The leaf gathering has begun...

Last night we started our annual leaf gathering :-) On our walks, our goal is to find the prettiest leaves all throughout our neighborhood and park. We bring the leaves home, and let them dry as a centerpiece on our table with candles. It adds a little color and encouragement during the ugly Winter months. The leaves are already changing beautifully, and our Sycamore tree has already lost a bunch of leaves. We are in home improvement mode before Winter sets in. We are having a sprinkler system put in, insurance is fixing the water damage to our walls/ceiling from the heavy rains we had, and we are going to have someone look at the roof and see if insurance needs to have it fixed as well. Yesterday, Brandon and both heard Eli say "Da Da" plain and simple. He also says "Ga ga", so it's always hard to hear the difference. Today while my brother was visiting I got Eli on video saying "Da da" a bunch of times. Later we all heard him say it again! Hooray! Yesterday, we attended the funeral of our friend whose baby was born with a rare dwarfism and only lived for an hour and a half. It was shocking to see them carrying such a tiny coffin. I am praying that I never have to see a casket that small again. It is hard for me to imagine anyone going through such a thing without the comfort and peace of God. She has had the best attitude of anyone I have ever seen because of her faith. Praise God!