Vacation .... just a memory

The one thing that makes you appreciate a good vacation is just going back to work. By the end of the day you wonder if you even went on vacation.

Our family talked about what the best part of the vacation was and here are the responses:
Craig: The 4-Wheeler Trips
Deb: Being able to see everyone.
Tyler: Date at the City of Rocks
Creesh: Shopping with Wendy and the trip to Willow Creek.
Kevakin: Riding Motorcycles at the Burch reunion and his baptism.... he said "you know I've waited all my life to be baptized".

It was all a great experience and like Deb said... it was GREAT seeing everyone!
Tonight we called Jeanne Trulove (Mackenzie's first confirmation) on the phone. I can see why Mackenzie has fallen in love with her. She has a special sweetness to her and sings the praises of Elder Morrison.... What parent wouldn't fall in love as well? She invited us back to Missouri when we pick Mackenzie up and asked us to keep in touch. What a sweetheart!

Home Sweet Home

We made it home about an hour ago and downloaded our pictures from the camera. Here are a few of my favorite.

VACATION

It has been a great week. Here is a quick recap. The weekend: Burch Reunion (fun was had by all) and Kevakin's Drive Thru Baptism. KaeLynn named the baptism because it reminded her of the McDonalds Drive Thru... it only took a few minutes. Monday: Morrison Open (i lost). Oklahoma production... fabulous! Tuesday: Trip to SLC, Temple Square, Joseph Movie, Brazilian Restaurant. No traffic, excellent time. Wednesday: 4 Wheeler Trek to Almo (rained most of the time... PERFECT). Thursday: went to Twin Falls with Kevin & Wendy. Friday: Another 4 wheeler trip to go up and have lunch with Mom & Dad at their mission site.
Today... Pack, Laundry, Tie up loose ends. Leave in the morning.

P-day Letter from Mackenzie

i have been talking with Elder AndersOn on the phone every now and then. he says that things are going really well there. he doesnt have any complaints. i think he's happy with his new comp, Elder Read, so whatever that's worth. well, i'm glad coltin is so excited that he was baptized. i'm excited for him too. this week has been crazy. on tuesday we did a move (as we're the moving elders) and we went to Belleville, IL and then stopped in Oakville on the way back. come to find out, we didnt take some of the stuff to the right places and such, so we have to do another trip tomorrow, and then i guess we have a move the next day. almost 4 days with no proselyting time. today we wont proselyte except for maybe a couple hours tonight, none tomorrow or sat, and then sunday we are at church from 9-5 and then have a dinner appt, so maybe 2-3 hours of pros time. its been decent weather lately, low 80s with little humidity. today is gonna be warm though. hopefully things arent too bad in ID.
i got your package. thx for the directory.i hope i didnt leave you without one. it's wierd that here each area has a ward, not one area with 10. lol. ML is a lot different as far as concentration of members.
i hope you've been good to the missionaries in ML. i know some of them might be a little different...but you should help them out.
oh! another story. so yesterday we were doing service in our apt. complex, and some black guy asked us "ya got any dank?"
we were like "no, we're clean. we dont do drugs". that was pretty fun.
still trying to find some investigators. Sue, who is our only real investigator that we meet with regularly, and who keeps all her commitments told us yesterday she's going to be getting busy with school starting, and so she's gonna have to stop meeting with us. we were pretty sad about that. we'll see what happens, but we take Jeanne Trulove on teamups with us, and hopefully she'll make a social connection there. that way it would be easier for her to go church and not feel so weird about it.
well, i hope you continue to do what's right, and if you're not, then i would hope you would change and start doing what's right. i love you all and know that you're in my prayers.
Elder Morrison

OKLAHOMA

Last night our family went to see the play "Oklahoma". It was hot! Really, about 100 degrees. But the play was also hot! Christy & Wendy did a wonderful job directing it. Christy's kids Kevin's kids and Kerry's kids all took part along with other cousins. It felt like a family reunion.
Isoa and Becky, Mom & Dad, KK & Fam all sat together... fun was had by all.
Today I will ride with Kevin to SLC while he works. We WILL get some playtime in!

Happy 24th to all!

