Follow our journey in China at www.journeytojunfen.com

Dear Friends,

As China blocks blogspot, we have decided to use "Baby Jelly Beans" for the next few weeks to document Karin's journey to JunFen. Please visit www.journeytojunfen.com

PLEASE follow us in our journey; your support and prayers mean so much. We hope that JunFen's spirit and courage inspire many others to consider adopting older waiting, special needs kiddos!

Final Care Package to JunFen

Once we had our travel dates, we wanted to let JunFen know how excited we were and to prepare her a bit. We sent a ladybug sweater and hair clips through redthreadchina.com

Here is the letter we sent that was translated by Red Thread -

Dear JunFen,

We are so happy that we have received travel approval and will be soon flying in an airplane for 17 hours to meet you, to embrace you and to start our life together. Your mama will be in China in early April. Your foster family will tell you when the date will be. We will spend about 5 days in Wuhan, and if you like, we can visit the special places of your city! Then we will fly to Guangzhou for a couple of days. After that we will fly to the United States, where you will meet your Baba and maternal grandma. They will be waiting to greet us at the airport.

I am so excited to get to know you, dear Junfen. You can tell me what name you like to be called when we meet. I wonder if you like to be called Junfen, Fen Fen or sometimes by a name in America that sounds very much like your lovely Chinese name. There is no rush. It will be fun to get to know each other, to laugh together and to share life together. We send kisses in the wind to you. We hope your dear foster family will be so happy about your new life with us. We are happy for their wonderful care of you.

Well, dear daughter, we long to see you and to hold you in our arms and close to our hearts!

Love from your Mama & Baba

JunFen's room: Before and After!

The last addition to JunFen's room was a Select Comfort bed, so she can have restful sleep in the land of Hello Kitty! As you can see Boo Kitty is helping to break in the matress. We're having so much fun nesting. Now we just need our baby bird!

Tremella Soup, aka "White Fungus Soup" - One of JunFen's favorites!

JunFen's foster Mama was good enough to list all of JunFen's favorite dishes in her report from the orphanage. I found an Asian supermarket just 10 minutes from our home that carries the key ingredient of one of JunFen's favorite foods..."Tremella" for "Tremella soup"; tremella is also known as "white fungus." You buy it dried, and it doesn't look bad at all...something like fried pork rinds in color and texture. I made the most basic recipe for Tremella soup as my first attempt. I'll try to kick it up a notch next time with snow peas, chicken, and more ingredients.

Even Baba liked the Tremella soup! Let's see what Junfen's review will be!

Heading for China! We leave on April 2nd!

Praise God! I heard from my dear social worker today that we will travel on April 2nd to Beijing, the first leg of our trip to JunFen. "Gotcha Day" will be April 7th. At first I had a wrestling match with God over the timing. I was hoping for quicker travel....but guess who won!!! It's all in His perfect timing. (I mess things up, Lord, help me stay out of the way of your perfect plans for our family!!! )

Needless to say, once God won the wrestling match, I am one happy Mama Bear!!! (and Baba Bear is pretty darn happy, too!!!)

Child Shower given by Mary Ann, who adopted a 6 year old 25 years ago!

A dear girl with same special need as our daughter!

Those of you who visit http://www.rainbowkids.com/ will know this sweet girl, born in 2000, has the same sn as our dear daughter. Search "scoliosis" as th special need. She has been waiting for an excruciating long time for a forever family. She is listed as a sn child with an agency in Saint Paul, MN. Perhaps there is family or single with that agency who is feeling a gentle tug to consider a waiting child? Please consider this sweet one!!! There are wonderful resources in the Twin Cities for children with her sn.

Phone of agency where she is listed:
651-646-7771
Website:
http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org
Email:
intchild@chsfs.org
Details
207-71 This bright girl was born on 12/2000. She has an easy going personality and is loved by all the caregivers. She enjoys listening to music and dancing. She often helps the caregivers with the younger children. She is very clever and psycholgically strong despite her multiple need. She has a repaired spinal myelomeningocele and severe scoliosis.

JunFen goes to Kindergarten!

We learned through Blessed Kids that our JunFen attends Kindergarten in the neighborhood where her foster family lives. This gives us great insight into her life. She does not go to the orphanage everyday for school. We hope that we can visit her Kindergarten class and teacher and exchange addresses.

