Top 14 of 2014

Oh, look!  A blog post!  Yep, it's been awhile.  But, here I am (as on most New Year's Days past) looking back over the past years.  My TimeHop app showed me this blog post from 2012 (Love is Here) and then I came across last year's blog post ("My Top 10 of 2013") and thought I would carry on the tradition.  Maybe one day Us Koehns will have a nice, big coffee table book of our very own Top 10's (with a twist).

So, without further adieu, here are our Top 14 of 2014:

Welcoming home my nephew Sam on January 28, 2014

We met Andrea and Jon at the airport and got to see The White Family become SIX!  Such an exciting day!!

Baby Lamb celebrated turning THREE on May 9, 2014.  This hardly seems possible.  Thanks, as always, to my dear friend Wendy Hardin for capturing my sweet 3 year old's pictures!!

This fella and I celebrated TEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE on April 3, 2014!  Can you believe that we have endured each other enjoyed wedded bliss together for this long??

Chan completed the Nashville Kids Marathon on April 27, 2014.  He had a great time (even beat me!) and had fun, but I was most proud of him for overcoming the anxiety that he had about running this race.  The crowd of strangers, the unknown of having not done it before...he was not so sure about it.  But, he did it.  So proud of him.

June 2014 and the boys' first (but definitely not last) visit to the happiest place on earth! A definite high point of our year!  I started planning our next trip the day we got home.  I still have PDD (Post Disney Depression).

June/July 2014- Meeting Xia. Andrea & Jon hosted Xia (on the left) this summer and decided at the end of the program that he would be joining their family through adoption, too.  They hope to bring my new nephew (who will be named Christopher) home by March of this year.  Are these two not the cutest?!?!

Chan-Man started SECOND GRADE, YA'LL!!  August 1, 2014 he started school with the best 2nd grade teacher ever, and right across the hall from his momma.  He is having a great year!!

Our forever home!!  We moved for the FINAL time into our forever home on August 5, 2014.  Back to school, work, and moving all in the same week. It was a tad crazy, but whatevs.

Seven years old just doesn't seem right, but seven came anyway.  On September 6, 2014 we celebrated Chan's 7th birthday and my 33rd 29th. 

On September 13, 2014 Liam started riding a bike SANS TRAINING WHEELS!  Since when do three year olds do this??  Chan was determined to teach him, and he did.  Success story--they actually worked together for a bit with minimal fighting and accomplished a goal.  Proud Momma.

October 2014: our annual beach trip.  Sand, sun, surf, and crazy family.  Can't top that.


October 31, 2014.  Because I.JUST.HAD.TO.  I couldn't have our Top 10 not include Wayne & Garth.

And okay, these little boogers were pretty excellent, too!  I did kind of love their costumes this year.

November 28, 2014: We've made a tradition out of going to cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  One of our favorite days of the year, and this year the rest of The Koehns got to join us.  We had a blast kicking off our good, old-fashioned family Christmas.

My personal resolution was completed on December 20, 2014 when I finished my final 5K of the year.  I ended the year with 12 5Ks and 1 Kids Fun Run.  The Half-Marathon was a wash this year since I had strep throat that weekend, but oh well.

And there it is, folks.  All wrapped up into 2014, but with lots, lots more in memories.  Can't wait to see what 2015 holds for Us Koehns. 

"Whether we want them or not, the New Year will bring new challenges;
whether we seize them or not, the New Year will bring new opportunities."
~Michael Josephson~

Till next time, friends!
Brittany :)

My Top 10 of 2013 (Plus 6)

Did I just blink and then 2013 happened???  Cause, um, I am pretty sure we were just having New Year's Eve celebrations like yesterday.

Hey there Time; please slow down.

Even though it seems like it was gone in the blink of an eye, there was LOTS of fun, memories, laughs, accomplishments, thrills, sadness, waiting, blessings, answered prayers, and so much more in 2013.  Thinking back over the past year, we've had a pretty great one.

So, here is my Top 10 of 2013 (Plus 6...because that's how I roll).  And in chronological order (because that just makes sense):

January 2013: Getting baptized for the second time at church on January 6.

February 2013: I surprised Justin on Valentine's Day with a dinner at McNamara's followed by tickets to see one of our faves Flogging Molly in Nashville.  Best date night ever.

March 2013: Girls trip to Gatlinburg with my two oldest & bestest friends.  And it top if off, it snowed the whole weekend!  Was a gorgeous weekend with my gorgeous friends.

May 2013: Baby Lamb turned 2!!  We celebrated Liam's two years on May 9 with a trip to Build a Bear, dinner at Chuy's, and a carousel ride.  We had a fun party that weekend, too.

May 2013: Celebrated an AMAZING year with these kiddos at Mother's Day Out.  I LOVED my time there.  LOVED it.

