A (Personal) Review of 2021

Every year I like to pause, look back, and write a little recap of our life. You can click here for last year’s post (there is a rabbit hole through the link to review posts of many years).

We welcomed in 2021 in Rangeley, Maine. On the first day of the year Andrew and I took a dip in the lake (it had opened up after freezing in December), and Mae waded in a little. We enjoyed snow activities for about a week, and then returned home to Florida. Scott and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary in January, and Scott’s birthday. Mae started ballet with her best friends in Sebastian.

In February Scott and I took a trip to Jekyll Island, Georgia and St. Augustine, Florida to celebrate our anniversary. Mae and her friends had a little Valentine’s Day party in the park. We love these friends and their families! We got a lot of work and school done in February.

In March Abby turned 15! Mae had Tympanoplasty ear surgery at Joe Di Maggio’s Children’s Hospital. We had had several appointments and tests with her cleft team, who referred us to a specialist who repaired the hole in her ear. We had several followup appointments after the surgery, and finally in October were told the surgery was successful, and we don’t have to go back to the ENT specialist (Mae will continue seeing her cleft team yearly). While the surgery and recovery was rough on our little girl, it really is amazing how fast she bounced back. It may have helped her hearing some, but she still does have mild hearing loss in her right ear. The biggest benefit according to Mae was she is able to get her ear wet now, and in June she learned to jump in and swim under water.

In April it was Oliver’s (Abby’s cat) turn to have surgery. After seeing three vets (one emergency visit in the middle of the night to Melbourne) it was determined he needed to go on a special diet for the rest of his life for his urinary health. We sure love our Abby!

Abby and I photographed Indian River Steam Fest again - such a fun community event! Mark your calendars for March 12th, 2022 this year!

May was a busy month for us: Scott and I flew to Virginia for Thomas’ graduation from Patrick Henry College. Thomas stayed in Purcellville for the summer to continue working for HSLDA. We also took a trip to Clearwater to see Winter the Dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium (so glad we did, since it had been Mae’s greatest wish, and Winter the dolphin passed away this year), and went to FPEA Homeschool Convention in Orlando.

Abby got her learner’s permit in May, and is a great driver already!

In June some of us took a quick trip to Maine to get our rental property ready for renters, and of course we had to photograph the lupines! On our way back to Florida we got news: Gladston had proposed, and Sarah said yes! Our our way from the airport we drove to an Indian restaurant where Glady had invited family and friends for an engagement celebration dinner. So special! We started planning an August wedding in Maine for a random Tuesday.

Picture by Shelby Truly Photography

July was hot in Florida, I worked more than I thought I could handle in the heat and humidity, but we also took trips to the ocean and friends’ pools. Some of our crew flew to OshKosh WI for a EAA AirVenture, our Finland flights were canceled again. Abby and I took engagement photos of Sarah and Gladston, and Shelby came to take Day in The Life pictures of us.

Picture by Emily MacCabe Photography

August was the WEDDING MONTH! Also a month for family and friends and lots of amazing food. We all (including my sister and her family!) headed to Maine the second week of August. We had a relaxing family week swimming in the lake and hanging out together, and then put on high gear to get Sarah and Glady hitched. Sarah & Gladston’s wedding was small and simple (on a random Tuesday), but the plans changed a few times because of hurricane Henri. We ended up having a ceremony at a tiny log church and a wonderful reception at Bald Mountain Camps in Oquossoc.

Sarah and Gladston moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Sarah continued school and Glady started a new job. They got to set up their first home together. Thomas moved to Maine and started a new job in Augusta.

September brought the start of homeschooling: Abby in 10th grade and Mae in 3rd. We started school with my sister’s family, and took lots of walks and hikes and field trips. Highlights were visiting Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Narrow Gauge Railroad in Phillips, ME, and Plimoth Patuxet Museums on Cape Cod.

In October Mae and I returned to Florida for multiple photo sessions and doctor’s appointments. We got to see friends, too. It was a fun time! We flew back to Maine for Halloween - gotta love small town celebrations: trick-or-treating on and off Main Street in the daylight!

