First Pres Website

I do not often talk about work, but I am excited about our recent accomplishment there! I truly love working for First Presbyterian Church School and feel blessed for the opportunities that have opened up to me! As we work hard to create a “brand” for the school and bring it into the 21st century, an updated website was crucial. Although I still plan on adding more features and making slight changes over the next few months, I was thrilled when we finally launched our new site this week! I have worked very hard to build this site and have taken most of the photos for it myself as well! If you feel like visitin … here is the site: www.fpcschool.org

The Toddler Room

One of my goals for the holiday break, was to purge our unused ( half unpacked) office and turn it into a Toddler room for Charlotte. Although Matt and I intended to have her continue sleeping in the nursery, we new she would love a toddler room to play in. She got a toddler bed from Poppa Kohler and Nana Angelia, an adorable kitchen from Grandma Kohler, baby doll stuff from Grandma Juju, and a table and chairs painted by Grandpa Coury! With a few additional pieces and accessories from Ikea this room will be perfect for our little Miss Charlotte. The theme is "Charlotte in Paris". I also, got really maternal all of the sudden and had an urge to sew!! The last time I did this was in high school, and by no means was I any good at it! But, I just couldn't find the bedding I had invisioned for the room. So I made it... thats right! I MADE IT ALL BY MYSELF! I am actually still finishing it up, but I will post pics very soon!

For now, here are a couple shots of her seeing her room for the first time! It was as if she knew immediately that it was all her own! She was so excited, and has refused to sleep in her crib ever since! Thats right, little miss Charlotte at 20 months old decided she was done with the crib and sleeps in her toddler bed! She does great! I think it was about night #4 of sleeping in her new bed that she quietly snuck back in to our room 5 minutes after being tucked in... "Aren't you sleepy Charlotte?" I asked. "Nope!" replied Charlotte! So she sat on our floor and read books. After 20 or 30 minutes I realized she had dissapeared from the floor next to me... she had gone back to bed and was sound asleep cuddled in bed! Wow! She is one funny girl!

Charlotte Shenanigans

You always know that when it gets too quiet... something crazy is going on! What the heck Charlotte?!

Kelsey Christmas on New Years Eve

At least 6 more weeks of Winter!

So, My uncle Bob posted a video he took when we were visiting the Coury's last Sunday. You can click here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF3-VoZW1j8 or go to You Tube and type in Charlotte Kohler! Charlotte really gives her shadow a "what for"!

Although we missed the oficial Coury-Christmas party- we did manage to come visit the following day while Karen and Bob (from San Francisco) were in town. Charlotte got to see her cousins (2nd cousins) Ava and Noah! It was so cute to see the girls playing together! I was the only girl in the Coury cousin bunch, so to see these two little girls playing was very special for me! I wish I had gotten a video of their piano concert... words cannot exactly describe it! We look forward to seeing them all again soon!

8 Christmases

Matt and I have wanted to see the movie “Four Christmases” because it seemed fitting for our lives! But like we could fit it into our schedules!!!! And although we have not seen the movie… I think that if we only had four celebrations we would be thankful! Due to the weather, we actually missed a few this year, but our annual Christmas celebrations include … • Christmas with Matt’s Dad (in Vancouver) • Christmas with the Kohler family (once in Eugene- now in Vancouver) • Christmas with Donahues (Matt’s Mom’s family- also in Vancouver) • Christmas with the Courys (Nadine’s Dad’s family) • Christmas Eve with Nadine’s Mom, Brad, Julee’s parents, our siblings & Church • Christmas Day (we have our own morning celebration) • Christmas Day with Nadine’s Dad, Matt’s mom, our siblings, and this year joined by Julie’s friend Roger, & Nadine’s Grandparents. (our house) • Christmas with the Kelseys (Nadine’s Mom’s family) So don’t get me wrong… I love Christmas! But does this seem crazy to anyone else??? I have a deep love for traditions, and enjoying our families, but I really feel that in the midst of celebrating 8 times, we forget what we are celebrating! I want to make sure that Charlotte grows up knowing that Christmas is not about stuff- not that she won’t enjoy her piano, kitchen, trike, art easel, books, and dvds, but down the road I want her to learn to be a “giver”! We celebrate because of Jesus, because God gave that gift to us, and Jesus gave his life for us! Somehow, someway, some year- I hope we find a good way to balance all of this out! We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year!