The Morgan 4

Mahi is 3

2010-02-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

Mahi is going to be 3 on Saturday, Feb 20th. I know kids have birthdays all the time but this birthday is feeling like a really big deal to me. I can't really explain it but it has me very emotional. We have been able to enjoy a lot of firsts with Mahi but this one is a really big deal to me. Maybe because it's a day all about her. I also think I feel so emotional because it's her "birth"day. A day when the mom is usually there...a special day between the child and the parents. At each of Ella's birthdays I just recall the day she was born down to every detail from what Daddy fed me on the way to the hospital to the first time I held her in my arms. But with Mahi I wasn't there. It's a weird emotion and hard to deal with. It's just one of those "not so glamorous" parts of adoption. Here is what I do have... I do have the first time I saw her sweet hopeful eyes looking at me from the computer screen on October 22, 2008 and the first time I saw that tiny little frame walk to me a bit unsure on April 20, 2009 (unsure until Daddy gave her a sucker that is). Unsure is the last word I would use to describe our little peanut now! We are pretty sure she will be a professional entertainer one day or maybe a lawyer;) She exudes confidence. She truly is an amazing little girl! Well, thank you for listening. Talking about it is the only way I know how to deal with it. Talk, pray and focus on the positives.

Here is a little about Mahi...

Get to Know Mahelet Macie Morgan
“Mahi”

~Mahi is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa
~Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia
~Mahi’s birth date is February 20th, 2007
~She came to Spring Hill, TN on April 24, 2009
~Her favorite color is purple
~Her favorite songs are “Like Jesus” by Mosteller, “Closer To Love “ by Mat Kearney and “Slow to You” by Daddy
~She loves Dora and oranges
~She likes all things electronic
~Her first language is Amharic
~The Ethiopian national dish consists of injera, a flat, circular pancake made of fermented dough. This is usually served with side dishes of meat, vegetables and spicy sauces.
~There are approximately 70 million people in Ethiopia
~Ethiopia is almost twice the size of Texas
~Coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia centuries ago

The Guitar

2009-06-30T18:40:00.001-07:00

Before we went to Ethiopia, Ty had the idea of getting a guitar donated to take to Mahelet'sorphanage. As soon as we started asking around we had some amazing friends in Carthage, Missouri that jumped on the opportunity. Just days later the UPS man arrives with a HUGE box. Inside...a shiny guitar in a brand new hard case! We were so amazed by the generosity and so excited to be the bearers of such a gift! This guitar brought SO much joy to this trip...even way more than we expected.

While in Ethiopia, we had the pleasure of staying with some amazing families at the Ethiopian Guest Home. One sweet family in particular holds a special place in our hearts. They adopted 2 older girls. They are 2 beautiful, smart, lovely girls. Zenash is the older of the 2 sisters and she was Mahi's buddy. She really was key is getting Mahi out of her shell that 1st day. Every time Mahi would see Zenash that week she just wanted to go right to her. They lived together in the orphanage for about a month and Zenash helped take care of Mahi. So you can imagine how special she is to us. Her little sister, Tarikua is a precious little girl! Tarikua is deaf. And here is where the guitar comes in...

One afternoon we were all sitting around. Ty had the guitar out just messing around. Tarikuajust lit up. She looked at her Daddy as if to say "can I go over there and touch that?" Her Daddy anxiously nods and sweet Tarikua goes over to the guitar and lays her head on it and starts to squeal with excitement. We all just watch in amazement as this little girl "heard" the music. Her Daddy (who is a worship leader and music lover) later told me that he and his wife had quietly mourned the fact that Tarikiua would not be able to share their love for music. And here he saw that he had underestimated God. And that this was holy moment for them. I think it was a holy moment for all of us in that room as we watched a deaf little girl hear and play a guitar for , who knows, maybe the first time ever.

And here is Daddy and Mahi playing together for the first time.
Here is Ty playing for a group of kids at a drop in center. This is a center for people (mostly single Moms) to take their kids for free. Here they get 2 meals a day and school up to 2nd grade. It was a wonderful day with these kids. They loved the music and my hair! They wanted us to teach them an American song so we thought "Jesus Loves Me" would be a good one. We sang just that line for about 20 minutes and all of the kids got a turn to come to the front and sing it. They did great and we all had a blast! The director said most of these kids had never heard this song before. Well, 2 days later, Ty went back to visit the kids and when he walked in they all started singing, "Yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me!"

And, for the last stop for the guitar...Mahi's orphanage. This little one got so excited and into the music that he peed his pants! He had no time to stop dancing, he might miss something. And some things are just more important than peeing your pants. This little guy was full of soul and he expressed it with his dancing...just precious! The older kids were at school when we first arrived and when they got home they were so excited to see Mahi. They loved the guitar and playing and singing. Ty taught them as much as he could in the time we had with them.

That was where we left the guitar, I hope these kids are playing it and enjoying the sound of music they are making. Music is such an important gift and we are so grateful to those who donated this guitar.

