I couldn't do an Easter post better, so here you go.

Starfish Foster Home Easter 2008
Dear April, Happy Easter from everyone at Starfish.
	Easter arrived a little too soon this year. I would have loved to go outside and take pictures but as you can see that did not happen. It was way to cold outside so we were inside the apartment in my make shift studio. I added more than 200 pictures to that collection of mine. Thanks to everyone who helped. You have no idea what a production it is to get babies changed and pictures taken. There is a film student who is making a documentary on me for his film class and he brought his really expensive Canon over and spent the afternoon taking pictures. As you can see there are no pictures of the older boys. We could not find any Easter clothing, since I was not very well prepared. Usually I have to have everything in one place otherwise there is no chance of finding things later. So that was just to let you know I did not forget anyone on purpose (Gabriel, Benjamin and Sean). I am in Shanghai right now with Toni and Paul--and since it is Good Friday, we has some Hot Cross Buns, which is a very British/Australian/South African thing to eat. It was delicious. Something I have not had since 1988 when I left South Africa. It is amazing how quickly the memories came flooding back of home after just one bite. Life, Love and Laughter, Amanda Starfish Foster Home http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com www.chinesestarfish.org

Thankful Thursday.

Just a few things that I'm thankful for.

• One month from today my parents will be here for a visit. I am so excited!
  

• The colors of spring are starting to show.

• We are adopting from China.
  

• I have been asked to help with China...Forever in Our Hearts.

• There has been $2525 raised for Breanna's surgery.
  

And for our wonderful support team. You guys are the best! Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, not totally wordless...Spring has sprung in Seattle.

Much Ado About Nothing

First thing first...we are in Seattle for manager training for Patrick and he showed up at the hotel with lunch a little while ago. I tell you my hubby knows me ...he brought Kalua pork and it was so yummy. I only could eat half of it as there was so much food. We went to Kauai two years ago and I fell in love with the stuff...not so good for you though.









I love 1950's Pink Pyrex. I can't get enough of it. Yes, pink is my favorite color. It is fun using my pieces wondering about the women who used them before me...and yes, I do use them. I have one more piece in the fridge right now so I didn't take a picture of it. I flip out every time I see a piece in an antique store.



I also have a thing for Texas Ware bowls. They go for a ton of money on ebay so I'm happy to to have two that were given to me. One was one we have used for popcorn since I was a child (the pink one). The other was from a friend who had salad in it one night when we went over for dinner, and being the melodramatic person I am, I freaked out when I saw the bowl. She said "what, that old thing"... I'm thinking, are you serious...do you know what you have?! Well, a couple days later we met at a restaurant for dinner and she had that "old thing" as a gift. :-) Thanks Carrie.



See I told you "Much Ado About Nothing". I also like the movie "Much Ado About Nothing".

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't have time to post anything more than this right now. I think tomorrow is going to be a day of posting. Consider yourself pinched if you are not in green. A little piece of useless information on me...I'm Irish and I don't really know what St. Patrick's Day is all about. Pretty sad.

Something exciting.

Daleea has come up with a beautiful idea and has started a new blog "China...Forever in Our Hearts". She has asked me to help her with the posts when this really gets going. I am so excited about the project and can't wait to see it develop. Thank you Daleea for asking me to be apart of this. It is a blessing to help and I am so excited.

I know it will be a wonderful place for all of us to walk the streets of China again or for the first
time and feel the love that consumes us all. It will be a place to help you remember what it was like, rejoice with those who are home with their child and a place to dream and hope for the future. You are all invited to be apart of this blog and we look forward to your stories, pictures and knowledge of a country that has always been in my heart.

China...Forever in Our Hearts

If you have a submission for the blog please e-mail:
chinaforeverinourhearts@yahoo.com

"This is a place dedicated to our daughters and our sons that were born in the beautiful land of China. A place to gather in celebration of China's beauty, and splendor.
If you would like to share favorite pictures of your journey in China, please email them to us along with any information you have... city, provence, etc. of where it was taken or what it was taken of. Also, we would love to have a picture of your child that was taken in China. If you would like to share the provence they were born in, their Chinese name, and your blog address with everyone please include that information as well....
If you have favorite charities, books, shopping for China please let us know so we can keep a list on the sidebar for everyone to share in this wonderful source of information we gather together.
We look forward to sharing with everyone this journey back to our beloved China... We will return there together..." taken from the sidebar of China...Forever in Our Hearts

Pictures from last weekend.

Finally, the weekend recap.

Okay, so finally I'm doing what I promised I would do. First thing first, the cabin key did not make its way to us and we didn't know this until 4pm last Thursday. So this is the last minute back-up plan that could have been better.

So I scrambled and got everything together by about midnight and then the next (late) morning we headed off. First we went somewhere to camp that was within an hour and thought that would work out great...wrong...forgot that there is an military base way too close so the noise of aircraft doing touch and goes was deafening. Don't get me wrong I LOVE watching the jets (I dreamed of being a fighter pilot as a teenager, then glasses came and I was horrible at math so that was out), but not when we are supposed to have some peace and quiet for the weekend. So we went to another place and that still wasn't going to work (still too close). So we made a decision to hop the next ferry boat and head to Orcas Island. Thankfully we made it to the dock in time. The cruise over was so beautiful and really smooth. Once we got over there it was quite late and we found the campground in Moran State Park and started setting up camp. It was getting very dark and the wind was blowing so hard, but we got set up and had dinner and went to bed (8pm, what is wrong with us). All through the night the wind blew so hard. If you know anything about Washington you know to be wary of the trees blowing over. Well, that night was one of those times that you feared a tree could topple over at any moment. Not to mention how COLD it was. We only got a couple of hours of sleep that night. The next morning we broke camp because we realized that the road noise was quite bad where we camped and thought we might find another camp. It was a beautiful site though. We drove up to Mount Constitution to see the view. "Mount Constitution at 2,409 feet is the highest point in the San Juan Islands. The steep, winding road leading to the top is well worth the trip." There was snow up there and the fog was thick at times and then it would clear. We never did get a really clear view from the top, but got a couple of pictures on the way down that were quite nice. It was really quite an amazing view. We did find such a lovely primitive campground up near the top, but I was being a wimp and didn't want to stay because I was cold and tired. So we jumped the next boat and headed home. Hopefully our next trip will be a lot better. The first camping trip of the year is always ruff.

