Year 2016 Recap

Despite falling off the blogging wagon a 'little' while ago, I am going to attempt a recap of our year, and include the missing fall months as well. It has been such a different year for us, being a little more stationary than usual, but that has been good, too. And we haven't been that stationary (wink).

To compare, you can read our Year Recaps here: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

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JANUARY 2016




We welcomed the new year in Maine, and enjoyed snow and winter very much. We had a fun group of friends visit us from Australia, and while our teens had to fly back to Florida and their dual-enrollment classes, the Captain, little girls and I stayed up in Maine a little longer. We also visited with more of the Captain's side of the family.

My mom flew from Finland, and had a freezing time in Florida with our teens while we were still in Maine. Yes - it gets cold in Florida, too!

Then the Captain flew to Florida, and Little Miss, Mei Mei and I flew to San Diego, California! Mei Mei got to finally meet my sister and her family. My mom flew from Florida to my sister's house, too.



FEBRUARY 2016




Early February my sister and I attended a photography workshop with our other photographer friends (some have popped on this blog, too) near San Diego. This workshop had major influence on my photography 'career'. I almost gave up before starting, haha. But it was all so, so good. And I highly recommend this workshop (if interested, ask me!).

And then it was time to fly back to Florida. My mom came back with us. She was supposed to fly back to Finland a few days later, but we got to keep her a bit longer. We had a wonderful visit, even made it to the beaches, and saw manatees. And she got to go to Missy's Rubik's cubing competition.


MARCH 2016




Little Miss turned double digits! Yes, ten years old!

We (some of us, anyway) had a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia, for Mr. T's Debate Tournament. Mei Mei wasn't a fan of quietly watching the debaters, but she did love the pool at the hotel. We had a great trip! Another little road trip brought us back to St. Pete where we walked down Memory Lane (we so love St. Pete Beach!).


APRIL 2016




April brought us a cross-town move, which ended up being a lot more work than we anticipated! Instead of loading everything into a big truck, we made countless trips back and forth the two houses, and thought it would never end.

Our four dual-enrolled students had finals, too, and between those two events we were barely alive at the end of the month.


MAY 2016




In May our older students still continued high school studies, and Little Miss and were racing to finish fourth grade. We were settling into our new home, and met many neighbors (most of them had four or more legs, or none at all.....)

Mr. T traveled to debate nationals, and did fantastic!

Mei Mei had her cleft clinic in Tampa, and got a great report. Mr. A and mama both got glasses... The doctor prescribed me with 'fortyitis', as I needed reading glasses.


JUNE 2016




Mei Mei turned three in June! And started potty training. Mama used documentary photography as a survival mechanism.

The boys flew to Virginia, visited friends, and attended iGovern - a camp by Generation Joshua. The Captain, Missy, Little Miss, Mei Mei and Mama packed up the Mothership, and on our way up to Maine we picked the boys up.

The Mothership sadly had all kinds of trouble, and we limped our way up to Maine to our camp. But we made it in time to see the lupines! June is always full of work at the camp, before our renters come. This time we also opened moving boxes from our move back in 2011.

My photography business launched legally, but only with behind the scenes work.


JULY




Early July Little Miss, Mei Mei and Mama had tickets to fly to Finland for a month. My sister was already there with her kids. We had a very special (if not completely crazy) time with our family. There was a wedding, too! The first nephew got married, and it was just a wonderful celebration. Other than the wedding in Helsinki, we stayed at my parents' summer place where I spent all my childhood summers, too. (Check Finland blog posts here, here, here and here.)

We celebrated having Mei Mei for one year!

Our teens attended Summit in Colorado during July, and the Captain spent time in Maine and New Hampshire.


AUGUST




Early August we all met at our camp in Maine again, and had wonderful visitors there, too. A fun time before our teens needed to head back to Florida to start their dual-enrolled classes.