HOMECOMING

2009-06-20T18:30:00.001-07:00

ok...so I understand Mahi has been home 2 months and we have been bad bloggers. Sorry. We have been busy getting to know each other and living life. As you can imagine the girls are very busy! They are just a blast! Mahi is adjusting better than we could have imagined and Ella is the sweetest big sister ever. She is so patient and caring. Mahi is doing awesome with her English. We miss her Amharic. Now it's mostly English or Amarhic-English mix (which no one can understand)! She has NO trouble communicating with us. She is so loving and we probably get at least 100 kisses a day. She is very smart, too!
Anyway, we wanted to let you know we still have a lot to talk to you about from our trip but I wanted to post some homecoming pictures now.

here is Ella preparing a warm welcome for Mahi

Ella and Mankaw (Grandpa) at the airport coming to get us

Mahi and Mankaw

Mahi and Maemae (Grandma)
there we 40 wonderful friends at the airport to welcome us home. all of these people being there just made the moment even that much more special

i know it looks like Liam doesn't love her by this expression but I promise he does!

our 1st dinner together. the girls wanted it tea party style

Mahi checking out her new room

this is a toy bucket or a bath i guess??

trying out her knew bed...this was Ty's crib

obviously we were exhausted!! But overjoyed to finally be together...The Morgan Four

do with what you have

2009-05-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is Mahi at the Guest Home
Ethiopian ladder
Ty toning up
Ethiopian weights

Ethiopian scaffolding

We are absolutely amazed by the people of Ethiopia. We will use the next several blog posts to tell you all about it. We are sorry for being a little slow on updating you but we are taking time to adjust to our new life (which is wonderful).

We had some wonderful drivers while we were there. We had some wonderful conversations with these men and they taught us a lot about the overall outlook of the people of Ethiopia. One of our drivers told us how him and his family are happy as long as they have God and how everything good comes from God. What they need (food and shelter) comes from God and they have that so they are happy.

What a lesson we learned. It is so important to be content. In America with the excess of "stuff" there is a frequent challenge to feel content. Most of us do have what we need and we have God or can have God. So let's keep it simple. Let's try to remember to be happy with just those things. Peace and contentment are in simplicity. And we don't mean God is simple in any way but a relationship with God can start with the smallest amount of faith and it can grow into total peace and contentment. That is what we are striving for more of everyday. We saw kids with nothing and we mean nothing, and they had the biggest, truest smiles we've ever seen. They are doing with what they have with a big smile and joy in their hearts.

The Ball

2009-04-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

Mahi was in an orphanage for 6 months before her court date and then she was moved to a care center that is ran by our adoption agency. That is where we picked her up. While we were in Ethiopia we went to Mahelet's original orphanage. As we were sitting in the director's office visiting with him about the orphanage I noticed something from the corner of my eye. In a sack were some old balls. On top was the old rugged soccer ball that Mahelet was holding in these pictures. Mahi's Uncle Duke donated some wonderful new balls to her orphanage so her sweet Daddy politely asked the director if we could trade these brand new balls for the one old soccer ball that no longer holds air. "No problem" he said. So to mark that 6 months of our daughters life she has a wonderful old soccer ball. The love she was given there by the precious nannies will forever be in her heart and ours, too.

We have so much to tell you...

2009-04-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

We are back, have our precious daughter and had the trip of a lifetime!! We will have to break our trip up into many blog entries because we want to tell you all about it! Every single thing about the entire week was simply amazing! The best of all was getting our sweet Mahelet! Her nannies call her Mahi so that is what we are calling her now. We will break down our first week with her during our blog entries but we don't want to leave you hangin' any more! She is just AMAZING!! She is the cutest little things you've ever seen. She has a new nickname that Daddy gave her...Peanut! And a peanut she is. She is 10 inches shorter than Ella but you would never know it by her spunky attitude. She is adjusting better than we could have dreamed of. The only problem is her sleeping pattern. She did great while we were in Africa but since we've been home she is awake several times a night. That's one reason it is taking me so long to blog...I'm tired! But I am NOT complaining. God has been amazing to us in this journey and we are forever thankful.
A few things about her...
Mahi loves to give kisses. She will just grab your face and pull you close and give you a big kiss with her angel lips.
She has a wonderful big sister who loves her and is so patient with her.
She has pretty hair, gorgeous lips, eyes you can read like a book and a sweet, sweet laugh.
She can count to 10 in Amharic (her native language).
She is all Ehtiopian...everytime she plays with a toy car or train she says "beep, beep!"

Thank you and Mahelet seeing a picture of us for the first time

2009-04-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

We wanted to let you all know that the response for the supplies and donations for Mahelet's orphanage have been tremendous! Thank you all so much and we can't wait to be the deliverer of these great blessings.

We have been given:
-formula
-a beautiful guitar
-a wonderful case for the guitar
-blankets
-50 gift bags full of goodies for the kids
-crayons and coloring books
-bubbles
-medicine
-footballs, basketballs and airpumps
-a total of $475 to buy supplies (which we did most of this shopping Friday night and will finish in Ethiopia)

We have been amazed at the outpouring of love and gifts toward these kids. We will post pictures of our celebration with the kids when we return home.

Just a reminder to follow us while we are there please follow us on Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/tyrusmorgan

You can also sign up on Twitter and have texts sent to your phone.

Happy Easter and Thank you!

The Morgan Four

here is a picture of us holding a picture of Mahelet

and here is her holding the picture of us holding the picture of her

follow us on twitter

2009-04-09T19:36:00.001-07:00

http://twitter.com/tyrusmorgan
go here to follow our trip to Ethiopia to pick up Mahelet!!!!!

And if you are real techy you can have twitter send text messages to your phone for "up to the minute" updates from the Morgan four! (and if you need help setting it up call me)

update to the update

2009-04-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

I could just cry! You all are so thoughtful, loving and generous! We have been given $355 to buy donations for Mahelet's orphanage (remember Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with an average income of $108 according to BBC). Yesterday one of my sweet patients and friend brought us 50 bags for the kids filled with candy, crayons and toys. Tonight a dear friend brought over bubbles, crayons, coloring books and formula for the kids. The guitar should be here tomorrow! And some balls and a pump are on there way from Coffeyville, KS. WOW!

that's all the words I have WOW and THANK YOU!!

donations update

2009-04-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

So the guitar is on it's way from Carthage, Missouri and today we received another $150 to buy supplies for Mahelet's orphanage. This means so much to us that you all are helping in this way. You will be impacting these kids in a big way and we are so happy to deliver these blessings of love and hope.

