Stories That Live In Us

Be At The Things That Matter Most (with The Cowan Niblings) | Episode 27

Crista Cowan | The Barefoot Genealogist Season 1 Episode 27

"Cowans show up for each other!" When seven cousins gather in a podcast studio after their Alaskan adventure, this family motto comes alive...

Join me and "the niblings" – my six nephews and one niece – just hours after returning from their first cousins-only cruise. From Corbin's birthday fireworks to Andrew's legendary seven-pancake breakfast, and Kaitlyn finding her place as the only girl among six boys, discover how a week at sea strengthened bonds that will last a lifetime. Through stories of Disney traditions, teenage solo adventures, and promises of future world travels, we explore how showing up for the moments that matter creates an unshakeable family foundation.

Whether they're giving one-word answers (they're teenagers, after all) or sharing heartfelt memories, these seven unique personalities demonstrate that family connection isn't just about being related – it's about being present.

Featuring Corbin (20), Gabe (18), Levi (16), Kaitlyn (14), Asher (14), Andrew (12), and Phin (11).

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♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I think the only thing I remember is and only because my mom tells me about it is we were leaving one of the days but I wanted to go back to the fruit bar and you were tired. But I guess, according to her, I looked up at you and said but you said I could do anything I want on this trip. And so we turned around and went back to the fruit bar do anything I want on this trip, and so we turned around and went back to the fruit bar.

Crista Cowan:

Stories that Live In Us is a podcast that inspires you to form deep connections with your family, past, present and future. I'm Krista Cowan, known online as the Barefoot Genealogist. I've spent my whole life discovering the power of family history, and I know that sharing the stories that live in you can change everything. If you follow me on Instagram, and I hope you do at Krista Cowan, you probably see me post quite a bit about a group of humans I call the Niblings. Now, that is, my six nephews and the world's only niece.

Crista Cowan:

When I was in my 20s, I kind of had this inkling that I was probably not ever going to get married and have children of my own, and so when my youngest brother presented the world with my parents' first grandchild, I made the decision instantly that I was going to be the world's greatest aunt. We don't tell my sister that, but she's a pretty great aunt as well, and we as a family are very, very involved in each other's lives. One of my brothers, with his wife and their five sons, live just a couple of minutes away from the ancestry office. Another one of my brothers and his wife and their two children have lived all over the world as they both served with the United States Air Force, and so I haven't had the opportunity to get to know those two children as well. But I've made an effort to spend time with them in their homes, sometimes for a week or two at a time every year, as often as I could, and then we love to have them come visit in the summer when they can, especially now that they are all back stateside.

Crista Cowan:

So I decided when my oldest nephew was little that I was going to start some very intentional family traditions, particularly around travel. I love to travel. I think seeing the world expands your perspective so much, and so I decided that when the kids were five years old, they were going to get to go on a trip with me to Disney Disneyland for the West Coast, cowans and Disney World for the niece when she was living on the East Coast at the time that she turned five. And this is something that I started with them because we have a Disney tradition in our family. When my mom turned five years old, disneyland opened, and the week it opened her parents took her to Disneyland. And then, when I was little, we were at Disneyland all of the time. Both sets of my grandparents all lived within an hour of the park, and so we spent a lot of time there. One of my cousins her other grandfather on her other side of the family was the head of security at Disneyland for years, and so sometimes my grandma would just say get them out of the house and have Andy sign them into the park.

Crista Cowan:

And I've continued that Disney tradition as an adult. I worked there in the college program when I was a teenager. I have taken birthday trips there, even as a 50-year-old woman, with my girlfriends. So Disneyland has always been this part of our family culture and I wanted to make sure that it continued that tradition into the next generation. And so for every one of them on their fifth birthday, it was a trip to Disney with Aunt Krista, and it has been so fun to watch how they've all kind of planned those trips differently. Some wanted to drive, some wanted to fly, some wanted their Uncle Cam to come with us or show up on day two, like lots of just different ways that they wanted to run or experience that time together.

Crista Cowan:

Now the second tradition that I wanted to instill was for their 13th birthday, when they turned 13,. I wanted to give them the opportunity to pick anywhere in the continental United States that they wanted to go, and I would take them again on a solo trip, just them and me. Them choose where they wanted to go and be really intentional about it and try to expand their idea of what might be interesting, and then plan the trip and anticipate the trip and then experience that. So far, out of the seven nibblings, I have taken five of them on that trip, two still to go. The third tradition that I wanted to instill hasn't happened yet, and that is that when they graduate from college or return home from their LDS mission whichever comes first I would let them choose anywhere in the world and we would go on a trip together there. And the oldest is in college I think he's entering his junior year, and number two just left on his mission, so he'll be home in two years. So I may be taking two trips very close together with the two of them. The next one is a junior in high school and then we've got a sophomore in high school, freshman, freshman in high school. So we've got these, you know, trips that are going to happen really soon.