SEPTEMBER




In September the little girls and I took a quick trip to Virginia to visit my sister and her family (she had moved from San Diego back to Virginia), and left all seven kids with my brother-in-law, as my sister and I attended another photography workshop:)

Our original plan had been to continue down to Florida, but we returned to Maine for the rest of the month. Little Miss and I started homeschooling, which was quite challenging, as our books were in Florida.

My photography website went live, and I started booking documentary family sessions.


OCTOBER 2016




Hurricane Matthew! Our Florida home was in mandatory evacuation zone, so our teens secured our house with the help of a family friend, and left town. They had a great visit with St. Pete friends! When they got back to the house, we found out our downstairs level had flooded, and there was damage. It could have been so much worse, so we're thankful.

A few days later Little Miss, Mei Mei and I returned too. And we really have been busy with the house ever since. The Captain arrived about a week later, too.

Little Miss started a homeschool music class, and has enjoyed it tremendously. Mei Mei is very jealous.


NOVEMBER 2016




We had some fun travel in November. The Captain flew to New Hampshire, and picked up the Mothership, which was being repaired by our friend. Mr. A dropped Little Miss, Mei Mei and me off at a rental car office, and the three of us drove all day to Virginia, and made it to my sister's house! And a few days later the teens joined us, too. We cooked and baked together, enjoyed hanging out, and visited Busch Gardens Christmastown. It was a nice break from working on the house and from schoolwork.


DECEMBER 2016




We had planned on going to Maine for Christmas, but with our Florida home still torn apart, we decided it really would be best to stay put and continue to work on it. We had some hope that it would be ready before Christmas, but no. Not before New Year's, either. (It was a tempting thought to go to Maine!) We did take two road trips, one to St. Pete and one to Orlando:)

All of us are enjoying a break from school work, which feels so wonderful. It was a very tough fall, and everyone felt the squeeze.

Our teenagers are now eighteen, and we also celebrated Little Miss' 10th Gotcha day, Adoption day, and mama's birthday.

We've had a quiet break, as our family has been hit with both head colds, and a tummy bug. All that will pass though, and we do count our blessings.

God is good. All the time.

"Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:26

"For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever." Psalm 117:2

We wish you and your loved ones much joy and many blessings in the New Year of 2017.

Hyvää ja siunattua uutta vuotta 2017 jokaiselle lukijalleni!

The Month of March/Maaliskuu

My apologies for the prolonged blow silence! All is well, and at first I felt bad I hadn't blogged for so long. But when I started scrolling through my photos of the month (really! It has been a month!), I realized it has been a packed few weeks. No wonder there hasn't been time for blogging!

Plus really, I have to admit our new normal, having six kids, and especially one two year old, has limited mama's screen time, a lot:) She is a lively one, for sure!!

I thought in this post I'll share some biggies of the month, and if I get a nap time this week (yes, Mei Mei has been dropping her afternoon nap), I'll post some random pictures from March.

 


I call Little Miss one of my littles, but the truth is, she turned double digits this month! We followed her wishes, which was to have a celebration at home with everyone (which means the big kids). We squeezed in a Chinese food, cake and presents during our teens' lunch break from their dual enrollment classes at college.

We also had Grandma's Birthday, and Mumma's (Finnish grandma) Birthday this month, and Mei Mei is singing Happy Birthday every day, and offering cake with candles.




The first half of the month we had sick kids, and as everyone started feeling better, round two started... No fun. We heard a lot of friends from church were sick too, so something was definitely going around. Mei Mei especially seems to be catching a lot of colds (which was the same with Little Miss when we first brought her home from China).

 


Mr T has been involved with debate for a few months, and had a debate tournament in Atlanta during spring break. Our plan was to get in the Mothership (yay!), and make it a family road trip. Until we found out the event was held at a megachurch with a parking garage for a parking lot!!! The Captain can do a lot with the Mothership, but parking in a parking garage is a no-no. So at the last minute we improvised: rented a car, and reserved a hotel room, and made it mini family trip.

Girls were still a bit sniffly, but much better, and thought sitting through debate rounds was boring. Swimming in the hotel pool was a hit, however!