Also, shoes would be a great donations to the children of Ethiopia. If you choose to donate shoes please make sure they are in new or gently used condition. Crocs or generic Crocs would be great because they are so light because our luggage may be an issue. The kids range from newborns to 14 years old.

Thank you all so much!!

Celebration and Supplies

2009-03-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

We are 17 days away from our departure to Ethiopia to pick up our little girl Mahelet! Excited is an understatement. One of the things we are going to do while we are there is bring a few supplies as well as have a small celebration at the orphanage she has been at these past several months. We plan to bring small gifts to all the children, supplies for the team working there, and a guitar to leave behind for them to keep.

We would love any and all help anyone can offer to help with the celebration and supplies.

A few items that would be great are:

1. bubbles for blowing

2. coloring books

3. crayons

4. rubber balls that can be inflated

5. handheld airpump

6. monetary donation $55 already donated!!

7. a guitar donated by some wonderful people in Carthage, Missouri

8. a capo

9. guitar strings

10. guitar picks

11. guitar case also donated from Carthage, Missouri

12. tuner

13. single serve baby formula (Similac)

14. new blankets

15. diapers/wipes

16. ointments-diaper rash cream, antibiotic ointments, etc.

17. other the counter medications for infants and kids i.e. tylenol, etc.

Thanks so much for everyone's help and feel free to leave a comment here or email us of what donation you want to help with! You can use our PayPal button if you want to make a monetary donation for the supplies.

our prayers have been answered-we are officially THE MORGAN FOUR

2009-03-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's a great morning in the Morgan family as our adoption court date passed. Only about 50% of court dates pass the first time. Please watch the video to meet our new daughter!!!

the daily verse

2009-03-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

we subscribe to http://www.thedailyverse.com/

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness.

Isaiah 60:17

it is so fitting for today!!

IT"S FINALLY HERE!!

2009-03-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!
Our court date is tonight!!
Ella is as excited as Ty and I are. Tonight she said, "M likes apple juice, too, like me and she smells good, too!" and then we were playing dress up and she got M out a honey bee costume. Oh our girls are going to have so much fun together!

So, now I'm going to try to control the butterflies in my stomach!! We feel so blessed and excited right now!

Thank you so much for your prayers! It is all in God's hands and there's no other place we would rather it be.

GLORY TO OUR KING!!

we'll chat tomorrow and hopefully show you pictures and tell you her full name...so stay tuned

2 days!!

2009-03-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

2 days!!!!!

Our court date is in only 2 days!!

We are SO excited, I can't even explain it! This week is flying by. I can't stop thinking about "M" and that her and our lives are about to change in such a wonderful way. We have some awesome friends, Erica and Jason, who have adopted from Sierra Leone, Africa. They gave us some wonderful advice when we started the adoption process last February...they said to enjoy the process and try not to hurry time away. That is how I feel right now. I feel like I'm 7 years old and tomorrow is Christmas morning times 1,000!!! I feel like I am going into labor in 2 days!!! I will never (hopefully) be in this spot again with M. I love this feeling!!! This feeling of excitement and the butterflies in my stomach is a bit overwhelming. And to top it all of, we got 6 new pictures of M today. It looks like she got a brand new soccer ball and trust me, from the looks of the one in the other picture...she needed it! Adoption is a roller coaster of emotions but right now I'm going down the biggest peak and am filled with excitement and joy!! I am so thankful to God right now that he gave Ty and I this calling. I am getting to experience a feeling that most never will. Praise God!!

Thank you all for praying for us. We have gotten so many e-mails, texts, notes, etc that say you are praying. Thank you!! It means the world to us!

REMEMBER: COURT WILL TAKE PLACE SOMETIME WHILE YOU ARE SLEEPING TOMORROW!!!! AAWWWWWEEEEE!!!!!!!

if you can't sleep, call me, Lord knows we won't be!!

4 DAYS!!

2009-03-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

We are so excited! Only FOUR days until our court date for "M"!! We are so ready for her to be part of our family. We painted her room this weekend and Ella is very excited about that and wants everyone to see! "M" has new Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that are very ready for her, too! She is one loved little girl and we are ready to shower her with the love that has been building up for the past year. We are praying, praying, praying that everything goes smooth on Friday.

the morgan FOUR!!

Anonymous is a genious!

2009-03-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it...but I'm afraid God might ask me the same questions". ~Anonymous

I found this quote on another blog and it really hit me. I do ask God this question sometimes. Usually I don't ask "why" to God but being involved with Africa this past year, I have asked why do people die from lack of food and water--so many precious people everyday....well, here is my answer!

When We Unite

2009-02-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

About two months ago, Ty was involved in a meeting at work with another company. Ty did not know these people very well and they did not know that he is adopting from Ethiopia. Every seat in the meeting had a little card laying on the place setting for each participant of the meeting. Each card had a quote and where it originated, be it a particular person or if it was more of a folk saying from a certain place. This was the card at Ty's place setting.

When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. Ethiopia

I have wondered for a while if it has a special meaning. Of course it was special that it was a saying from Ethiopia! And the only card in the room that said Ethiopia! But I thought maybe there was more to it...