Crista Cowan:

But I had this realization a couple of years ago that I wanted them to have experiences together as well. As much as I love having that one-on-one time with them and I think it's important I also think it's important that, as siblings and cousins, that they have this opportunity to come together and, in an environment where it's not always about the adults in their life, that they get to develop relationships independently with each other. That they get to develop relationships independently with each other. And so a couple of years ago I talked to my brother, cameron, and my sister, and we decided that we were going to, for Christmas that year, buy all of the local kids here passports, because they had never had passports, never had a need for passports. Of course the two Air Force kids have them, but that was the gift we gave the five Lehigh kids that year and that was all in preparation for this trip that I wanted to take all of them on. So I just got back from a trip to Alaska with all seven of my niblings. I took them on a cruise. We left out of Seattle up and back to Glacier Bay National Park, with stops along the way, and it was one of the most delightful weeks of my life the anticipation and the planning of it, the actual being there with them and then watching them develop those relationships.

Crista Cowan:

Now, this episode you're about to listen to is all seven of them here in the podcast studio with me, and it's the morning after we got back from that trip. So two things you need to know. One is there's a lot of them. It was early morning, most of them are teenagers, so you're going to get a whole lot of single word answers and maybe a little bit of a hodgepodge of things as I ask them questions, but it will give you a feel for who they are and how they feel about being a part of our family. The second thing you need to know is that I got really sick on the last day of the trip. We got stuck in the Seattle airport for eight hours on the floor because it was super crowded and I picked up some bugs. So I in this episode do not sound like I always sound, but it was the only time that I could get all seven of them together in the studio and so I wasn't about to miss that opportunity. No-transcript.

Gabe Cowan:

What's up everyone. I'm Gabe, I'm 18.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I'm Caitlin, I'm 14.

Asher Cowan:

I'm Asher, I'm 14.

Levi Cowan:

I'm Levi and I'm 16.

Corbin Cowan:

My name is Corbin and I am 20.

Crista Cowan:

And two days.

Phin Cowan:

My name is Finn and I am 11.

Andrew Cowan:

My name is Andrew and I'm 12.

Crista Cowan:

So that's the crew, so excited that you are all here with me in the podcast studio. I know it has been a very long week and it was a very late night last night or early morning for some of you, so thank you for getting up early and coming here to hang out with me. So we just spent an entire week together in very close quarters on a cruise ship. But and I do want to talk about that but before we talk about that, I want to hear a little bit from some of you about what is your favorite thing about being a part of our family. There's a lot of us, right, and we're all kind of crazy involved in each other's lives, and sometimes some people might think we're too involved in each other's lives. You have very involved aunts and uncles and grandparents, and so yeah. So, levi, let's start with you your favorite thing about being part of our family.

Levi Cowan:

My favorite thing is probably just how supportive everyone is.

Crista Cowan:

What does that mean?

Levi Cowan:

Like they show up to like sports games, theater plays, stuff like that.

Crista Cowan:

Okay gabe, what about you?

Gabe Cowan:

Food?

Crista Cowan:

Well, you got to expound on that. What does that mean?

Gabe Cowan:

Lots of food.

Crista Cowan:

okay, Phin, what about you?

Phin Cowan:

My favorite thing about being in this family is probably like how everybody finds a way to be at the things that matter the most.

Crista Cowan:

Okay. Asher.

Asher Cowan:

I like all the people we meet.

Crista Cowan:

What do you mean.

Asher Cowan:

Like.? Just because of how different all of us are, we meet a lot of different people

Crista Cowan:

Like with your brother's friends, our friends, is that what you mean?

Asher Cowan:

Yeah, all of it.

Crista Cowan:

yeah, and there's always somebody new around that dinner table at your mom's house. Huh, yeah, Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I like how we can all connect in different ways. We all have a little thing that we can get together and talk about and can you connect over?

Crista Cowan:

can you give me a, for example?

