughts and reflections.

Emmanuel

Q.

Also, Emmanuel -  Isaac added this verbally, quoting him here:
"I think it is so intriguing that you are Canadian and Haitian. You are the first Haitian-Canadian I have met. Well, I have not met you yet, but I mean on the Internet.  I like your name because it means "God with us" and it is so interesting that you speak three languages and can blend them. I need to learn Kreyol and French. I don't know very much of either of those beautiful languages. It is exhilerating to know that I have a friend born in Haiti that lives in Canada and speaks three languages." 

Dear Sarah O -

Hi Isaac!

I love reading your blog! Could you tell us what you are doing in summer school? Also, what is your favorite book that you have read?

Sarah O.

P.S.  - Oh, no! I forgot the H on the end of your name, Sarah.  I'm sorry! 

Dear Jen-

Q.
What are the top 3 things you're most excited to do/see in Texas?

What are the top 3 things you'll miss about Haiti when you're in Texas?

Out of all of the Harry Potter books, what is your favorite part and why?
Love you buddy,
Jen

A.

Dear Jen,
There are three things I am very excited to do and see in Texas.  First, I know you know that I love SeaWorld and I hope my parents are taking me to see the very majestic Shamu.  Second, You know I love people. I cannot wait to see our Texas friends. We have plenty of friends in Waco, and Austin, and College Station, that is why I say we have a plethora of friends. Third, I just enjoy being there. When we get to Amercia there will be a ton of things we can do there, but I will simply enjoy being there and not worrying about what to do next.

When I am in Texas I will miss our dogs. You know Peanut and Hazelnut are really good guard dogs. Peanut will attack anyone that is outside our gate even though she is seven and a half years old. She can be quite lethargic and lazy at her age too. Hazelnut is more exhuberant, whom I will also miss. Secondly, I will miss the stunning beaches of Haiti. I love the beaches here and I always want to go if it is an option.  I will miss hiking too. We will also miss the friends that live in Minnesota, like you and Tina and Matt and our cousins. 

My favorite Harry Potter book was the fourth because there was a lot of entralling adventure in it. The chapters featured enourmous amounts of excitement.

love you Jen.

Isaac 

Dear Tricia,

Hey Isaac!

Glad you're back at it this summer.  I understand you really like steak.  Me too!  Would you please explain to me what the difference is between a New York strip steak, a sirloin steak, and ribeye?  Which one is your favourite, and why?

Have a great summer!   

Tricia

p.s. I'm coming to Haiti in September and maybe I could bring you some STEAK! :)