In November (alone) I had 17 different family photo sessions in Florida, Daniel started training for a new job in New Hampshire, and we celebrated Thanksgiving in Maine with everyone, except Sarah and Gladston (who went to California for Thanksgiving).

In December our family - and my sister’s family - met again in Maine for Christmas. Gladston graduated from his Master’s Program and Sarah graduated from IRSC, and then they flew up to join us. We had birthdays (quads and me), an adoption day (Abby), and the week of Christmas we welcomed Covid to our midst. Two years of pandemic, and it got us all this month. My sister and I continued taking cold dips in the lake until the lake froze over on Christmas Eve. And we continued our daily walks even through covid, although one day we only made it from the lake to the garage and back home.

I don’t know about you, but after 2020 and 2021 I’m not all that hopeful things will improve in 2022… What a crazy world we live in. However, God is always good, He is always with us, and His promises are true. That’s all the hope we need to cling to. So my plan for 2022 is to love God and love people.

We streamed church this Sunday from Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, and I’d like to share Pastor Jack’s Bible verses for the new year with you:

You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
Psalm 65:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
Joshua 1:5-7

Abby and I would like to wish each of you a blessed New Year 2022! We are so thankful for each of you supporting our small business, and we do look forward to serving many of you with our photography in 2022.

Happy New Year 2022!

xo

Sennu and Abby

2018 - A (Personal) Year in Review

For many years I’ve sat down on the last day of the year to do a recap of my family’s year. I used to do it on our family blog when we were roadschooling and traveling in our vintage Airstream motorhome. Last year I did a recap here on my blog, and so, here we go again.

Year 2018 brought many firsts in the journey of grief. In December 2017 my dad moved to his new heavenly address, and so this year has been filled with tears of missing him, and learning to live without him on this side of eternity. Thank You, Jesus, for the hope of heaven!

I welcomed the new year in Finland, as I had traveled back for my dad’s funeral, and was able to stay a little while with my mom before returning to Florida, where the rest of my family was.

In January my sister’s family came for a visit from Virginia, and we took some of the kids to Legoland for a fun homeschool filed trip! We started homeschooling again, and mid-month Thomas returned to his school in Virginia.

February’s highlight was a trip to Click Away Conference on Amelia Island with my husband, and seeing my image displayed in the Joyfulness category of the Voice 2017 Collection. I so enjoyed the workshops and supportive environment Click Away provides.

In March our family took a trip to Maine for spring break, and my littlest (then 4) learned to ice skate on the lake! Abby turned twelve in Maine!

In April we said goodbyes to our beloved Mothership motorhome. It was bittersweet to have this chapter of our life end, but we had peace as it was the right decision.

We also had our first Day in the Life Session! Shelby Truly Photography came and spent the day with us, documenting an ordinary day of ours. Thomas was away at college in Virginia, but that is what life is like for us now, so we went ahead with our session.

In May we had two very special events - at first we had decided not to attend the Florida Parent Education Association’s yearly convention, but friends of ours tipped us to a great reason to go - one of my images was on display at the Sonlight Curriculum’s booth! So we had to go see it :-)

And little Mae had her very first ballet performance in May. She did a fantastic job, and it was one of her highlights of 2018!

In June our youngest turned five! She insisted all last year she was eleven, but to our great relief she actually turned five and we celebrated big.

I found out one of my images was accepted as one of Sonlight’s homeschool catalog’s cover winners! I’m not sure how they’ll use it since there were three winners, but it was a huge honor, nevertheless! It was a lifestyle self-portrait image of my two youngest girls and me. (They cropped it funny - the image is so much better in original crop. #itstrue)

We traveled from Florida to Maine. Every June we work on our Maine home getting it ready for summer rentals. It’s a lot of work, and a lot of fun.

In July my girls and I traveled to Finland to be with family. We had a wonderful and chaotic and hot (!!!) time in Virrat, Seinajoki and Lohja. Our older daughter Sarah got to go to France during our time in Finland - what a neat opportunity for her!

We returned to USA in August, and spent the rest of the time in Maine, enjoying vacation days with our family and many friends who came to visit us. Sweet times!

Our boys had to head to college in August, so Thomas went to Virginia, Daniel and Andrew to Florida to start studies again. Sarah flew to Finland to spend a semester with my mom, and started Chinese studies while in Finland.