Mr T and his partner did well, and had a great time. We are so proud of you, Mr T!




Our second mini trip this month as a mini family was to St Pete Beach where we got to walk down Memory Lane. We really love going back!



Mei Mei had an evaluation for local speech therapy, or so I thought. It was with Easter Seals, and while they do assess communication, they don't really do speech therapy, or at least they don't really help with pronunciation. We found out once Mei Mei turns three years old, we might qualify for services through our local school.

The evaluation was good to do, though. Mei Mei really is doing great in her development, and it was neat to see that. She will most likely need speech therapy, but she is communicating well. So after a couple hour evaluation we found out she didn't qualify for Easter Seals!

We actually think she is hearing better, too. She is constantly complaining things are "too loud!", which they often are, in a large family.



It didn't even occur to me to get a family photo from Easter, but we did get a few pics. Mei Mei's first Easter! She figured out chocolate eggs, and plastic eggs with treats, and what to do with them. Her favorites are chocolate eggs, for sure!

We joined our church family for a Easter service in the park, and were so thankful it rained before and after, but not during the service. I have decided Easter is one of favorite days of the year - we serve a mighty God - not even death can hold Him!

He is risen indeed!


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Syy blogihiljaisuuteen on ollut hulina ja hälinä. Arki kuuden lapsen kanssa on aikamoista vipinää, etenkin vilkkaan 2-vuotiaan taaperon kanssa. Pikkuneiti täytti 10 vuotta (ja molemmilla isoäideillä on ollut synttärit tässä kuussa myös!). Sairastimme osan kuukautta, ja saimme kaksi pikkureissua mahtumaan kalenteriin myös. Ensin ajoimme Atlantaan, Georgian osavaltioon, muutamaksi päiväksi Mr T:n väittelykisaan, ja sitten teimme pikareissun St Peteen, missä asuimme ennen. Pääsiäisen vietimme hiljaisesti kotosalla, yksi vieras tuli syömään kanssamme, ja aamulla juhlimme seurakuntaperheemme kanssa ylösnoussutta Vapahtajaamme. Hän on ylösnoussut ja kuolemalla kuoleman voittanut!

Year 2015 Recap

Do I start this post every year with "Wow, what a year it has been!"? Because, really, what a year it has been... :)

(Years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)

Did anyone catch a line in the January part of 2014 Recap post? I wasn't ready to blog about it, but it did reveal something very big already... Sometimes all you can do is hint about things to come... ;-)

And then I ended the 2014 Recap with these words: "What a year. Full of adventures, full of changes. Full of God's grace, full of many stories of His provision and protection. We look forward to 2015 to see what God has in store for our family!"

I loved what God had for us in 2015! Thank You, Jesus, for a wonderful, full year of many blessings!

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JANUARY



We started our year at our camp in Maine. First we celebrated the New Year with friends from our local church, who came over to our camp for the evening. Then Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt C, Uncle P and cousins H, M and M came over for a fun visit. We also had friends from New Hampshire visit us.

We watched the lake freeze over (again - it had frozen over in December once already), and while we did enjoy the snow somewhat, we mainly played a lot of games indoors. No winter sports, yet.

Then it was time to pack up and head south. We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house, then in Virginia at my sister's. We had a short visit there, then the Captain continued in the Mothership to Florida with Missy, Mr D and Mr A. I stayed at my sister's for a couple of weeks with Mr T and Little Miss, helping as we all waited for Baby #5 to arrive. And she did! On the Captain's birthday:)


FEBRUARY



Little Miss and I got to enjoy Baby L for about a week, then it was time for us to drive south, too. Mr T wanted to stay in Virginia for a couple of months, and so we left him behind at my sister's (sniff).

We first drove to Daytona, where the Captain and three kids were hanging out at our friends, taking flight lessons, and passing their various exams. From there we all continued to our next Florida stop, staying at a campground for a couple of weeks.