Well, lately I have been thinking how bad is sucks that Satan does not want this adoption to take place. I am sure he is trying his best to throw in wrenches here and there to stop it. That scares me a bit but then I focus back on the fact that God is my rock, Jesus is my King and the Holy Spirit is my comforter! And God DOES want this adoption to take place....the bible says so...

Psalms 68:5,6

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—

this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

God places the lonely in families;

Psalms 10:14

But you know all about it—

the contempt, the abuse.

I dare to believe that the luckless

will get lucky someday in you.

You won't let them down:

orphans won't be orphans forever

So now I am thinking that the meaning of this card is that our prayers to God are the spider webs and Satan is the lion

We have been praying a lot for this court date and we really need you to, also! We firmly believe through prayer we can tie up the lion! We are firm believers in the power of prayer so we need as many people as possible telling God their desire for "M" to become part of our family on March 13th.

Psalms 37:3-6

Trust in the Lord and do good.

Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.

Trust him, and he will help you.

He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,

and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

The only being more powerful than Satan is God and that is why we need your prayers.

You all have been such a part of this process with us and we really want that to continue! It has helped so much having your love, prayers and support during this journey.

About 50% of the court dates are not passing the first time and could be rescheduled for up to 6 weeks later. We don't want to be away from "M" one more day!

The court date is in 2 weeks...that means in 2 weeks, Ty and I will have one of the biggest days of our lives!! We will be getting a new daughter! Addis Ababa (the capitol city of Ethiopia) is 9 hours ahead of us so the court will actually take place in the middle of the night Thursday.

3 WEEKS!!

2009-02-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

(you will need to stop the music at the bottom of the page before you push play on the videos)

So...as you can see Ella does not feel very good. But, she did have enough energy to make her Sister "M" birthday cupcakes!

Only 3 weeks until the court date!!!!

4 WEEKS!!

2009-02-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Our court date is 4 weeks from today!! We are ready and excited!!

Also, in February, "M" will celebrate her 2nd birthday. We are sad that we will not be there to celebrate with her but she has a lot of friends and people that love her that will be with her on that day. We will be able to celebrate many of her birthdays to come.

Also, this was amazing news! Another local family is adopting from Ethiopia! Click here to read about them. Melissa emailed me this week and said she had come into contact with several people in one week talking about Ethiopian adoption and that "M" was the confirmation for her to adopt from Ethiopia!! Can you believe that!! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. "M" is already changing the lives of other Ethiopian children and she is not even 2 years old yet!! Well, actually, I know this was ALL God, but the fact that he used "M" in this families story just makes me so happy and honored to soon be her Mommy!!!

WHEN YOU PRAY FOR US AND OUR ADOPTION, PLEASE PRAY THAT COURT GOES THROUGH THE FIRST TIME WITH NO PROBLEMS. THANK YOU.

5 WEEKS!!

2009-02-05T20:04:00.001-08:00

Only 5 weeks until our court date!! PLEASE PRAY THAT IT PASSES THE FIRST TIME!! Thank you!!

This weekend we are celebrating! It was one year ago this weekend that we made the decision to adopt! We are so excited to be this close to our court date.

Ella is READY for her sister. I think a light bulb went off this week and she is talking about her often. She always has a seat for "M" or gets a drink for her. It's really sweet!!

6 WEEKS!!

2009-01-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

OK..that week went fast! Now it's just 6 weeks until our court date! Ella is really starting to understand the concept of having a sister and it is precious. Today we were at Sam's shopping with our sweet friend, Courtney. We put Ella in the cart which had 2 seats in the front. I said "Ella, who is that seat for?" (thinking she would say 'my baby' or something like that) She said, "M" (but she said her full name--so sorry, I still can't tell you her name) And just now I was talking to her about sharing her Mommy and Daddy and that we are going to share her when "M" comes home and she said "And I go to school with "M" and it be so fun!" I am so excited for both of my girls to have a sister!

7 WEEKS!!

2009-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

It's only 7 weeks until our court date!! We REALLY need our case to pass court on this day for several logistical reasons but mostly for our sweet "M". We don't want anymore time to go by in her young life without us there. We know she is in great hands but we really want to be with our little girl. And Ella wants her to hurry, too! Yesterday she told me she is going to get her a present...a shirt! Also, Ella knows she gets to go to school this summer which is after M gets home and she really wants to go to "cool"! These girls are going to be best buds and we can't wait to watch them together. M better be ready for a sweet but tough little girl that will always have her back-"Ella Gwace Mogan" (Ella Grace Morgan)

So please, when you pray for us, pray that our court date is heard on March 13th and it passes.

Thank you friends!

The Morgan Four

WE HAVE A COURT DATE

2009-01-05T18:08:00.001-08:00

We found out today that our court date is scheduled for March 13, 2009!! We are SO excited!!! We do not have to be in Ethiopia for this appt. as we have signed over power of attorney for this meeting. This is the date that "M" will legally become ours. Then we will travel to get her about 5 weeks after that. Also, we got 5 new pictures of her today and she looks so happy and healthy. She was playing with a soccer ball in the pictures and wearing pj s that say "Sweet Dreams". So cute!! She is adorable and we can't wait to show her to you soon!

The Morgan 4

What I just overheard...

2008-12-14T10:30:00.001-08:00

It's Sunday, after church. I am in the kitchen and Ella is watching Dora the Explorer in the living room. This is what I just overheard...

Dora-"Do you know where Santa lives?"

Ella-"umm, Africa!!"

Be still my heart...

