Milan, Italy

Last week we had the opportunity to make a trip to Milan, Italy. Milan is a beautiful city and very different from Innsbruck. During our 4 day stay, we did get a chance to see some of the sites, but that was not the primary purpose of our visit. We were there to visit some friends who had recently moved to Milan from Namibia, Africa.

Two years ago, we met a family from Namibia while we were in Pastor's School in Nashville. They were originally from Johannesburg, SA and had been pastoring a church in Namibia as misisonaries for a couple of years. We reconnected with them just shortly after we moved to Innsbruck and found out that they were considering moving to Milan to plant a church. The Siani family moved to Milan in December 2005. Franco was born in Italy and lived there for a few years until his family moved to South Africa. They have a heart for all of Italy and hope to plant a church in Rome as well. This is also our heart and we had a great time together, dreaming and planning our futures!

Milan is a very difficult place to plant a church. Being the financial and fashion capital of Milan (maybe the fashion capital of the world!), it is a very materialistic society. Everywhere you look, you see people of all ages who look like they just stepped out of a magazine or off a runway. People are much more interested in their appearance than they are the condition of their soul. Most people do not want to talk about spiritual things. Even Catholicism is practiced less in Milan than in most other parts of Italy. Italians are a unique people in their culture and the way they think. It really helps that Franco is Italian. He understands them because he is one of them! While things are difficult, they are encouraged and optimistic about the future! We are looking forward to developing our relationship with them and seeing how we can work together to plant churches in Italy. Please pray for them.

We did get a chance to see some of the famous sites in Milan. Enjoy the pictures and imagine yourself there! (a couple of the pictures are stock photos, they turned out better than mine)

The Siani Family - Franco, Daleen, Peter (10) and Sabrina (8)

Sfrozesco Castle in the center of Milan

Duomo di Milano. This gothic style cathedral built in 1386 is the second largest in the world


this shopping center is one of the most famous in Italy. The store on the left is Prada and on the right you have Louis Vuitton. Sorry, no Christmas shopping here!

Salzburg

I had the opportunity last weekend to travel to Salzburg for some ministry. This the first of 3 monthly trips that I will be taking with some very specific goals in mind. There is a remarkable young man there, Simon, who has taken the lead in setting up a monthly service to reach young people in High School and college. He is doing a great job and is patterning it after what we are doing in Innsbruck with U-NITE. They have a handful of musicians there, so I will be going each of the next three months to work with the band, teaching them about worship and raising the quality of music they play. Martin is the worship leader and I will be mentoring him to maximize the call that God has on his life. I also spend time with Simon to develop his leadership. They have only had 5 meetings and run anywhere from 20-35 young people.

Last weeks trip was very successful, as the Simon and the worship band were hungry to learn all they could. I also preached a message to lift their faith, challenging them to believe God for huge things, things they never had imagined before. I was excited to get a call from Erwin, one of the guys in the band to tell me that God had answered every prayer that he had this week! Of course I told him that meant he needs to be praying for bigger things! His faith is growing as he sees God's faithfulness.

I am very excited about what the coming months will bring and expect that the seeds sown will bring a harvest for years to come. I took some pictures for you, enjoy!


Rehearsing with the band, Martin on left

Me preaching with Simon translating

worship during U-NITE

Noah Turns 5

One of the benefits from our trip to the States was that we were able to Celebrate Noah's birthday with friends and family. He made out pretty well with a friends birthday party at the St. Louis Zoo, as well as a family birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It was great for our families to see him open his presents, rather than mailing them and not being able to see his excitement. Legos are the thing now and he is building up quite the collection. Thomas the Tank Engine has been officially replaced! The weather for our Zoo party was perfect and a nice break from all the snow we have had this year in Innsbruck. Of course, turning 5 has changed Noah's life dramatically, or at least he thinks it should. Everything that he was too young to do when he was 4, he thinks he should be able to do now that he is 5. He would probably try to drive the car if we let him! When we moved, he was old enough to remember his friends from St. Louis, so it was especially exciting for him to be able to spend his birthday with them. Time sure is flying fast, which is why we try to capture every moment on film (or memory card). Enjoy the pictures.


