Dirt Cheap Christmas Gifts!!!

I am selling these scarves to raise money for a wonderful nonprofit agency called Ordinary Hero.  Please take time to look at their site http://www.ordinaryhero.org/Ordinary_Hero/Home/Home.html 

Ordinary Hero's mission is to inspire and empower ORDINARY people to make an extraordinary difference in the life of a child in need.  We stayed at their guesthouse a couple of weeks ago, when we were in Ethiopia bringing Seyfu home, and would like to make a donation to this wonderful organization.  Hope you can help us and get some Christmas shopping done :)

Browse through the scarves and let me know which one(s) you would like to get, you can comment here and let me know or shoot me an email Vanessa.morgan2012@gmail.com.

 

I have taken $5 off all of the scarves since the last time I tried to sell them. 
ALL of the proceeds will go to Ordinary Hero.

 



*Disclaimer:  I took all of these pics with my IPhone and I am a horrible photographer so I know I did not do justice to the scarves nor the beautiful models.

A) Perfect Scarf for a child:  Beautiful Blue with specks of red and yellow
$10

B) Perfect scarf for a girl:  Has little pink balls
 $10

C)  Perfect scarf for a little girl:  Dark bright pink with specks of yellow
$10



D) This scarf would be good for any age, it is very soft and warm
$10

E)  This one would be best for a lady because it is very long: 
Very unique with all different styles and colors of yarn
$15
 

G)  This one is similar to the previous two, it is made out of different
colors and styles of yarn and is also very long.
$15

H) Solid red scarf that is super soft and warm
$15

I)  This scarf is very fun and soft, it is solid bright pink and would be great for any age
$10

J)  This scarf is very uniquely made, it has a hole to put one end through.  Multi colored and very soft
$15

K)  Perfect for any age, this bright green scarf is super soft and can be worn many different ways
$15

L)  This scarf is one of my favorites, it is so unique with its many different colors.
 It is beautifully made with a unique stitching.
$15

O)  This is my favorite scarf, it is beautiful and very trendy with its contrast of colors. 
It would be best for a lady because it is longer.  It will keep you super warm on those frigid days.
$20

P)  This one is super cute and would be great for any age.  It is a contrast of light orange with yellow and brown.  It has more of a scalloped flair to it and can be worn many different ways.
$10

Q)  This one is definitely the nicest one of all, it is very durable and has a very unique pattern to it. 
Very hefty and will keep you nice and  warm.
$20 

All of these scarves were made by my mother and a lady from our church who donated them to us so we could use them for our fundraiser.  I want to give them a shout out for all of the hard work they put into making these.   The cute models are 2 sweet girls from our church and it just so happens to be their grandma who made alot of these scarves.  If you are interested in any of these please send me an email at vanessa.morgan2012@gmail.com or leave me a comment here.  They would make perfect gifts...and it's never too early to start your Christmas shopping ;)

 

 

If I have to mail them I will just charge a flat $5 rate. 

 

Take care, Vanessa

Coming Home...Bittersweet

 

After 34 hours of travel we arrived home safe and sound on Tuesday evening.  It was good to sleep in our own beds, be able to drink water straight from the tap and not have to rinse our toothbrush with bottled water.  Although I feel like I have mastered getting my tooth brush clean without using tap water.  It is bittersweet to be home without Seifu.  I just keep telling myself that we should be able to bring him home in a couple of months but I feel like a piece of my heart is still in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Not just with Seifu but with all of the precious kids that we bonded with this past week.  These kids are some of the strongest kids that I have ever met.  They have suffered so much hurt, pain and loss at such a young age.  I can't even imagine all that they have had to endure.  It's hard for me to listen to complaints from people that live here that have been blessed beyond imagination.  I can't help but want to scream SHUT UP at the top of my lungs when I read silly complaints on Facebook from those that don't realize how truly blessed they are.  I know this sounds judgemental and rude of me but it is the truth and I feel like being really honest right now.  We saw firsthand kids that are perfectly contempt with having pretty much nothing of their own.  Not a family, not toys, not clothes, not food that they can grab from the pantry when they are hungry...and on and on.  Imagine your child never getting to eat fruit, meat, milk, candy, chocolate, and the list goes on and on because where they live that is considered luxury and not necessity...and all of those things cost way too much money.  Imagine these children not having a family to call their own, even though they know the love of a family because they had parents until one day they died of AIDS or other disease that are considered treatable in America.  I want so bad for these children to be able to have a father and mother, even though I know that many of them won't and they will end up aging out of the orphanage as orphans. 
We feel so blessed to be able to call Denver and Seifu our sons!  I am so thankful for adoption and all of the blessings it brings to a family.  I know that at a time like this I should be focusing on all of the happy moments but I can't help but ache for these children.  After spending so much time in the orphanage and bonding with all of these children my heart will forever be changed and I hope and pray that I will NEVER forget about these amazing kiddo's.  When people ask me why we are adopting from Africa I just want to be able to teleport them to one of these orphanages and show them because words cannot come close to explaining this.  