Kaitlyn Cowan:

sports is a big one in our house. Just all kinds of sports

Crista Cowan:

okay Corb corb

Corbin Cowan:

I like that there's always something going on and like it's never boring and no matter what you like, there's always something like there'll be a sports game or there'll be a play, or there'll be like board games at the house. There's always something to be doing that someone will enjoy. If you want, yeah, if you don't want, you can just go take a nap on the couch.

Crista Cowan:

And still be a part of it. Right, because the Because the way that your parents' house is set up, with the kind of the open floor plan, just means you can go be by yourself if you want to go to your room, or you can stay there and be kind of part of the action, even if you don't want to participate in whatever event is actually happening at the moment. Andrew, what about you?

Andrew Cowan:

Vacation.

Crista Cowan:

any particular vacations

Andrew Cowan:

any cruise.

Crista Cowan:

Well, we've been on one now together, and I know you and your sister have been on one with your parents, so there are other vacations that we take in our family. There was a tradition that I started when you started being born Corbin, of course, is the oldest and then Gabe came along and I decided that I was going to take you to Disneyland when you were five years old, in a one-on-one trip with me, and part of the reason I chose that fifth birthday was because Disneyland opened the year that your Nana turned five and her parents took her to Disneyland, and then our parents, your grandparents, took us all a lot. We spent a lot of time at Disneyland and then I worked there when I was 18. And so Disneyland has been an important part of our family culture, and so I wanted to help that continue into this generation. And so this is my question, because every one of you have now been on that trip, but you were only five years old, so I want to know if you have any particular memory about that trip, and I want to hear the story about it. If there's something in particular and, Phin, we will start with you this time.

Phin Cowan:

Um, It was during the firework show. Um, I was with Crista and Cam, and then after that, um well, during that, I was getting tired. So then, after I fell asleep in Cam's shirt.

Crista Cowan:

You did. I remember that. So yeah, for some of you you got to go just with me, and for some of you you invited your Uncle Cam to come with us and he showed up for both days or one day and he came with you. Andrew, do you remember when I took you to Disneyland?

Andrew Cowan:

Not really, no. All I remember is the rides.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, do you remember who went with us?

Andrew Cowan:

Pretty sure it was just you.

Crista Cowan:

It was just me the first day and then the second day. Who joined us, do you remember? No, no, yeah, it was Cam, but then it was also Nana and Bumpa, you got a little extra treatment because they happened to be down in Southern California that week. Who's next, asher?

Asher Cowan:

I don't really remember much from the trip but I remember on the way to the airport we were riding with your roof down and listening to music pretty loud.

Crista Cowan:

Yep, everybody got to choose whether they wanted to drive the 10 hours to Southern California or fly, and you chose to fly, but we had to take my car to the airport. Okay, caitlin.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I think the only thing I remember is and only because my mom tells me about it is we were leaving one of the days but I wanted to go back to the fruit bar and you were tired. But I guess, according to her, I looked up at you and said but you said I could do anything I want on this trip, and so we turned around and went back to the fruit bar. Yep.

Crista Cowan:

Doesn't matter how tired you are. When the trip is about the kid, you have to do what they want. Okay, Levi, you're up.

Levi Cowan:

I remember when we got to the airport and I asked Cam to come and he said he couldn't. And we got to the airport and Cam was there waiting after Krista told me he wasn't coming well, it was supposed to be a surprise, not a lie.

Crista Cowan:

Sometimes those are a little blurry, aren't they, gabe?

Gabe Cowan:

I do not have any memory of it.

Crista Cowan:

No recollection at all, trying to think if I can remember what some of my favorite things about your trip were. One of my favorite things was just how excited you were just to be able to spend time with me. When you were little, you were awfully cute. Now you're giant, you're still awfully cute, thanks corbin.

Corbin Cowan:

So I went before. Like half of the people in this room were even alive, so I don't really remember much, but I was one of the people who drove the 10 hours and I just remember like listening to music and stuff and it was really fun just to like look around. It was my first time leaving utah, so it really fun just to look around. It was my first time leaving Utah. It was fun just to see what else was out there. Yeah.

Crista Cowan:

And we drove my little convertible the whole way with the top down most of the way Not the whole way, because your birthday is in July and it's very hot and we have to go through Vegas. I do remember it was really hot one of the days that we were there Awesome, okay. So those fifth birthday trips to Disneyland was kind of the first thing I had planned for you. And then the second thing that I had planned for each of you was a solo trip with me to anywhere in the continental United States that you wanted to go, that you wanted to go, and so you got to choose. And I'd love it if you would each tell me what you chose, what city you chose and if you had a reason behind choosing that. And then maybe a little bit about your memory from that trip. Oh, asher, we're starting with you. Maybe we shouldn't start with Asher, because Asher's a little unusual about this. Let's start with the oldest this time. Corbin, let's start with you.

