Kevin!!!!!! (A long story about a short guy)

Today was a HUGE day in our family. GIGANTIC.
KEVIN IS BACK!!!!!!!!!The excitement of this day demands a backstory:

When Trevor was not quite two, he got a Cabbage Patch Newborn for Christmas. See the shiny box under the tree? December 25, 2005. And this is the moment when Trevor and Kevin met:I don't think he was called Kevin right away. But he looked an awful lot like Trevor, and they shared the same birthday (according to the Cabbage Patch birth certificate). Toddler Trevor was excited.

For the next couple of years, Kevin was played with from time to time. His popularity was on par with a bunch of other dolls and stuffed animals that lived in big piles in Trevor's room.
And then, about three years ago, something changed. Kevin developed a personality. A weird voice. A life story. He became a character that could be played by either Trevor or Clara, who also happen to be his dad and aunt. And he started to become part of our everyday life.

He went camping with us.
He joined us on trips to the beach.

He hung out at home.
Some things you might want to know about Kevin:

• His favorite number is 26.
• He is five years old, but he claims to be 26.
• He runs several businesses, including, but not limited to: Kevin Eleven, Air Kevin, Kevin Cruise, and Kevin Cars.
• He loves Katy Perry, and hopes to marry her someday.
• He thinks that the Jonas Brothers are twins, so he's reminded of them any time he sees the word, "twins".
• He once saw a street called "Twin Creeks", so now any water references also make him think of the Jonas Brothers.
• He likes to sing, and has written several songs.
• He has a girlfriend named Kevinina.
• He has a sister named Meredith (pictured above).
• He still wears diapers, even at age 5 (or 26).
• His best friend is Sky Nockels, who was written up in Highlights Magazine for adopting a white rhino named Imara at a zoo in South Dakota.
• He pronounces "magazine", "magazine-uh".
• He's the richest person in the world, and he has "infinity money".
• He thinks his grandpa doesn't like him.

Kevin's hair is a mess, his face and body are dirty, and his voice is rather grating, especially when he's upset, but he is a member of the family. Life wouldn't be the same without him.

So you can imagine how worried we all were when, back in early September, we couldn't find Kevin anywhere. We keep a relatively tidy house, and there are only so many places you can look. We searched all of the toy baskets, the dress-up bin, behind chairs and under blankets, inside cabinets and closets and under couches and beds. No dice. We even started looking in places we knew he could never be. Boxes in the garage, piles of wood scraps, bushes in the backyard. Nothing.

I looked back through photos and found that these were the last pictures I had of Kevin, taken on August 23rd. Trevor was playing some sort of game where Kevin was a prisoner.
We looked and hoped for several weeks, until Chad and I figured there was no hope we'd ever see Kevin again. We had a horrible, sinking feeling that Kevin might have accidentally ended up in a bag of stuff that had gone to the Goodwill. It was painful to imagine it.

Through all of this time, Kevin was kept alive by Clara and Trevor. They still had conversations with Kevin. Clara made him friendship bracelets. Trevor put gifts under the tree from Kevin to "Antie". Kevin kept right on singing, and drawing, and managing his many businesses.

I tried desperately to find a replacement Kevin on ebay, knowing full well that the real Kevin was irreplaceable. I even bought a big Cabbage Patch boy, and tried to convince Trev that we could pretend Kevin had grown up. It didn't go over well. There's only one Kevin.

***Okay, so, as I write this all out, it does seem maybe a bit over the top. A bit wacky. But it is what it is.***

Then, today, I was knitting. Working on my Christmas stocking. And Trev decided that he wanted to do some knitting as well. So he went and took out the little knitting basket that Clara got for Christmas a few years back. And we all heard him scream, "I FOUND KEVIN!!!!!!!!" Three of the best words I've ever heard.
Poor Kev was trapped in a knitting basket for the better part of four months (Trevor thinks perhaps he was using the basket as an aircraft carrier, on which Kevin was a passenger).
And now he's back. Kevin is back.
We love you, Kevin. You are the best Christmas present ever.