We had an amazing trip and can't wait to get back over there to bring our son home.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Meet our son Seifu!!!

Morgan Family pic on our court day!!!  Of course we passed!!!

They loved each other from the beginning

Seifu and mom

They giggled so much and loved playing together

This was a little scary from momma but Seifu proved to be very strong

Mimi was helping Seifu read a book, we wanted to see how well he could read English.  He proved to be pretty good at reading and math:)

Coloring Spider Man pictures, the coloring book was a huge hit for kids of all ages

Mom getting beat at checkers...I mainly left the checker playing to dad and Mimi. 
I'm more of a socializer not a deep thinker...plus Seifu was really good and I'm not competitive at all.

On one of our many outings, packed in the backseat

Denver crashed on his brothers shoulder, it was so adorable

Another outing that wiped Denver out. 

We ate at the volcano lake restaurant and it was yummy...unfortunately right after this was when the roof collapsed so we had to skip out on coffee and dessert.  Although I would've probably been the only one willing to risk it for coffee :)

Seifu's first time trying ice cream!  He wasn't exspecting it to be cold and it shocked him at first.  Needless to say he finished it all but the next day when we went back he ordered cake instead of ice cream.  We are going to have to take a trip to Braums when he comes home.

Seifu showing off some of his moves, he loves doing different lifts with his body.
 He is a lot stronger than I am that's for sure.

Of course Denver wanted to try it out and his brother was so sweet to help him.

Dad and Seifu playing checkers...they are both pretty good and competitive so it was interesting.

Seifu loves his Mimi
 

We took Seifu to pick out some new shoes b/c all of his shoes were too small.  He has really good taste, just like his momma.  I was very impressed with the shoes he picked out. 


God bless you all!!!

  

Our Exciting Day!!!

Today we picked Seifu up from his orphanage and then headed to the volcano lake.  It was supposed to be about 1 1/2 hours but with Ethiopia traffic jams it took us about 2 1/2 hours with 6 of us cramped in an old Toyota seleca (if you don't know what kind of car this is all I can tell you is its a compact car).  After we got to the lake resort to eat we finished a very good lunch and then as we were in the middle of dessert the roof on the middle of the building collapsed.  It was like something out of a movie.  We were all fine and I think only one lady was injured but we got out of there quick. Grant and our driver went back in to check and make sure everything was fine and the waiters were trying to get them to sit down and eat some more...haha, I don't think so.  After that we decided to head back to Addis which only took about 2 hours to get back.  We went to a market on the side of the road to get Seifu a new pair of shoes b/c the ones he has been wearing are too small.  He loved his shoes and kept telling his dad thank you.  After this we went to a little coffee shop here called Kaldi's so mama could get her some coffee and the kiddos could get ice cream.   Seifu was really surprised after his first bite and we found out it was b/c it was his first time eating ice cream and he wasn't used to the cold.  He finally got used to it and seemed like he enjoyed it.   We took Seifu back to his orphanage and headed back to our hotel to call it a night. Only 48 hours left in Ethiopia and it is going to be hard to leave but nice to get home.  Just can't wait to get Seifu home.

Another great day in Addis

Today has been another great day here in Addis Ababa!  We are tucked into our hotel for the evening...just catching up on our Internet time:). We spent time with Seifu and the other kids at the orphanage today, we played soccer, memory, jumped rope and just has alot of fun. These kids are so sweet and have the best attitude.  Then we headed to lunch and then out for a little souvenir shopping.          Our driver is so good, he translates and negotiates for us.  We are so blessed to have him as our driver.  Tomorrow we are heading to the volcano lakes with Seifu for a day outing.  We are going to soak up the rest of time we have left here in Addis.  This has been a wonderful trip:).

