Christmas 2008

Baby Cali

Well here she is, our new grand daughter Cali Parma. Cali is pronounced
\ˈkä-lē\ like the beginning of the state of CALIfornia. It is also a city in Columbia. She was born to Dave and Emily on Wednesday November 12. She weighed 7lbs. 2oz., was 20.5 inches in length. Mom and baby are doing fine. Michelle flew out to Texas help for a week.

Virginia Trip

Don attended the ICMA conference in Richmond Virginia 9-20 through 9-24. Michelle joined him thereafter on a self-guided history tour, which included Petersburg (civil war history), and then Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, where the country began.

We toured the Pamplin Historical Park & National Museum in Petersburg. This was the site on the Pamplin plantation where Union troops were able to break the defenses of the Confederates, and led to the taking of Petersburg and Richmond. Robert E. Lee surrendered 9 days later.

We spent time in Colonial Williamsburg viewing the colonial palace, courthouse, and capital, etc., At Yorktown, there is an excellent museum and charming waterfront. At Jamestown, we saw the recreation of the Jamestown settlement where John Smith met Pocahontas. It poured that day and we were soaked, but it was warm. We also saw a couple of plantations and colonial farms. Most of the sites we visited were “living history”, where the people dressed and spoke as in colonial times.

Dani's 20th Birthday

Dani turned 20 October 12th. She was home for the weekend and we had our traditional family birthday dinner. Dani received a new IPod and lots of food to take back to Pullman.

New Grandson Jack

We're thrilled to add another Morrison to the clan. Jack Morrison was born September 8th to Chris and McCall, raising the number of grandchildren to 3.

Family Reunion at Snowbird

We had a family reunion at Snowbird this summer. Chris and Mcall from Las Vegas, Dave and Emily from Dalles, Becky and Ryan from Syracuse joined us, as well as Spenst, Spensty, Bridget and Kinley's family. Megan and Brian also came to visit and were a great help, helping host Brady until we arrived, and lending a car to Emily.

Family Update

Michelle was called as the Stake Primary President. It took several weeks for the stake presidency to get her counselors called, but she is now up and running. Unfortunately, she has had constant pain in her right arm for the past few months. Doctors think she has osteoarthritis. Steroids, surgery, and physical therapy are optional treatments. She will opt for the physical therapy first, and see if she can get the pain to subside. Some days she can't even pull her shirt on it is so bad. Other days she is OK with pain medication. Michelle will not teach in the classroom next year, but will be an instructional facilitator for the Tacoma School District. This is a type of teacher trainer/counselor position. She has been assigned to the Point Defiance elementary school, which is about 4 miles from our home. She is looking forward to the new challenge and excited not to have to do report cards, parent meetings, classroom discipline, etc.
Dani is working at the YMCA as a camp counselor. She is still bothered with severe back and other pain. The doctors now think that it may not be so much a kidney problem, but rather something else such as gall badder. They are running more tests. She still plans to attend WSU this fall.
Brady is currently at EFY in Provo. He is having a good time, and staying with his cousin Sean. Megan and Brian were very gracious hosts and Brady met some nice cute girls in their ward. Brady now believes that Utah is not such a bad place to live after all. After EFY he will stay with Grandma Blanchet (Emily will also be there) for a week, and then join the family at Snowbird for the last week of the month. The day after we return home from vacation, he will go on the scout high adventure white water rafting trip.
Nothing much has changed in Don's life, except that he was called as the Ward Executive Secretary. He is still working in Bonney Lake, doing cub scouts, and enjoying the summer off from seminary. He has the summer off from band, and is still on the Archery Board. Hasn't been to many shoots this summer, but will compete in the Washington Games July 19th in Archery.

Don at Lowes Grand Opening

On June 12th, Don performed the Board Cutting (Ribbon Cutting) for the new Lowes Store in Bonney Lake. The Mayor was out-of-town, so they asked Don to give a short speech and do the honors.

Dani Update

Tuesday May 6th Danielle was admitted to the hospital with failing kidneys. A couple of days and several tests later they allowed Dani to be released from the hospital. They did a number of tests and took several cultures but it may be difficult to immediately diagnose the illness because of all the antibiotics she has been on over the past 4 weeks. The current guess is that she may have a medullary sponge kidney (spongy kidney disease – Visit http://kidneydiseases.about.com/od/kidneydisorde2/a/medullarysponge.htm ). Her kidneys weren’t functioning at a very high level, but with the current antibiotic, she seems to be much better, and has resumed her search for a tanning parlor job.

Brady and Lucky

After school Brady was so tired that he and Lucky just had to take a nap.

Mothers Day

Michelle had an enjoyable Mothers Day. Don fixed dinner as usual, which consisted of a Caesar salad, filet mignon with béarnaise sauce, fresh asparagus, corn on the cob, rice pilaf (which took forever to cook), and a strawberry/blueberry tart for dessert. Michelle received several gifts, including a darling photo/scrap book that Emily made, an Enchanted CD, Victoria's Secret Lotions, McDonalds gift card, new projection alarm clock, Born sandals, Great and Terrible Novel, Vol. 2, Kitchen Aide Bowl Cover, booties, sports bra set, and candy. Thanks to everyone for the great gifts!

The Happiest Place on Earth?

We spent the weekend of April 5th at Disneyland. Actually, we had a lot more fun that the pictures indicate (we only took these 3 photos to prove we were actually there). Since Brady was going to spend the week with Emily in Texas, we decided to getaway ourselves. We especially liked the Broadway production of Aladdin, Thunder Mountain, the New Orleans Cafe, and Buzz Lightyear.

Brady's Birthday

Brady had 12 friends over for a surprise Sunday dinner March 30th. He received money and mostly tennis stuff. It took a couple of hours to clean up after.

Family Update 3/30/08

Danielle spent Friday in the emergency room of Logan Regional Hospital with a kidney infection. They put her on an IV and gave her pain killers. She is much better.

Lucky took on a racoon and came out on the short end. He was bitten twice, and after his leg began to swell Michelle took him to the Vet where he was given some pain killers, antibiotics, and an X-ray. Fortunately, he leg wasn't broken and he is doing much better.

Easter Sunday

Before church, we all "opened" our Easter Baskets. Brady got some new shoes and a lot of candy. Michelle garnered some lotions, a gift card to get her nails done, and a fleece robe. Don got 2 dress shirts and matching ties, and lots of goodies. After Church, we invited the 4 Markward kids to join Brady in the traditional family Easter Egg Hunt. There were 23 prizes in all. All five of the kids had a good time.

The Morrison Clan - Snowbird 2007

Michelle and Becky Celebrate their Birthdays

Michelle is a New Years baby; Becky was born January 4th.

Christian's Birthday No. 26

Christian turned 26 on January 7th.

Guys Prepare for Boys Night Out - Sonics vs. Celtics

The guys went to Seattle December 27th; Played a couple hours at Game Works; ate at PF changs, and then witnessed a good game at Key Arena, where the Celtics moved ahead for the win during the final minutes. It was a sellout crowd, with several local celebrities in the audience.