In awe of the Madagascar cake

Now for the good stuff

Give him something to climb and he will conquer it


Mommy and Ella on the train

Happy Easter!

Fröhliche Ostern, as we say here in Austria. We hope that you had a great Easter with your friends and families, celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior. Stacey and I watched "The Passion" on Friday night, I had not seen it since it came out in the Theaters. It was just as moving seeing it the second time as the first. I am amazed at what Christ did for someone so undeserving as me, which makes me all the more grateful that He did. It also rekindles the fires of evangelism in me, seeing what Christ suffered for all the world, not just me and you. I pray that we all labor to tell those we know what Christ did for them because He "so loved the world".

On a less spiritual note, we had a great time with the kids hunting Easter eggs. You would have thought it was Christmas morning around here! Noah and Ella were so excited to explore every inch of the flat is search for goodies. Here are some pictures of the kids. Hope your Easter was as blessed as ours!


Ella enjoys the fruits of her labor

Aaron reads the Easter story to Noah

Seth couldn't hunt for eggs, so he just looked cute!

Caught in a Whirlwind

That pretty much sums up what our life has felt like over the last couple of months. I apologize that it has been so long since our last update, so this might be a little longer than usual to catch you up.

Getting a visa here in Austria has proven to be a very difficult task. We do have reason to rejoice, as one of the other American families just received their visa in March after having applied almost 1 year ago. Without a visa, we need to leave the European Union every six months and say away for several weeks to stay "off the radar" so to speak. We thought we would be able to have our papers filed before our most recent six month deadline, but due to recent changes we were not. However, when we found that out, it was pretty late in the game. We found out on March 2 that we had about 36 hours to leave the European Union!

We had two options, go back to the States, or a European country outside of the Union, such as Switzerland or Croatia. After a few hours of prayer, discussion and crunching the numbers, we decided that our cheapest option was to head to the States for a few weeks. I was able to purchase tickets at a great price, considering the short notice, but that was just the first hurdle for us to get back to St. Louis. Because we were caught off guard by this, Seth did not have a passport. Vienna is the only consulate in Austria and our only chance of getting a passport on such short notice. We got up Friday morning and set off for Vienna, a 5 hour drive to get the passport. We returned back to Innsbruck about 9pm that night and started to pack, knowing that we had to get up at 5am the next morning to get to the airport.

Saturday morning, we wake up bright and early and head to Munich, were we are flying out and about halfway there it starts to snow. It continues to snow harder and harder and traffic is now stopped on the highway. What should have taken 1 1/2 hours, turned into a 6 hour trip and we missed our flight by 2 1/2 hours! We were able to get a hotel room for the night and the kids had a lot of energy that they needed to work out. Two of our friends drove with us to Munich so that they could drive our car back. It was not long after they started back to Innsbruck that they returned. They heard on the radio that there was a 45km traffic jam and that the red cross was bringing blankets and hot drinks because they expected people to be stranded all night! We got them a room and they went back the next day. The next morning our flight finally gets off the ground after sitting on the runway for 2 hours because of the snow and ice. We were very happy to arrive in St. Louis and have that whole ordeal behind us. We knew that God must have something big in store if the devil worked that hard to try and keep us from coming back!

Turns out, He did! Just days after we returned, some unexpected events unfolded that made it obvious exactly why God brought us back when he did. In the midst of some adverse circumstances, God showed Himself faithful over and over again and His sovereign hand guided us the entire time.

There are many wonderful challenges in taking 3 small children on trans-continental flights. Long lines when the kids are antsy, being confined to small places for 10-12 hours at a time and staying awake for more than 24 hours just to name a few. But the biggest challenge is jet lag because it affects our kids worse than us. Innsbruck is 7 hours ahead of St. Louis, so for the first couple of days, Noah and Ella woke up at 3:30am! It gradually got later over the next few days. I never thought I would be so happy to have my kids "sleep in" until 6am. Those first few days, we ate breakfast at 4am, lunch at 8am, and lunch again at 12! Although I think it was worse when we got back. For the first few days, they would not go to sleep until 2-3am. It is strange watching Ice Age with your 5 and 2 year old at 1am, while fixing them sandwiches because they are hungry. That gradually worked itself out as well and now after a week, they are back to their normal routine.