Corbin Cowan:

All right. So I went to New York on my trip. But I got lucky because I also got to go to Washington DC because Krista had a conference in there. But I wanted to go to New York because I was like starting to get into theater and I really wanted to go to Broadway and see a couple of shows on there. So that was like the biggest reason I chose that.

Crista Cowan:

Do you remember what shows we saw?

Corbin Cowan:

We saw School of Rock and we saw Anastasia, yeah, and they were so good. It was like one of the first times I saw professional level performances. It was just so amazing and it like probably fueled my love for theater for the rest of high school, the rest of the time that I was doing theater, and you were very good at it.

Crista Cowan:

Do you remember anything else about that trip? Any other favorite memories?

Corbin Cowan:

Well, I have a not so fun memory. There was this one day when we were in Washington DC. Krista was at a conference, so I was just kind of out on my own in Washington DC. Krista was at a conference, so I was just kind of out on my own in Washington figuring out what's going on and I really wanted to go get a crepe from this crepe place we found the first day we were there and I was so excited for this crepe so I like hopped on the subway. I went down to Union Station, I get off and there's this homeless guy and he was like looked like he needed some money. So I'm like, oh, I can give you like $5. So I go to open up my wallet and I take out $5. And before I know it he's in my wallet, pulled out all my money and ran down the road. So that was pretty sad. And then I didn't get my crepe, but I did get to go to the zoo later and I found the pandas there.

Crista Cowan:

And we love the National Zoo, and people may think I'm crazy for letting a 13 year old wander around a strange big city by themselves, but I did have a tracking on your phone so I knew where you were the whole time and we had made that trip several times and the Washington DC subway system is really easy to figure out, so you were confident that you could do it. You just unfortunately had this run in with your generous heart. Yeah, okay, gabe, where did you go on your trip and why'd you pick it?

Gabe Cowan:

I went to Boston and I picked it because there's good sports teams there and there was. It was Halloween time, so I got to go to Salem for Halloween.

Crista Cowan:

That was super fun. Yeah, your birthday is the end of October, so it just so happens that the week of your birthday the year you turned 13, the Red Sox had just won the World Series the day before we got there, and so they had a big parade the day we were there, and then both the Celtics and the Patriots had home games that week. I don't know how you managed that, but we got to go to all, and since my birthday is a week after yours, your Uncle Cam bought us really really close seats for that Celtics game and the Red Sox were being honored at halftime, and so we got to sit with the team. Do you remember that, Do you? Okay, so that was fun for me. Do you remember the Patriots game? What happened afterwards?

Gabe Cowan:

Oh yeah. So I hate the Patriots. The Patriots won, they beat the Packers and then, to make the night even worse, we got stuck in the parking lot for like four hours. Worst part about the story two days prior there was this guy who was our Uber driver and he's like dude, you guys are going to the game, I'm going too. You can slide me like 20 bucks and we'll call it good. The traffic's terrible. So Krista thinks she has a great plan to go on the train there, which was there, we got there quick, but the way back, which was there, we got there quick, but the way back there was no train. So we got stuck in the parking lot waiting for an Uber driver until 4 am and it was cold and the Packers had just lost.

Crista Cowan:

What do you remember about Salem? That's one of my favorite cities in the US to visit, especially at Halloween time. It's a lot of fun in the US to visit, especially at Halloween time.

Gabe Cowan:

It's a lot of fun. So the first thing I remember from Salem was, right when we got there, there was two sister missionaries and it was before the time of being able to talk to all your people as much as you want, so they had us take a picture of them and send it to their parents because it was Halloween. And then I remember all the tours and my favorite part was when we got to go trick-or-treating and there's not a lot of houses, but every single one of them give you full, full-size candy bars, so you only have to go to a couple nice.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, levi, you're up.

Levi Cowan:

Your trip was next uh, I went to Florida, miami and the Keys. Why'd you pick that? Because I wanted to go to the Everglades, because of the animals. And then Key West was just for like the island, and the shed, the shed.

Crista Cowan:

You're going to have to explain the shed. What hurricane was it? I don't remember, but you were 10?. So it had been like three years before you turned 13.

Levi Cowan:

So there was a hurricane and there was, like it was, in the southernmost point of the United States and there was a shed that was just sitting there taking all the waves, and they named it.

