My Parents Visit

What a blessing my family has been. At the beginning of this month we were blessed by a visit from my dad and mom and my older brother Eddie. My mom and dad visited us in 2006 but this was my brother's first trip outside the US. We had a great time. We did a little sight seeing, which included the beach, the historic district, and even a hospital so my dad could get a couple of stitches. And of course they spent plenty of time hanging on our newest family member and I am not sure Kelton has had so much fun as he had with uncle Eddie. My mom thought she would like it so much she is staying around for a little while longer. We are blessed that she gets to be here until Sunday April 27. What a blessing.

our boy

here are some more pictures of the boys

Introducing Samuel Josiah Porter

After many, many months of waiting our little boy is finally here. Samuel was born this past Wednesday at 8:20 in the morning. We stayed in the hospital until Friday morning and made it home in time to pick kelton up from school at noon. Since then we have been staying pretty close to the house. We are sleeping when we can and enjoying our new family. Kelton loves being a big brother and is very helpful. He often wants to hold Samuel and give him lots of kisses. Jennifer is doing well too. She is recovering from the labor and trying to take it easy. As for me, I am doing what i can to help out and trying to love on all three of my family. here are a few pictures for you all and of course the fun facts.

Samuel was born at 8:20 on March 12. (threes to the day of when we flew from Abilene to move to Brazil)
The labor lasted about 6 and half hours.
Samuel was 8lbs and 10oz. and about 20 inches long. (3.925 K and 51.5 cm)

I have a new son

Samuel Josiah Porter was born this morning at 8:20 Salvador time. He is 8 1/2 pounds and about 20 1/2 inches. He and mom are doing great. love you all. thanks so much for your prayers.

No baby yet

So we are still waiting for little Samuel's arrival. We have about a week until our official due date, although I had really convinced myself that he was going to come early. It is an interesting time of life. Waiting, expecting. I feel like it is the epitamy of waiting for God's timing. God definately knows when it is the right time for Samuel, for our family, for the work, for the hospital.

Everyday Samuel waits to come gives me another chance to cross something else off my list. All the absolutely necessary things are done, but it is nice to get some of the smaller things done, around the house or for work. I got my hair cut yesterday, which I have been needing to do for 2 months. It is very short. Shorter than I have had it in more than 4 years. It is much cooler and it should be easier to take care of with a newborn. And it is good to have a chance to work on more of my jobs that I will have to pass off to my teammates when I go on maternity leave.

I love the idea of maternity leave. With Kelton, we were in the middle of our training so I went back to classes after about two weeks. But I feel very blessed to have the flexibility to stay home with Samuel for 2 months. Even after that, I get to just take Samuel with me. I have job that involves time with people, having people in my home, study preparations, and church activities. All of these things allow for the flexibility of being a mom. I won't be working 40 hour weeks for a long time, but I do get to do the things I love most in the world: being with my family and serving our gracious Father through the church here in Salvador.

Please continue to pray for Samuel's birth, the waiting and the reality of his addition to our family.

Pictures

Here is a few of my favorite pictures that we have taken lately. I keep thinking I am going to send these out but haven't gotten around to it yet so I thought I'd at least post them here!

Carnival

We have survived another year of Carnival. For those of you who have never experienced Carnival in Salvador, which I am sure is the majority, it is party time on steroids. The city shuts down for about a week, close to a million tourist flock to the city and everyone goes to the huge parades and concerts and all night parties. For us it was a fairly quiet last few days. The major carnival events are not close to where we live, so our side of town was fairly peaceful. We spent some time trying to finish unpacking and getting our house organized.

On Tuesday we went out to the area-wide C of C Carnival retreat. Most Christian in Brazil tend to flee the cities during Carnival, also everyone is off from work so it is a good time for a retreat. This year, since I am 8 months pregnant, we decided not to camp out with the heat and sometimes working showers and just go for the day. We had such a fun time seeing friends. We spent most of the day catching up with our brothers and sisters. Kelton played until he could play no more. We took our football. None of the other kids had ever played with a football before, so we tried to teach them how to throw it and catch it. It was fun to watch.

We are so grateful for our Christian friends here in Salvador. It is always encouraging to spend time with them. God is so good to us.