The Johnson Family 2015

Good grief!! You guys make our 2015 look very boring….  But you asked so I shall update you anyway.  I’m so sorry this is so late!!  We actually just had our most exciting adventure of 2015 in December.   James and I spent the majority of the year in Anchorage, AK.  But at the beginning of December we started our cross-country drive to Augusta, GA.  James is switching jobs in the Army and so he had to return to Augusta for more training.  We should be here for about 8 months and then there is a chance that we will move to Okinawa, Japan.   

In February, James and I celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary at a ski resort in Alyeska, AK.  This was very fun.  James loves to snowboard and I love to go to hotel spas.  We did a little of both. 

Every March Alaska celebrates the Iditarod.  Every year they celebrate the start of the Iditarod with the Running of the Reindeer down a main street in downtown Anchorage.   Unfortunately, last winter had a record low of snow and then had to bring some in for the celebration.  We still had a lot of fun.  Reindeer are actually a lot smaller than you would expect. 

In April we went to an Army Ball with James’ Unit.  They’re kind of like prom….  But at least I got to get my hair professionally done this year!! 

   James and I have been working on our gardening skills over the last few years.  This summer we invested in a green house.  Last year we were disappointed in how poorly our peppers turned out in Alaska. Overall, our garden did better this year but our jalapenos still didn’t turn out… 

 

We were very blessed that James wasn’t deployed during 2015.  He did have to go to Australia for the army in July, but luckily that was only for a month.   James was a little upset because it was winter in Australia and he was missing another amazing summer in Alaska.  This is him on the beach!

 

In August, my good friend from High School, Geri, came to visit us and we went up to Denali.  We actually stayed in Talketna, a couple hours outside of the park….  While we were in Talketna we went Zip-Lining.  It was very scary but we did have some very good views of the mountain.  Denali (used to be named Mount McKinley) is the tallest mountain in North America.  This last summer President Obama officially changed the name to Mount Denali. 

 

Mount Denali is that peak to the left of the tree.

 

 

Once we found out about going to Georgia and possibly Japan we decided we really needed to try to see more of Alaska before we had to left.  One weekend we went to Whiter to see some glaciers.

 

 

 

In September my dad had a little health issue so I got to fly to Madison, WI and stay with my parents for a couple of days.  It wasn’t the greatest reason to have to visit but it was still very nice to see them.

 

 

Here's a photo from our back deck of a beautiful Alaskan sunset!!

 

 

Here is a picture from the hospital where I worked.  I worked at the Alaska Native Medical Center as a nurse.  I was working intermittent on the cardiac/med surg floor until March when I started a new job as a full-time Discharge Care Coordinating Nurse.  This was a neat experience and I will miss that job a lot!

In November we had Thanksgiving; here’s a picture of James craving the turkey I prepared!  Then the movers came the following Monday.  Black Friday was also my last day of work. 

Then on December 9^th we started our road trip to Augusta.  We had a lot of fun but the trip was LONG!!!  We arrived into Augusta on the 24^th, just in time to spend Christmas in a hotel….  Here are some pictures of beautiful Alaska and Canada.  While we were in Canada we went to the Edmonton Mall which is the largest mall in North America! 

Our dogs Izzy and Gus in the car.

(Gus is pouting because I wouldn’t let him sit in the front with me)

We got to see some friends along the way and we stopped to stay with James’ dad and step mother, in Missouri, for a little, as well.  Here is a picture of James, his dad and Izzy at` James’ dad’s home in Branson West, MO.

 

Now we are in Augusta, GA.  We really enjoyed our time in Alaska but we are looking forward to what 2016 brings!!  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and happy 2016!!!

Love,

The Johnsons

A Very Mendy 2015 

Happy Holidays everyone!  This year was very busy for the Mendy family.  Here's a brief update of what we've been up to:

I graduated with my doctorate in physical therapy in June, took/passed my boards in July, and started working in August as a full time physical therapist with ATI Physical Therapy in Madison Heights, MI (finally a pay check!).  I work primarily with general orthopedic patients (joint replacements, fractures, generalized musculoskeletal pain, etc.).   I really love what I do and I look forward to growing in my career.