Date with Seifu

Today we had a very great day!!!  We got to take Seifu out to lunch today and spend sometime with him outside of the orphanage.  Seifu was alot more shy and quiet outside of the orphanage than he has been inside.  We also went to visit Denver's orphanage today and all of his nannies were so excited to see him.  We told them Waqo was here to visit and they were so excited they started yelling to all the other nannies to come see Waqo.  They wanted to love and hug on him but he was pretty shy and scared of all the attention.  They had a picture of him when he was an infant up on the wall, so Grant took a picture of it.  I think we tired Seifu out today running him all over Addis with us but I think he had fun.  Denver and Seifu have already bonded so much, they are going to be great brothers!  I just realized the pics I have posted yesterday and today are not showing up so Grant is going to add them to his Facebook if you want to see him.  If you're not his friend he said just friend request them and he will accept:)

Meet our new son Seifu!!!

We had court today and we passed...Seifu is officially a Morgan!!!  He is such a sweet boy and Denver and him love playing together.  They are going to be best buds!  Everything is going really well and we are enjoying every moment we get to spend with him and all the other kiddos at the orphanage.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Meeting Seifu

Today we met Seifu for the first time.  We got to spend 3 hours playing with him and all the other kids at the orphanage.  We are all still exhausted from flying and jetlag so we are going to stay in and rest this evening.  Seifu is such a sweet, smart and funny kid.  His personality is going to fit perfect in our family.  He took my camera and started taking pics of all the other kids and  then showing all of them...it was so cute.  We will head to the agency tomorrow to go over some court questions and then head to the orphanage to see Seifu.  After that we have our court appointment, and then we just get to spend time with Seifu the rest or the trip.  Thanks for all of the thoughts and  prayers!  Many blessings

Going to Ethiopia!!!

I know I have been horrible about updating but I have come to the realization I will never be good at blogging so I will just do my best....which is not very good at all:)

 

We leave tomorrow for Ethiopia for our court date for Seifu, YAY!!!!!!  We are so excited to meet him and spend time with him at the orphanage.  We are all 3 going over as a family and Grant's mom is going with us.  It is going to be such a great trip.  I have heard such wonderful things about the kid's at the orphanage and how great they are.  We will spend 3 hours/day playing with them and just getting to show them love.  Seifu will not be able to come home with us this trip b/c this is just our court date and we will have to wait for his embassy appointment before we can bring him home.  We are hoping this will be 6-8 weeks after his court date which is May 29th! 

For any creepers who read this we have people house sitting for us

and 2 crazy pets so don't try anything! 

 

Now I need to get packing!!!

Vanessa

Seifu Updates, Denver's Party & Fundraiser Update

We just got an update today on Seifu and his court date.  He is doing really well and is feeling better.  The agency worker in Ethiopia submitted his court documents to court today.  Now it's just waiting for a court date from the Ethiopian court system.  We are getting very close.  Seifu looks really good and they say that he is feeling well so this is great news.  He has been having English tutor lessons about 3 times a week so his English is coming along.  We got a video of him speaking English during one of his lessons and he has the softest, sweetest little voice. 

Denver turned 3 last month and we had a "Lellow (Yellow) birthday party" for him...per his request.  I still can't believe he is 3 but he talks like a little man and likes to boss me around so I guess it's not that hard to believe :) He really is alot of fun and keeps me laughing all the time.  He is so excited about getting a BIG brother!  He loves showing off Seifu's bunkbed to everyone that comes over. 

The Valentine Sugar cookie fundraiser went great...all together we raised over $1,400 and I made 52 dozen cookies.  That's alot of cookies.  I still can't believe that we sold that many, it was a huge blessing.  I couldn't have done it with out all the help of my family, my mom was right in there with me baking and decorating.  Grant, my mother in law and my dad each had there turn helping keep Denver entertained and out of the house so his little fingers didn't end up in the icing.  We are so very blessed to have such a great support from family and friends.  I would post a pic of some of the sugar cookies but believe it or not I did not take one single picture of any.  I was so sick of seeing them that I couldn't even muster up the strength to take a picture...I know I'm pathetic. 
Some might ask how long it took to make 52 dozen sugar cookies....this is a rough estimate b/c I'm not good at keeping track of the details but I would say altogether it took about 30-40 hours with 2 people working. 

