2012 Holiday Letter

It is December 2nd and we are sitting down and writing this letter. We have the holiday cards in hand, holiday stamps, a tree, lights hanging outside and are ready for the season. You might get the impression we are really on top of things this year. Maybe. Actually I think we are finally getting on top of things for the next year. Hopefully.

It has been another big year for us. Lots of growing for everyone and many changes to share. It is hard to look back and remember all that has happen especially when so much of that happened in the past few weeks (more on that later). But I am pleased to report our beautiful children are as wonderful as always and continue to teach us how to be better parents and always surprise us with what they are capable of. How we can be blessed with such amazing off-spring...I just can’t believe it. So on to the news of the family-year (from youngest to getting to oldest).

Molly. In a few years when she really gets herself known, that is all we will have to say to report on her...Molly. She is truly the fifth element, a force unto herself. She is of course disturbingly cute. There isn’t an outing that happens where she doesn’t stop a least a handful of people and get them talking about how adorable she is. To say nothing of how much it distracts her parents from doing anything that resembles parenting. Which leads us to the important developments of the year. Maybe it is because Molly’s first year was so hard on all of us (a look back here), or maybe it is because she is the second child (or just a little-sister), but she DEMANDS attention and when she doesn’t get it, well, uhm...she uh...yeah right, she always gets it. At this moment she gets very angry when she doesn’t get her way and we are starting to realize that we ought to curb this behavior pronto before she becomes a teenager and all hope is lost (hey, I can dream...). The single biggest insult we can lay upon her is putting her to bed. She HATES sleep. She screams every night when we put her down no matter how tired she is and is up before 7am regardless of when she finally passed out from screaming the previous night. No idea where this distaste for slumber comes from. All the other people in our house really look forward to it. The reality is that this isn’t bad news. We are realizing that Molly is incredibly smart and very bold in her approach to everything. She is nearly potty trained because she chooses to be, she is counting higher and higher everyday and doing the most complicated puzzles she can get her hands on. She recognizes some of her letters and is trying to read. She strings together not just sentences, but I think Mission Statements. She runs, climbs, swings, dances, and screams. But not just like any kid her age, she really tries to master all these things (especially the screaming). We are being pressed to push her into advanced dance and gymnastic classes because of her natural prowess in these activities (and screaming). She simply has no fear of new experiences and situations (and screaming) and turns heads where ever she goes not just because of her looks but because of her abilities (and her screaming). She turned the big 0-2 this year (check out the shindig here). Her well-check confirmed all our suspicions about her after the doctor said she has the physical development of a 1 year old (not all her teeth yet, still has bad acid reflux, is shorter than a fetus and is 20lbs soaking wet with clothes on) and the mental development of a 3 year old (starting to think about algebra). But make no mistake, she is still all 2 year old girl. LOVES the Disney princesses, LOVES clothes, LOVES shoes, LOVES the pretties and LOVES being noticed. And we LOVE her for all of it. Her dad is a total push over for everything she wants and her mom lights up when she says she wants to go shopping. If you get the impression that we are getting beaten up pretty bad by this fireball in a tutu, then you are right. But, man, we do love every minute of it.

At five years old, Caden is simply awesome. What he can or can’t do is only limited by his imagination...and perhaps his ability to focus on any one thing at a time. He is in Pre-K this year which we expect to be the last year we can deny he is growing up too fast. So what amazing things can Caden do now? Some things that come to mind is that he is a fantastic big brother for Molly. That means that he not only looks out for her, plays with her, and is her best friend, but he is also extremely patient with her when she is, well, Molly. That is a lot to ask of a little boy who is still finding his own way through growing up. Also, he is a big help to his Mom and Dad. Of all the activities and things Caden has been involved in, his very favorite is helping Mommy cook and clean and helping Daddy around the house. And from Daddy’s point of view, his help is no longer an obligation; it is actually helpful. But back to all his activities. He can now mostly swim as long as Mommy and Daddy keep up his lessons. He loves biking and is getting better everyday we get up and out there with him. He is taking karate classes now since Mommy and Daddy finally signed up for something regular and he is begging to take Spanish classes which, of course, would happen if we got around to it. You may be getting the false impression that the only thing standing in Caden’s way of perfect roundness is his parents. But, isn’t that how it always is? We don’t stifle all his potential. Caden is as brilliant as always. He LOVES puzzles and his work books on reading, writing and arithmetic (3 R’s? What?). Beyond the ability to excel at “school work” he is able to reason and use logic in how he manipulates us. Before, we never could get anywhere with him because logic had no meaning to him. Now he can use it against us. Maybe a third kid might be a little dimmer and easier on us parents. One of the most fun things about Caden is his natural ability to travel. He loves it. From the packing, to the security lines at the airport to any and every inconvenience you can imagine on a trip...and he makes us slow down and appreciate them too. We will always travel and we will always love traveling with him. But it is not all good news with Caden. As it turns out, he is a little boy. Which means he has discovered the joys of saying shocking things. Maybe someone warned us, but I was sure that after he mastered potty training (he finally did) that that would be the end of the long conversations of poop. Oh no, he loves throwing the ole “poop” word around wherever he can get a rise out of someone (which is everyone all the time). So, someone is going to have to advise us on how you allow him to be a little boy but not add fecal matter into every conversation. A minor issue really. As stated in the beginning, he is awesome. He is fun to be with and he is the teachers favorite. He is going to be an amazing young man.