We also learned that JunFen has had the same foster family since she was 10 months old. We are also grateful for this information so we can better anticipate her transition. Wuhan CWI does not allow contact with the foster family, but we are praying that perhpas we can find a way to see them or at the very least have JuneFen write their address and telephone number right away (before she may forget) so we can send them photos. I would also love to take JunFen back to China one day to visit them.

Attached is a photo of a kindergarten in Hubei. The children are huddled around the heat.

We're waiting for travel approval - and praying everytime the phone rings that it's our SW with travel news! Perhaps we'll be receiving our daughter at Easter!

Chinese New Year - New Beginnings!

The Chinese New Year is such a huge part of the Chinese culture - signifying shaking off the past and looking forward to new beginnings and the future. We think it wonderful that we will soon travel to our daughter shortly after this 2 week celebration. For Christians, we'll be traveling in Lent, just before Easter (new life!).

This is the Year of the Rat -

Rat Year begins the sequence and recurs every twelfth year. It is a time of renewal in so many ways. From New Year to Valentine's Day, to the arrival of spring, may all the blessings and delights of the New Year be yours.
A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find.

Happy New Year! XIN NIAN HAO!

A plea to help orphanages in crisis from snowstorms -

Many orphanages in central China are especially feeling the brunt of the bad weather as the snow and freezing temperatures are unusual.

Here's the report on our daughter's orphanage - we do not know if she is with a foster family or at the orphanage:

Wuhan, Hubei – is having a very hard time finding affordable food, “even cabbage.” They ask for food subsidies for the Family Village, 20 space heaters and 50 warm quilts. Heaters are working but there is no water for bathing. The local community has offered to take children in for the Chinese New Year and the institution feels this may be the best decision to keep them safe, so their requests are only for the Family Village.

Please click this link to Half the Sky Foundation to if you feel lead to make a gift to help the orphans in need of blankets, food, heat and diapers:

http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Little+Mouse+Emergency+Fund

God bless you!

Please help 10 orphans in need of surgery!

I’d like to bring your attention to a cause dear to my heart, as we look forward to soon bringing home our daughter from China. “Love Without Boundaries” is a non-profit dedicated to saving the lives of Chinese orphans in need of urgent care.

A few weeks ago a hacker took down LWB's website, which has caused considerable negative impact on their revenue. The website has been rebuilt, but is still a work in progress. At the same time of the hacker’s damage, a Facebook challenge has been taking place that can help offset the financial setback LWB has suffered. The lives of orphans in need of urgent surgery are in the balance.

The challenge is to charities that can garner the highest amount of individual donors. Gifts can be as affordable as just $10. The challenge ends on Feb 1st at Noon. Please receive my heartfelt gratitude for considering this opportunity to make a difference! You can learn about LWB and the challenge at http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/

UPDATE: Thanks be to God! Love Without Boundaries won the $50K prize by 44 donations. It was oh so close. Many orphans in need of urgent medical care will now receive treatment! Thanks to all who particpated!

Snow in Wuhan - one of the "furnances" of China!

Known for its extraordinary heat, Wuhan is having a record breaking winter with snow! Our dear JunFen is getting a sneak peek of where she will live in Minne-snoooow-ta! A big difference, of course, is that MN is equipped and well experienced in dealing with snow - unlike central China.

We pray that she is warm and safe. We've read that there have been some blackouts and restrictions on use of electricity. We're glad that we sent her a warm coat for the Chinese New Year!

Description of top photo: WUHAN, CHINA - JANUARY 29: A snow-covered ancient house is seen on January 29, 2008 in Wuhan of Hubei Province.

Description of second photo: The elevated view of the Jiangtan Park is seen in Wuhan of Hubei Province, known as one of the "Three Furnaces" of China for its hot summer weather. The worst prolonged snow, rain and cold weather period in a decade has hit about 14 provincial level regions in China, responsible for at least 24 deaths and affecting nearly 78 million people with direct economic losses of over 22 billion yuan (about US$3.06 billion) so far. The snow has paralyzed air, rail and highway traffic, stranding tens of thousands of passengers on their way home for the Spring Festival.