Summer 2018 Part 3 Shad's travels

Shad had a summer to remember!  In May he went with the Peninsular Florida District of the Assembly of God's youth department to an outreach that is held yearly in Miami.  Ironically I went on the first outreach held back in the 80's.  I was college aged!  He is only 14 years old.  He rode with another youth group and when I dropped him off, my stomach dropped everyone was old and so much bigger.  He was the youngest to go but he was so ready to do it! 

They stayed in a church's gym and did many outreaches in conjunction with the Assembly of God churches in the area.  He literally went from sun up to way after dark and he loved it!  They gave out food daily, did skits, sang and invited folks to local churches where the folks can find spiritual and practical help all year long.  

Just a few days after he got home from Miami we headed out for NY and Canada!  Then the Monday after we got back from our trip he headed out for a week of camp with our church kids.  The picture below is of him after he got back.  He was telling us all about camp then he crashed!!!

 Then the next week he headed for El Salvador with the Pen Fl District youth.  If watching him leave for Miami was hard..... watching him leave for El Salvador was much harder!!!  Again he was the youngest not traveling with family and so little looking,  They left at an ungodly hour of 4 am so Steve and I got a hotel room right by the airport so we could sleep then take him and go back to sleep.  The night before we walked around Disney Springs and took him to a Red Lobster.   We just found out that he needed to take 250 small toys & candy  the day before he left.  Thankfully my friend who runs a thrift store had more than that for him of clean unused toys.  He was so happy! 

We had fun packing those!!!!

Leaving from Orlando.  Yes I almost cried!  There was some confusion at the gate, I'd been watching some bags and I thought he had headed through security without saying goodbye!

They worked with King's Castle which is an Assembly of God program that works with all the local churches.  It provides camp for the locals and respite time for missionaries.  Shad met some missionaries who had had to flee Venezuela because of the issues going on there.
He dressed as a clown, did skits, handed out toys, went to local schools (all still in session - they have a different schedule than we do)  they were able to reach out to the red light district and to many brothels where there were prostitutes as young or younger than they were.  They were able to share with them about ministries that could help them get away and find safety.  It was a very eye opening experience for Shad that was sobering, seeing such great need.

Going on a mission trip may not changed the whole world but it can change the person who goes on it.  It can make hearts more tender and giving.  It can help a teen realize how much they have and to be thankful for it.  And hopefully it will teach that person to be open handed to do for others whether it is at home or abroad   On this trip Shad got baptized in the Pacific Ocean.  That was an experience for him.  He had always wanted to be baptized in the ocean.  This was very meaningful to him.   

Shad had a fantastic summer and now he will be starting back homeschool early.  He is a year ahead and hopes to finish 10th grade by December, then he can apply to do dual enrollment with our local college.  .  

Summer 2018 Part 2 NY and Canada

This was our 11th year of going up to NY for Sam's annual eye check up.  In 2007 Sam had corneal implants or the Boston Kpro put in his eyes in placed of his rejected corneas.  He was born with Peter's Anomaly an eye condition that affects primarily the corneas.  He had received corneal transplants when he was an infant in 2004 but they failed and his corneas had clouded up again.  Our original doctors in Miami felt it was not a good idea to do further transplants and hesitantly told us of Dr James Aquevella who perfected the artificial cornea.  We are so glad we chose the Kpro for Sam.  It has worked wonderfully in his good eye.  He had some issues in his left eye but we were expecting that it might not work.

So once again we  drove up and I have to admit I was dreading the trip this year.  Usually I don't feel like that till we are on the way home but this year I started with it.  Some of the dread I think comes from going to Rochester NY where we had to deal with the memories of Selah's accident.  It's hard to even look at the Erie Canal for me.  But I fight those feelings.  So off we headed....









Our first stop was Rochester to visit Dr A.  Sam had a wonderful report and cooperated in all his testing so he did not need to stay and go into surgery for an exam under anesthesia.  His cornea looked great.  His pressures were perfect.  We got to give all the staff a hug and thank our beloved Dr A again!

Then we had an extra two days to spend in Niagara Falls!  We stayed on the Canadian side for the first time.

Yes it was cold for us Florida people!

This never gets old!

Funny bird

Outside our hotel

We did something new and went to Ft George north of the Falls.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Steve an his camera

My happy girl

After we NF we went about 5 hours north to Sturgeon Bay a national camp ground.  For years we had talked about doing this and thought we should do it this year since we still have Steve with us for the summer.  The hardest part of the trip was the traffic around Toronto.  It made NYC look like a parking lot.  I've been all over the world in some crazy places and I've never seen such aggressive traffic.  During the ride I wanted to cry it was so bad but I didn't want to be a wuss or distract Steve who was driving.  We had no idea how bad the traffic was going to be.  Since then we learned that the Toronto area is considered North America's worst traffic spot!  I can attest to that!!!!



We were glad to get to our quiet campground!








Our cabin.  I hate to admit it but it was not very comfortable.  We have done cabin camping in Florida and were a bit spoiled.

Shad and his camera

We also went further north to Gundry Lake park  it was breath taking.

 Yes we got matching shirts!

Sam loving on daddy for giving his snacks

We also went to Killbear Provincial Park

It was interesting but a bit difficult for me with the little kids.  The bugs were horrible and remember I am a Florida girl and I know bugs LOL  We felt like we could not hardly have the little kids out.  We literally parked right next to the door and then rushed the kids out.  We drove them around to all the parks but didn't really take them out of the van.  One day there a good breeze and we were able to be out more.  I didn't even walk much because i was getting eaten up.  Those bugs sneered at our bug spray!  It didn't faze them a bit.  

