Happy Birthday Doof !

Inside every older person is a younger person - wondering what the hell happened.

Happy Birthday my Brother! I Love You.

Happy Birthday Aunt Linda !

60? WOW! At this rate you will be 61 next year.
Here is wishing you a happy birthday from one side of the hill to the other. HaHaHa!!!

Happy Birthday Jeff

Roses Are Red
Violets Are Blue
Today Is Your Birthday
So.... Happy Birthday!
Now thats using your head!

Air Heads

I had the day off Wednesday so Tyler and I decided we should make it a father/son outing. Ty finished work at the swimming pool around noon and then we headed to Spokane. First we stopped in to see Rick Tolman who was at Gonzaga University attending a Basketball Camp. It was a short visit but was worth the trip even if we didn't do anything else.... but.... we didn't stop there. We went and saw the movie "Evan Almighty". It was a good flick but I was a little bit preoccupied knowing that as soon as we left the showhouse we would go flying. . .And that we did!

We drove to Cheney to meet up with our flight instructor, Denny Reed. We arrived at 6:15 in the evening and didn't quit until the "sun" did. My "son" didn't want to quit, and neither did his dad. The air was perfectly calm and the temperature was around 70 degrees. We flew over the Palouse for miles and saw all kinds of wildlife. Our average airspeed was about 40, but there were times we went nearly 100.

We made it home about 11 o'clock that night and dreamt of doing it all over again. This experience will be added to my "top ten" list.

P-Day (letter from Mackenzie)

well, this week has been the best so far. Saturday we had the blessing of having a baptism. the lady's name is Jeanne Trulove. she's great. she's in her 50s, and is so receptive to the gospel. on sunday, i was the one who confirmed her. i forgot my camera card so i'll have to send some pics next week. i hope things are going well there.
there's some crazy things happening out here. the storms are mind-blowing. when it rains, it either does a seattle rain, or a "you might as well go swimming" rain. there's rivers in the streets. the gutters are huge, and i hear that sometimes they get flooded even. yesterday we met a guy who came home one day to find a 15 year old in his house. the kid shot him in the shoulder, and then in the head. the guy is still alive 10 years later, but the kid got like no punishment. there is apparently no attempt at murder charge, so he got 'aggravated assault'. how ridiculous is that? hopefully we'll get to teach him the gospel. i got to go to the temple today. we went with another companionship, and then there was a man and a woman there. that was the entire group. they had to bring in a bunch of people for the prayer, since we're not allowed to do those.
i need you to send me a few things. if you could, send me my lights off of my bike and the attatchments for them, and that anti-sweat powder. the gold bond doesnt do that. if you have an extra stake directory, that'd be nice, so i can send letters to other people that i dont know their addresses.
now i need you to do something. i want you to find people for the missionaries there to teach. if you cant find anyone, go with them to teach others. sign up for teamups as much as possible, especially you, ty. teamups i've found help the Elders a lot. volunteer to feed the missionaries and to use our home for lessons. there's something special about using someone else's home and/or going with them that helps the investigator see that there's real people who know this is true, and not just some kids with name-tags.
make sure that if you send me emails, it's to this one. i'm not supposed to use my gmail or anything else.
well, i cant really think of anything else to say. hope you're all doing well.

Elder Morrison

Just When You Think You've Seen It All...

Tyler worked at the pool today and every day he sees something a little different. Today was no different he came home and said "Just When You Think You've Seen It All"... Some lady brought her scrap booking project to work on to the pool while she was there with her kids, can you believe it?
So it turns out that Deb could believe it. It was her Tyler was talking about!
Most people take pictures at the pool, Deb TAKES pictures TO the pool! LOL

Monday Night Flight

Sort of fun to say monday night flight and not monday night fight!

A guy by the name of Bob Holloway who holds the worlds record for the longest Powered Parachute Trip lives about 14 miles from us. Tonight he took me up in his bird. Winds were calm, (except for the wind Tyler made in the car on the way home) and it was really a nice flight. Tyler took some pictures with his phone, but for some reason I can't get them downloaded. So this picture is of Ty & I when we went on our first Powered Parachute Flight in September 2001. I only have 5 and a half months to finish my flight training or else my written exam and ground school endorsement expires.