There were several bright points in our trip. My family has not been able to see Seth since he was born, so it was a thrill for them to have him around for a few weeks. My parents built a new home that they moved into on Valentine's Day and were more than happy to open it up to us to stay with them. We were able to visit other friends and family who mean a lot to us and we miss dearly. We also were able to celebrate both Stacey and Noah's birthdays while in the States. We threw a surprise party for Stacey and Noah had a party with his friends at the Zoo. There will be an update on Noah's Birthday soon.
Needless to say, the last 2 months have felt like we were picked up by a tornado and flung across the world and back again. All in all, we see God's hand and purposes in the process and gives us even more reason to trust Him with our lives. He is faithful!

Noah In Austria

We thought we would let you know what Noah has been up to lately.

Noah attends kindergarten here in the little town of Igls where we live. Although it took some time to get used to it, especially because they speak a different language, he has warmed up to it and really enjoys going now. He even has a little girlfriend named Anna. She runs out to meet him in the hallway every morning when he arrives. His favorite activities at school are playing in the Kuschelecke (the cuddle room) which is filled with pillows that he and his classmates can jump around in and playing with Legos and magnetic building toys. They go ice skating every Thursday and rodeling every now and then.

Noah went to ski school all this week and did great! We were so impressed at how quickly he learned and how much he wanted to try it again every time he fell. The last day they set up a race with flags and everything. The Olympics start tomorrow about 5 hours from here. I wonder if it's too late for him to enter. There are some pictures below, but you can also click on this link to download a short video.

Noah Ski School Movie

On a funny note, most of the shows he watches on TV are on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.)He’'s actually started asking questions now with a British accent in his voice. This child is very confused, he does not know whether he is American, Austrian or British.

Noah is quite the little parent, too. Of course he adores Seth and is constantly in the poor little guyÂ’s face talking to him, reading him books, giving him toys, and trying to make him laugh, but he tries to parent Ella as well. Just last weekend after Aaron went looking for a quiet Noah and Ella, he found Noah half-way finished changing EllaÂ’s diaper for the first time. And just a few short hours later, after hearing Noah say, "Upsie-daisie Ella"” we found him lifting her onto her toilet seat, trying to help her go potty.

All in all, Noah is such a blessing and constantly keeps us laughing and on our toes!


Noah and his best friend, Benjamin, showing off their medals



Headin' to the top


Next week we will give you updates on Ella and Seth.

Great News On Aaron's Knee

I went to the doctor today for my follow up visit and he gave me great news!  He said my ligament ruptures were in the best possible location for healing. I will not need surgery, I just need to wear my brace for 4 more weeks.  With the brace I can do anything that I feel comfortable doing, although I don’t think that will include snowboarding.  He said that physical therapy may give me a quicker healing, but is not required.  My knee will recover 100%!  This was very exciting to hear and I thank you all for your prayers.

Seth - 8 Weeks Old

Wow! I can't believe Seth is already 8 weeks old. It certainly doesn't seem that long. He is getting so big. Some friends of ours here had their 3rd child today and it's amazing how much bigger Seth is than a newborn now. It amazing how much he is looking like Noah's baby pictures. It looks like we had twins, 4 1/2 years apart. Here are a couple of pictures.

A Very Merry Drake Christmas

Our first Christmas in Austria was great! It was nice to be able to count on a white Christmas. Unlike life back in St. Louis, where you hope for one, but have no idea if you will get it. It snowed on Christmas Eve and it was picture perfect. With presents wrapped and placed under our first fake tree, we held on to our American traditions and opened presents on Christmas morning, instead of Christmas Eve, which is the tradition here. Of course, it was all about the kids. Noah and Ella could not have been more excited to open their presents and tore through them pretty quick.