COMING SOON.... our next fundraiser is going to be called "Scarves for Seifu". My mom and another sweet lady from church have knitted and crotchet several scarves that they donated for us to sell on our blog.  My hope is to get pics of all the scarves posted later today or tomorrow so come back soon to check them out.  They are beautiful and I have had to resist putting one on everyday.  I love me some scarves. 

Many blessings....Vanessa

Can't believe my baby is 3 years old...

Today Denver turns 3 years old...I cannot believe that exactly 2 years ago this day we met our baby for the first time.  I will never forget how sweet our little man was on his 1st birthday and how blessed we were to spend this day with him in Ethiopia.  It just worked out his 1st birthday was the first day we met him in person.  God has a way of working things out.  So much has happened in the past 2 years...I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it all.  This morning Denver woke up and had some chocolate chip muffins for his birthday breakfast.  Yesterday I asked him what he wanted for his birthday lunch and he told me "peppa jack cheese"...did you know he is a cheese conasuer?  Since he has cheese for every breakfast   meal, I decided to surprise him with something different.  Although he probably would have been happier with his standard cheese breakfast.  I forgot to get candles at the store so he only got to blow out 2 spare candles that I dug out of my pantry...I am such an awesome mom.  I did have a 8 candle that I tried to cut to make it look like a 3 but it ended up breaking into pieces.  Can I get a little help around here?  I think I am the only person who can go to the store and always forget something.  I would like to know what it feels like to come home and realize that I got everything that I was supposed to.  Anyways, this is supposed to be about Denver and not me so I need to zip it. 

Denver with daddy on his 1st birthday

I will never forget the first bottle I fed him

It's so hard to believe how much he has changed in the last 2 years...he is not this little baby anymore

Our first meeting was captured by a wonderful photographer couple out of Kentucky, Wes and Nina Mullins.

Denver at 1 1/2 years old
photo taken by Rhianon Welty

Denver at 1 1/2 years old
photo taken by Rhianon Welty

Family photo in October of 2011



Denver at 2 years old
photo taken by Rhianon Welty



Family photo in August 2012
photo taken in the Paseo by Rhianon Welty

My 2 handsome loves

Such a stinkin cutie

Denver told me he has a serious face for this picture...not sure why.

What a handsome boy!!!

Just so I can be one of those annoying moms and brag on my child, here is a list of some of the things Denver is doing now.

He can:
Dress himself
Correct his mom when I say something wrong or that he thinks is wrong
Dribble a basketball
Hit a golf ball
Spell "Bible"
Go to the bathroom completely by himself
Tell me when the stoplight is red or green...it's not annoying at all (thanks Dad for teaching him about traffic lights)
Say his ABC's
Say the Pledge of Allegiance
Count to about 20ish
Sleep in a big boy bed
Tell you when you say a word that he thinks is bad...even when it isn't.  Did I mention he is a tad bit bossy.
knows all the colors
Do gymnastics off of his bed, this consists of him jumping off his bed and going straight into a somersault
Help momma with our babies that we watch
Feed our dog Charlie


Okay, I'm sure there are more things but my brain has shut off and I'm sure you are tired reading all of these. 

I will end my bragging with a funny story from this week:
Grant was working with Denver on the fruits of the Spirit and when he asked Denver what Joy meant Denver said "that's Grandma Mimi".  Thats Grant's moms name so he was right but it gave us a good laugh.  When Grant asked about Kindness Denver said "that's when we rinse our nose"...I guess that sinus and kindness sound similiar and since we rinse Denvers sinuses he got the 2 words a little confused.
It gave us a really good laugh.

Update on Seifu:
They said that Seifu is feeling better and has gotten over his recent sickness.  Our dossier documents are in D.C. being authenticated so it should only be another week or 2 before they send them to Ethiopia. From there it is just waiting on Ethiopia to set a court date for us so we know when we will travel.  It's getting closer and we have got to get Seifu's room ready. 

Update on Valentine Cookie Fundraiser:
I sold 45 dozen cookies and will start delivering them next week so it is going to be a little busy for this momma but we are so thankful to have sold that many.  We are so blessed by great friends and family who have helped support us through our journey to bring Seifu home.  We have had people that don't want the calories of my cookies but want to help so they still donate money.  It makes me feel so loved and know that so many people care. 

Have a blessed day!!!