Crista Cowan:

Fred the Shed and we watched it on a webcam for hours that day from your kitchen table. I remember that and you just thought it was the most fascinating thing, and so when it came time for your trip, you wanted to go meet Fred the Shed and get your picture taken with him. Anything else from that trip that you remember.

Levi Cowan:

Oh, you, let me drive the rental Jeep.

Crista Cowan:

Don't tell people that we did rent a Jeep because that was what you wanted to tool around Florida in. And yes, when we were out in the middle of the Everglades in a parking lot with no people, I did let you drive for a minute. I don't know if that's going to get me arrested or not, but anything else you remember.

Levi Cowan:

All the animals and the tours in the Everglades.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, do you remember the alligator just chilling on the side of the road as we drove through the Everglades? Yeah, I do, super crazy. Okay, asher, now we get. Actually Caitlin's was first. Well, caitlin's trip wasn't first, was it? We need to explain that and then we'll let Asher go. So Caitlin is how many months older than Asher are you? I think almost exactly nine, nine months, okay, so Caitlin turned 13 before Asher turned 13, no-transcript 13 and got his trip first.

Asher Cowan:

So so, asher, since your trip was first, we'll go with you next so for my trip, krista had a work conference in richmond, I think virginia and so we went we were going on a road trip to there and then went down and like followed the coastline kind of with those States back to Utah.

Crista Cowan:

And why did we take a road trip instead of going to a place, asher?

Asher Cowan:

Uh, I didn't know, I wanted to go.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, it was so interesting to me because all three of your older brothers knew exactly where they wanted to go. Okay, it was so interesting to me because all three of your older brothers knew exactly where they wanted to go. It wasn't even really a question. I mean, I think Gabe had a couple of options that he was kind of playing around with, looking at sports schedules to determine, but you just had no idea. And so I thought what a great opportunity to introduce you to a whole lot of places. And so we started in Utah and we drove to Virginia across the middle of the country and then drove back along the Gulf Coast states, and you had a couple of criteria for our trip. What were they? What did you want?

Asher Cowan:

to see most. I wanted to go to where they filmed the show Outer Banks, and then I wanted to go look at the Houston Rockets stadium.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, and that desire to look at the Houston Rockets stadium meant we stopped at stadiums in how many states, I don't even know A lot, a lot and I had one rule about food. What was it? Do you remember we could only eat chicken nuggets once a day. We had to eat somewhere that was local in almost every place that we went. Do you remember any favorite meals other than your chicken nuggets?

Asher Cowan:

That one steakhouse we went to.

Crista Cowan:

In Kansas city. Yeah, yeah, that was really good. Okay, um, so your trip was a little bit longer because we drove cross country, went to that conference and then drove back, so it took what Two weeks, yeah, so I think that was a unique experience. Okay, and then we get to Caitlin, caitlin. Um, we finally managed to get your trip scheduled, and it actually just happened earlier this year. Right, we left the day after Christmas.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

We left on Christmas.

Crista Cowan:

We did.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

Because I was like for the entire time leading up to it, I was like you need to make Christmas dinner early because I do not want to miss it. So we had Christmas dinner early that day.

Crista Cowan:

I got my food, I packed up and off to the airport to meet up with you. That's right. And that was the first time you had ever flown alone, as an unaccompanied minor, because you had to come from out of state to meet me. And then we flew from Utah to your chosen destination, which was New York. And why did you pick new york?

Kaitlyn Cowan:

um, because, following corbin's footsteps, I am a raging theater kid. Um, I think you also gave me the choice of going up to the area that anne anne of green gables was set in. I wasn't that interested in those books, but Broadway, broadway called to me, so I went to New York. We got to see three shows. We saw Six, spamalot and MJ. Those were incredible. I almost cried at Six. It was an amazing trip, though. I loved it so much.

Crista Cowan:

It was because you're the world's only niece. I did give you a little bit more latitude and, yes, I did tell you you could go to Canada if you wanted. But you chose New York and I'm glad you did. And I'm also kind of glad that your trip was delayed a little bit, because your birthday would have meant we would have been there in the summer. If we had gone, it would have been not great, and so the fact that we not only delayed it, we delayed it almost a year and a half and what's up, it took like three tries it did just to get our schedules to coordinate, but that meant that we got to be there for the week after Christmas and Christmas in New York is magical. We were there Christmas through New Year's Eve, gabe has things to say.