In September we traveled from Maine back to Florida, and started school. It was great to get back into fall routines. Before we got too into our schedules, we took a short trip to Sanibel Island for a homeschool science convention.

While I had worked some over the summer, a full scheduled kicked right in of many photo sessions. Despite the crazy schedule I felt we had a great mix of homeschooling, work and fun times. Abby started assisting me on photo sessions and slowly started being also my second shooter. We had so much fun together!

October brought horseback riding lessons, pumpkin patches, beach trips and Disney days. At the end of the month our little Mae was sick and we did trick or treating from door to door - at home. She thought it was the best thing ever!

November was a full month! My husband, our little girls and I took a trip to Rhode Island and Massachusetts to attend and photograph a friend’s wedding, and to enjoy a few days away in blustery New England. And then Thanksgiving was wonderful - our son Thomas came home for a few days. We missed our daughter Sarah, but we comforted ourselves we’d see her soon.

Oh December. Always a full month. So many celebrations. As hard as it was to lose my dad right before Christmas it is now kind of sweet to remember him in the middle of all our celebrations.

Little Mae got to visit Santa at Magic Kingdom (first time for her) before we traveled to Maine to spend Christmas up north. Even my mom and our Sarah came from Finland. We celebrated twelve years of having Abby as our daughter. We celebrated our quadruplets turning twenty. We celebrated my birthday. We celebrated our Savior’s birth. We had such precious family time all of us together, and my husband’s uncle and aunt came for a weekend too, then my husband’s parents.

One of the best gifts I gave myself and our family is a Day in the Life Session. I invited Aura Moore Photography to come spend a day with us to document one of our Christmas vacation days. I know these pictures will be treasures for years to come - for me as well as for my children’s families - one day.

And now we get to celebrate the New Year. Whatever year 2019 brings, my trust is in my Savior - in all our joys and sorrows.

Happy New Year, Friend.

Love,

Sennu from Stories of Joy Photography

Flash Sale!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

The Mother's Day Special is back for this weekend only! Give Mom or Grandma a gift of family photos, either a one hour documentary session, or a hybrid documentary/portrait session. Book this weekend for a May session or in the fall in Florida, or for a summer session in Virginia or New England.

Contact me for details and available dates!

Summer Photo Session Availability

If you're hoping to schedule a photo session with Stories of Joy Photography before summer, you'll want to book asap.

I have some availability, whether you're looking to do a documentary sessions (all day or half day Day in the Life Sessions, Disney, Newborn, Adoption, Homecoming or a Home School or Senior Session), or a One Hour hybrid session that has both traditional portraits and real life captures. The Beach Sessions are always gorgeous and fun, or we can meet at the park, or at your home, too!

Summer 2017 I will be a traveling photographer, so if you're looking to book a session with me in New England, Virginia, or in Finland - contact me and let's see if we can make it work!

I am also booking sessions in Vero Beach, Florida, and the surrounding areas, for Fall 2017, starting in September, so if we can't find a date for May, I'm sure we can book a session for September or later months.

PS. Don't forget Mother's Day!!! May 14! Mom would LOVE a photo session (or a gift card for one!) - and dads usually love the Day in the Life Sessions, as there is no posing involved, just a new friend hanging out with your family for the day :-)

2017 Winter Day in the Life Sessions

Happy New Year 2017! 

If you have been thinking about having your Day in the Life Session this winter, it's time to book your date! I have limited sessions available in Florida and in Maine (New England).

With my current scheduled bookings there are only four open spots:

* One more session in January in Florida
* One more session in February in Florida
* One session available in February/March in Western Maine (New England families, ask me about other locations)
* One more session available in late March in Florida.

We can also book your Florida Day in the Life Session for late Spring. 

My experience is life with children go in cycles of about three months. Think about it - especially in babies and little children three months makes a huge difference. Do you want to make your Day in the Life documentary now - or in a few months?

I hope the new year will bring you much joy and many blessings. And a day with Stories of Joy Photography. Let's document your life as it is right now. 

Send me a message, and I will get more details to you. I would love to help your family preserve this time in your family's life in a photo documentary.