Here's a summary of 2019: 

Overall, this was a good year for us.  We didn’t add to the tribe this year, but anticipate adding a couple more members next year.  Don spent quite a few Wednesdays in Olympia tending and playing with grandson Jake.  Our kids live in 5 different time zones, and we were able to see all of them this year. We took trips to Cancun, Snow Bird, Texas, and Europe (London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome).   We spent Thanksgiving here with Eric, Dani and Jacob, and are staying home for Christmas. We are spending Dec. 31st –Jan 4th in Disneyland.  Lucky, our dear little Chihuahua, passed away in October. He was very old for his breed and lived a good life. We had hoped and prayed that he would pass away painlessly in his sleep, and he did exactly that.

          Don has been working on reconditioning his vintage recurve bow collection. He sells them on his website TraditionalArchery.Net.  Don serves on the archery club’s board of directors, as well as the board of the Johnson Cancer Foundation. He is still playing the trumpet in the Tacoma Community College Symphonic Band.  Don also serves on the Stake High Council.

Michelle moved to the Clover Park School District. She works as an instructional coach for the district, and is also assigned to an elementary school. She has a shorter commute and more enjoyable position.  Michelle has kept her part-time job with FOSS.  She is still the ward Relief Society President, and with all she does, she doesn’t get nearly enough sleep. She gets up at 3:50am every weekday morning.

          Christian and McCall are still living in the Salt Lake area.  Christian works in finance and accounting for Skull Candy in Park City. McCall is working for the local school district. Cash and Jack both played youth football again this year.  Christian coached Cash’s team, and they won their league championship!  Cash, Jack, and Reese all enjoy skiing.

          Emily and David are in Flower Mound, Texas.  David works for a health supplement company in Boston, but telecommutes from an office close to their home. He flies to Boston periodically for meetings.  Emily accompanied him on his last trip there, and Don flew to Texas to watch the kids and serve as the family taxi service. Bria turned 13 in October.  Cali turned 11 in November, and Liam turned 9 in September.  Bria enjoys the piano and the arts. Cali enjoys drawing and soccer.  Liam played soccer and basketball this year.  They all take piano lessons, much as we required our kids to do for years.

          Becky, Ryan, Ryan Mikele, and Virginia are in Fairfax, VA.  Ryan works for Booze, Allen, Hamilton. His clients are mostly Federal agencies. Becky was a family therapist at the county mental health agency, but once she became vested in their retirement system, she left the county and expanded her private practice into full-time work. She recently published an ebook available on Amazon Kindle about Postpartum issues. Ryan Mikele started kindergarten and Ginny is busy exploring the world as a toddler.

Danielle, Eric, and Jacob are in Olympia WA. Dani works as a therapist and social worker at the regional hospital, and Eric serves at Joint Base Lewis McCord.  He has applied for flight school. They bought an RV and enjoy traveling. Jake turns 2 December 30th, and keeps them busy.

          Brady, Morgan and Graham are still in London for at least another year or two. Morgan is expecting next summer.  We were able to visit them in London this summer, and joined them in Barcelona for a few days. Graham loves dinosaurs and Pepe Pig. He played 2 year old soccer this summer, but the team seemed to enjoy putting the marker cones are their heads more than kicking the ball. He is developing a bit of an English accent.

Saturday November 21st we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. It's been a fun ride with an amazing partner.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Morrisons

We hope this post finds you healthy and happy. This was a big year for us. Dani and Brady were both married on consecutive weekends. We worked on the house and yard a bit, and fortunately there were no major incidents. We traveled to Utah three times as well as once to Columbus Ohio for Brady’s wedding. In April we spent time in Salt Lake in for Spenst’s (Michelle’s father) 80 birthday party; spent the last week of July at Snowbird with Chris and Emily’s families; and drove down to Christian and McCall’s home for Thanksgiving. Christmas will be at home. Brady, Morgan, Dani and Eric will be joining us.

Don is still working for the City of Bonney Lake as their City Administrator. He is still involved in archery and just finished his two-year term as Club president. He won the state award for archer of the year in his classification. He is still playing the trumpet in the Tacoma Community College Symphonic Band. Don is serving as a seminary teacher (with Michelle), is a primary teacher, and is the Scout Committee Chairman.

Michelle is still very busy as the K-5 Math Instruction Facilitator for the Tacoma School District. She has enrolled in an online Master’s program through the Western Governors University (WGU), which will take 1-2 years to complete. After nearly 7 years, she was released as the stake primary president, and called with Don to team-teach the sophomores in seminary (3 wards).

Chris and McCall are now living in Salt Lake. Their experience in the Dallas, Texas helped prepare Chris for his position at Skull Candy in Park City. He is responsible for SEC reporting and some general accounting work. He spent 2 weeks in Europe at Skull Candy’s Swiss offices with other company officials. He teaches the Elders Quorum in his ward while McCall is serving as a Cub Scout den mother. Cash turned 8 in October and was baptized; Jack turned 6 September 8th, and Reese turned 3 November. They keep McCall busy!