P-day letter from Mackenzie

sounds like everything is going well over on that side of the country. its way humid here. not liking that so much. been getting a few letters here and there. i finally got the one with the pictures that you sent to the MTC. it must have gotten there after i left. good to see dad and ty are doing their goalie practice. money is fine. we actually get a debit/credit card with 130 dollars a month to spend on groceries and stuff. plus we have great members that send us home with leftovers and stuff. i loved the pillowcase, in case you didnt get that email or whatever. thanks for all that stuff. thanks for the card reader too. i have some pictures here for ya, maybe get dad to tell some mission stories, or reminisce with himself for a while. lol. i forgot how comfy that blanket is, but i wish it was a little wider like the other one. on monday we had a big storm. way worse than anything i've ever seen in washington. the thunder was super loud, and happened like every 5 seconds. lightning was also crazy. there was so much rain it took about 10 seconds to get completely soaked. good thing we saw it coming and left most of the stuff (wallet, my set of scriptures, everything but a Book of Mormon and a survey we use to get into peoples houses) in the car. Things are going well here. Jeanne Trulove is getting baptized on saturday, the 23rd. we're way excited for her. she's really nervous, and even said she wasnt going to get baptized on saturday. but the next day she said on our answering machine (she's a little heavier set) "when i get baptized on saturday, only fill the font half full. cuz when i get in it's gonna overflow!" we got a kick out of that and our apartment got kinda loud from the celebration. i'm telling you, there's nothing like seeing someone accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. She's such a great lady, and i'll have to send a pic of her next week. she has a sweet train set downstairs, and i'll get pics of that for you too. i do have a couple pics for you though. hope you enjoy those. we got to go to the temple last week (dont remember if i told you) but it was great. its a really nice temple. i heard that spencer talked with kenny andersen for a while. i hope there wasnt anything said against me......lol. Mom, dont worry about me. i know you're a mom, and its your job, but i'm on the errand of the Lord, and He watches over His missionaries. i've only heard gunshots one night so far. lol, just kidding, there arent any gunshots in this area. we live in a nice place. its a place where if you're poor, you only have a $200,000 home instead of 800,000. Dad, keep up the work on your exercise. i'm doing it too, and it's hard to get up at 6:30 when i dont want to and go exercise. i think you're doing it just to prove me wrong, but that's ok. keep going on that pilots license too. i want a ride when i come home. Ty, stay away from those girls (HELLO JENN) and make your time worth it. study the scriptures. if you havent completely read the Book of Mormon, i challenge you to read it by the time school starts. if you've already read it, do it again. it will help so much in your mission. learn your scripture mastery. they're amazing. read in preach my gospel every sunday or something and get those lessons down and then teach your friends with the help of the missionaries there. Creesh, thanks for all your letters. you give me and Elder Andersen such a laugh. I'm proud of you getting your grades up. keep up the good work! work hard in swimming. physical exercise is very good for you. especially in the morning. count your blessings that you can swim, cuz you dont know what you got till its gone! Kevakin, sounds like you're doing pretty good. are you preparing to be baptized? i hope you are listening to mom and dad, and not starting fights with creesh. be a good kid, and know that i'm proud of you for getting ready to be baptized. for the whole family, i hope you know how much i love you all. i am having a great time out here teaching people the gospel. it really does change lives for the better. try to find people that the missionaries can teach. they love referrals. get donna interested. invite her to church, and to have family home evening with you. have the missionaries talk with the joneses, and tell give them the message that families can be together forever. thanks for all your love and support. you dont know how much letters of encouragement do for a missionary. know that you're in my prayers always, and that we will all be blessed for me being out here, because i'm not the only one sacrificing. well, this is getting to be a novel, and i need to get going. we have a lot to do today. we have to get the oil changed in the car. we have a chevy mailbu '07. ty, you'd love the cars around here. BMW's and Porches and convertibles up the WAZZU! it's pretty crazy. Love you All, Elder Morrison

Sno-Cones

Last night the kids set up a sno-cone shack on the corner. Using a megaphone they were yelling "sno-cones for sale, cherry, grape or rainbow"! They took in $7. It was nice to run out of ice.

The Off Season - It's Killin' the Kids!

Kevakin picked up a set of hockey gloves and a stick at a garage sale this weekend. The only reason he's bare foot is because mom won't let him wear his skates in the house.
Only 120 days until we have ice to play on!

Deb's Creation

Deb embroidered this pillow case for Mackenzie and sent it to him at the mission home last week. I thought she did a wonderful job. Now Deb has set the precedence so Walker can expect one from Wendy in about 15 years.

A Father's Day Note

One thing I've learned about being a father is never raise your hand to your kids. . . .It leaves your groin totally unprotected !

Not Sure Why Ty Even Had To Wear A Helmet

Ty made it home today from his whitewater adventure with the priest quorum. Posed here with his best friend Chandler, the two are truly meant for each other. Tyler was the first of the group to be bucked out of the raft and join the Lochsa Swim Team. Several rafts were turned up-side-down but no major injuries. As I type this post he is fishing with his buddies, however I'm sure he will become one with the Ibuprofen Tablets as soon as he gets home.