With cabin camping I cooked and cleaned and did it over again the next day.  It was not much of a vacation for me.   But everyone else had a good time.  My husband doesn't seem to attract bugs as bad as I do so he took really long walks.  .  Of course the boys didn't mind much.  They did some fun things including kayaking on the bay during a tornado warning!  (we did not know about the warning!!!!)  Steve called me from the bay and said that water was coming over his kayak and he was about a mile out.....  Good Lord I was worried.  Thankfully they made it back and then we learned of the weather advisory!  It got much worse and we lost power for hours!   Steve had downloaded the classic movie The Shining on his computer so we watched that while the storm howled LOL!!!!!!

One night we were so cold we turned down our window unit and immediately mosquitoes began flooding our cabin!   We had kept the unit on because we needed some fresh air and the windows didn't have screens in them.  So we were up for an hour killing mosquitoes.  Poor Sarah got bit up so badly and she scratched the dickens out of herself.   She still has slight scars from them.

Despite it all both Sam and Sarah seemed quite happy except for the bugs.  They liked the smallness of the cabin and like riding in the van places.  They both did so good.  They are easy going when it comes to traveling.   

I'm really glad despite the difficulties and challenges that we went up into Canada.  It was interesting and some spots were so beautiful.  Next year we are planning for Jon to fly up with Sam for a quick doctor visit and then the fam is going to the beach for a week!!!!!!!!  THAT is my kind of vacation!  I have to admit we don't do many relaxing vacations.  We really want our kids to see the world.  It changes a person to get out of their environment and go new places   Growing up I had little opportunity to do anything or go anywhere so vacations have always been important to me.  We have always tried to do interesting things with the kids.

Next Blog will feature Shad and all his travels this summer.  He has been a busy young man!!

Summer 2018 Part 1 Haiti

I'm back!  As always I say I'm going to do  better about blogging.....we will see!  The summer is almost over but what a summer it's been for our family!

As you may remember, Steve was scheduled to go on a mission trip to Haiti. Some of his team came and stayed a couple of nights with us then set off from our house headed for Haiti.  I watched them go with a little lump in my throat....I had NO IDEA what was to come LOL
The first night they all met at Southeastern University and spent the night.  Then they left around 2 am for Orlando International Airport.  Around 4:00 am I get a call from Steve.  He is at the TSA checkpoint and is not being allowed to board the plane!  At first I thought he was kidding around but I realized from his voice he was serious.  It seemed that his passport had gone through the washing machine a few years ago and was fraying even more so he was stopped.  He had used his passport twice since it got washed but this time it seemed it was not going to happen.  The staff did say he could go to Miami and try and get a one day passport.  I encouraged him to do it so he got a ride back to Lakeland  and I met him there with all the paperwork he would need later that morning.  We got him a new passport picture and then I took him back to the Orlando Airport to catch an evening flight to Miami.  The ride home for me was"an adventure" I hate driving the interstate and driving in the rain at dusk...yep we had all the above plus major road construction! 

He had quite the adventure in Miami.  He "ubered" for the first time to get to his hotel.  Thankfully  through a friend, we found one on the same block as the passport office.  It was a luxury hotel so he felt like a king for the night.  He had to be in line by 6 am the next morning at the passport office.  I was so worried that we missed a paper or something.  It's very hard to prove you need a one day passport. When he got to the passport office there were a couple of people ahead of him in line and when the office opened at 8 am all those folks got turned away for various reasons.  Steve was sick on his stomach.  He was given 30 seconds (literally) to state his case.  He had just been talking to someone in line about us having gone to Cuba, so he tells the person he needs his passport to go to Cuba!!!!  He corrected himself and they all laughed because they could tell how nervous he was!!!   Anyhow it all went well and he picked up his passport that afternoon.  (It reminded me of Ukraine-we had to get a one day passport for the girls)  He got another great night in the hotel then left for Haiti early the next morning. 

BTW a one day passport just means it's issued in just one day. 

There was a disturbance out in the Gulf so the airplane trip was very bumpy going over and coming back.  Evidently the Haitians on board prayed- out loud- loudly.  He wasn't sure what was going on.  But he makes it to Haiti safe and sound.  But you know that is not the end of the story...Oh no not for a Clanton! 

A couple of days later I get a 5am call from him.  He said he was very sick.   At first I wasn't too worried about it but he got worse as the day went on.  The ministry where he was volunteering had a hospital so he ended up getting admitted to it!  Thankfully after a few bags of IV fluids he was fine.  they think he just got dehydrated.  He loved the whole trip and is already planning on going back next spring to shoot a full video for them. 





Ok I LOVE this picture of him!


the children coming in for school

Steve's team and some of the kids

Looking towards the Dominica Republic

Steve also worked some on a video while he was there and shot some roll that was used in a a fund raiser for the orphanage.  I can't seem to save and share it but I'll try and post it.  

Most of the time he volunteered in the area with the special needs kids.  

This experience has helped him clarify some things.  He hopes to use his videography skills for missions.  He has been thinking along these lines for awhile but this has has shown him what he could actually do.

His goal for now is to graduate from college in December.  He has been accepted into the Master's program to purse the degree of Human Services.  He is hoping he will get a GA (graduate's assistant ) position to help pay for his degree.  Please pray that the right door will be opened for him.