Introducing Josiah David Newell

Born at 1:54 am, April 23, 2009

Weighing 8 lbs 9oz

We were praising God for a quick labor and delivery Wednesday night. Josiah arrived on the scene 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital. He missed being born on Pete's birthday by 2 hours.

A very proud big sister came hours after Josiah was born to meet her new baby brother.

B and Grandad had arrived the night before when Lori was having contractions 10 minutes apart. The contractions stopped after 6 hours, but B and Grandad stayed for the excitement the next night.

Our first complete family photo... a happy fivesome.

Lily holding her brother for the first time.

Josiah will be well cared for and loved by these two little ones.

Lily and Silas posing for an Easter picture before church.

Silas showing off our beautiful garden that B and Grandad have planted for us. We already have squash growing.

Lily and Silas helping Pete celebrate his 35th birthday hours before Josiah came into this world. We are thankful for you Daddy and the blessing you are to all of us. Thank you for being such a GREAT daddy and husband!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

SPRINGTIME MEMORIES

Fun times in Oklahoma. Our dear friends Joanna and David, who we know from Phoenix got married at the end of March. We were blessed to be able to travel up for the wedding and participate in all the festivities of the weekend. It was a much needed break for us.

Here we are hanging with the Phoenix crowd who made it to the wedding in Oklahoma. We had so much fun reconnecting, laughing and eating really good food. We love you all and miss you!!!

Lily and Silas were invited to a very special birthday party. It was Amelie's 3rd birthday and she had a farm animal theme with a real petting zoo. Amelie is the daughter of Jessica and Joe who we have known for almost 10 years through Food for the Hungry. Jessica was with us in Bolivia during our first 6 months and she was a huge blessing and we have stayed close friends through the years. Now, to our surprise and delight, we all live in the same city.

Lily's favorite animal at the birthday party was the 4 week old sheep named, "Ba-Ba". She could have petted that sheep for hours.

Silas is loving his new room with his big boy bed. A huge praise regarding Silas is that he has transitioned well to sleeping in the new house. For three months, while living at the apartment, he cried every night when he went to bed and he woke up early. Now we are once again experiencing peaceful evenings and he's sleeping later in the morning. Praise God!

Lily showing off her new room with a big girl bed and sparkly, pink walls. For the past 2 years she has shared a room with mommy and daddy and she is now very happy to have her own space, and so are we! :)

The "new" kitchen, minus the countertops (what you see in the picture is a temporary plywood countertop). Pete worked very hard putting in new cabinets, scraping off the popcorn ceilings, putting in new lights and fixing the broken appliances. Well done Pete!

We are loving all this space in the family room. The kids have so much room to run and play chase and we are looking forward to hosting friends, family, small groups, etc.

One more look at Lori's belly: 1 1/2 weeks away from the due date.

Lily and Silas reinacting "Palm Sunday".

We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Newell. They helped us with lots of projects, but we were also able to do some exploring around Austin. Here we are enjoying a hike through the woods. Thanks for coming to see us Newells!

ALL MOVED IN AND ALMOST OUT
ALL MOVED IN and praising God that we are feeling settled already. There are still project lists floating around but for now we are happy with what has been accomplished. We are super thankful for both sets of parents who have helped us tremendously the last few weeks. The Foxes came through like a whirlwind and cleaned, set up our house and planted a garden in a day a half. Two days later the Newells flew in and fixed things, mowed a jungle of a yard, painted and blew bubbles in the backyard. We are truly blessed by wonderful, caring, servant-like parents. Thank you Foxes and Newells for all the work you have done.
The kids are loving the house and the space it provides inside and out. They routinely run through the house like they are participating in track and field events and the backyard is a world of exploration. Praise God for the home He has provided.

ALMOST OUT. Yes, this next Newell baby is getting very close to coming out. Unlike the first two babies, Lori is ready before the due date to meet this little one. April 18th is coming soon and we wouldn't be surprised if she/he comes before that date. Then again, maybe we'll have another late one. We'll keep you posted.


HOPE IN THE CITY is the name of the church we have begun to call home. After visiting a few churches during the first month we were here in Austin, we decided to become regular attenders at Hope which is located directly across the street from the apartment we lived in. We are loving the spirit found in this body of believers, which is open to new people like us and desires to see the city of Austin and the nations come to know Jesus. God, in His perfect timing, allowed us to attend a marriage course at the church that lasted 7 weeks and it was just what we needed in the midst of this busy transition. Every Thursday we went to the church, dropped the kids off with a babysitter in one of the Sunday school rooms, went to another room and sat down to a candlelight dinner, then off to another room where we watched an excellent video series that taught us valuable lessons and encouraged deep discussion on how we can grow in our marriage. Tonight was the first Thursday in a couple months that we didn't have the marriage course and it was a sad night.
We are now looking forward to plugging into a small group and growing in relationship with other people in the church and finding places where we can serve and minister. Praise God for His continued faithfulness and goodness on our lives!


Praise God for loving us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross so that we can live!!!! May you experience His love especially this weekend as you celebrate Jesus' resurrection.


Love,
Lori, Pete, Lily and Silas