Gabe Cowan:

Was Buddy the Elf there?

Crista Cowan:

Buddy the Elf was not there. However, what did we see?

Kaitlyn Cowan:

A lot of things. I don't know what you want me to say.

Crista Cowan:

What were your other favorite things besides the plays?

Kaitlyn Cowan:

You had me walk down to the tree and I guess that is a thing that you do. You let everybody have a little independence. I was terrified. I just found out that you put a little air tag in my pocket. So knowing that now I'm glad. But in the moment I was like, oh, this is great. I have to walk down like three blocks that way and 20 the other way, and I don't even know what time it was. I got to see this incredible, just big design show outside of Rockefeller Center well, it wasn't the Rockefeller Center, it was on the way.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

It was one of the I can't remember what designer store, but it was some fancy designer store and they were having this just huge light show on the side of their building and I had to stand there for like 20 minutes because people wouldn't move. So I got a ton of photos of that and then I finally made it to the tree, after getting lost and standing at the corner of that really fancy restaurant that we ate at for like five minutes.

Crista Cowan:

But I made it to the tree, I got a bunch of photos that, and then I came back there you go, yeah, and it's interesting because, um, because your uncle Cam finds a way into everybody's trip just a little bit. With Gabe, he sent us to the Celtics game I think you knew this. With our trip. That fancy dinner we ate at was at Cam's favorite Greek restaurant in New York City called Avra, and his Christmas gift to me was that he paid for our meal.

Crista Cowan:

And and so that was kind of fun to be able to not only have a fancy dinner but to send him pictures.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

Yeah, and also sitting there and just in awe over the things that rich people will do for their food.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, well, andrew and Finn, you're the two youngest and neither of you have turned 13 yet, but Andrew, you've got a birthday coming up here pretty soon. So what are you thinking? You've got some choices to make about where you want to go and how you want to spend your birthday trip.

Andrew Cowan:

I don't remember the names of the places, but I think it was SeaWorld and somewhere with a lot of music.

Crista Cowan:

Okay. So your choices, I think, are between San Diego because you love aquatic life, and New Orleans because you love music. Why do you love music so much?

Andrew Cowan:

I'm not sure. I just really love it.

Crista Cowan:

And do you play any instruments? Yes, which ones?

Andrew Cowan:

The bassoon and the clarinet.

Crista Cowan:

And you have also taken Drum lessons. Yeah, you're a musical kid and you actually have a really great voice. I think you would love New Orleans. It's one of my favorite cities, but San Diego is also pretty fantastic. So are you going to flip a coin? How are you going to decide?

Andrew Cowan:

I think I'll just make it up as I go.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, when the time comes, it's coming fast. Okay, finn, your birthday is still a little ways away before you turn 13,. But what are you thinking?

Phin Cowan:

I probably want to go to New York.

Crista Cowan:

How come?

Phin Cowan:

Because I like watching plays and stuff like that.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, we're kind of a little bit of a theater family, aren't we? Do you have any plays you want to see that you're hoping are there?

Phin Cowan:

Beetlejuice.

Crista Cowan:

And anything else. No, that's your one. You kind of know that soundtrack by heart, huh, and it's only because I already took you to see Six when it was touring. I would have been on the list too. Okay, fantastic. Well, it has been really fun for me to watch you kind of plan these trips and to spend this time with you in that one-on-one environment.

Crista Cowan:

I think it's really important that kids have trusted adults in their lives other than their parents, although I adore all of your parents. But I think that that's really important, and so I'm really grateful that your parents have allowed me to take you on those trips, that they've trusted me. I still remember the first time I took Corbin, however, to Disneyland when he turned five and Adam handed you over to me with a little letter saying that you know I could be responsible for medical decisions while we were out of the state and told me that if anything happened to you, I was not to come home. It just it terrified him to let his firstborn go. I think it got easier as the kids went on, to the point that when Asher came along, it was just like okay, have fun, see you in two weeks. But the amount of love that your parents have for you is always evident to me whenever I take you anywhere, and how precious you are to them, and the fact that they trust me with you means a lot to me that they allow me to be that involved in your lives.

Crista Cowan:

Now, the next trip that you thought you were going to get right Disneyland when you're five, anywhere in the continental US when you're 13. The next thing I told you was that when you graduate from college or return home from your mission, whichever comes first, you get to choose. Anywhere in the world you want to go, and I will take you there, and none of you have reached that yet. Corbin, you're going to be a junior in college and Gabe leaves on his mission in a week and a half, two weeks from today. Two weeks from today, okay, and so you two will probably end up bankrupting me the year that Gabe gets home and Corbin graduates from college within months of each other. Um, but I'm really looking forward to that, and so let's just do a quick round. Robin, we'll go around the room, starting with Gabe. Had you have any idea where you want to go when you get home from your mission, maybe Italy, any North, south, all over, anywhere.

