Mahi is 3

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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