December

Family

Dinner out, just Mom and the kids

Wedding dress shopping

Jongsma cousins

Ben dressed up for the occasion

Bowling beauties

Cousin picture

Baby quilt from Aunt Colleen

Playing spud

Skyping with Grandpa on Christmas Eve

Great presents Grandpa! 

Christmas dinner- I was quite proud of my turkey and apple pie

First family Christmas

It's a wii! 

Drums are awesome

Ready to go shopping

Christmas picture 

In early December the older boys went to Cardale's 8th birthday party.  We also had our last dinner at the Peterson's house.  They moved on December 8 and it was sad.  The kids miss their playmates and I miss my friend living next door.  

Nate was in New York for a week for work related stuff.  He was bummed to miss Caleb's first band concert, but I took some video.  Stephanie flew in on the 12th and stayed for a couple days.  Steph is always helpful and the kids love having her attention.  And I love having good conversations with my sister.  Later in the week we went wedding dress shopping!  It was Mom, Jenny, Emily Jipping and myself.  Steph looked beautiful no matter which dress she tried.  She didn't find one in Holland, but she has found one in Denver.  Steph and Ben are getting married in April 2016 and we are so happy for them.  

The Jongsma family celebrated Christmas together on the 18th at Tim/Jenny's house. We all enjoyed having the whole family together.  I had teased Ben about not dressing up much when he met our family for the first time.  So this time he dressed for the occasion, with a t-shirt that had a tuxedo picture on it.  It looks like Ben will fit in with the family well.   The next day we drove to Wheaton for the extended Jongsma family Christmas.  It had been too long since we had been at my grandparent's house.  I may be an adult with 5 kids, but certain things about my grandparent's house just give comfort and make me feel younger again.  Lexi was introduced to many of the relatives for the first time.  

The next morning we drove to Pittsburgh to visit Colleen's family. We stayed for 3 nights and had a nice time.  The older boys and Jack slept in the basement and spent most of the visit playing together.  Julia slept with Abby, Ashley and Kate.  There was much giggling and whispering late into the night and early in the morning.  Julia and Abby got along well and Stephen and Ashley played together sometimes too.  Lexi mostly terrorized Kate, even though Kate is much bigger than Lexi.  The adults had some time to play games, relax and have good conversations.  The majority of the kids are old enough to make bowling fun and not stressful. The weather was warm, but rainy.  We had to get the kids out of the house one morning so we decided to take a walk.  As soon as we got all 9 kids out the door, it started pouring rain.  Nate was not going to be deterred so we set off on a very rainy walk.  By the time we reached the high school track the rain stopped and the kids ran off some energy.  Our drive home was not great, mostly because the kids were overly tired from too much vacation.  

Nate was off this Christmas for the first time in about 3 years!  Grandpa DeMaster mailed gifts for the kids so we skyped with him on Christmas Eve while the kids opened them.  Nate and I spent Christmas Eve doing last minute shopping and wrapping of presents.  On Christmas Day I went to church early because I played my saxophone in the church orchestra.  I haven't played my sax in years, so it was fun to play again.  After church we opened presents.  The main gift this year was a wii and the kids were excited!  Nate was also excited.  Honestly, we all like playing the wii.  We had sun and blue skies so we walked to the local playground that afternoon.  It was cold, but it's not very often we have no snow and blue skies on Christmas here.  Our family enjoyed a relaxing Christmas at home.  

We spent the rest of Christmas break inviting people to our house as our schedule is busy during the school year.  We had the Engbers, Chungs, Petersons and my family over in the course of this past week.  We also had a couple playdates scattered in there.  On New Year's Eve day the Peterson family came over and stayed til about 8 pm. We talked, laughed and enjoyed being together again.  On New Year's Day my family came over in the evening for appetizers and playing the wii.  I also made ollie bollen, something I hope to do every New Year's Day. And at midnight on New Year's Eve 15 years ago, Nate proposed to me.  

