Fall Holiday Catchup

Since Christmas is fast approaching, we figured we should probably go ahead and share a little bit here about our fall holidays. 

Halloween!

Our original plan was for all three of us to go as Magnum P.I. for Halloween. We went to the thrift store and found an awesome/terrible Hawaiian shirt for Otis, and I made mustaches for the two of us out of kinesio-tape and acrylic paint. We were so excited about our brilliant costumes...until Otis tried to eat his mustache about 7 seconds after I put it on him. Which is how it came to be that he showed up to the Realm of Caring Halloween shindig looking more like a tiny bare-faced tourist than Magnum. I think maybe one person at that party recognized who we were supposed to be. I'm pretty sure everyone else thought that Ryan was just Ryan--not necessarily in costume, but rocking a terrible mustache instead of his usual beard--and that I was supposed to be dressed as Ryan. Kind of disappointing, but we all had a great time at the party anyway! (And of course we didn't get any photos of us at that party.)

The day after the Realm-o-ween party was the annual Emma Crawford Coffin Race event here in Manitou. Ryan wore his Magnum costume for the event, but Otis and I decided to just accessorize. 

Later that week, we took Otis to a Halloween party hosted by MGA, the home healthcare staffing agency that Ryan works for now as O's CNA. They had all kinds of fun games and other activities set up around the office, including a black-lit sensory "haunted house" room. 

Halloween afternoon, we walked back downtown for some trick-or-treating at the businesses in downtown Manitou. 

Hanging out after the Emma Crawford Coffin Races

Soda Springs Park, Manitou

Bowling with his OT Mrs. Kate at the MGA Halloween party

BRAINS! (and stuff)

Not very low

Pumpkin painting

Trick-or-treating, downtown Manitou

Thanksgiving!

Since we live in a small one-bedroom apartment, we decided to try to rent a bigger place for us all to stay over the Thanksgiving holiday. And by "us all" I mean the three of us, Grandma and Grandpa Reed, Uncle Taylor, and Farleydog. We found a cute little bungalow for a great price located in Colorado Springs' Old North End, and moved in for a few days. It felt super homey and was so nice to all be together without having to worry about some of us traveling back and forth to a hotel. We were even able to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner together. 

Making bone broth from the turkey carcass

It was wonderful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family, but we also really missed our family and friends back in Kansas. We continue to hope and pray that soon laws will change, and the three of us will be allowed to travel back home to Kansas together as a family (with Otis's medicine).