Happy Fall! (And Other Random Ramblings)

The first day of Fall is here! I told Malia this when she woke up this morning, and she excitedly said, "I'm going to go out and play in the leaves today!" We built our home less than ten years ago on bare ground. Needless to say, the trees that we have planted in the past few years do not yet produce an abundant supply of leaves. I asked her where she was going to find leaves to play in, and she looked at me with a 'Duh, Mom' expression and replied, "Well, I'll play in the leaves that fall off the trees today!" I guess the beginning of Fall means that there will automatically be an abundant smattering of leaves on the ground, at least in her mind. Some of the signs of Fall around our house include:

harvest

brilliant blue skies and puffy white clouds

lots of colorful mums

And of course, various and sundry decorations:

I love the colors of Fall, and also all of the foods that I associate with the season: pumpkin bars and pies, apples with caramel, hot spiced apple cider, apple dumplings, candy corn, comforting homemade soups... (Ok, I'd better stop there because I'm getting hungry!) I enjoy wearing cozy sweatshirts and sitting by the fire, too. (Although I don't think I'll need a sweatshirt today, as the temperature is supposed to reach 92 degrees!) 

On the adoption front, Fall is an exciting time as well. Fall means that the rainy season will be nearing an end over in Ethiopia, so the court system will open back up again soon. This means more families traveling to meet their children, and hopefully means an increase in the number of referrals, too. There have been several referrals given out in the past week or so, which was extremely encouraging. Things have been too quiet for too long, and sometimes the waiting gets pretty intense. So congratulations to all of the families and children that God has recently brought together, and blessings to the families still waiting to hear news.

So.......happy Fall to y'all!