We were schedule to go the the Tweedy's house (one of the other american families here) for dinner, but my gimp knee kept me from getting out of the house. They were gracious enough to come to our apartment, along with another young family here who could not travel to see their families this Christmas. We finally got our Turkey! We were able to get ahold of two turkey's for Christmas dinner and it was well worth the wait. We had to get two, becuase they were only about 6 pounds each. I have never seen a turkey so small. It still tasted like Turkay and that was good enough for me. The biggest treat however was finding cranberries! We found a supermarket that had temporarily set up an international fruit section and they had packages of Ocean Spray cranberries. It was almost like being home.

However, no matter how good the turkey and cranberry sauce was, we were not able to share it with our family. This was the first Christmas that we have celebrated apart from our families and it was definitely strange. Stacey's parents came for a visit at the beginning of December and that certainly helped, but it still was different. It really made my heart go out to those who were apart from their families this Christmas, under much worse circumstances than ours. We have friends in Iraq that were not able to spend Christmas with their families, and friends in prison who cannot share a meal with their family. We truly are blessed to be doing what we are doing and still see our family a couple of times a year. It's a small price to pay and we wouldn't trade it for the world.

New Year's is celebrated in the same way that we are used to. Staying up late and a new year marked with firework's. We were able to watch a great display from our living room window. I attempted to wake up Noah to watch them and he informed me, "I've seen fireworks before, I want to go back to sleep". We stayed in to ring in the new year. It was strange to not be able to watch the ball drop in Time's Square, but it also would have happened at 6:00am our time. I would not have gotten up to see it even if it was on TV.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas.


Some wrapping paper is about to fly!

Let's go rodling!


Budding young architect with his newest creation



Barbie was a big hit this year for Ella

Aaron's First Time Snowboarding (And Maybe Last)

I had been looking forward to this for months, my first time snowboarding! I had been bargain hunting for weeks, amassing all the gear I would need and now I was finally going. Finney, one of the students here in the ministry took me to a beautiful and budget priced run, away from all the tourists. It had snowed recently, so we knew we would have good snow for my first time. I have been skiing 4 times, the last one being about 10 years ago, but I did pretty well at that. How much harder could snowboarding be?

Well, I don't know if it was any harder, but it was very different. I takes a while to get used to the fact that both of your feet are locked to a board. At least with skiing, you have separate control of your legs. I seemed be doing really well. I had gotten the basic feel for it, had pretty good balance and had done pretty well on a couple of turns. After about 45 minutes, I told Finney that he could go ahead down the mountain (He was on skis) and I would just work my way down the run, working on the things that he had taught me. He went ahead and I started down. Things were going well for about 15 minutes, when I got my board pointed straight downhill and started to rapidly pick up speed. When I tried to turn out of it, the front of my board caught the snow. All I could think of was a piece of advice that Finney had given me: "Always fall on your back, whatever you do, don't fall forward". TOO LATE! When the front of my board caught the snow, I was hurled through the air, head over heels. As best as I can recall, I did 3 somersaults. On the last one, the board stuck in the snow while my body continue to twist forward. I felt a sharp pain in my left knee. I knew that couldn't be good. I laid there for probably 3-5 minutes, contemplating my next move, then I finally got up. As I said before, Finney had already gone ahead and there was literally no one else on the slopes. I picked up my board and started to walk the rest of the way down, about 1/4 mile, to the lifts. I met Finney down there and had some lunch while he continued to ski. I had know idea how bad the injury was. It was not excruciating, but I definitely could not continue to snowboard. I hadn't even made it one time down the slope!

Throughout the afternoon and evening, the pain continued to get worse, to the point that I had to put almost all of my weight onto Stacey to go to the bathroom. The next morning, I went to the emergency room and was diagnosed with a ruptured ACL and MCL. They could not tell at the time whether or not I would need surgery. They gave me a knee brace and some pain pills and a follow up appointment for two weeks. That appointment is tomorrow, Jan. 4. I have been doing pretty well the last 2 weeks, it has definitely slowed me down. The pain has not been too bad, I haven't used any pain pills since the first day. And, that's not because I am a tough guy, it's just not really that bad. It has given me some time to read and catch up on some non-physical work, which is a good thing. Probably the worst things at this point are the itching caused by the tight brace and the daily injections that I have to give myself of blood thinner. This may be harder on Stacey than it is on me, my contribution around the house has definitely been less the last two weeks. She could definitely use your prayers as well. God is faithful and I know this will all turn out for His glory. Pray with me that God heals my knee and that surgery will not be necessary. Enjoy the pictures from my fun day!