We quickly decided we LOVE traveling in the Mothership, but not so much staying stationary in it. Even without Mr T, it was so tight. And cold! February was cold in Florida!! So, at the end of February we parked the Mothership and were in a house again:)


MARCH



Too busy to blog much (this post has most pics). My nephew A from Finland arrived. Little Miss turned nine, and Grandma and Grandpa were with us to celebrate it! Missy got braces. Mama was taking a new photography class, and learning photoshop. Homeschooling, too, of course! The boys and the Captain were busy with their own special project, and learning all kinds of new skills.


APRIL



In April we got to see more friends and family. My blog and real life friend Ina came over for Easter Sunday with her family. We had such a fun day! Then after Easter my sister's family drove down from Virginia for a few days, and brought Mr T back to us! Yay:)

Also, while we couldn't announce it on the blog yet, we saw Mei Mei's sweet little face for the first time, and got the paperwork started to bring her home!


MAY



In May we were able to make our Big Announcement about Mei Mei!

Mama was also busy with photography, which usually meant fun trips to the beach, or library, or sailing, or baking at home.

We reluctantly said goodbyes to my nephew, who flew back to Finland.

We also took a trip to the FPEA Homeschool Convention at Gaylord Palms, and met up with some favorite people. And then, at the end of the month it was time to get back into the Mothership, and back on the road.


JUNE



Mr D got his for-real-driver's-license, and did most of the driving in our Yukon, following the Mothership.

The first part of June we were on the road. My sister and her family moved to California, and we had hoped to meet them on the road, but missed them by a day. We had something going on with the tires or wheels of the Mothership, and stayed at Sebastian Inlet Park for a couple of days. What a beautiful place! (We got eaten by no-see-ums, however.)

Since we didn't have a pitstop in Virginia anymore, we stopped in Pennsylvania at the M family's place. We had not seen our dear friends for two years. We also stopped for coffee at friends in Massachusetts and stayed a night at Grandma and Grandpa's, and worked the next day there. (Except Mr D and Mr T had taken a different route to Maine from Pennsylvania, and visited friends in Vermont. We have almost adult big kids, peeps!)

And finally made it to our camp. For about two weeks of deep cleaning, before renters arrive. Always such fun:) So glad to have our team helping!

When our work weeks were done, we packed up the Mothership again, and headed south. Maine was so beautiful it hurt to leave, but at least we got some beautiful photos before our departure. Two boys left to go to a camp in Virginia, and Mr A flew to Florida to go on a mission's trip to Guatemala with our church youth group. The Captain, the girls and I headed to Nantucket island.


JULY



Such big things were in store for July. Oh my.

Celebrating the fourth (for the first time as a US citizen!) on Nantucket Island with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt C, Uncle P and cousins. Then packing and moving out of the dear old island house. A lot of goodbyes, very bittersweet. The boys had come back from their travels, and had had a great time at camp, and at the mission's trip.

And then... first driving back to Grandma and Grandpa's in southern Maine, then Mr A, Little Miss and I flew to Beijing! (See Summer Palace and Great Wall, also.) And then Wuhan, Hubei, where we met Mei Mei. We were able to visit Mei Mei's orphanage, and see where she was found. (Also pictures from Wuhan here and here.) From there we traveled to Guangzhou, where we spent the rest of the month.

A huge thank you to all who filled a suitcase with me for the New Day Beijing foster home for children! We were privileged to hand deliver our gifts, but couldn't post any photos of the children from there online.

Meanwhile, back in the States, the Captain, and our three other children had traveled back to Florida to look for a new rental home for us. Our three teens took college entrance tests, and passed, and Mr A had passed his before returning to New England earlier in the month.


AUGUST



We were getting to know Mei Mei in Guangzhou, and she was getting to know Mr A, Little Miss and Sennie. Her funny, spunky personality started to show as she got more comfortable with us, and we couldn't wait for the rest of the family to meet her.

