Failing Forward

Time for an update from the Manchester family! Up to this moment, we've been too busy to even think about blogging, but finally as of yesterday, we are in a routine and it's working. It's our third week of Homeschool and we are finally catching our stride. The girls are working hard in every subject and making gains every day. The love gymnastics class, making music in a variety of ways and they even love MATH! Go figure! I spent a lot of time at my own kitchen table as a kid crying over my math homework...not these girls! Math is almost a reward! ( And Can I just say a prayer of thanks that I married a man who is actually very good at math!) I think this morning there was actually some excitement to be back at "School" after a four day Thanksgiving break. So this is a victory!


It's our fifth week of being together as a family and we are finlly finding a rhythm here as well. Last night for the FIRST TIME EVER the girls got the bedtime routine done in under an hour and if you had been livibng with us for the past five weeks, you'd know what an accomplishment this was!


So today as I refelct on the past five weeks, I can't help but also think about all the things we goofed up, did too slow, did too fast, were too deamdning in etc. And I pray that in those moments where we were or will be sort of failing as parents, that at least we will "fail forward", meaning we will learn from our mistakes, that we will persist in love and patience when things are hard and that we will always remind the girls that even though we are not perfect, their heavenly father IS and he will never fail them.

Photos: Top to bottom:
Ready for america!
Gymnastics
Science experiment
"Art"

Time on The Toilet Seat

Time On The Toilet Seat: Before you begin to think that this is a weird potty post, ( its not what you might think) just give me second to explain how I ended up spending a couple of hours (literally) parked on the same toilet seat in Adot Tina hotel in Addis Ababa this evening ... Today was amazing to say the least. Being parents has been just as much fun as we thought and thankfully not quite hard as thought. There have been dome minor challenges, but mostly joys! We started off the day with a gourmet breakfast at our hotel where the girls practiced using silverware.... Not necessarily for the first time, but an event for sure! Before we even began, my mamma skills kicked in and I decided to sit us in an area of the dining room that was in a corner and separated from everything else, and everyone else. I can't exactly count the miscommunications, and the times silverware ended up on the floor or flying , yes flying , in what would have been a dangerous trajectory had we been near other human life and not just the flowers on the tables. Then we all got dressed for church as the girls had requested we visit a congregation they knew of. The girls were so excited about their new dresses ( and new, new shoes.... a whole other story...)and I used my momma skills again to get all of the wrinkles out from being squished in the suitcases ... When in need of an iron and none is available.... A blow dryer will suffice! So off we went with no one getting stuck in the elevator door ( this time) and embarked on our first "worship experience". When we arrived at church, we were told we had to pay 50 Bir per person and that we had to wait for the priest and a tour guide..... So we discovered that there was NO service, we were just getting a tour. A tour that ended halfway through when some of the other guests started taking pictures in other areas of the building. Ha! Bill wanted to get his money's worth so we finished the tour ourselves as the tour guide "chill axed" . The girls were enthralled and spent significant time getting their photos just right. When we left I was kind of frustrated and felt like we had wasted time, but as I reflected, and as our driver pointed out, we are blessed, church service or not...we have two beautiful daughters that God has lead to our family and my worship today is just a grateful heart. Speaking of the daughters, after the church fiasco, and an akward lunch afterward, we decided to just stay in the hotel for the rest of the day and bond. Room service baby! We made a magnificent fort where we used bills IPhone flashlight app strobe light to do some dancing in the dark. We also pretended to be asleep and snoring and then " woke up" to scare the girls. They were dying with laughter at our snoring and trying to do it too! But they couldn't! So for now snoring makes me cool! We also tried out our gymnastics skills: doing back bends, flips and (probably somewhat dangerous for the all wood floors )and handstands. Kalkidan through guestures let me know she wanted to slide around on the floor , so we came up with all kinds of crazy ways to do just that. ( thankful for a long hallway and room big enough to do this in) she also let me know she liked bring thrown in the air, twirling around in our arms and getting that dizzy feeling. So we all did this until we all felt sick. We then played some serious hide and seek! Kumnager was almost always last to be found. She somehow contorted her body to hide in a space smaller than a microwave! Kumneger also wanted her hair " undone" which was a hour plus long project... So we all pitched in there to undo braids and thought we would be kind of done with big projects for the evening. Time for rest! But no, Kumnager had other plans. Even though she'd already taken a shower and had pjs on, she decided her hair now needed washed. A couple miscommunications later and we found ourselves next to yhe jacuzzi tub ( I know right! ) in our bathroom and a few minutes later Kumnager was in her swimsuit preparing for the Olympic swim team in the tub! Ha ha! Kalkidan eventually joined In the fun and again, my momma skills bubbled to the surface and I spent the entire "swim meet/bubble bath/ spa night/ chick fight" parked on the toilet seat beside them, getting splashed, getting covered in suds, breaking up altercations, washing hair and laughing myself silly! When most people think of being on the toilet for a couple hours in a foreign country, they assume gastrointestinal /medical problem"!! Ha ha! But in this case I can honestly say that there was no other place I would have rather been than on that toilet seat.