Merry Christmas Sweet "M"

2008-12-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas precious baby girl. This is the last Christmas that you will not be with us. We can not wait for you to be home with us forever. Please know that we love and miss you more than you can possibly know. We are so blessed to be able to celebrate this Christmas with you in our hearts and knowing who you are. You will be home so soon and the 3 of us anxiously await you!! I know you are wrapped with love from the Holy Spirit this Christmas so we are not sad or worried about you. You are in the best hands and soon He will trust us to take care of you, love you, be your mommy, daddy and sister. We are so blessed. Blessed in a way that I have never known before. We can not wait to get to know you and shower you with love and hugs and kissses. We can't wait to talk to you about Jesus and what he has done for all of us during this past year, how He brought us four together.

Here is a a song and video about international adoption, it hit home with what we are feeling during this time. The song is "Merry Christmas" by Third Day. You can stop the music on the playlist on the bottom of this page before playing the video.

SHOTS and OUCH!!!

2008-12-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

We needed several vaccinations in order to travel to Africa so we went Monday and got almost all of them. We used this AWESOME ministry that does travel vaccinations at cost. It saved us a LOT of money and they were wonderful!! If you are in the Nashville area and need travel immunizations we highly recommend these wonderful people.

The group is The Global Outreach Clinic.

Here's the link:

http://www.globaloutreachclinic.org

new pictures!!

2008-12-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

The music night at Ugly Mugs went great!! Thanks to all of you who came out to support us! We had a great night.

We got 5 new pictures of "M" yesterday!! It is so exciting to get new pictures and updates. We are so excited and ready to get her home and live our lives together.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. It really means so much to us.
The Morgan 4

UGLY MUGS

2008-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

We are rounding the bend on our fundraising to get to Ethiopia and get our daughter. With Christmas just around the corner, what better time to purchase "Noel", the acoustic Christmas cd we are selling as our adoption fundraiser. It's just $10 and that includes shipping! Great for all your holiday gift needs!! ...stocking stuffer, gift exchange, the perfect item for that person who has it all, etc. It is a beautiful cd! We have been playing it in the house and it's really putting us in the Christmas spirit! I love this time of year for so many reasons (but that's a whole other post;))

And for part 2 of this post...Ugly Mugs is the best coffee you've probably never had. Our dear friends own Ugly Mugs Coffee and Tea. They opened about 4 months ago. Ty is playing a show there on Saturday, November 22 from 6-7 pm. Ugly Mugs is donating a portion of their sales for the ENTIRE DAY on Saturday, November 22!! So come out, enjoy some wonderful coffee, great company and live music. http://uglymugsnashville.typepad.com/ (you can read more here)

Thank you so much for your love and support during this amazing ride we are on!!

We are waiting for medicals and then we will be in line for a court date!!

We got more pictures!!

2008-11-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

We got 4 new pictures of "M" today. (we can't tell you her name so for now we'll just call her "M") It is so helpful to see more pictures of her. We've only known about her for 2 weeks but any and every update is so precious to us.

Now that we have a name and pictures, all of the prayers, love, finances, time spent hanging out at our garage sales, etc. mean even more to us because now we know exactly who it has all been about!

Thank you so much!!

ps we really wish we could show you her pictures!! She is amazing!!

IT"S A GIRL

2008-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we got one of the most exciting phone calls of our lifetime. We got our referral and have already sent back our acceptance paper work for a beautiful, healthy 20 month old baby girl. She is in Ethiopia, Africa. We can not take our eyes off of her pictures (we have 2 of her). Until she is legally ours we can not share pictures with you. We really wish we could but this is to protect her privacy. When we showed Ella her picture, she said, "look Momma, that girl pretty". She has amazing eyes. We can already tell so much about her just by looking into her eyes. Her little nose looks like Ty's and her ears stick out a tiny bit like Casey's.

The next few weeks will consist of us finding out our court date and then we will travel about a month after that. We are hoping this will be early next year.

Also, we wanted to let you know that we have a new fundraiser to help us with the remainder of our adoption expenses. It's an instrumental Christmas CD because it is that time of year! It would make a great gift!! You can get yours by clicking on the yellow "BUY NOW" button on the top right of this page. A portion of the proceeds will go to help with our adoption finances.

Thank you all so much for your support in every way.

sucessful sale!

2008-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd garage sale was a hit! We had a lot of people and terrific weather! We are happy to have our garage back after it being packed full for 6 months!!

oh.. and we are on week 17 of waiting for a referral...no news! But don't worry...you'll be the 1st to know!

my heart sinks

2008-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Everytime the phone rings during business hours...MY HEART SINKS. I so want to hear some news about a referral!!

Another Big Garage Sale

2008-09-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

To all of you locals...we are having another BIG garage sale on Saturday, September 27 starting at 7:00 AM. Feel free to stop by and shop or help us organize. The last sale was great and we couldn't have done it without all of the friends and strangers that helped us oraganize the endless amount of stuff we had to sell. Another way to help would be to donate some baked goods to sale. Please, no pressure! If you are interested in helping pleas e-mail us at caseyrmorgan@hotmail.com

Also, please forward this info to all of your local friends that like to shop at garage sales!!

9-27-08 @ 7:00 AM

Nesting

2008-09-14T19:29:00.001-07:00

So we have officially been waiting for 3 months now. I have been nesting lately...starting to get our daughter's room cleaned out. It has actually been fun because I just can't wait to see her in her room!! We have been busy with Ella and normal summer stuff but we are really ready to get some news on our African daughter!!

Happy Fall!!

Our Daughter's Song

2008-07-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share the song that Ty wrote for our daughter in Africa. You can hear by going to
www.myspace.com/tyrusmorgan

"My Love Won't Walk Away" it's the 1st song-just click on it

This is an earlier post from Ty about the song...

