Happy Halloween!

I haven't done the best with taking pictures lately, but here are a few (some taken by other people).

Arrrrgh! We be pirates!

Cole is a self-proclaimed "nerd", and proud of it! :)

Our little Anna, and her cousin Elsa (face blocked because I didn't request permission to post her picture).

The past week and a half has been a lot like the past month -- lots of hoping for an answer, and lots of not finding the answer we expected. That doesn't mean we haven't found answers! It just means that we still don't have a definitive reason for all that happened to Ryan this summer. The search continues. And maybe we just won't find the answer in this life, which is okay.

Ryan's iron levels were tested again last week, and they are finally back into the normal range (barely in the range, but the increase is encouraging). He'll continue taking an iron supplement. The endoscopy/colonoscopy didn't reveal any obvious problems, but we are waiting to get the results from some tests still. And the injection in the Bertolotti-joint has worn off, which means Ryan is back in a lot of pain, but the fact that it relieved the pain for a few weeks tells us that we're on the right path.

Ryan is still doing well with his therapies, but he's feeling discouraged because he doesn't think he's progressing as fast as he should/wants to be. But we still see improvements, for which we are very grateful! He has been doing a lot of "directed readings" in order to earn continuing education credits to keep his license as a CT Technologist. He has quite a lot to finish by the end of this year, but with each article that he reads, he gets faster and better.

The puzzle below is one that he has attempted to complete a few different times, but he is really struggling with. (It hurts my head, just looking at it!) What do you think? How long will it take you to solve?

For physical therapy, Ryan has been given a few different stretches to do at home because his hamstrings are VERY tight. Tight muscles could be the cause to a lot of the leg/nerve pain he's been experiencing the last few weeks. He is also still working on improving his balance and strength. Here's a video of one of the balance/coordination exercises he has done -- standing on the foam makes it even more difficult for him to balance.

Before the snow hit us last month, we worked as a family to help our neighbors get the leaves cleaned up in their yard. Ryan was excited to get to use his leaf mulcher, which he received for his birthday. And the girls had fun helping. :)

Overall, life keeps moving forward (does it ever stop?). ;) Ryan keeps trying to do as much as he used to be able to do, and keeps finding himself completely exhausted and being forced to rest. But we're finding new ways to work together and support each other in our family, which draws us closer together. Thank you to everyone for your continued help and prayers!!!