Welcome to Jansen Junction!

A very dear friend of mine left a comment on my Avon blog that I should post pictures and updates about our family so everyone could keep up with us! I thought, "What a great idea!" So, I decided to create a separate blog just for family stuff! This way, friends and family near and far can keep up with the goings on at Jansen Junction!

I chose the name Jansen Junction because, well obviously, our last name is Jansen - but also because David and Christopher both love trains! And of course, I love the alliteration aspect of the name! :)

Ok - so, here's a biography of our family for those who don't know, or who just might be interested...

David and I started our journey as simply friends in the Singles class at our church. We were among a group in this class that had annual passes to Universal Studios/Islands of adventure an would make a trip together every month or so, as we were able. In those days, we would get 2 rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel - one for the boys and one for the girls - and whoever came, piled into the gender-appropriate room! We would then hit the parks at our own pace - with a few of us taking at least one night to hit the local outlet mall. Well, it was on one of these trips that David and I began to see each other as more than "just friends." You see, prior to this if anyone had asked either of us about the other regarding dating, we both responded (independently), "I just don't think about him/her that way." But...God had other plans!

Fast forwad about 3 months...and on Easter weekend 2002, David knelt by the fountain at our church as asked me to be his bride. It was one of the happiest days of my life...I could barely get out the words, "Yes, I will!" because I was laughing so hard!

Finger back on the fast forward button until September 27, 2002 - what would have been my grandparents' 57th Wedding anniversary (my grandfather was already in Heaven), David and I each married our best friend! It was a beatiful day - one that fully lived up to every dream I'd had about that day! If there's anything I would change about that day - it would only be to put someone else in charge of getting the flowers to the church (I left them in my fridge and had to send my cousin Karen to pick them up)!

We knew right away that we wanted to be parents...and since we were getting a late start, we decided to try right away. But, God had a better plan for us than anything we had imagined! After a year of not conceiving a child, we were referred to a fertility specialist in a neighboring town (the only one in the area at the time). Unfortunately, it was the most humilating exprience in my life (and I've since learned this is his horrible bedside manner with everyone)...but on the plus side, God used that experience to put us in the right place and time to adopt our precious son. We started the process in November 2003 with our application to Family Creaions, Inc. We completed our home study in December 2003, and were blessed beyond belief when we were matched in January 2004!

On March 6, 2004, we had the blessing of being at the hospital when our son was born - and I had the double blessing of being in the delivery room and watching his birth! It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! The experience of watching his birth mother in such pain so that I could have the joy of being a mother gave me a small glimpse of what Jesus went through for us when he gave his life on the cross so that we could have the joy of eternity in Heaven! And just like I wouldn't have been Christopher's mother if I hadn't accepted the gift his birthmother offerd me, we can't have eternity in Heaven if we don't accept Christ's gift of salvation that He offers to everyone!

After 4 months of hugging, loving, and enjoying life with newborn Christopher, a judge made our family official on July 9, 2004. The judge warned us that as cute as Christopher was on that day, one day he would grow to be a teenager...and even then, we would not be allowed to give him back! We wholeheartedly assured him that we had no intentions of EVER giving this gift back! The judge told us it was his great honor to pronounce the adoption official! After a brief photo session with the judge, Grandma, Daddy, Christopher, and I went to Cracker Barrel to meet the lady whom God had used to bring us to Christopher. You see, in my research about adoption, I came across a wonderful godly woman named Kaycee who told us about Family Creations. She now has 4 adopted boys of her own and was a blessing during this time. Until this day, we had only known each other through emails - but we finally got to meet her face-to-face on the day Christopher officially became a Jansen! Thank You, Heavenly Father, for bringing Kaycee into our lives!

It's now been almost 4 years since that day - and I'm still amazed at what a blessing that little boy is in our lives and so very thankful that God brought him to us! He's the smartest kid in the world, with the best personality and the kindest heart (me, partial? nah!) - I just love being his Mommy!

Well, that's about the long and short of it. I promise my other posts won't be quite as long...or at least I'll try...but I can for sure promise I won't try to cram 6 years of livng into a single post again!