P-Day

so i've been out over 2 months now. i'm doing well, though we're pretty hard up for investigators. there's just so much money out here that people think they have all they need. that's just too bad. we had a bunch of clouds roll in the other day that Elder Andersen said looked like a tornado was brewing. then at transfers i saw Elder AndersOn and he said clouds were starting to swirl where he was. that's pretty cool. i kinda wanted to see a tornado. oh
well. at least i'm safe. i dont think i told you but we got to meet Jamie (spelling?) Miller. go look him up on google and see what you get. His wife is a less active member. they have another house in New Orleans (hint, hint). So neither me or Elder Andersen got transferred this transfer. Elder Bright got transferred though, which was kinda sad. he's a funny guy. little
story to illustrate a little bit. They came with us to Jeanne's house for dinner one day. we didnt have time to take them all the way home, so we took them to about 2 miles away. while
they were walking, Elder Bright had to take Duke to the NCAA finals, if you know what i mean. so he jumps off into a bunch of trees next to a private driveway, and pops a squat! i guess he had a paper towel in his pocket from something earlier in the week, but he said if he didnt have that he was thinking he'd have to sacrifice a sock.
HAHAHAHA. he's great. well, that's about all i can think of. the baptismal service would be great. that sounds really good. and ty's playing the piano??? with josh leading???
tell me coltin picked that! lol. and by the way TODAY is the day i'm getting my bike.

love you, and stay close to the Lord,

Elder Morrison

Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend I took Tyler to a Mariner's baseball game (can you believe it?) It was so exciting we left after the 7th inning. Tyler wanted to leave about the 3rd but we sort of stuck it out. Saturday was full of fun... We attended the Arlington EAA (experimental aircraft association) airshow and had a great time.

We ate oysters and crabs, flew in a challenger II airplane, watched a movie on the runway and watched fireworks launched from an ultralight trike at night.

Letter from Mackenzie

so another week has gone by again already. i'm doing really well here. this week we got hit by a huge storm with.....HAIL!!! middle of july and here comes a hail storm. ridiculous. i've got a video, but i might have to send it through gmail. (to view video click on the title of this post) . so we're teaching a new investigating family, and they're freaking awesome. we taught this guy the first lesson (restoration of the gospel) and then he gave us 3 lbs. of hamburger from his own cattle, and 2 fillets of Gruper, a type of deep sea fish. then we helped him paint some of his house, and he gave us 24-32 ox. bottles of gatorade. we found that they have a drum set, bass, and guitar, so we might go jam for a little bit there today or something. a couple of their sons play hockey too, so maybe we'll get to go with them some day to ice skate (crosses fingers). i'm having withdrawals...and not from videogames and you might think, or TV, or computers.....but ice skating! i miss it so much. i wish i could be playing hockey in wenatchee or whatever. i miss that a lot.
i didnt get a bike last week. Elder Andersen said we might as well wait till transfers just to make sure i dont have to ship it to my next area, because i wouldnt use it between now and then. but i got the package, and walkers' card. that was pretty funny. i'm glad mom and dad went to the temple.
sounds like everything is going well there. and dont even talk to me about heat. you can do that when you have 95 coupled with humidity to the point when you walk outside, you feel sticky, and then start sweating bullets within 10 min. a couple times, i've got out of the car, where it's cold, and then my glasses fogged up when i got into the heat/humidity. pretty ridiculous.
well, i hope that willie was good for you. dad, quit trying to act like you're 20 again.
Elder Morrison

PS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTIN
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
i dont know where he got that, but he wrote that to me a lot. lol, have a good one, buddy!

Creesh was just wondering . . .

How many dyslexics does it change to take a light bulb?

Men...?

I was just sitting here reading the blog thinking of Kevin & Kerry and how hard it must be living with a house full of girls. Even in our house (mainly male dominated) it sometimes becomes difficult with the differences in gender thinking.

So, for my brothers, I've written down a few things that have helped our girls when dealing with the men of the house.