Re-Hearsed

Jerry Kayser (my boss) just finished restoring this 1926 Studebaker Hearse that he bought off ebay. He took it back to Minot, ND where the hearse was originally purchased by a funeral director 80 years ago. He was interviewed by the local news. You can click the title of this post to view the interview.

The Story of My Life

When it comes to picking golfers against Kevin I usually loose.
This year is no different.
Here are the scores at the end of 2 rounds at the US open:

Kevin's Picks:
David Toms +4
Tiger Woods +5
Jim Furyk +6

Craig's Picks:
Vijay Singh +8
Ernie Els +9
Padraig Harrington +18 FTQ

Happy 36 Lorilee

It’s birthday time again I see;

Another year's gone by.

You’re older than you used to be;

The thought could make you cry.

Getting older is not much fun,

When there’s hurting in your back,

And it’s agony if you have to run,
And a pleasure to lie in the sack.

Yes getting older is quite a bore,

But to not get old is worse.

So "Happy Birthday Lorilee!" ,

And stay out of my hearse!

Hope you have a great day, and may all of those around you spoil you rotten!

off to the white water in Idaho

Tyler left for the white water trip with the priests quorum at noon today. This is their high adventure activity for the summer. The pink kool-aid shirt certainly matches the funky glasses and hat. He isn't even a high priest yet and he wears that kind of stuff. He thinks he looks SWEET!

Well, It's P-day.... (a letter from Mackenzie)

Hey there family!
Hope everything is going well for you all. well, ive spent a week in the field now. its really hot here. sounds like you're having good weather. just so you know, i dont know where Elder AndersOn (alex)went. all i know is he's in a country area. good to hear that hockey stuff is going well. let them all know i miss playing with em and stuff like that. so i saw a sign for gas.....2.79! can you believe that? its pretty important for us especially because we're a fulltime car area. we get the car for everything. just 1100 miles a month. now with all that stuff out of the way...here's some good stories for you.
1. Jeanie Trulove. the one person with a baptism date with us right now. she's so great. i wish you could meet her. she's just so willing to accept the gospel, and is totally prepared to receive the gospel. i'm way excited to be teaching her. she's worried about her baptism, but a lot of it is that she doesnt want to look dumb if she doesnt go all the way under the first time, and about what she's gonna look like. she is a funny lady and was like "i'm gonna be barefoot? i better get a pedicure" and "can i put concrete shoes on or something?" Great lady.
2. fun experience: we were tracting and ran into this guy named matt. obviously he loves contention. we got into his house to take this survey (which really just gets us to talk to people) and after the survey he just starts going off with all these random questions that really dont matter in the long run. he was 'saved' and wanted to know if we were 'saved' and then it started. he got all animated, snapping his fingers, and yelling, and smacking his Bible, and pointing in the air and all this stuff. eventually he told us that we had plagues over our heads and that we needed to throw our Book of Mormon trash away. oh, well. he's the one that's missing out. it's true, isnt it? then what else matters?
3.we met this lady tracting that had her house arsoned by an associate about a year ago and was just moving back into the remodeled house. as missionaries, we stop and help if we can. luckily she let us help her and we got to talk with her a little bit. hopefully here in the next couple days she'll get with us again. she's a busy lady.
we got to go to the st. louis temple today. that was a great experience. i hope you are doing your temple work over there. there is so much that needs to be done.
above all, and to each of you, i want to let you know that the Church is true. everything about it is true, and real. no other way can we return to our Father in Heaven, and by no other way can we be happy. i hope you all make good decisions, and follow the counsel of the prophets. tell everyone you can about the gospel. President Hinckley said something along the lines of "if you knew how urgent this work is, then you'd run to every door. and when you couldnt run, you'd jog. and when you couldnt jog, you'd walk. and when you couldnt walk, you'd crawl to every door." i hope you find great peace and joy in the gospel and by living and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

hope you have a good week, and i'll be typing at you next thursday!
Elder Morrison
by the way, we cant chew gum, so if you were planning on sending any of that...i'd keep it for yourself.

Last Day of School

That is the exact reaction I had... It's about time! It seems as if our school district doesn't know what summer vacation is. Anyway the kids are excited to be out of school and are out riding scooters with their friends as I type this entry. Hailey did a remarkable job this year in school. She received her report card today showing 5-B's, a C and an A. What a contrast to her last year of D's and F's. That explains the "Most Improved" student award. We are sooooooooooo proud of her. She will be moving on to the Middle School next year (6th grade). Kevakin did well on his report card also and passed to the next grade (2nd). He received a free pizza from Domino's Pizza for top in his class. Tyler maintained his 3.7 GPA and all is well in our scholastic world. The parents are still a little scholastically challenged and still can't help either of the kids with their home work. It seems to get worse every year.

Elder Flat Head

The mission president and his wife sent us this picture in the mail.

