Sentiments For the Year Passed

Welcome 2010! The Bowman Family is eager to meet you. 2009 was a year of challenge, growth, fun, and loss. It was a year we are happy to see pass and a year that we will never forget, nor would we want to. 2009 was so short but brought so much change.

2009 was a challenging year for Joshua. He decided in 2006 to back to school and pursue a career in nursing. What started as him taking a couple of classes before going into work had turned into a grueling marathon of a full-time class load, weekly lab practicals, several eight hour shifts at a hospital a week, patient care plans that take hours to complete, and all the while working a full-time job and being a father to two young children. Needless to say, 2009 had been a tough year for him, and thus a tough year for me. I can't wait until his pinning ceremony this spring! I can't wait until all of his hard work and sacrifice gets him into a job that makes him happy. We are looking forward to 2010 bringing the end of a long college journey for Joshua.

2009 was not all challenge though. We have been blessed to watch our children grow into really cool little people. Caleb began to use his imagination and develop his sense of humor. He spent many nights in 2009 running around his bedroom pretending to be in a duel with Captain Hook- instead of sleeping. He has also developed his own interests that are essential to the person he is. And we are beginning to see the worst and best of ourselves in our son. He has begun to take things apart, simply to see if he can figure it out, which is a trait my husband has. He also began to use (and sometimes misuse) his physical ability. My son is 42 inches tall and is 44 pounds of brute. He has hopped the tallest gate we can buy and has already graduated to a belt-positioning booster seat. We were told that we may expect him to reach a height of 6'6" to 6'9", which is a trait that my genetics greatly played a role in I am sure.

Emmaline completed her first year of life with us in 2009 and began to walk on her own before the year closed. It is such a funny thing to watch her toddler after her brother. She is truly enamoured by her big brother and watches his every move and follows his every step. I can only hope that 2010 brings them together as playmates and friends. There is not a more wondrous representation of how much change one short year can make as watching a baby grow up. 2009 took Emmaline from a small infant just starting to smile in her mommy's arms to an independent toddler who laughs, talks, manipulates, and moves. She is a strong-willed child and spent much of 2009 teaching Josh and I how to please her.

Finally, 2009 brought us many experiences as a family. We were lucky enough to indulge Caleb (and ourselves) to a week at Walt Disney World this past summer and I hope that the memory of him there will never fade from me. I cannot describe the joy it brought both Josh and I to see how excited Caleb was to meet his idols. The joy to play as a family in a place where none of us had to act like adults. (Ok so the adults were still footing the bill and changing the diapers, but it didn't seem so bad there) We also tried camping as a family for the first time and learned a lot of things. For instance, all of the expensive, fancy camping gear that we bought could not disguise the fact that camping is a lot of work. Especially with an energetic boy and a crawling daughter. Oh- and a campsite made entirely of gravel makes for a messy environment, but it doesn't seem so bad until it begins to torrential down-pour for 12 hours.

And finally, 2009 marked the year that I lost my beloved grandfather. A man who taught me to appreciate the beauty in life. The man who always made my brother and I smile. Whose generosity and kindness taught me to be more charitable than I could have managed on my own. And who helped to place music in my life, which has been a defining source of happiness for me.

May 2010 bring you and your family joy. May it bring bring you new experiences. May it bring challenges met with determination. May it bring opportunities to learn and grow. but most importantly, may it bring us all happiness!