Gabe Cowan:

Anywhere.

Crista Cowan:

Because food.

Gabe Cowan:

Yes, pasta food.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I have no idea, no thoughts at all. Depends on where I go before that.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, see, caitlin and Andrew are a little bit more well-traveled, and so they get to go places with their parents, and I think your grandfather's sending you to Japan next year, so on a birthday trip. So that's kind of fun. So, yeah, so we'll see when the time comes.

Asher Cowan:

I don't really know, probably like China or Japan, okay.

Levi Cowan:

I want to go to Japan for the college shows.

Corbin Cowan:

I'm either wanting to go to Taiwan or Greece. I'm not sure yet.

Crista Cowan:

Those are very different, Corbin. I need an explanation.

Corbin Cowan:

Well, greece, because I've just always wanted to go there and I've seen Mamma Mia and it just looks so fun, so I want to go there. And then Taiwan. I'm in college, I'm minoring in Chinese, so just being able to go to the culture where they speak Chinese and be able to use my skills would be fun If you make me take you to Taiwan.

Crista Cowan:

We're going to have to bring Cam with us. Yeah, that's okay. Cam not only lived there, he also speaks fluent Chinese. Yeah, I think I would like that as well.

Phin Cowan:

I would I probably want to go to Paris.

Crista Cowan:

Any particular reason.

Phin Cowan:

To see the Eiffel Tower, okay, okay.

Crista Cowan:

There's a Disneyland in Paris too.

Andrew Cowan:

I went there, yeah, so I'd either want to go back to Scotland or to Japan.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, why Scotland? What do you love about it? The bagpipes and drum shows? Oh, it's the music. Again, I love that you got a theme, makes me happy. Yay, well, that is the trip that we're all kind of looking forward to. No-transcript.

Crista Cowan:

I thought it would be fun to take all of you on a trip together, and so I talked to all of your parents and we hatched up a plan and then I had to approach you about it to see if you were interested, particularly with Caitlin and Andrew, because your summer track season runs really late into the summer and here in Utah the other boys, their school starts before summer is even over. I mean, like halfway through August you all are back in school. And I knew Gabe was leaving on a mission, even though he didn't have a date yet. And I knew Gabe was leaving on a mission even though he didn't have a date yet, and so I had this really narrow window of about three weeks where it was possible to take all of you on a vacation, because once Gabe leaves, then Levi will go and then Asher will go and Corbin will then be graduated from college and off on, you know, maybe in a career and off living his life, and so this was kind of this sweet spot where I could take all of you on a trip, and I decided that a cruise was probably the best option for a couple of reasons. One, it's self-contained, like you can't go anywhere because you're on a boat, like you can only go so far, no wandering off and getting lost. Two, my favorite thing, because looking around this room with all of these teenage boys and not teenage boys and a teenage girl food was an issue. If I had had to feed all of you on a regular vacation, I think again you would have bankrupted me, and so a cruise was a great opportunity to just turn you loose on a buffet or apparently you all liked the restaurants better and get you fed as often as you needed to be.

Crista Cowan:

And then I chose Alaska. So for Christmas this year I let you all know that that was your Christmas gift was that we were all going to Alaska together on a cruise, and then your birthday present for this year was the plane ticket to get there. So so two for one. For me this has been such a fun week, and I know that we got home very, very early this morning and you're all a little bit tired and maybe even a little bit jet lagged and don't have your land legs yet after being on a ship for a week. But I want to hear a little something about what your favorite thing about that time together was. Levi, we're going to start with you.

Levi Cowan:

I'm going to have to say the food, just because everyone was always wanting to go get food and there was never a time where you'd have to go by yourself.

Crista Cowan:

Okay, so not only the food, but actually having somebody with you at all times. Yeah, okay, asher, what about you?

Asher Cowan:

I liked that it wasn't super hot there and there was stuff to see and stuff to do. What was your favorite thing you saw?

Crista Cowan:

the glacier, glacier bay national park, even though you had to get up early yeah, it was early, but you could watch it from your bed sort of we have to get off the boat. We didn't have to get off the boat.

