Christmas pictures and osku's final visit to SF

 Christmas in Disneyland

 Thanksgiving carving of the turkey

 Dog with Christmas lights

 Osku intertwined with the Christmas decorations on a math classroom door at Sequoia

 Osku teaching on a Smartboard

 Osku's last visit to Golden Gate Bridge

 Osku at the Palace of Fine Arts

 See it DOES rain in California! And when it rains, it pours!!!!!

 See, we are not always happy in California....infact the seniors have been STRESSED all fall!

 Working of college applications at a local cafe (again, notice these students are not happy!)

 A rainy commute!

 Christmas Kitty

 Christmas cookie making

 Family Christmas gathering

 California FOG!!!!!
(We see fog a lot in the mornings and at the beach most of the summer in Northern Califoria!)

 Osku's Christmas friends

 Post Thanksgiving feast turkey carcass

Hi to our dear friends in Finland!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This blog spot is bittersweet for us. 

We are so happy for the friendships we have created with all of you across the sea for the last year and a half. However, we are also sad that this is one of our final blog posts. As we write, sweet Osku (who has become part of our IB Art family at Sequoia) has caught an early sleigh ride with Santa and is headed back home to you. He should be arriving by the 18th of December; just in time to help you sing California Dreaming. Once he is home we will send photos of his travel preparations.

THANK YOU SOOOOO much for the wonderful package filled with your school photo, delicious Finnish chocolates (we really loved them----much more than the licorice you sent us a year ago!!!!), and the lovely advent calendar created by Minna Immonen, the famous Finnish artist. We are enjoying discovering the new drawing each day. What was so great was that, as fate would have it, we opened your package on December 6th, Finland's independence day! We felt connected with all of you and that we were part of your country's big day. We loved that you think we are always happy and that it never rains here (this year is a very rainy year!).....believe us that is NOT how it is! In fact, many of the seniors (students in their last year of high school) have been very stressed for most of the fall with national exams called "The SATs" and "The ACTs", preparing college applications, and large amounts of homework. We have sent some photos to enlighten you to the reality of your misconceived stereotypes ......we did this from our windsurf boards (also something not all of us have!)....HA HA!

Thank you again for your love and friendship and for sharing Osku with all of us here at Sequoia High School. He has become quite a famous rabbit at this school! Let us know how his journey home went. We will sing California Dreamin' on the 16th and think of all of you.

Happy Holidays and much love,
The IB Art Students and Teacher of Sequoia High School (graduating classes of 2012 and 2013)

November´s greetings from Korso school!

Playing with a camera and Kali! Tricks by students of 6th grade (12-13 years)

The stongest girls of the school (also above)

Homework with Kali

The kiss

Be careful, dude!

Osku soaking up the California sun while carving pumpkins on the beach. Feat Kopernischule Gynasium exchange students and sequoia students too :)

Trip to Six Flag's

Osku recently went on a trip to Six Flags: United Kingdom, he had an amazing time. Rode so many roller coasters (his favorite was Superman's Ultimate Flight) and saw animals like: giraffes, lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys and even a dolphin show! It was so hot he even had to wear some sunscreen. Unfortunately, the photos from his trip were got lost at the park and couldn't be recovered from lost and found. But he really enjoyed himself under the warm california sun!

The First Christmas!

The coming Christmas it will be time for both Kali and Osku to return to home. Today Kali found this very old 32 year old picture that is so said the first picture ever taken of Osku. In the same photograph you see art teacher Riikka spending her first Christmas.

All around we go and Kali wanted to take a picture of Riikka's growing stomach! Maybe when Osku returns to Finland he will get a chance to know the new little person still hiding in the stomach - Kali only thinks Riikka has been eating just too much. Well, but truly Riikka is now off for maternity leave, but our school's art teacher Johanna has nice ideas for art work which we will send for you in California for Christmas!

Näytin Kalille vanhoja valokuvia ja löysimme samalla kaikkien aikojen ensimmäisen valokuvan Oskusta. Se on otettu kuvisope Riikan ensimmäisenä jouluna. Kali myös vaatimalla vaati, että kuva Riikan mahasta laitetaan blogiin-kun Osku palaa Suomeen täällä odottaa uusi tuttavuus. Riikka lähtee äitiyslomalle, mutta kuvisope Johanna on luvannut keksiä vielä kivoja juttuja Kalin ja oppilaiden päänmenoksi ennen joulua!

Home Sweet Home

Kali visiting Niko's home in September 2012