And how about us parents? We just hit our 8 year anniversary of our first date, that seems to us as a more relevant milestone than our wedding. Every minute of it has been amazing and still feels like we are just getting started. We look forward to what travels, tribulations, and childhood activities (my three TRa’s) will great us each year. Katy continues to be the CEO of the household raising and molding the amazing children described above. The fact that they are still alive and in our household is a true testament to her mothering abilities. She also continues to rock the world of Arbonne (Health & Wellness business). She is now part of a small business group in Boulder where she is able to network and expand her business. The work has allowed her to balance continued success in both the business and the family. In addition, she is the “twelfth man” at Caden’s school. She is always volunteering for fundraising events and party planning. I suspect she will always be a big part of Caden and Molly’s education. As for Jon, he will be turning 35 on 12-12-12. After past years of not making a big deal out it, this year he wanted a big party with lots of attention and maybe drinking. Katy has obliged and is throwing a proper shindig on a Wednesday night. (Probably good this letter will be published before the event.) Other big news for Jon is that he took a new job this year. After 10+ years in aerospace, he jumped spaceship and found a new job as a project manager with LGS Innovations, a telecom company. Go figure. Turns out it is a great gig. Very interesting work, great company, good people, and he reduced his 80+ mile round trip commute to 10...BIG bonus.

Other important topics for your consideration; travel. We had another great year of getting out there. Started out with a very lovely trip for Jon and Katy to Sonoma with some friends for wine tasting. It was way cool to spend a few days on our own with wine, friends, spa treatments and quiet. Contrast that with our next big trip; Disneyland & SB. Oh yeah, we did that. After Jon left his last job in March, he took a month off and, gainfully unemployed, we headed to the Happiest Place on Earth. And it was so true. Even with our kids being so young, we had an amazing time for three straight days averaging 13 hours each in the park. Will do it again ASAFP (As Soon As Financially Practical). After that came a Vegas get away for just Katy to do the annual Arbonne Conference. She wouldn’t say much, but it sounded like a lot of fun (what happens with Arbonne stays with Arbonne). The next big trip that was a long time coming was a 10 day extravaganza to Norfolk for the much anticipated wedding of Jon’s sister Karen to our new Uncle Mark. We all had roles in the wedding from the show steeling Flower Girl and Ring Bearer to the ever beautiful Bridesmaid and general manager of logistics and all thing that could go wrong. It was a great time, with lots of friends, family and festivities. After that came our annual camping trip. This year we went to Steam Boat where we have never been before...pretty pathetic for someone who has been here for 10+ years and another who was born here. That was fun save for that one night when our tent blew away....Meh. Rounding it all out was the last minute unexpected Thanksgiving road trip to California for Jon’s grandmother’s funeral. A more somber and stressful trip, but true to form we all made a good time out of it and made some good memories in the process.

As for our home here in the number one place to live, Louisville CO. All is stable. No big projects to speak of this year. Had a nice garden, did some minor convenience updates and had our annual basement flood, but that is about it. We continue to contemplate our living situation and if we should move or remodel or just be happy with what we got (anyone ever notice how just being happy with what you’ve got takes a little work?).

So in closing, as the end of another year fast approaches, we hope this letter finds all our friends and family in good health and surrounded by loved ones. Please take some time to navigate the pages of this website to see what else we have been up to and please share with us your goings on too. All our love to you for this holiday season and the New Year!!

-Jon, Katy, Caden and Molly

Molly Caden

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