Happy Veteran's Day to all those who serve or served in our military and to the families who serve along with them. The service and sacrifice of all our veterans is a precious gift for which we should give thanks on more occassions than just this day, but I hope all of you will at least use this holiday to thank a veteran and pray for all those who still serve and/or carry the scars of war with them each day.
We always appreciated all the well-wishing and support on this day when we were on active duty, but we need to remember the veterans at all stages of life. No matter what our positions are on the wars we fight and the missions our military carries out, our service men and women deserve our gratitude for their willingness to defend and protect. So thank you, today and always.
Autumn has officially come to East Tennessee, and the maple in our backyard is strutting her stuff, flashing blazes of red, yellow, and orange. The leaf color is reason enough to celebrate the tree, but as the leaves fall to the ground, they hold new potential. On Sunday, All Saints Day, Ben and Luke raked the first big pile of leaves. Luke just stood and looked at the mound for a moment, and then that little sly smile spread slowly across his lips. 1-2-3- Go......and jump! He reveled in rolling in the pile and even started saying, "Time to get out of the pool" when he crawled out, only to ask for a rerake and jump in all over again. 
The days are certainly shorter, but that's not all together bad. This makes more time to sit by a warm fire at night or enjoy the rise of the Hunter's moon. With bright foliage, crisp weather, and happy boys in sweet-smelling piles of leaves, it is easy to see why fall is our favorite time of year.
There were four children at the party including Luke, so he had a wonderful time just playing with new friends. After some pumpkin carving and filling up on the scary snacks for dinnner, we all trouped out to do some trick-or-treating with an elephant, the Little Mermaid, Jack Sparrow, and one more sweet little pirate. Lots of candy was had by all, as you would expect. Many of the houses seemed to be rewarding coming out in the cool drizzle of the evening with extra candy. We finally headed back in once the rain really started peppering down, but no one's spirit was dampened. The kids were thrilled with their candy and since they were younger, honestly seemed to enjoyed receiving the older trick-or-treaters at home as much as going around on their own. Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween, too. Enjoy the photos!