Before leaving the Guangdong Province, we saw the Chen Clan Academy and explored a park nearby, and even rented a paddle boat. We started to have some tummy trouble at the end of our stay, but by God's grace we were fine to travel back. The Captain, Mr D, Mr T and Missy met us at the airport, and a photographer friend Julie, too, who gave us a priceless gift of fantastic homecoming photos.

Since our camp was still rented, and we knew how rough the jet lag/transition time is, we stayed at a cottage in New Hampshire for a week, which ended up being just what was needed. Mei Mei had to learn how to sleep in a portacrib, which meant no sleep (for anyone) for several nights. Yet, being all together was still so beautiful and imperfectly perfect as we were all figuring out our new family.

We had hoped to spend a good part of August at our camp, but realized soon that wasn't going to happen. We were there for about three days. The Captain had to go to Nantucket a day after arriving at the camp, and the rest of us packed up our gear and left the camp in a hurry, and met him at his parents house in Southern Maine. We packed up a trailer, and started driving to Florida, where a new rental home was waiting for us.

The day after our Florida arrival our quadruplets started a dual enrollment program at a local college. Little Miss and I were busy making our house a home, and also still waiting on her school curriculum.


SEPTEMBER



In September we were learning new routines. We had a lot to do to make our new house a home.
We were a stationary (!) family of eight now, and our teenagers were attending a real school - a college, no less! Little Miss started homeschool too, once her school curriculum arrived. The dual enrollment program has been great for our teens, but it was not a smooth transition for all. We had some really, really rough months weeks days (and nights).

We finally took Mei Mei to the beach for the first time ever (her orphanage was not near the ocean), and she loved it! She wasn't so sure about the sand on her bare toes, but eventually she got used to it.


OCTOBER



October was still very warm in Florida. We visited the beach and parks often, as well as walked to the library often. We went on a little homeschool field trip to a pumpkin patch, and attended a harvest party, too.

Some days we'd meet up with our Maine friends, who came to live in our area for a little while (we loved it!!!). Little Miss was busy with various science projects, and school, too. We learned we had to have a very flexible school schedule, as mama needed to give Mr T rides to and from college at various times.

Missy attended her second Rubik's Cubing Competition, in Orlando. She loved every second of it!

The Captain took a quick trip to New England, and brought back the Mothership!

We finally had our first cleft clinic with Mei Mei, and started getting ready for her cleft palate surgery. Missy had oral surgery to help bring down a stubborn tooth, and Little Miss got braces!

At the end of the month Mr T and Mr D were in Kentucky with a homeschool group, and the rest of us walked at our friends' neighborhood for a little while on October 31st. Mei Mei loved calling out "trick or treat" and getting candy:)


NOVEMBER



November was all about Mei Mei and her cleft palate surgery. We had various appointments before and after, and the Big Day was a week before Thanksgiving. We stayed in the Mothership (first time for Mei Mei!) before (and during) the surgery, and were very happy to go home. Thank you all so much for praying for Mei Mei and her recovery. We are amazed at well she did. Glory to God!

Before and after Mei Mei's surgery we pretty much kept her home. We didn't want her to catch any colds, and afterward it was important she wouldn't get hurt. The first Sunday we brought her to church (as she really missed her friends!) she took a tumble down stairs, and we were so glad her mouth had healed well enough by then there was no damage.


DECEMBER



In the beginning of the month Mr T had a chance to go to a debate tournament with friends, and he loved it! He has been interested in it for a while, and looks like he is going to get serious about debating.

In the middle of the month we had serious crunch time as the college term was coming to an end. No one got a whole lot of sleep, but the teens had work paid off: everyone got fantastic grades. We are very proud of our quadruplets!

Mr A and Missy attended a Star Wars costume party at youth group, and both won best costume awards! What fun! We had a little half birthday celebration for Mei Mei, too. She loved it.

And then it was time to head to Maine. We wanted to spend Christmas at our camp, and drove up (a few very painful days). No snow at first, but we are ending the year with fresh snow, and a very thin layer of ice covering a part of the lake.

We celebrated birthdays, adoption day, and Christmas. So much fun experiencing all these firsts with Mei Mei. Grandma and Grandpa arrived right before Christmas, and more family is coming tomorrow, too.