Gabe Cowan:

Good, I really liked like the shows and especially like the fireworks show, because it was not really like fireworks in the sky, it was like a show like with music and stuff, which was really cool.

Crista Cowan:

Yeah, we went to. On our very last night, we went to Butchert gardens in Victoria, british Columbia, which was also the first time that five of you had been out of the country on this trip. And yeah, that it was. It was really fun and beautiful and in a really great environment, although I'm still concerned about how they managed to do a whole firework show in the forest without setting it on fire. It's pretty impressive, finn. What about you?

Phin Cowan:

My favorite part was probably the play that was on the show that we watched.

Crista Cowan:

do you remember what it was called?

Phin Cowan:

um the choir of man choir of man.

Crista Cowan:

What was your favorite thing about it? The music okay, yeah, that was a. That was a very fun, very high energy show, uh, and it was all songs that you knew pretty much. Yeah, okay corb, um.

Corbin Cowan:

So during the trip I actually turned 20, so it was my birthday on the last day. That was the day that we went to the bucart buder whatever that word is that the gardens there um, and we got to see the fireworks and that was really fun, because in my birthday here in america there's a lot of fireworks, especially in utah, because it's pioneer day right after um, and last year I didn't get to see fireworks just because of where I was on my birthday. So it was fun to be able to see the fireworks on my birthday again this year and they were really cool and, like Gabe was saying, it wasn't just fireworks in the air but it was like a whole show with music and lights. Did you think fireworks were for you when you were little? I did. And then, like when tangled came out, I'm like, oh, the lanterns for her, my fireworks. So I love that.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

Yeah, okay, uh, let's see caitlin, I probably have to agree with finn the choir of men what?

Crista Cowan:

what was so moving about that for you music yeah, and tristan was great. Yep, it was a really great cast, very talented performers. Okay, andrew, you're up last Pancakes. Yep, how many pancakes do you think you ate on this trip? He's doing math.

Andrew Cowan:

Over 20.

Crista Cowan:

Over 20 pancakes in seven days. Well done you. I think that's impressive. I ate seven pancakes in Well done you. I think that's impressive.

Andrew Cowan:

I ate seven pancakes in one day.

Crista Cowan:

Whoa, I missed that day. Was that the day you went for second breakfast after we had breakfast all together? Yes, yeah, that was a running theme of this trip First breakfast, second breakfast, first lunch, second lunch, first dinner, second dinner and a midnight snack.

Andrew Cowan:

I also tried to eat eight pancakes.

Crista Cowan:

Well, seven is a respectable number. I love it. So thank you for sharing your favorite things about this trip. Now that we've come home and I know you haven't had a lot of time to think about it but do you view your relationships with your siblings or your cousins any differently because we've spent this time together?

Levi Cowan:

I'd say kind of, because for most people it would be like build the relationship because they're in like a tight space, but in our house no one really respects your space, so we're all on top of each other all the time anyways. So I guess in a way it did, because I'm living in the same room as all of them and usually I only share a room with one, but at the same time it was about the same as at our house. Okay.

Crista Cowan:

Tight quarters sometimes breed resentment and sometimes just breeds a little bit more love or at least more stories to tell.

Kaitlyn Cowan:

Anybody else. Well, I got to find a way to connect with everybody because, honestly, I'm not that into sports as most of the other people here, so it was nice to actually see everyone and talk to them, as we don't live close really.

Crista Cowan:

Yeah, you and your brother are at a little bit of a disadvantage because you've lived so far away for so much of your lives and I know you were nervous about that for this trip that you were gonna. I mean, a you're the only girl, and b you you don't know what you have in common with them, so I'm gonna put you on the spot just a little bit. What did you connect with each of them on?

Kaitlyn Cowan:

I think we're, and I just connected with being the oldest and the rowdiest. The other five yeah.

Crista Cowan:

You're both very much introverts and need your space and sometimes need to like get away from the noise and crazy. Okay, well, um, I love you all. I am so grateful to be your aunt. I am very grateful that you are each part of our family. You are all so very different and that's one of the things that I learned this week. I already knew it, but I think it was just reinforced how very different you are and yet how just wonderful each of you are in your own way. You are good, you are funny, you are interesting and I love spending time with you. So thank you for going on this trip with me this week, know even put up with the annoyances of living in tight quarters and the annoyances of sometimes clashing personalities so that we could spend that time together. That was important to me. So I love you.

Gabe Cowan:

Thank you, we love you too.

Levi Cowan:

We love you, we love you.

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