Have I mentioned lately that my favorite season is fall?

Without a doubt, I love the months of October and November. This year has proven to be another winner when it comes to those months. We have enjoyed many hikes in Austin, picnics, wearing jeans and sweatshirts, putting out our fall decor, fires inside and out, drinking hot drinks, and finally a road trip up to Indiana for Thanksgiving. We have MUCH to be thankful for this year. The Lord continues to amaze me by His goodness and grace on our family. Lily and Silas recently decided to make Jesus Lord of their lives. What an incredible privilege to be able to disciple our own children and I am so thankful that I get to do this job with Pete. He has become an amazing spiritual leader to our family and spiritual father to our kids. Life is truly an adventure when we live each day to honor and glorify Jesus.

Now, please join me as I share some highlights of my favorite season! Pete surprised us and came home early one Friday afternoon in October so we headed off to a nearby state park and spent the rest of the day exploring, fishing, hiking, and playing. It was an awesome day!
I was very proud to catch the only fish that afternoon.

Silas and Lily "collecting" as we hiked along.

We entered into a cave on the hike and tried to guess what creatures had been there... maybe a dinosaur?

Joe loves hanging out on Pete's back as we explore the woods.

Our hike led us to some water where the kids enjoyed throwing rocks. Ahhhh.... what a relaxing way to spend the day.

Lily: the soccer star. She defintely became more aggressive this year and ended her season with a goal. Way to go Lil!

Silas and Lily set up a tea party in the sun room for them and Daddy. It was complete with little name tags at each spot and a sign around the corner that directed you to the right location.

If you are ever in trouble at the Newell home, just call on Super Joe. He will come to the rescue!

Up, up and away!

Lily is fearless when it comes to creatures. Here she is with a gecko she found in the playhouse.

No, it's not 4th of July. The kids just happened to all be dressed patriotic and I thought it was cute. :)

Lily dressed up as an "Indian" for her Thanksgiving party at school.

Hip Hip Hooray! We made it to Indiana! The day we got there, Grandpa put Lily and Silas to work raking the yard. This was actually one thing Silas had been wanting to do all season but there hadn't been any leaves in Austin to rake.

Here he is living out his dream: to jump in a big pile of leaves.

Joe looking like a little handsome boy here.

A trip to Indiana would not be complete without a trip to Brown County State Park (atleast not for me). We started with breakfast at the Hob Nob, then a hike, playing on the playground and a picnic to finish it off. It was another perfect day in my book.

Aunt Jess (Ben Newell's wife) and her two kids Jonas and baby Cora joined us for the fun outing. Lily and Silas LOVED hanging out with their sweet cousin Jonas.

Happy Birthday Silas!!!! While we were in Indiana, Silas turned 4. Here's Lily, his biggest fan, ready to cheer him on as he opens his gifts.

2 days after his birthday Silas was happy to celebrate his birth with more cousins. Jamie (Pete's sis) and her husband Josh came to Indiana with their 4 kids. The fun never stopped!!

Joe enjoyed celebrating his brother as he ate his cupcake.

After the birthday party we all headed to the local gymnastics club where they were having "open gym". Fun was had by all. Pete is preparing to sprint down the trampoline runway and jump into the pit of foam blocks.

Here's Pete after he jumped into the pit. Notice who he took out on the runway. (poor little Joe)

Let the feasting begin!!! Our Thanksgiving was spent with 130 people who were all somehow related to one another (on Pete's mom's side). This is an amazing family tradition that was started years ago to celebrate Barb's grandpa's birthday which fell around Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving was spent with Pete's dad's side of the family which is another big gathering with lots of yummy food. It was great to be able to reconnect with family.

The picture is sadly smudged but the content is funny. All the grandkids were calling Grandpa "King James" and treating him royally. I'm not sure what all was role played down in the basement, but several times a grandchild would come upstairs to get the king coffee or food.

We made it back to Austin and to Lily, Silas and Joe's delight there was a huge amount of leaves in our front yard waiting to be raked and jumped in.

Lily recently recited the first chapter of Genesis at school. She's the 3rd from the right. She did an excellent job!

There are plans in the making to put up the Christmas decorations this weekend. Sadly I will take down my fall decor and carefully put them away in their special box until next year. Sigh....

Life has really picked up speed during the last month and a half. Lily started school for the first time at the end of August, we all started back to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) at the beginning of September, our Small Group started up again in September, and Lily started her soccer season again in September, as well. We have to be careful not to become too busy with these good activities that we lose focus on what we believe are the most important things: spending time together as a family(laughing, eating, wrestling, dancing, hiking, and picnicing), spending time with Jesus, and loving on other people. As our kids get older, especially with Lily starting school, we are more aware of the busy lifestyle that can very easily creep into our home. With God's help and guidance, we hope to continue the simple life that we have learned to love.

End of Summer and Start of FALL

Happy Birthday B!! We had fun celebrating B's birthday in August with the cousins. We continue to thank God for allowing us to live this close to family. What a blessing!
Joe has become better acquainted with Dottie. He and I had a special 2 on 1 visit with her a few weeks ago. He enjoys playing cars, ball, and high five with his sweet great grandmother.