June 2013: Chandler learned to ride his bike!!  We practiced for half an hour and then he was flying.  Super proud day.

July 2013: We said peace out to the miniature van.  She served us well, but Momma was pretty happy to see her go.

July 2013: I started my new position as a 2nd grade teacher at Lakeview Elementary with these amazing people.  Where I have always said I've wanted to teach. I am home.

August 2013: Chandler started 1st grade on August 1st!  Still cannot believe it!

August 2013: On August 11 we got as many of the Flatts (my Mom's family) together in my Aunt Ora's backyard for a good old-fashioned "get together".  Have so many memories with these great people in this place.

September 2013: We celebrated our birthdays!!  Chandler turned 6 and Mommy turned 32 29.  We had a yummy dinner at Cinco with the fam and a pirate party followed on the weekend.

September 2013: I ran (and finished!) the Women's Half Marathon in Nashville on September 28.  After training for three months, I ran the WHOLE thing and finished in 2:15:58, which was 2 seconds within my goal time.

October 2013: Family beach trip!!  The whole Whitaker clan headed to our fave place for a whole entire week.  Relaxing, great weather, beautiful water, and family.  Love.

December 2013: Snow day before Christmas!!  Not much, but enough to get out of school. :)

December 2013: Christmas Eve at Nama's with The Koehns.  Always one of our favorite days of the year.

December 2013: BIG NEWS TODAY!!!  My sister Andrea & BIL Jon found out today that Sam will be coming home in January 2014!  They leave for China on January 8th, will meet their son on January 13th, and be home as a complete family of 6 on January 26th!!!  Answered prayers!

What an amazing year it has been!!!  I simply cannot wait to see what 2014 holds in store for us Koehns.  It's gonna be good, friends.  In fact, it'll probably be kind of great.

"We will open the book.  It's pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce~

Till next year friends!

Brittany :)

2012 in Review

Well, we've had a pretty uneventful week around here.  Other than Chan's first full week back to school, and Justin heading back to work after a whopping 19 days off, we've not been up to too much.  Oh, Chan did get his second report card on Tuesday...all S's with the exception on three areas to improve on: listening attentively, refraining from talking/disrupting others, and penmanship.  No big shockers there unfortunately.

So, I figured even though we are almost two weeks into the New Year, I'd do a review of 2012.  Picture style of course.  Here goes:

In January:

We kicked off the New Year by staying in our jammies most the day...kind of like we did this year

Played outside sans snow :(

& spent 5 days and 4 nights at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital

In Febraury:

Someone started crawling!

And we celebrated Valentine's Day

In March:

We got a mini-van...

In April:

We got a visit from the Easter Bunny

And celebrated the day

In May:

This little guy turned ONE!

And tried swimming for the first time.

We went to the Renaissance Festival

And Chan finished his Pre-K year with Mrs. Susan

In June:

Chan finished his second season of soccer

And played drums with some amazing drummers

We celebrated Daddy twice: on Father's Day & his birthday

And we got really dirty playing outside

In July:

We celebrated July 4th

Took a trip to Louisville to visit Auntie Kristin and made a stop at the zoo

And got pretty up close and personal to some amazing gorillas

In August:

Big brother started kindergarten with Mrs. Capley

And little brother started Mother's Day Out with Mrs. Stephanie

We spent some time at Wave Country with Aunt Carly

Got geared up for some Tennessee football!

And Mommy earned the title of "Hog Queen" at the Wilson County Fair!

In September:

Chandler turned FIVE!

And Mommy turned 31 28

We did some apple pickin'

And scarecrow stuffin'

In October:

We visited Ripley's Aquarium with some of the fam

 

Went to the top of a mountain

Tasted some moonshine (okay, just some of us did)

Visited Dollywood for the first time

And Chan rode his first big coaster

And of course we went through a corn maze

Played in some leaves

Picked a pumpkin

Or two

Went on hayrides

And did some trick-or-treating

Oh, and someone got their first haircut

In November:

We stuck with the Titans even though it wasn't fun to watch

Counted our blessings

Celebrated Thanksgiving

Got a surprise visit from Shelf our Elf

And found The Koehn Family Christmas Tree

And in December:

We visited with Santa

Built a gingerbread house

Watched a school play (with the best rendition of Joseph possibly ever)

Took a walk through Bethlehem

Had fun making A Very Koehn Christmas

Baked cookies

Made reindeer food

Enjoyed Nama's on Christmas Eve

Got surprises from Santa

And opened lots of gifts

And that's just a bit of what kept us busy in 2012.  I'm sure 2013 has even more in store for us.

"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: "I am with you kid.  Let's go."

~Maya Angelou~

Till next week friends!

Brittany :)