I (Ty) wrote a song when Casey was pregnant with Ella about the potential/dreams for Ella and where her "Little Shoes" may go some day. I seem to be inspired during that "pregnancy" period whether it's biological or not and was struck by the feelings of abandonment that many orphans have at some point in their lives and how I don't want our children, any of them, to ever worry or wonder about losing mine or Casey's love and wanted to express it through music. I began writing the song and had titled it "MY LOVE WON'T WALK AWAY". I then stumbled upon Isaiah 54 in "The Message" translation of The Bible and the verse that God says, "MY LOVE WON'T WALK AWAY". I have finished this song and look forward to recording it soon to be a message to my kids and a reminder of God's love for us.

---now it's recorded!

Thanks and enjoy!
Casey

education

2008-07-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

Please educate yourself on this issue. It is EXTREMELY important

BBC News- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7429594.stm

IMC- http://imcworldwide.org/content/media/detail/1798/?gclid=CJa1_Z7isZQCFRghnAodF3M_iA

Seeing Africa

2008-07-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Casey here--Ok...so it happened once and I wasn't going to tell you about it and now it just happened again so I have to tell you...

The other day I was putting shampoo in my hand to then put it in my hair and I looked down and it was in the shape of Africa!

Well, just now I got a water spot on my dress and guess what...yeah, you're right-it was in the shape of AFRICA!

I guess because a big piece of my heart is there and it is always on my mind!

Keep an eye out, you just might see it, too. Let me know if you do!

2008-07-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

We are now on week 3 of waiting for a referral. After running around for 3 months like crazy people... getting fingerprinted, gathering every speck of info (i.e. birth cert., marriage cert, vitals) available on us, having a HUGE yard sale (that we are still recovering from physically), having our home inspected...it is time to sit still and wait! It feels a little strange, I must say. People ask us all the time, "What's going on with the adoption?". Well, not much that we can see. The next thing that will happen on our side is we will get a referral with pictures and info about our child. That should be 3.25 to 5.25 more months! yes the .25 is to ephasize we have already waited our .75 months.

Let me share a few stats about Ethiopia for those of you that haven't heard of the country since "We are the World" came out in the eighties.

*Ethiopia is twice the size of Texas

*it has a population of about 75 million people

*there are approx. FIVE MILLION orphans in Ethiopia

*the average income is $500/YEAR

*One in six children die before their fifth birthday

*One in ten children die before their first birthday

*Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school; 88% will never attend secondary school

*Only 24% of households have access to safe drinking water

*Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000

Waiting/phone numbers

2008-06-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

We realize that at this point, with our Dossier turned in, checks written, and in-between garage sales that we are in wait mode. So we thought we would continue to update the blog with thoughts, statistics, questions, some random and some more relevant.

To kick this off I wanted to pose a question and allow our loyal blog readers (all 3 of you) to comment.

Here goes....

So I think I am fairly with the times, I have a Myspace account with a slide show, I send and receive text messages, I do worktapes to the songs I write on Garageband, for goodness sakes I BLOG! A trend that is rearing it's ugly head that at first I thought was just an anomaly, I have now confirmed nearly a half dozen times. What is this "new age" craziness that Ty is talking about you may ask.....the 3-4-3 verbalization of a ten digit phone number. In other words, I am hearing people, mostly younger than me, tell phone number like this:"yeah just give me a call on my cell, the number is 555-5555-555......WHAT! I don't know where or how these younguns were raised but I have always thought the proper way to tell a phone number was with the 3 digit area code, 3 digit prefix.....followed by a polite pause and then the 4 digits that represent the personal number, I actually have even taken pride in what those 4 numbers were before.

Oh well, I guess American Idol call in numbers have maybe caused this cultural shift in phone number delivery. I will just have to learn to understand and decipher these numbers without the correct pause placement. The next thing you know people will stop saying www. before telling a web-site to go check out. Well, surely not....

Thanks,

Ty (Andy Rooney) Morgan

And it's off!!!

2008-06-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

And it's off!!! Ella sealed it with a kiss. Our dossier is totally finished and on it's way to Washington DC. It has two stops there, one in North Carolina and then to ETHIOPIA!! I have had butterflies of excitement all day!! Ella prayed to her sister in the truck driving to the UPS store.. it was so sweet. They are going to be best friends!!
The next step,you ask....? Wait 2-5 months for a referral.

WOW... THAT WAS FAST

2008-06-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our dossier has been approved by our agency! What we thought would take 10 business days to process took only 2!! They said it looks great!! Yoohooo!! Our dossier is on it's way back to us and will be sent to Washington DC hopefully late this week!!! Can you tell by all of the "!!!" we are a tad bit excited about how quickly things are progressing!!!

DOSSIER DONE

2008-05-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is our wonderful friend and notary extraordinaire, Katie. Here she is notarizing our letter to Ethiopia requesting a child for adoption.

On Thursday two copies of our dossier (the collection of papers, forms, etc.) were sent to our agency. They will take about one week to process it and then send it back to us. From there it will go to Washington D.C. to the Sec. of States office and then to the Ethiopian embassy. Next it will go back to our agency in N.C. and then it's on it's way to the precious land of ETHIOPIA, AFRICA!! I had no idea how good it would feel to get it out the door!! If you are reading this because you too are adopting, have adopted or are considering it then you understand the excitement of this day.

Let me also share another amazing God story that happened this week. We needed to send a rather large amount of $ this week with our dossier and we were getting pretty close to what we needed. We were given a finacial gift this week that got us to the goal we needed almost to the exact dollar!! And the giver had no idea that amount we needed. What keeps ringing in my heart is "Give us this day, our daily bread". It has been an honor to be inolved in what God is doing all around us!!