1. I am not a mind reader. 2. Learn to use the toilet, if the seat is up just put it down... when I need to use it I will put it up again. 3. Crying is blackmail. 4. BSU and BYU football is like the full moon or changing of the tides, don't mess with it....whenever possible speak during the commercials. 5. Shopping is not a sport. 6. Ask for what you want, let me be clear on this one... subtle hints do not work, strong hints do not work, obvious hints do not work... just say it. 7. Come to me with a problem only if you want help solving it, thats what I do... if you want sympathy, catch me at work. 8. If something I said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one. 9. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really! 10. I see things in 16 colors, like Windows default settings... Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit and I have no idea what mauve is. 11. If I ask you what is wrong and you say "nothing," I will act like nothings wrong. I know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

Well, brothers pass this along to the girls and see if it makes your life easier.

As for me, when Deb reads this I will be the one sleeping out on the couch with the boys. It will be like the "fathers and sons" campout only with a soft bed.

Working Out is going to Kill Me!

Well, I arrived at the gym at 6am...Sharp. By 6:05am I had torn the muscle just above the achilles tendon. By 8am I was at the Dr.'s office. By 9:00am I had a brand spanking new pair of crutches. By 4pm I was home from work. It's now 10pm and I am 4 feet away from a glass of water and 2 pain killers!

Sorry to show off the sexy legs but hey, if you got it... flaunt it!

Willie Nelson and 10,000 of his closest friends

Some thoroughly enjoyed the Willie Nelson concert and others did stitchery to pass the time. The view at the Gorge at George was beautiful and the acoustics were fabulous.
Other than the hot weather, fun was had by all. By the time the concert ended (11:30pm) the temperature was down to 78 degrees or so.
The theme of the concert could have been "Less Bras & More Tattoos". I'm thinking of getting one... at my age i'm starting to sag a bit.

Walker Rocker!

The Walker family came over tonight for pizza and guitar hero. Zac brought back some memories of Mackenzie in the EXPERT mode.
Fun was had by all.

A Month In Missouri

well, here we are another week gone by. i cant believe i've been in missouri for a month already. lately it has been ridiculously hot and humid. i bet 90% humidity. things are going pretty well, i suppose. not a lot of investigators at this point. we have Jeanne Trulove, who is in the picture, along with me, Elder Andersen, and Elder Lolotai, who i replaced. she's a recent convert, who Elder Andersen baptized and I confirmed. how was your 4th? i expect to see some pictures here this next week. make sure everyone knows that i really appreciate the letters and gifts.
the picture with the alcohol is at Jeanne's house. her husband built it, and they have a bunch of unopened liquors. she's just great, and gets a kick out of our little shenanigans.
there's some girl that keeps calling the missionaries, and we cant tell if she's serious or not, but she's absolutely crazy. she contradicts a lot of what she says. we think she might have a mental problem, is insane, or is just trying to play a stupid trick on the missionaries, which she may have done in the past.
we went on exchanges last weekend, and i had my first experience on a bike. it was on someone else's bike, which was way small for me. great was the soreness thereof, we'll just put it that way. we're going to get me a bike today though. probably something similar to what i had at home.
well, i cant really think of anything else to say. tell kevakin and creesh to finish those letters. i need a good laugh from you, creesh. haha.
pray always, read your scriptures, and go to church, including church activites. ty, if you get the chance, go to the temple. push whatever you had aside and go do it. mom and dad, go to the temple for that or other things. its very important and people are waiting for their work to be done. either this church is true or there is no God. And we know that God is there and He lives.

I love you all so much
Elder Morrison

Baptism

We received a picture in the mail yesterday of Jeanne Trulove's baptism. The letter that accompanied it was nice and uplifting. Mackenzie seems very happy.

In The Jungle

Last week Kevakin surprised mom by picking up some new towels and shower curtain for the bathroom. 2 Days later, with additional rugs, paint, caulking, toothbrush holder, lotion dispenser, toilet seat, wall paper and sweat equity the kids can enjoy a brand new bathroom where they can continue to pee all over the toilet seat!

h2o Day !

All day today was spent in the water. Well, at least is seemed that way. It started at 8am with Creesh at swim practice. Followed by 8:30am with Tyler teaching swim lessons to some little tater-tot kids. Then at 10am it was Kevakin's turn for swim lessons.

At 5:30pm Creesh had a swim meet in Quincy. This picture is of her doing the back stroke (she took 9th place in her age group). She swam in 4 events. The meet lasted until 9:00 and we just got home at 10:00pm.

Until Tomorrow... goodnight!