A Holy Pursuit

When I was growing up, fall was always my least favorite season. To me it was a depressing end to beautiful, warm summers with all the fun outdoor recreation, and a terrible lead up to the most wonderful time of the year complete with coziness and skiing adventures. Jammed right in between those two fantastic seasons was fall; when the leaves on the trees spoke of death and dying. I just wasn't a fan. However, fall has always been one of my mom's favorite times of the year and she taught me to see the true beauty in it. She has always pointed out the beautiful changing colors of fall leaves, and she taught me to appreciate the sound of crunching leaves underfoot. I also began to have a deep appreciation and love for the feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving that accompanied this season. Then three years ago I started to have a newfound sense of appreciation for the fall season. I know that it's pretty typical to have those feelings and thoughts around Thanksgiving, bu...

Dear little Miles, There were times I wondered if this milestone would ever come, and other times when I wished it wasn't coming quite so quickly. It has been a whirlwind year with you and one I wouldn't trade for anything! You are becoming such a personable little guy, always jabbering and smiling, and so busy! I think you would be super eager to start walking if you didn't crawl so stinking fast. Why walk slow when you can crawl fast, right? We had a wonderful time celebrating your first birthday on Saturday evening, the day after your birthday, with so many family members. It was so fun having so many of them here to celebrate you. You also started getting your fourth tooth on your birthday, which was exciting but caused you to be a little more cranky than normal. It was exciting having Asher here for the first time with Uncle Jordan and Auntie Erica, too. It was fun going to your doctor's appointment this week and seeing how much you've grown and developed...