Our year ended with a dip in the lake - on the 30th when the lake started freezing over.

 
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Thank you for joining our family on this grand adventure! And Welcome 2016! Have a Happy New Year!


"The things that are impossible with people are possible with God." Luke 18:27

A Quick Update (and Changes on the Horizon)

China travel posts will continue... soon eventually. But here's a quick update, to explain the radio silence on the blog.



Once we traveled back to USA, we had a week in New Hampshire at a rustic cottage before we headed up to our Maine camp. Once we got there, we pretty much realized we needed to turn around and head to Florida asap.



We spent a week in Maine, which in part was at Grandma and Grandpa's house, packing up a trailer. Mei Mei loved Grandma and Grandpa! She still talks (signs) about them, and offers kisses at their pictures.



We left the Mothership in Maine, all eight of us squeezed into our car, towed a trailer full of furniture, and took two and a half days to drive to Florida. Once we got to our destination city we started having trouble with one of the trailer tires, and about an hour after pulling into our new driveway, the tire was completely flat (thank You, God, for the timing!).

Mei Mei was such a champ, every morning she signed "drive" and happily climbed into her car seat. There were times she had had it, and complained loudly, but we all felt that she was just vocalizing what each of us was feeling inside.



Oh, the happiness of being free of the car and the car seat!

Our new rental was completely empty, and it still echoes inside. We have quite a bit of work ahead of us to make it homier, and are still sleeping on the floor, but we'll make this a home, yet.



After arriving in Florida, the very next day our teens headed to school! A new chapter is starting here at Our Mothership Adventures. We are still homeschooling, but our quadruplets have started dual enrollment classes at a local college. They can earn high school and college credits from the classes they take. We are still continuing Mr. D Math as well (which everyone LOVES), they took Algebra II over the summer, and are now taking Pre-Calculus. I hope to blog more about our school year, but as you may have noticed, I have had less computer time now that we have a toddler in the house! (Plus all the traveling, too.)

Little Miss is waiting for her Sonlight curriculum to arrive, so we'll be starting her school sometime next month.

What all these changes mean is less traveling for these next two or three years. Mei Mei is going to need a surgery (or surgeries), and most likely speech therapy, too, so staying put for now makes a lot of sense. I am hoping to continue blogging about our adventures, even though they will be different from all our on the road adventures. A new phase in our lives!


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Pikainen päivitys, Kiina-postausten keskellä.. Isoja muutoksia Mothership-porukalle, neloset palasivat kouluun tällä viikolla! Ja sen takia jouduimme lähtemään Mainestä tarkoitusta aikaisemmin..

Eli nyt olemme Floridassa taas, jätimme asuntoauton anoppilaan, ja saavuimme muuttokuorman kanssa uuteen vuokrataloon tiistaina. Keskiviikkona alkoi paikallisessa collegessa koulu nelosilla, he voivat lukiolaisina käydä collegea, ja saada samasta kurssista pisteitä niin lukion todistukseen, kuin myös college pisteitä (credits). Ja ilmaiseksi niin kauan, kuin ovat lukiossa. Eli upea mahdollisuus maassa, jossa koulutus on ihan järkyn kallista. He ovat kuitenkin edelleen kotikoululaisia, ja kotikoulun matematiikan nettikurssi on alkanut jo.

Pikkuneiti ei ole vielä aloittanut koulua, ensi kuussa olisi tarkoitus. Hänestä on ollut iso apu Mei Mein kanssa, ja uutta kotia laittaessa.

Nämä koulumuutokset tuovat myös sen muutoksen, että meidän matkaseikkailupostauksia tulee olemaan vähemmän. Mutta eiköhän sitä materiaalia blogiin löydy muualtakin:) Hyvä rauhoittua pariksi vuodeksi, Mei Meikin tarvitsee leikkauksen ja todennäköisesti myös puheterapiaa.

Uusi jakso meidän perheelle!