Lily learned to swim!! This past summer was the year for Lily to learn the front crawl, the breast stroke and the backstroke. She was finally ready and caught on fast. Way to go Lil!

Silas improved his kicking this year and informed me that he would go under the water more when he's four. Maybe next summer will be his year!

Lily was SO excited to start kindergarten. Here she is on the front porch the first day of school. Lily with her teacher, Miss Wellen. Can't you just feel Lily's excitement? She still loves it.

Silas and Lily showing off their "Kingdom Award" after they memorized Matthew 6:33 and learned more about Kingdom living.

Our superhero children. They are amazing!

Lily's lost her first tooth in September after she let her mom pull it out, then two weeks later she lost the one right next to it after she pulled it out. She was very excited to lose her teeth.

It's YMCA soccer time again. Lily (in the red shorts) is strategically watching her teammate throw in the ball. Her coach in the red shirt(who happens to be related to Lily) has been working with the team on aggressiveness, a very important part of the game, but a very hard thing for 5 year olds to learn.

Silas likes to dress like his siblings sometimes. This particular day he came out with his outfit on and asked if Joe could be twins with him. Here the cute brothers are... camo shorts, 4th of July muscle shirts, maroon hats and flip flops. Nice!

It's fall!!!!!! My favorite time of the year. Lily and Silas also love the fall and loved picking out pumpkins (sadly at the grocery store and not a pumpkin patch) and painting them for our front porch. We love eating anything pumpkin and we dream about raking leaves and jumping in them. And of course I dream about Edward's Orchard and eating apple cider donuts. Where are the apple orchards in Texas????

THE MIDWEST TOUR '10

We began our tour on June 24th and arrived in Columbus, Indiana on June 25th to celebrate Pete's parents' 40th wedding anniversary. A surprise party was pulled off at the church where they were married and all of their kids and grandkids were there to honor them as well as other family members and friends. It was a fun day and a fun week to all be together. Pete travelled home to Austin on July 4th and Lori and the kids stayed in Indiana another week enjoying time with grandparents. Lori was also able to see some dear friends... the Mathisons, Kristy Conrad, Michele(Nowicki)Prible, and Amy Mathison. Then we travelled up north to Lori's beloved Sycamore, Illinois where she spent time with dear friends who are like family to her. Even though her parents sold 541 Lincolnshire last summer, Sycamore still feels like home because of the people and the familiar places. Lori's parents flew to Chicago to join Lori and the kids on their trip up to Washington Island, Wisconsin with Ron and Mary Floit and their grandson, Miles. We had a great week on the Island relaxing, enjoying the cool weather and lush, green trees and being with dear friends. We made our way back down to Indiana where Pete flew back to meet us, ending our month at a family reunion and then into the van to drive down to Austin on July 25th. We're already looking forward to next summer's midwest tour and scheming how Pete can join us up north. Ahhhhh..... the midwest.... until next summer.... The happy couple celebrating 40 years of marriage together, surrounded by their 4 kids and spouses and 10 grandkids (11th due in a month) and Barb's 93 year old mom.

We made many fun memories together that week. Here are 5 of the grandkids having fun in Uncle Ben and Aunt Jess's backyard.

A trip to Indiana would not be complete without a visit to Nashville, IN and Brown County State park. Here's Grandma and Grandpa Newell surrounded by their sweet grandchildren all dressed alike.

Silas and Lily loved hanging with their cousins. We miss you boys and girls!!!

Time for sparklers!

After all the cousins left, we enjoyed another trip to Brown County with grandma and grandpa to hike, swim and ride the ponies!

Lily enjoying her pony, Doodle.

On our way to Sycamore, we stopped near Wheaton to spend the night with my dear friend Heather (Griffin) Gosling and her family. Lily and Silas immediately hit it off with her two girls, Abby and Kylie.

Lily and Silas also enjoyed playing with Nolan and Mila Baumgartner (children of Debbie (Pagan) Baumgartner who lives at JPUSA) in Sycamore. They were staying with Kyle and Barb White (friends from Sycamore who also visited us in Austin) and we were staying with Cheryl and Dave Lienhard (more friends who also visited us in Austin). We all got together a couple of times for some fun and fellowship. We also got to connect with Lily and Mason Depauw, children of Anna (Reardon) Depauw (who has plans to visit us in Austin in the near future. :)) Lily and Silas LOVED playing with all of these sweet, dear midwest friends. We can't wait to see you all next time!

And finally they were reunited with their good friend Miles Minard. They all loved being together last summer on the Island, and they quickly reconnected and played like best friends.

Here they are playing in the water outside the Floits' home.

Throwing rocks into the lake on Schoolhouse Beach with B.

The grandparents with their grandchildren on the morning we left. We love you all! Thanks for a great week on the Island!

GOODBYE MILES!!! WE'LL MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!