Tearin' up the slopes

I'm flyin' now

Here's what I was doing when I hurt myself (yeah right)


Finney and I in the lodge

A Mountain Adventure

What we call "sledding" in America, is called "Rodling" here in Austria. And believe me, it is quite a different experience. I went Rodling for my first time Friday night. This is what we did for the our Christmas party with the leadership team of the church. First of all, the Rodl is very different from the sleds we are used to (see the picture below). You sit on the top, or lay down if you want to go faster and steer with your feet. It takes a while to get used to it, but it's a blast when you do. Secondly, a major part of this experience is walking up the mountain, in the snow, pulling your sled. I find it amazing that an entire culture thinks that this is fun. When we walked up on Friday, it was snowing, with already a good 2 feet of snow on the ground. You usually hike up about 3km (about 1.9 miles). At the top of the mountain there is a restaurant with amazing food, fireplace and a great view. You then slide down all the way to the bottom. That is the fun part. That is what is supposed to happen.

Now for my experience. The plan was for us to take a ski lift 3km up the mountain and then walk the remaining 3km tot the top. When we got there, we found out that we had missed the lift and we would have to walk the entire 6km. The locals didn't even hesitate because they have been doing this all their lives. I on the other hand am not used to doing this, nor am I in the kind of shape that I would like to be. After about 15 minutes of walking, I am having serious doubts about whether I am going to make it to the top. Then it happened. Like manna in the wilderness, a taxi passes us on the road! We flag him down and pay him to take us to where the lift would have dropped us off. This was definitely a good thing for me! So we continue on up the mountain. It may have been the most miserable time of my life. We arrived at the top and I felt like I was going to die. I was dehydrated and my legs were cramping severely. We get to the lodge and I could not eat because I was so nauseous. I will spare you some the graphic details, just know that it was not fun. We then start to head down the mountain we realized that it had snowed so much that the rodl just sunk into the ground when we sat on it. We were able to sled down about half and had to walk the other half. I have never been so happy to go home and get into bed! In retrospect, most of this misery could have been avoided. Not realizing how intense and exerting it was going to be, I had not eaten or drank anything since breakfast and we started climbing at about 6pm. Next time I will be more prepared. Enjoy the pictures from my adventure!


Here is a typical Rodl

Our taxi sent from heaven

Me recovering in the Lodge

Having some fun on the way down

Happy Birthday Aaron

Aaron celebrated his 33rd birthday on December 15th. Because Aaron loves to cook, but does not get a chance to do it as often as he would like, he chose to cook dinner on his birthday. Not the kind of birthday that most people would choose, but he enjoys it. He also had a went to visit a castle that he had been wanting to tour since we moved here. Schloss Ambras is a stunning piece of architecture built in 1228. It was remodeled between 1528-1556 by Archduke Ferdinand II of the Hapsburg family. He filled it with a massive collection of armor, weapons and art. We won't bore you will all the history and details, but it really is amazing to live in a place where you can see and touch a part of history that we do not have a chance to see in the US. Here are some pictures Aaron took.


The castle grounds are beautiful in the snow

One of many armor displays

The stunning Spanish Hall

VERY DIFFERENT, BUT STILL CHRISTMAS

This being our first Christmas outside of the U.S. we really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, things are very different here. Most of the Christmas traditions that we enjoy in America are not enjoyed be our fellow Austrians. But, we have also learned some new traditions that have quite fun. We are doing our best to balance the two. I thought I would give you some examples of the differences we are encountering in how this culture celebrates Christmas vs. an American Christmas.