The year 2015 was different in many ways than we expected back in January 2015. We gained a daughter, lost a mother and experienced many other changes along the way.  This is probably one of the hardest years our family has lived through.  And that statement is a testament to God's faithfulness and love.  He continues to sustain us and give us joy even in the midst of sadness. We look expectantly to the year ahead.         

Stephen is 3

Birthday cupcake

Singing "happy birthday" in the car

Birthday toys

Happy Birthday dude!

On November 19, we began our drive to Florida.  So we celebrated Stephen's birthday on the road!  He requested a Thomas the Train cake.  That would have been difficult, so I made cupcakes and put Thomas the Train rings on them.  And eating cupcakes in the car was also tricky, but we did it!  Stephen opened a few gifts in the car.  The main present was a green scooter.  When asked what he wanted for his birthday he always answered, "a green scooter like the big boys have!"  We gave him the scooter once we arrived in Florida and he had fun riding around in the rental house.  

It is hard to believe Stephen is 3 already.  I remember when he was born and he had the genetic testing all newborns undergo.  The results came back positive for a serious illness and he had to be re-tested.  The lab messed up the first re-test so he needed another blood draw.  It took about a week for the test results and I was nervous.  It was a huge relief when the doctor called and said it was a false positive and he was completely healthy!

Stephen continues to grow.  He is now 38 pounds and 40 inches tall- topping out the growth chart.  He still has an egg allergy, but it is not life threatening.  Eggs and milk just upset his stomach.  I imagine this year he will do the egg challenge at the allergist to see if he is still allergic.  He eats pretty well, except vegetables.  I am not too worried as our other kids eventually ate them.  Stephen is still a mommy's boy.  It bothers Nate a little, but we know this phase will pass.  His language took off earlier this year.  He is in the stage of non-stop talking and asking questions.  Stephen potty-trained early and fast.  I don't think we can take any credit for that.  Ever since our China trip he has struggled sleeping thru the night.  The past couple weeks have improved, so hopefully that continues.  He still uses a pacifier in bed.  Taking away the pacifier is on our to do list in 2016.  None of our other kids used a pacifier, so I'm nervous about how poorly he will sleep when it is gone.

Stephen is adjusting to Lexi's presence.  Not being the youngest anymore and sharing Mom's attention was difficult for him.  Thankfully he and Lexi are playing together more and being silly.  Stephen has fun playing with Kai Peterson and it's nice that they can play outside without much supervision.  Stephen and Julia do some pretend play together and he loves attention from the older boys.

Stephen is our lovable little dude and we thank God for him!

November

Steph and Ben came to visit

Who needs a baby swing?

The whole family

Is this Nate or Isaac?!

Driving to FL

The "pink house" we rented had a cool tub to dance in

Sarasota National Cemetery

Siesta Key beach with cousins

Grandkid train ride with Grandpa

Eating at Grandpa's house

Thanksgiving Day

 November began with a visit from Steph and her boyfriend, Ben.  We had heard much about him and were happy to meet him!  Before Ben arrived, Stephen declared that he did not like Ben.  Well, Ben changed Stephen's mind fairly quickly.  All of the kids (and adults) decided Ben is a pretty cool guy and Steph should keep him around.

Nate and the boys went on the cadet campout and the soccer season ended.  I think the younger three were happy about that, no more games to sit through!

Mom was nearing the end of her life so our family skyped with Mom and Dad on November 7.  The kids saw Grandma briefly on the screen and then Grandpa held the phone next to Grandma's ear.  The kids said a Bible verse and gave Grandma their love.  She was not able to talk anymore, but Dad thought she was still hearing what people said.  Nate and I also said our goodbyes to Mom.  She died on November 8 while listening to their church service online.

We had bought tickets for Nate and the older 3 kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa on the 11th.  We decided that just Nate would go down for those couple of days and spend time with Dad.  On November 19, we began the drive to Florida.  It took us 14 hours to reach Atlanta and we stayed overnight with our friend Julie Melendez and family.  The next day it took us 10 hours to reach Ft. Myers.  The drive was hard, but the kids did really well.  We had lots of snacks, movies, books on CD and activities.