The letter that accompanied the picture was uplifting and reassuring.

This type of photography requires skilled hands and a diploma from the Burch Academy of Photography.

Deb stuck it out another year !!!

23 years, who ever thought it would last?
Well... here is the secret:
Twice a week get out of the house and enjoy a nice meal, a good movie or just an evening away from the kids. I go on Tuesdays and Deb goes on Fridays.... it works out great!

School Program

The kids had their "end of school year" program today. It included a picnic and a musical production. This picture includes some of the other kids they performed with.

Kevakin was especially proud of his sweet shorts!

P-day in Missouri (a letter from kenz)

Mackenzie arrived in St. Louis yesterday. Here is the letter he wrote this morning.

thank you for the goodies and the pillowcase and all that jazz.
its really humid, and hot, and i need to get a camelback today.
My companion is Elder Andersen, from Fort Worth, TX. he's 21, about
5'11",i'd guess 160 lbs, enjoys playing drums and singing. if you really want
toknow anything else, just let me know and i'll find out for you.
i'm serving in Chesterfield, which is a suburb of St. Louis. right now
we're teaching a few ppl, and one of which is sure she's going to get baptized.
we are in a full time car mission area, so we're in a car all the time, except
for when we're tracting, when we park the car at the end of astreet and walk up
the street. we met a lady named Yvette while we were tracting and taught her the
restoration. she said she's met withmissionaries before, but she seemed
pretty interested to give it anothershot.
My address isElder Mackenzie Morrison138 Log Trail Dr. Apt ABallwin, MO
63011hopefully i'll be here longer than 6 weeks, but you never know.
Chesterfieldis one of the richest places in the state. there are homes that are
in theads that are over a million. we saw one that had 4 bedrooms and
6bathrooms....which seems weird to me. I still have yet to go over to Townand
Country, which i hear has mansions all over the place. we have a member neighbor
who is from massachusetts originally and has that strong newengland accent. its
pretty funny.
love you much,
Elder Morrison

Anaheim Ducks first West Coast team to win Stanley Cup in 82 years

MAKING HISTORY:
Anaheim Ducks' Scott Niedermayer raises the Stanley Cup after his team's series win over the Ottawa Senators....
The Stanley Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of North America's premier ice hockey league, the NHL (I added that last little bit for all you baseball fans!)

Happy Birthday to Jimmy Bench !

If you call Jim to wish him a happy birthday, please call before 6pm.
Older people go to bed earlier than the rest of us!

Happy Birthday Old Man!

The Phone Call Home

What a surprise! Mackenzie called about 8 o'clock this morning from the SLC airport. We had a great visit. His cousin Alex (Elder Anderson) was on the phone next to him talking with his mom at the same time. A total of 7 elders and 2 sisters will be on the same flight to the St. Louis Mission. He visited with elders Hawkes and Pickett from Oakley and Neilson from Twin Falls. His P-Day is on Thursday so he will email and let us know what his first area is and the address. He asked me to post on the blog a big "THANK YOU" for the letters from everyone. They don't get a lot of time to respond in the MTC (we sort of caught on to that one). It is raining pretty hard here today. Really nice for a change. Yesterday it was 103 degrees now (8:30 am) it is 56. I woke up to the rain at 5:10 this morning and went on a mile walk before Ty & I went to the gym. I just LOVE this weather!

Aneurysm Waterfountinous

Who ever said 3 hours of church won't hurt anything?

Had the church adopted my idea of just having sacrament meeting on Fast Sunday, we would have only had one hours worth of water gushing through our crawlspace.

I do blame the heat rather than the Prophet on this one. It is well over 100 degrees here this afternoon, and apparently this type of tubing doesn't like the heat either. The pipe grew triple it's size before it's 2 inch aneurysm. Oh well, another day, another repair.

Pictures at the MTC

These are the pictures Mackenzie sent us. We received them in the mail yesterday. This one is with his companion, Elder Whitmore. We don't know where his is from. They do have the funeral director stance down pretty good.

This is a picture of the district Mackenzie is in. His cousin Alex is to the left with the wonderful look on his face. Mackenzie and Alex will fly out together to St. Louis next Wednesday.

Tips on making your birthday seem longer

1. Work 2 hours later than planned.
2. Stand for an hour at a cemetery in 98 degree heat.
3. Go see a 3 hour movie that should have only lasted 90 min.

Actually, I had a good birthday. It started by working out at the gym with Tyler and Spencer. Work was a little long but it made me appreciate it when it was over. I did spend an hour at the pool with the Deb and the kids. Tyler took me to dinner at Jack In The Box and then to "Pirates of the Caribbean". It seemed to be an OK movie just a bit longer than it needed to be. All in all, it was a good day. Thanks for the phone calls!