My parents are gone and we had a fun time with them. We usually do and this was no exception. We spent lots of time in the car sightseeing and visiting. We checked out a couple of towns that my parents are interested in. I hope they can move closer to us. This is the farthest away we have ever been from my parents.

Birthday present from my parents.

Mother's Day present from my parents.

Gift for our SiJi...notice her name is Breanna.

Tulip field in Skagit Valley.

Mom and Dad, Thank you for coming for a visit and for the wonderful gifts. I will post pictures of the other gifts very soon. We miss you guys. Can't wait to see you in July.

Cute baby Panda (sneeze)

My parents will be here tomorrow for a week so I more than likely will not have time to blog. Let's hope that after next week I will get back into the swing of things. Have a great week everyone.

Gifts from Paula

Look at what we received in the mail yesterday. Two quilt squares and gifts for our dear little SiJi. My friend Paula from The Baby Journals (private, but if you ask she will more than likely let you in:-) sent it. Thank you so much Paula. Can't wait to dress SiJi in the outfits. Thanks to you she has a couple of items in her closet that are not for sleeping or just hanging at home.

Book and movie Recommendation.

First and foremost, I have been meaning to tell you all to READ this book! I believe it is a MUST READ book. It is a wonderful book. I even have Patrick reading it and he is really into it.

"Daughter of China" by C. Hope Flinchbaugh

C. Hope Flinchbaugh explained my love for the Chinese people. This is a book that I look forward to reading with my daughter someday.

Secondly, we watched the movie "The Ultimate Gift" and really enjoyed it. It was a heartwarming movie without the crud that has become common place in movies and has lessons to be learned.

Update on Breanna

Breanna was supposed to have her heart surgery this week, but due to a huge rattle in her chest and Emily needing immediate surgery she will need to wait. Please pray that she recovers quickly. Amanda will be with Emily for the next couple of weeks and Breanna will be getting her surgery hopefully in May.

I also have a huge unspoken prayer request for Patrick and I. We need the Lord's guidance and as soon as I am able to say something to you all I will, but for now can you please pray for us?

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope next week I will be back into blogger mode.

Have a tissue ready.

This is in Korean but there are subtitles. At the very end make sure you have a tissue.

A couple of pictures.

The beginning of SiJi's room. I will post the transformation.

Quilt square from the DeFazio family. Thank you so much.

Sunset a few nights ago.

For those of you who are worried...I'm still here. Sorry about the silence. Life has been a little like a tornado. I can't say why right now, but I'm hoping to be able to say something very soon. I will try to do a couple of post that I have been meaning to do for the last two weeks. I also have been a very bad blogger and haven't been leaving comments or returning e-mail...sorry y'all. Life will be a bit calmer after Saturday.

CONGRATULATIONS!

A huge Congratulations to my friend Paula (The Baby Journals) She and her husband had their court appointment this morning to finalize their daughter's (Hannah) adoption! She is forever theirs. Praise the Lord!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever."

Psalms 107:1

This is what our yard looked like this morning. They call it snow here, but from where I come from it wouldn't be considered snow. Looks more like dandruff on the lawn. Now we have patchy dark clouds with sun and 45*. What a perfect spring day.



Quilt square #8 arrived yesterday from the Arsenault Family. Thank you.

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.