I'm not getting pictures to work so that will be in a separate post.

Scrapbooking attempt #1

Breanna Update

I promise I will tell about last weekend soon, but wanted to share some info I got about Breanna.

Amanda quote: "Sarah/Lily has also taken to Breanna so well. She loves sitting on the arm of the couch and playing with her and I like these two pictures so very much. Breanna reacts by belling laughing at Sarah, who is quiet the little ham. Breanna has been doing so well. She is picking up weight and her neck is getting stronger by the day. She is so easy to put to sleep. She loves to snuggle and likes to have a cloth near her face She usually cries for a few minutes but is out in 5 minutes. I love putting her to sleep. We will probably be doing her surgery in early April. I am so grateful to all the families that have contributed to the medical cost of doing this heart surgery. I will have to arrange this with Dr Li."





Please pray that the money will be raised for her surgery. We still sit at $2,525 and need about $5,000.

Not for the faint of heart!

We watched a movie last night about where our meat comes from. I won't recommend watching the movie due to language and other stuff, but I do think the message should be known by all. Maybe if we all start thinking about what goes in our mouth it will make a difference. Long ago I learned what happens at Tyson chicken and I will not buy their chicken. I have switched over to a lot of organic products such as milk, eggs, yogurt and veggies, but now even though we don't eat a lot of meat, we will be more careful where and what kind we buy.

These are cartoon videos so it makes it easier to watch, but the message is still there.

A heart full of thanks!

Didn't Daleea do such a beautiful job on my blog! I just love the way it looks and I will say I only told her a couple of vague things that I would like to see and she created exactly what I wanted. I don't have beautiful words like she does to express what I want or feel. So sometimes it is a little hard for me to say what I want to when I want to. Daleea is such a special friend and what a blessing she is to me. She has such words of encouragement that get you through one more day. She is also hoping to bring home another daughter from China so please join me in praying for their journey to Isabella and that the Lord will direct their paths. I would like to turn this post around to her because she writes what is in my heart that won't come out. Thank you Daleea, you are a blessing to me.

New Squares for SiJi

Square #3 from The Hoglund Family


Square #4 from The Beebe Family


Square #5 & #6 from The Barrett Family





Square #7 The Shamel Family

To My Dear Friend April....

My Dear April,
First I want to thank you for entrusting me with your blog, and for allowing me to do a post...

I don't think you realize how special you are. You have one of the purest hearts I have ever known. Your sweetness is precious. You are a reflection of Christ Jesus' love. You are a jewel in His crown... I am honored and blessed to have become your friend. You always lift me up and make me feel like a better person. I hope that one day, through the grace of Jesus I will become the woman you believe me to be.

I do understand the journey you are on... my heart breaks for you as I know that your arms ache to hold your child in them. But, I also know that God is faithful... His timing is perfect and that He has always known who your daughter is... When you were a little girl and dreamed of holding your child in your arms... He knew who she was. When you dreamed of going on a mission to the far away land of China... He knew you would. His ways are not our ways... they are so far above and beyond what we could ever imagine, or hope for. Sometimes He does not give us the desires of our hearts because He has something so much better in store for us in His perfect will for our lives. Sometimes He allows us to come to a place of brokenness so that we will turn to Him, our Father, and surrender... to draw closer to Him... to step down and allow Him to sit upon the throne of our hearts.

Please know as you travel this journey to find your child that you are not alone... If you need a shoulder to cry on... I am here. If you need someone to scream out your frustrations at... I am here. If you need someone to pray with... I am here. If you just need someone to listen and understand... I am here. As difficult, and overwhelming at times that this journey can be... As heartbreaking and seemingly impossible it may seem.... I promise you that one day.... You will hold your SiJi in your arms and you will thank God for each tear that has fallen, for each day that you could not take another step on your own, for each time your heart broke a little more even though you thought it was impossible that it could hurt any deeper, for each moment, day, week and year that you had to wait.... because it led you to her.... YOUR child. You will thank the Lord that the CCAA did not give you your referral one day or even one year sooner because that would mean that you would have someone else's child and you wouldn't have your SiJi's . Although you will be overjoyed that the wait is over, in your heart you will know that you would do it all again if it meant holding YOUR daughter in your arms.
Weeping endures for a night.... but JOY cometh in the morning.... Hold fast dear friend, stay the coarse...... One day the morning will come and your heart will flood with a joy beyond what you could ever imagine and your precious little one will be safely in her Mama's loving arms.
He hears your cries... He is with you each step you make.... He is on the throne and He is oh, so faithful.... Run into the loving arms of your Father, He is your strength, your refuge, your hope and your peace... You are a Mom.... and one day your baby will be home.
God's peace my friend, and God's speed
Love,
Daleea

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes:
But it's leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of the drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:9-10

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:3

Be still, and know that I am God;
Psalm 46:10