Garage Sale

2008-05-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

This past Friday and Saturday we had our big garage sale and it was, in a word, amazing! It was hard work, we are just now feeling like we are rested from the 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. two days with moving furniture, arranging clothes and unloading and reloading the garage. We still have about half a garage full of items and offers for more donations for us to sell so we will probably have another one later this summer.

Now, what was so amazing? The people, support and love that we experienced through simple gestures of kindness. We had numerous friends and acquaintances donate items to sell and time and effort working, organizing, and just being around us over the two days. TO YOU ALL WE SAY THANK YOU!

To those of you who donated money to bring this little girl home THANK YOU! We are amazed by those that gave that barely have anything to give and those that gave that don't know us, but know our heart and those that gave because they understand the feeling of being blessed just by the act of giving.

We have to tell you about the woman that walked up to Casey and introduced her son. The son then said that he was from Russia and the mom explained that she and her husband had adopted him a few years earlier and she just wanted to stop by and tell us that she supports what we are doing. She then handed Casey a tightly rolled white piece of paper (in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the busy time of the sale) and then quickly walked off. Casey said thank you and proceeded to help some other people with their purchases and when she had a quick break in the action she went inside. She opened the rolled up paper and read the simple, perfect note, "May God bless your adoption". No name, no number....$200 cash.

THANK YOU, WE WOULD LOVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN IN PERSON, THANK YOU.

The money is much appreciated as is the donated items, but the relational support and time spent talking about the world's problems and nothing at all was the best part.

Please enjoy a few photos from the sale!

Friends helping (I think Arica is trying to shoplift something)
Ty hanging out with the kids
"No, maam, she is not for sale but you can have a doll for only $.25"
Ty and Arica ready to start the morning off

Our friend Renee modeling the merchandise
Our table with coffee for sale and pictures of African children

Ty and Steve moving stuff to the yard

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2008-05-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

We have had a wonderful weekend of preparation/hard work/fun while getting ready for our Ethiopian Adoption Garage Sale Fundraiser. Thank you to everyone that has donated items for us to sell next weekend! We did a lot of organizing, pricing, and logistics so that our 5 a.m. start to next Friday and Saturday will go as smoothly as possible. Our garage is full of items which has been tough on me (being the handy man, workshop type of guy I am.......mmmghmm) to get the lawnmower in and out once a week! HA!

Today for Mother's Day we went to church and then came home and had a picnic, complete with basket and french onion dip in our living room as we are having Kansas winds here in Tennessee and we didn't want to blow away. It was a great lunch. Casey got two bouquets of flowers, one from each of her daughters as well as an afternoon watching the movie "Bella" with her adoring husband while Ella Bean took a nap. By the way, go rent "Bella" it is a great movie and fitting for mother's day etc. Check out the pic of Ella with her mom's flowers.

We ask for continued prayer as we are wrapping up paper work and raising funds to get our baby home soon!

BIOMETRICS

2008-05-06T16:02:00.001-07:00

Wanted to let everyone know we had our 3rd and final homestudy interview last week and it went great! Our social worker came to our house and took a tour, asked some questions and visited with Ella. Ella was quite the charmer coloring pictures and hugging her! Today we went and got our biometrics (finger prints etc.) done in Nashville. Both of these are major milestones as they are key pieces of the adoption dossier. While getting our fingerprints done today Casey got teary eyed. (there wasn't any ink, just a digital finger printing machine so it wasn't like she got it in her eye) It really set in that this process is moving right along and we are continually pushing so that we can get our little girl home asap. We are doing our part to give us the best chance of getting her home by the holidays (originally we thought the earliest would be February of next year), that's what we are praying for, feel free to join in!

the 1/2 marathon

2008-04-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

The race was great and thank you all so much for your prayers that morning. I would love to know what kind of day our African child had that day. I imagine it was peaceful and fulfilling!

My time was 2 hours 15 minutes. Even though that's not my p.r. I was pleased with the finish because it was better than I expected. Ty and Ella cheered me on along the way as they always do! Ella wore her hot pink running shorts and white shirt just like Mommy! I was so excited to get to the finish line because they always have yummy snacks waiting for you there. I was totally prepared to eat a guilt-free Krispy Kreme! Well-there were none to be found! But don't worry, later I over did it on the chips and salsa! YUMMY!

Thank you again!
Casey

RUNNING FOR HER

2008-04-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

From Casey:

If you know me, you know that I am a runner. I have been running for about 10 years. For the last 6 years I have done at least one full(26.2 miles) or half (13.1 miles) marathon each year. I love running!! I think a lot during my runs, it's a very peaceful time for me. This year most of my training runs have been spent thinking about adoption. When I started this training season in January, adoption was something I would dream about. It has now become an exciting reality! I think about Africa and our daughter over there the whole time I'm running!

Tomorrow, April 26th, I will be running the Music City Half Marathon in Nashville. The race starts at 7am. It should take me about 2 hours to run the race . Ty and Ella will be there cheering me on along the way.--- And this is where you come in. We are asking that during that time, you pray for our African daughter and our entire adoption process. And just whatever you feel led to pray about. We have witnessed the power of prayer in our lives and want this entire situation to be powered by prayer.

So... PLEASE PRAY APRIL 26TH 7-9AM

Ella and I made this shirt for me to wear during the race!!

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

The Morgan 4

ADOPTION UPDATE AND THANKS

2008-04-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

Things are going great...we are just up to our necks in paperwork. But I am thankful for this because I feel like there is something we can be doing. Ella is excited for her little sister and prays for her everyday. Many have asked which adoption agency we are using and it is Christian World Adoption. As of today, they are our official agency. That's also very exciting!! Other than that there is not too much to report.