St. Nicholas Day and Krampus
December 6th marks the beginning of the Christmas season, with St. Nicholas Day. St. Nick is similar to our Santa Claus, wearing a read suit with a white beard. There is more religious symbolism here as he wears a red Bishop's hat and carries a staff. On the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children place a stocking and a plate outside their door. St. Nicholas then comes and give the good children candy and cookies. (there is a picture below of Noah and his St. Nicholas hat he made at school) St. Nicholas symbolizes good, while his counterpart, Krampus, symbolizes the devil. Children who were not good then receive lumps of coal from Krampus in their stockings. This is the big day for St. Nick and then he is done with. He is not in the malls and he does not deliver the presents that are opened on Christmas Eve. Ok, we all have heard of that, but here is the disturbing part. People dress up as Krampus and roam the streets looking for bad children to take to hell. They are dressed in these huge, hairy suits, with masks and horns. They carry chains to tie up the children and take them away. We did not leave the house that day because we did not want our kids to be terrified and have nightmares! I was in the grocery store that evening and one of these demon looking creatures came running through the store, growling and shaking his chains. Very strange. There is a picture at the bottom of what they look like. This is definitely a tradition that we will not miss.

Christmas Markets
One of the most exciting traditions that we have here is the Christmas Market, called the "Christkindelmarkt", meaning "Christ Child Market". The one here in Innsbruck is in the old part of down, by the Golden Roof. There are about 60 booths set up, with everything from home made crafts, bratwurst, cakes, spiced wine and anything else christmassy. They also have horse carriage rides and entertainment throughout the season. It is open from Nov. 23-Dec. 28, closed on Christmas Day. There is a picture at the bottom.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is really the big day here, not Christmas Day. The 25th is still a national holiday and everyone is off work, but the big family stuff happens on the 24th. They wait to set up their trees until Christmas Eve. Needless to say, that was a shock for us. We are used to putting ours up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Because they put theirs up so late, they are not selling live trees until mid December, so we had to buy a fake tree. We have never been big fans of fake trees, but we are happy to have this one rather than nothing. Their Christmas Eve festivities include trimming the tree and then opening all the presents. Christmas day is a day to spend with family, eating a big meal.

Music and Movies
A few of the traditional Christmas songs that we sing in America are also sung here, "silent night", "angels we have heard on high", and "hark, the herald angels sing." that's about it, all the other songs that they sing this time of year, we have never heard before. And believe it or not, they have never heard, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"! What a deprived people. The same goes for the movies. They have German language versions of "Christmas Vacation" and "it's a wonderful life", but no frosty, Rudolph, Charlie brown, Grinch or any of the other Christmas specials that we are used to seeing.

All those differences aside, we still share the only thing that matters - Christ came into the world to save us all. That's all we really need to share. Think of us while you are watching "A Christmas Story", sipping Egg Nog and singing "Frosty the Snowman". We will be thinking of you.

Our First Snow

Wow, just when I thought that Innsbruck could not get any more beautiful, it snows. We had our first snow of the season this week. We woke up Monday morning to snow covering everything! It continued to snow nonstop for the whole day, leaving us with about 9 or 10 inches of accumulation. Noah was so excited that after school I took him out to build a snowman. They say that this is pretty early in the season to get this much snow. I have heard that this winter might be pretty bad. We will see. One of the students at the church here is going to teach me how to snowboard, so look out for pictures of that in the future. Hopefully, none of them will be of me in a full body cast!

Driving adventures......Because there is snow much snow here and so much mountain driving, you are required to have a set of summer tires and a set of winter tires. I, like many people were caught off guard by the storm and still had my summer tires on. We were taking Seth to his first doctor's appointment Monday morning and were not even able to make it down the mountain. I had no control at all. We were just fishtailing down the mountain, when by the grace of God, I was able to pull into a driveway. We turned around and went home. We had our snow tires put on yesterday, so we are ready. Bring on the snow!

There are a few pictures. One of Noah and his snowman, the first snow and a gratuitous picture of Seth who is almost 3 weeks old now! Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with friends and family, and all your favorite foods! Our first Thanksgiving in Austria was very different, but still great. It was definitely weird not being able to celebrate it with any of our family, but we did have good friends to share it with. We also missed almost all of our favorite foods because we could not find the ingredients here to make them. No turkey or cranberry sauce, but we did have some wonderful substitutes. They do not sell whole turkey's in any store here, but we found out that you could order one, but it was too late to get it here in time. I actually was not able to make it to the party because I have been the last couple of weeks. And, those who know me understand that I would have to be feeling pretty bad to miss out on Thanksgiving. I am feeling much better today and ready to dive into some leftovers. We are having some of our Austrian friends over on Sunday, so we will give this another try. We are on a desperate search today for canned pumpkin. Pray for us!