Scott had a nice work transition as well when he took a job working in advertising with Fiat Chrysler in Auburn Hills, MI which started in May.  He handles most of the RAM trunk commercials, news segments, and sponsorships you see on TV and he's really proud of the work he's done so far.  P.S. if anyone is interested in buying/leasing a new Chrysler vehicle let us know!  Scott can get you a really good discount!

Other than work stuff, we moved to Michigan!  We're renting a house in Royal Oak and learning how to be suburbanites again.  So far we really like it here and we've made a few new friends in the neighborhood who have made the move from Chicago a lot easier for us to handle.  Plus, we still have some good friends from college who live around here and we've enjoyed being able to spend more time with them.  It's definitely different from Chicago and we miss the city dearly but all in all things have gone really well so far.

We also managed to fit in a few trips this year to visit with friends/family and also just to see some new sights.  It was great to see the Hoene family, Currey family, and my parents for a long weekend this summer in Monona, WI.  Aubrey is getting so big!  Becky already posted pictures from that visit so I'll leave it at that.  

Scott and I also took a trip to Asheville, NC as a celebration for graduating/passing boards prior to starting work.  Asheville is amazingly beautiful and has a really great restaurant/bar scene.  If you haven't been and you love hiking/rafting/general outdoorsy beauty you have to go!

I guess that's all the updates I have for now.  I hope everyone had a wonderfully relaxing and blessed holiday season.  All the best to you and yours in 2016.

Here are some pics from 2015:

Asheville

Royal Oak House

Graduation!

Hoene Family Xmas Blog 2015

Hello Family! 2015 is drawing to a close and it was a good year. We didn't really do anything special this year, except maybe get a year older ;).  I will just share a little about each of us.

Little Henry - turned 3 at the end of March. This year he started going to the same pre-school that Sophia attended last year. He goes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. He LOVES to play with construction machinery toys, especially skid steers. He likes to help daddy at work and get rides in the real skid steer and tractors. He has started talking a lot more, mostly about skid steers and the work he is doing with said skid steer. He has the sweetest little voice, so listening to him talk melts my heart. Swimming lessons started this year too. Buddy does not want to put his head under water, so he is still in the beginner level.

 Sophia - turned 5 at the end of October. This year she learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels! She also started the pre-k program at Campus Cooperative Preschool which is every morning. Her teachers refer to her as a leader of the class since she is so outgoing and personable. (this has been both a blessing and a curse with bossiness). She is very good at including others and helping out when needed.  Sophia has excelled at swim lessons. She has advanced 3 levels since we started. There is still a way to go, but it's a great start. Sophia LOVES horses and the color purple. Her birthday theme this year was horses. She had barrel racing and pin the tail on the pony at her party. All her friends got to go home with their own "pony". She really loves doing art projects.

  Sophia and Henry on their first day of school for the 2015-2016 school year

Big Henry - manager of the University of Illinois Dairy farm. Henry grew an awesome garden again this year. The garden keeps growing with Henry's growing green thumb. This fall we transplanted wild blackberries from the pond by Brenda's house. We are hoping for a good crop to enjoy in pies next summer. Henry loves that Sophia and Buddy like living on the farm. He has shown them how to milk the cows and likes the "help" in the garden. Henry went up to Madison for the World Dairy Expo in October.

Kelly is still doing a lot with the mom's support group Mothers & More. As a co-leader I have been in charge of more scheduling and making the group fun. I have met a lot of great ladies I am lucky to call my friend. I took the kids to Nashville, TN this spring for Mother's Day weekend. We went down with my mom and Casey to visit Brittany. It was a really fun trip (stressful, but fun). We also went on a family trip to Wisconsin this summer and visited The Kyles. I'm so glad we were able to see Becky, Katie, Isaac and Aubrey while we were there. Ruth Anne and John's new place is really nice!

 At the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI

 Swimming at Ruth Anne and John's

 The group in Nashville!

 Henry and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this October. 

We went on a day date and had a really nice time, just the 2 of us.