We want to sincerely thank you for you love, support, prayers and financial support.

Many of you have ordered coffee or sent money and that is greatly appreciated. We hope you love the coffee!! We will be doing that fundraiser during this entire process so feel free to order more in the future.

OUR ADOPTION FUNDRAISER

2008-03-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about adopting is that we get to receive the blessing of a new child and I don't have to stop drinking coffee!! As a mother of an almost 2 year old, my coffee is very important to me. Ty says I'm addicted. I tell him, "No, I just love it". Well, truth is, it's a little of both. I know most of you love coffee, too and now I'll get to the point of this blog...

I'm sure most of you know that international adoption is very costly. We are trying to get creative with ways to raise funds to help with the costs.

We are proud to announce we have teamed up with an amazing company, 963 Missions, for our adoption fundraiser. The 963 Coffee Project helps farmers receive fair wage for their crop and helps people raise funds for their mission by doing a coffee fundraiser.

We have tried their product and it is AMAZING. It is very fresh and ORGANIC! The coffee comes from all over the world and is then roasted in California and sent to you within a week of roasting. You really can taste the difference in the freshness!

To order you can click on the link on the right of this page that says 963 Coffee under OUR ADOPTION FUNDRAISER. We will receive a portion of your purchase that will go towards our adoption.

Just be sure you get there by clicking that link. The last numbers in your address bar should be 10226 when you click on the link. This is our affiliate ID #. This is how they will know that we receive a portion of your purchase. I was told shipping may be a little cheaper if you have it sent to a business. Also, ordering more than one bag at a time helps off-set shipping costs. And while your at it, order some for a friend, too. The packaging has some wonderful pictures and would make a great gift!! Trust me, it's great stuff. If you don't mind send me an email if you do order this way just so we know that it's all connected correctly. caseyrmorgan@hotmail.com

You can also order directly from us if you live close by and we will deliver it to you. The price for the coffee will be $10 per bag and $2 shipping for your total order. If that is what you want to do then please email me your order at caseyrmorgan@hotmail.com

So why not get yourself some awesome coffee, help a coffee farmer and help us with OUR ADOPTION FUNDRAISER!!!

If you have any questions just post them as a comment or you can email us directly at caseyrmorgan@hotmail.com

Thank you for your support!!

HOME AND ABROAD....

2008-03-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

We completed our 1st of 3 home study meetings this past Friday and it went great! We really like our social worker for her candor, knowledge and care for us and our child. Which brings up a profound and simple truth that was brought to our attention by a good friend of ours that has gone through this process before.....OUR CHILD IS OUT THERE, NOW WE JUST NEED TO GO GET HER!

By the way we are requesting a girl, from Ethiopia, Africa! All this while knowing we need to be flexible and sensitive to the path as we walk down it. Why a girl? Why Ethiopia?.......why not?

Ethiopia is one of the few stable countries in Africa with a government that understands the need and the duty to help the 5 million orphans left in the streets and orphanages by disease, hunger and extreme poverty. God has called us specifically to the adoption ministry and we don't want to sit idle while others experience correctable famine, sickness, suffering, loneliness, and tears, all too often the case in Africa. Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of FGM (Female Genitalia Mutilation) mostly due to tribal rituals, in the world. Not to mention the oppression of women and the lack of opportunity for orphaned girls based on cultural views and practices. Again, if this path leads elsewhere we are open but this is where we stand right now.

Ella has made it a practice of saying "sister, sister" lately so we are excited to see her as the loving sister just as she is the loving daughter at 22 months old. Her newest and favorite book for right now couldn't have been more ironic. It was sent to us from the organization "Imagination Library", we just say "Dolly Parton sent us another book!" Random books come once a month for free and this one was called "Big Sister, Little Sister" and it came the day of our home study! Ha!

I (Ty) wrote a song when Casey was pregnant with Ella about the potential/dreams for Ella and where her "Little Shoes" may go some day. I seem to be inspired during that "pregnancy" period whether it's biological or not and was struck by the feelings of abandonment that many orphans have at some point in their lives and how I don't want our children, any of them, to ever worry or wonder about losing mine or Casey's love and wanted to express it through music. I began writing the song and had titled it "MY LOVE WON'T WALK AWAY". I then stumbled upon Isaiah 54 in "The Message" translation of The Bible and the verse that God says, "MY LOVE WON'T WALK AWAY". I have finished this song and look forward to recording it soon to be a message to my kids and a reminder of God's love for us.

We are beginning our journey to go get our baby!

We ask for your prayers at

HOME AND ABROAD!

The Morgan 4

BABY ON THE WAY!!

2008-02-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

Friends and family,

We are pleased to announce that "the Morgan 3" consisting of Ty, Casey, and Ella have begun the process of adoption!! We can describe our emotions and state of mind and spirit as a painter's pallet of colors. Excited, anxious, dedicated, motherly, fatherly, submissive, led, inspired, thankful, and most of all Sure!

We have already begun to learn that their is very little that we can control in the adoption process other than our end of the paper work which is a time-consuming/robust process that we are just beginning. What we do know is we want to help, we can help and our hearts are led to Africa (we'll get into more about this blessed/cursed continent in following blogs). We have researched a handful of countries in Africa and with the unrest/wars/corruption etc. have narrowed it down to a couple possibilities with Ethiopia being the front-runner.

We will be recording this process through this blog so please check back periodically. We welcome your prayers throughout this journey for us and especially for our.....

BABY ON THE WAY!

The Morgan Four