Food difficulties aside, we have so many things to be thankful for that they would be hard to list. We feel extremely blessed to be doing what we are doing and even more blessed to have friends like you. Enjoy your turkey sandwiches!

Seth Has Arrived!

Well, here it is, our most exciting update so far. Seth has arrived! And a week early. We could not be more excited with how smoothly things went. This is our only update this week, so please indulge me as it will probably be longer than usual and with more pictures.

Vitals:

Name: Seth Daniel Drake
Day: Sunday, November 6, 2005
Time: 3:25pm (Central European Time).
Weight: 3,100 grams (about 6 lbs 13oz)
Length: 50cm (about 19 in.)
Hair: Brown
Looks like: You decide

Story:

Stacey's water started to leak Saturday night, but with no contractions. Sunday morning we went to the hospital about 10am, still no contractions. The doctor confirmed that it definitely was her water and they wanted to induce to deliver within 24 hours to reduce the risk of infection to Seth. They finished administering the induction drugs at 2:30, at which time Stacey started to feel mild contractions. The nurse then told us to go back to our room and that she would check in with us at 6pm to see how she was progressing. 45 minutes later, her contractions had quickly escalated and were only about 2 minutes apart and she was feeling the urge to push. I paged the nurse and we got her to the delivery room. Two large contractions later and Seth was born. She had not even been on the bed 5 minutes! The nurse delivered the baby because they had no time to get the doctor. We had been told that our third would come quicker than the first two, but we had no idea it would be this quick. Someone has already suggested that for our next child, we should just pitch a tent next to the hospital. I figured I would just deliver it myself, although Stacey might have some objections to that. I brought Stacey and Seth home from the hospital on Tuesday and they have been doing great since. Noah and Ella are very excited and wanting to tough him all the time.

While there were some things that they do differently here in Austria, we were so blessed with how smoothly things went. Although the nurses on duty did not speak much English, our German was enough to get by. There were no miscommunications! That is a miracle in itself, seeing as how I can't even buy donuts here without there being some kind of miscommunication. Our birthing experience here in Austria was definitely a pleasant one. Thank you all for your prayers, they were answered! Enjoy the pictures, I'm sure there will be many more to follow.

City Wide Conference

This past weekend, our church here in Innsbruck hosted a city wide conference. Theme was "Intimacy with God" and we have about 250 people attend from the area. We were really happy about the turnout because it pulled together many Christians from around Tirol. One of our featured speakers was the assistant to the Cardinal of Vienna. God has really developed a strong relationship between he and our Pastor, both of whom have a strong desire to build unity between the Catholic and Protestant churches in Europe. Some amazing things are happening here in Austria in that arena.

I lead worship for the 3 day conference and had a great time. I was constantly checking my phone to make sure Stacey wasn't going into labor! Fortunately, she didn't. Here are some pictures of me leading worship.

Getting Closer!

Some of you have asked to see pictures of Stacey and her belly. Well, here it is! We are getting very excited as the time draws closer for us to meet Seth. We thought that time might have been a couple of weeks ago when the doctor sent us to the hospital after one of Stacey's routine visits. She was concerned that Seth's heartbeat was very erratic. As high as 170 bpm and as low as 100 during a 30 minute monitoring. She was concerned that he was in some type of distress, so they sent us to the hospital for further monitoring, with the possibility of induction if they thought things were not ok. We quickly packed, got a babysitter and headed to the hospital. after 1.5 hours of monitoring, they said everything was ok and sent us home. We were relieved because we want Seth to be full term and healthy, but also a little disappointed that we didn't get to meet him that night. Things have been fine since then and Stacey is progressing normally on on track for her due date a week from Monday. At least we got our bags packed!