Jar of Joy

This weekend our amazing freinds hosted an adoption shower for us!

It was a beautiful and fun time!

 

We received lots of gifts for the girls all worth blogging about.... :) but one gifts contents in particular is the easiest to blog  about because it was a glass jar filled with handwritten messages and quotes of hope, parenting advice etc.

 

 One quote for each day for the next five weeks in case that's how long we have to wait!

 

Here are  two of the quotes so far:

 

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

-Elizabeth Stone

 

"Hope is greif's best music."

-author unknown

 

And how true this is! Our hearts are walking all around Ethiopia right now. Actually to be exact ..they are hopefully still sleeping for another half an hour or so! :)

 

And HOPE, it's the thing that's so easily crushed and grinded to a pulp when you walk the painful path of infertility ( or really any painful path where life deals you an unexpected blow).....but it's still alive in us and  now growing every day. 

 

And hope is one of the greatest gifts we could give our girls!

 

Hope that God really does love them and will take care of them.
Hope that he has an amazing future planned for them.

Hope that we will love them even when they act silly.

Hope that  they will be home with us soon!

 

And on a lighter note...I am hoping their birthday packages arrive by the end of the week so they know we haven't forgotten them! Feel free to post in the comments section or on facebook a happy birthday to Kumneger and Kalkidan!

 

So, while we continue to wait for the good news that we are on our way back to our beloved, we'll dip our fingers in the Jar of Joy each morning  and feel hope being renewed.

 

 

PS:Thanks EVERYONE for the outpouring of love at the shower!

If someone sends me more pics, I can upload! :)

 

SUPPORT PHOTOS OF TEENS FROM ZIMBABWE

LIFESONG FOR ORPHANS-http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/

We have been approved for fundraising support through Lifesong For Orphans!

So, we want to offer anyone who has felt lead to make a donation toward our adoption the opportunity to do so through Lifelong for Orphans, a well respected non-profit organization that can receive and distribute tax deductible gifts for our adoption.

100% of what is donated toward our adoption expenses is* purposed to go directly to us. No administrative fees will be taken out.

The total adoption costs including airfare and travel for us and Kumneger and
Kalkidan will total approximately $60,000-65,000.00 We have spent about $50,000
so far and have about 10,000-15,000 left to go, maybe a little less , maybe more,
considering we pay foster fees per each day the girls are not with us and that is ongoing until we bring them to the United States.

Please know that we have been blessed beyond our imaginations to have made it this far
and should you choose to donate we’ll be blessed even more. We wish to tell
Kumneger and Kalkidan someday just how many people participated in bringing
them home!

SimpleSteps for donating:
1.Please
make checks payable to: Lifesong. You may preference how your donation might be used by writing “preference
Manchester/#2924 Adoption” in
the memo section of your check.
PLEASEDON”T FORGET THIS STEP!

(*Note:In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong and not to us. Lifesong retains fulldiscretion and control over thedonations use.)
*
* Also, There is a PayPal option. However, PayPal charges a % fee. If you wish
to try that route contact us directly and let us know.

2.
Mail checks to:
Lifesong
for Orphans
Att:Manchester/#2924 Adoption

DON’T FORGETTHIS PART! :0)

PO
Box 40
Gridley, IL
61744


Thanks eveyone! Feel free to check out Lifesong's Website! They are doing great things !


http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/

Happy Anniversary Girls!

Kumnager and Kalkidan,

Do you know what day it is? Exactly one month ago we legally became your parents. Even though you've been our daughters in our hearts for a lot longer than that, it's certainly something to celebrate.

We watched a movie today about adoption in your honor and bought you some gifts which you'll get soon when we see you!!

We are so glad you got to meet our Friends and that you got our care package...We bet you've already chewed the gum, wondered what in the world the columbus pin was, and looked at the photos hundreds of time.... We hope it reminded you that we are thinking of you, praying for you and we love you more than words can say.

We hope we can come to you soon!

Love,

Mom and Dad