Emily and David are still in Lewisville Texas (Dallas metro area). They sold their home and are moving to the other side of Lewisville. David left the JC Penny Corporate office to take a marketing position with Fossil. Bria turned 8 October 4th and was baptized. Cali turned 6 November 12th and is in all-day kindergarten attending the same school as Bria. Liam turned 4 September 17th. Liam is energetic and eagerly enjoys his preschool. Their website blog is www.theparmas.blogspot.com Becky, Ryan, and baby Ryan are still in Fairfax, VA. Ryan left Accenture, and now works for the CIA.

Becky is a family therapist at the county mental health agency. They came home for Danielle’s wedding in August, and were in Utah for Ryan’s family reunion over Thanksgiving. We were able to visit with them for a while. Baby Ryan turned one, and has learned to walk.

Danielle married Eric Van Wagenen August 9th. Eric is from upstate New York, and is in the military (Army Rangers) at Fort Lewis. They live in North Tacoma, but are considering moving (2 break-ins this year). Dani works as a paralegal at a local law firm.

 Brady married Morgan Groom August 16th. They met at BYU. Morgan is from Mt. Vernon, Ohio (Columbus area). She is a sophomore at BYU. Brady was admitted to the BYU business school, and has been offered an internship in the LA office of Goldman Sacs for the summer of 2015. That about sums up our year. Hope yours was a good one. We enjoy hearing from you. We can be reached at 1231 Farallone Avenue, Fircrest, WA 98466. Email: Morrison@govtjob.net. May the Lord bless and prosper you!

Brady married Morgan Groom August 16th in the Columbus OH LDS temple.

Dani married Eric Van Wagenen August 9th.

We had a family reunion at Snowbird the end of July. Chris and Emily both were there with their families.

We had a family reunion this spring for Spenst's 80th birthday celebration at Thanksgiving Point. We were able to see Chris and Brady, and meet Morgan for the first time.

Michelle and I took a trip to Boston in late September. We had an enjoyable time walking the Freedom Trail and visiting historic sites such as the Old North Church, USS Constitution (Old Ironsides), and Plymouth colony. We also spent a day at the tip of Cape Cod.

FAMILY REUNION. We had all of the family (except Dani) meet at Disney World in June for a family reunion. We had very nice accomodations, and spent a lovely week at the various Disneyworld theme parks.

Christmas 2012

Doug and Linda and family came over for Christmas Eve dinner. We opened most of our presents Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, we emptied our Christmas stockings and got ready to go to the airport. We left at 11am for Washington DC to visit Becky and Ryan in Fairfax Virginia. We had a fun time with them. They were really good hosts. We celebrated Becky and Michelle's birthdays while there. We came home New Years evening. I'll add more photos once I get copies of Michelle's and Dani's pics. The slide show includes several photos of the ice sculptures (colored ice was frozen that way - not painted), the Luray caverns, and various shots from the Smithsonian.

Summer Vacation

Here are some photos of Emily's visit to Fircrest, plus our trip to Snowbird.

Brady's Mission to Brazil

Brady is serving in the Santa Maria Mission, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which is the southern most state of Brazil. He is currently in Santana Do Livramento, which is a boarder city merged with Rivera, Uruguay. He has been out for 10 months, was made a zone leader last month, and is doing well. His emails are funny and he has gained a strong testimony of the gospel, and the reality of the Savior and His work.

Don and Michelle Spring Break

Michelle had her spring break, so we went to Disneyland for 3 days sans les enfants. It was warm and sunny, a great escape from the dreary drizzle of Seattle.

Ryan and I attended the Seahawks vs 49ers game December 24th. It was a gift from Becky and Ryan. We had good seats and a fun time. Seattle lead most of the game but lost it at the end. The tall black dude in the center of the picture is Shawn Kemp, former Supersonics basketball star, who raised the 12th man flag at the game.

Christmas 2012

Christmas morning at the Morrison house - YouTube video Link (the link doesn't work, but you can copy this URL into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au9hwj93g6c&feature=youtu.be

Movember Moustache

To support his Wellness Committee at work, Don is participating in Movember. During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. Don started Nov. 1st. This photo was taken Nov. 20th. 10 more days to go. Unfortunately, there are more white hairs than dark ones.

Visitor

Well, after having an open doggie door for the past year or two, something besides the dogs finally decided to use it - one of the Stellar (Blue) Jays that live in our neighborhood. We found it hiding behind the curtains. It didn't seem hurt, but our 3 chihuahuas went bonkers chasing after it. Don finally shooed it to the bathroom where he closed the door, took the screen off the window and let it fly back home. Happy ending.

31st Wedding Anniversary Excursion

Don and Michelle were married November 21, 1980 but due to schedules celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary Friday Nov. 11th with a trip to Seattle. It was a blustery and rainy day, and Michelle's travel umbrella was blown to pieces. The celebration started off with a trip to the Seattle Art Museum, followed by lunch at the Metropolitan Grill, then on to the Fremont district for a tour and sampling at Theo's Chocolate Factory. They then stopped at Southcenter Mall before heading to the Showare Center for a Disney on Ice show (Toy Story 3). It was a fun day.

New Cars

Our Ford Exploder is no more. With a cracked engine head and broken timing chain it wasn't worth fixing. And the old Subaru's rear end was going out, so yesterday we bought two new Hondas, a CRV and an Accord. After a few years of no car payments, we now have two. Yikes! No more eating out.