Mom's memorial service was November 21.  It was hard and beautiful at the same time.  We saw many extended family members we do not see very often.  Our family rented a house with Colleen's family for the weekend.  It worked well for our families to have some space and the cousins could play together.  On November 23, Mom was laid to rest at Sarasota National Cemetery. The weekend was full of sadness, but also good memories and stories.

After the extended family left, our family moved into Dad's house for the rest of the week.  We spent time at the pool, played games and Thanksgiving Day we went to the beach.  The first of many holidays that will feel different and bittersweet.

We left for home the day after Thanksgiving.  We stayed with the Ramsey family in Atlanta.  We had met them in China and it was fun to see their little girl and Lexi together again.  And then we did the final push home.

October

Grandparent's Day

Grandparent's Day

Soccer baby

Bethany meet up with Shiyan and Charlie

Went thru our old home state on our way to FL

"What Cancer Cannot Do" quilt

Last visit with Mom

Hey, I'm eating table food!

Scarecrow day

Love this picture of the kids exploring

Hiking

Walking up then running down the ski hill

Selfie 7 

Boyne Mountain scenery

Julia rode a horse

Family vacation 

Visit with Great Aunt Judy and Great Grandma Jongsma

Halloween

Grandma Jongsma made it to Grandparent's Day with the 3 kids.  Unfortunately Julia's teacher didn't get a picture of Julia and Grandma that morning.  The kids enjoyed sharing a little of their school life with Grandma.

I was surprised when Bethany told us some of the Chinese adoption workers would be at Bethany's Grand Rapids office.  I took the younger 3 kids and saw Shiyan and Charlie again.  Shiyan is Bethany's employee in China and she was our guide/adoption worker for 10 days in Guangzhou.  We really appreciate Shiyan and it was great to see her so soon after leaving China.  Charlie is Bethany's contact person/Chinese adoption caseworker from Lexi's orphanage. Charlie does not know much English. When he saw Lexi he said, "she is fat!"  Shiyan told him the correct English word is "chubby" or "healthy." Yeah, Lexi is far from fat.  Ha ha.  Charlie did not impress Nate and I when we interacted with him at Lexi's orphanage.  So, I wasn't sure how I felt about seeing him so soon.  But, he was very excited to take pictures and videos of Lexi to show the orphanage nannies.

Through the help of friends/family caring for our children, I was able to fly to Florida with Lexi to visit Mom. At that point she was eating a little food again and could sit and have conversations.  Mom and I went through her recipes and pulled out family favorites to share with the family.  I am thankful for the conversations we had and that I could be with her for a couple days.

Lexi decided to stop eating baby food.  Which is good, but left me scrambling to figure out what she would eat.  Right now she eats eggs, chicken, yogurt, PB&J, sweet potatoes and a couple of fruits.  She is getting better at trying new foods instead of automatically rejecting it.  At the advice of our pediatrician, she will continue formula til her 2nd birthday.  She drinks 12 ounces a day.

The day after the outage ended, the kids had fall break.  We took advantage and drove up to Boyne Mountain for a family vacation.  We rented a condo and the kids thought it was awesome! The weather and scenery were beautiful.  We did some hiking, played games, watched TV, and relaxed.  We also went to the indoor water park for one evening.  Our family needed this downtime in the middle of a stressful season of life.

On the way home from Boyne Mountain, we stopped at my parent's house.  My Grandma, Aunt Beth and Great Aunt Judy were visiting for the weekend.  Aunt Judy was enthralled with the kids and Stephen and Julia cuddled up to Great Grandma, which she enjoyed.  Visits with my grandparents are usually too short, but I always love seeing them!

For Halloween we had a football player, ninja, Queen Elsa, bunny and Snow White.  It was cold and rainy so we did about half the neighborhood, which is just the right amount of candy.  Stephen really got into running up to houses and yelling "trick or treat!" And who can resist a cute bunny?