EDITOR'S NOTE: Best read late at night when you are laughing easily...the same way I was when I wrote this.
Family, Friends, Neighbors, and Passers By on the Information Super Highway,
Well, 2009 is almost history. Can you believe that another year has come and gone? We are nearly a decade past Y2K, when we salvaged ourselves from the brink of mass chaos, we somehow managed to get ourselves there again over the last 18 months with the worst economic situation since the great depression and find ourselves slogging our way back again. Guess this...I've digressed and probably left a few of you with the tough decision of (1) continuing on and hoping the despair will end soon or (2) bailing now in the hopes of not wasting anymore of your time. Either way I've got you hoping and that is a good thing. You can thank me later. With that said, I will try to keep us on track and not wax too philosophical (I'm only saying I will try, not that I will succeed...I know Yoda would be disappointed since there is "no try, only do", but I can't get too stressed about quotes from a 70's puppet, even if he was bad to the bone in the newer film when he fought with the light saber...digressed again...where were we?).
In all seriousness, as our family contemplates the goings on of the past 350 days and looks forward to many more, we are full of gratitude for the great people we have the pleasure of knowing and interacting with. There is something special about the end of a year and the coming of a new one. With the time of reflection that comes as we think about our many blessings during Thanksgiving and then move on to the celebration of our Savior and the hope that comes through Him, giving us new vigor to set goals for the coming year in the hopes of getting a little better. I know that I always hope to be a better husband, father, son, brother, friend, worker, etc. and every once in a while I think I make some progress, not that I don't slide back from time to time to, but if we are trying then at least that is something. The bottom line is thanks to all of you for being a part of our journey on the bumpy road of life. You certainly make the journey fun and interesting, and it would be really hard to make it through the rough patches without you.
On the lighter side of things, our family has been up to several different things this year. In the beginning of the year we were still new to the Chicago area, fresh from Connecticut and totally sucker punched by a super-cold Chicago winter. I remember getting off the train in Chicago one day and seeing several men dressed in full body
Carhart gear with ski masks over their faces. I thought they were over doing it. I only thought that until I came out of the train station and started crossing the bridge over the river in a balmy -35 degrees.
Everett joined us just before the beginning of the year, so for the winter months Monica was especially concerned about Everett staying healthy so he could stay on track to gain weight and be prepared for his lip surgery. He did and in April he had his lips repaired. That was a little tough on us and the kids.
Kambree cried the first time she saw Everett because she "missed his old lips". He did have a really cute middle lip that stuck out. It is hard to explain unless you experience it yourself, but the way he was born was so cute to our whole family and after it was fixed it just didn't seem the same for a while. However, we are used to the new and improved lip and are grateful for all of your love and prayers.
In October, Everett had his
palate fixed and now he is eating regular food and just moved to regular milk. He is happy, but high maintenance. We call him Dennis the Menace, Little Fart,
Destructo, Goofy Goober, and other various names. They are only spoken with love although they don't sound like it. He is like the Energizer Bunny. He never stops going and most of the time he is going it is doing something bad, like falling off things he climbs onto, trying to kill himself on the stairs (hardwood), making a break to play in the bathroom, trying to rip the doors off the entertainment center or kitchen cabinets, eating garbage, or choking on leaves in the yard. He is starting to walk now too, so that is adding great shades of black, blue, purple, and green to his noggin. He is hilarious and it is so captivating to just watch him as he discovers new things and tries to keep up with the other two kids. We love having him. We also call him our little puppy because his mouth is always open and his tongue is always hanging out. A lot of his mannerisms and the way he moves around fit the name too.
Kambree is in
pre-school, which has to be a let down for her, but if it is she doesn't let on...she is reading already. In spite of being the middle child between two boys that demand a lot of attention she is flourishing and is way too smart for her own good! Just goes to show that girls are know it
alls by nature, not by nurture (Ashley, can you confirm this from your academic study?). She certainly keeps us on our toes and lays on the guilt trip whenever we aren't keeping up with her exacting standards. It isn't a bad thing though, she won't let us go to bed without reading scriptures. This year she had a tooth pulled after injuring it in 3 or 4 separate accidents. Jumping off the top of the couch and hitting it on a coffee table was just the last straw! She looked like our little hockey player for a bit, but then we coughed up $500 for a false tooth that we hated as soon as it was installed. Unfortunately, we found out the hard way that you can't test drive a false tooth. Something about the custom mold, etc. makes them
unreturnable. We really enjoy
Kambree and can't wait to try to one up her as she gets smarter by the day. She's a firecracker if there ever was one!
Dominick continues to be a blur of activity. We found one thing that can keep him in one place for a while though...the Nintendo
Wii. He likes playing Mario Kart, Guitar Hero, and
Wii Sports/Sports Resort. He is a 2
nd grader now. Completely unbelievable that he is so old. He is growing up and getting even more independent. He is our engineer. He has gotten to the point of building complex train tracks with Geo
Trax and Lego and
Kinex things using manuals. It is impressive. He is quickly passing my skills in that area. With Christmas and new toys coming though I will gladly pass him the torch! He is also a thinker. He spends a lot of time reading his animal books and loves to tell us facts about sharks and whales. We can also get him to sit still by throwing in a Planet Earth, Sponge Bob, or
Scooby Doo DVD.
Monica is ripping it up here at home. She had to do half the year as a single mom while I traveled to Detroit for work Monday - Friday for six months. That was scary because she got on a lot better than I would like to admit without me. Convinced me that I needed to change jobs and try to fool her into keeping me around for a while longer. I try to open pickle jars and tighten screws, prune trees, and act macho to show my value around the house. I thought about growing a mustache to add a little something extra, but then wised up and realized that would probably accelerate my exit (no offense to anyone still wearing a mustache...I just can't pull it off, much to my chagrin). Monica watched enough
HGTV to get the impression that home renovations are easy and cheap, which she later found out through experience to be false on both accounts.
HGTV is always filmed on opposite day! However, I have to give her credit. The rooms that we re-did look
soooo much better and I like them a lot (don't tell her though because she dragged me along kicking and screaming and I can't concede that she was right now).
I am doing fine and dandy. I am adjusting to a new job at
JPMorgan Chase. I know what you are thinking. I am now part of the problem as a fat cat banker. I will give you the fat part, but the banker is still not quite true. I am still an accountant, but working at a bank. As for the fat part, I am making a new year's resolution to exercise for the 12
th year in a row. To date I have never made good on the resolution. I'm telling you all so you can hold me accountable.
I'm going to leave it here so there are still some things left unsaid. Hoping we will hear from all of you soon to continue the stories, the jokes, the silliness.
We love you and wish you all the best through this holiday season and on into the new year!!!
Love,
The
Cowan Family
They were the best of friends and things couldn't be better, until...
Helium played the cruel trick it always pulls on unsuspecting children. "No, don't go! Everett meant to say, but only a grunt, growl, and a desperate scream came out.
"Dad! Do something," his pleading eyes and worried expression seemed to say.