We found out early this year we were expecting our third baby!  We welcomed Tess Pauline Hoene on November 3, 2015. We have been spending the last month adjusting to a new baby and 3 kids for that matter. Tess is really sweet and loves her big brother and sister already. She has recently started smiling a big gummy smile and cooing. Sophia and Henry are so in love. Me and Henry are, too, for that matter. 

 That's a big pumpkin right there!

 The proudest big brother and sister you've ever seen!

 We hope everyone has a great holiday and happy new year! Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Hoenes
Henry, Kelly, Sophia, Henry & Tess

Currey X-Mas Update 2015

2015 was another great year for the Currey family!  We've enjoyed watching Aubrey grow up this year and are having so much fun playing with her as she can do more and more.  She's recently gotten really into coloring so that's been a great excuse for me to bust out my coloring skills.  I won't bore you with any examples but I'm sure you can just imagine how amazing our coloring looks.

In other news, we're still in India at the American Embassy School.  This will be our 5th year here!  There have been a few challenges this year with the school board but for the most part we really enjoy our jobs here and plan to stay for at least another year.  It's hard to beat the career growth that we have experienced here and it's a great place to have little kids.

Isaac and I finished our Master's Degrees of Science in Interdisciplinary Education this month so that's pretty exciting.  One more thing to check off my list of things to do!  I've also finally gotten into teaching the IB.  I started teaching IB Economics this year and it's been a surprisingly smooth transition so far.  Fingers crossed that it continues!  I've really enjoyed learning new things and I feel like I understand the news so much more now!  I can even bust out really smart sounding terms like Fiduciary and I finally know what the FED is!  Most importantly, it should be MUCH easier for Isaac and I to find jobs when we move on since there is a huge shortage of IB Econ teachers in the international community.

Other than work stuff, we have been blessed with another pregnancy!  Yes, I'm expecting a baby boy this March.  We're very excited to welcome the newest member to our family and can't wait for you all to meet him!

AND we've traveled a bit, as well.  Last Christmas we visited Australia for a few weeks.  Here are some pics from the trip:


Last Christmas in Oz

Koalas smell like Eucalyptus!  

This is a pic from a viewpoint on the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne.  The rock formations are called the Twelve Apostles

In Feb Aubrey Turned 1!

Spring Break! 

Isaac had a conference in Istanbul leading up to Spring Break so we decided to make a trip of it and visited both Istanbul and Cappadocia which were both AMAZING.  See Photo evidence.  Cappadocia is where ancient Christians hid out in these crazy underground cities that were carved out of hills.  If you ever get a chance, I strongly recommend a visit.  It's like another planet!

Underground City from the time of the Hittites!  Google it, Katie! 

Aubrey's trying to pick the perfect carpet for her room.

Inside the Hagia Sofia.  I've been wanting to go here for years!  (Google it Katie!  :))

Istanbul: Hagia Sofia

View from our apartment in Istanbul!

Cappadocia

Summer Fun!
On the way back to the U.S. we visited Italy.  We went to Rome, Florence and Cinque Tierre.

The Colosseum 

Cinque Tierre

Aubrey sure does love Sculpture!  Or, I'm tickling her..... or BOTH!  (Michelangelo's David)

Florence viewpoint (note sleeping baby on back)

And over the summer we traveled to Texas, Arizona (to visit Isaac's bro and his wife), Madison, and I went to New Mexico for an IB training.

Texas:

Texas Ranger's game with Aubs.  She made it through ALL 9 INNINGS!!

Arizona:


Here's a pic of a visit from the Hoene's in Madison!

This fall we really didn't travel very much but we did finally get to Sri Lanka!  Here's a pic of Isaac learning to surf there!



and here's a pic of Aubs on Halloween because it's too darn cute to not share:

She learned to smile on command on this night!

And for the holidays we'll be going to Penang, Malaysia with some friends who live in Hong Kong.  They have a little girl a few months younger than Aubrey so it should be a great time for the kids AND for us.  We worked with them in Thailand and try to meet up once a year.

Well, I think that's all of the pics and information anyone can handle (esp me!).  I hope that all of you are having a wonderful holiday season and that 2015 was everything you hoped it would be!

Love,
   Becky, Isaac and Aubrey