Josh comes home in style!

After a long week for the Morrison Family - we made it home! Over the UEA holiday, we drove to Calif. to spend a few days visiting friends and to see Chelsea's choir performance. Our plans were interrupted when Josh slid his knee over a sprinkler head (playing tag) which required several stitches in the E.R. Unfortunately, the wound became infected and he ended up with a six day stay in the hospital with IV antibiotics. They were super-drugs, which included Vancomycin. Thanks to all the prayers and quick work of the doctors, Josh is doing well and enjoyed his trip home. The capt. of the plane gave him special treatment, which included a tour of the pit, special "Josh" announcements over the loud speaker and SEVERAL wings to keep for his shirt. Once at the airport we took a white stretch limousine ride back home. According to Josh it was "way cool!"

He's in a leg brace for a min. of one week - fortunately he is allowed to place full weight on the leg, just not bend it. It was a tiring week - but it was bearable due to the love and support of our family and Woodfield friends! Thank you!!!

Fall is here!

Just before the rains arrived, I was able to snap a few pictures of fall in the American Fork Cyn. Its just beautiful. We also wanted to go apple picking, but instead planted our first apple tree for family home evening. Alex really enjoyed the digging and planting. I'm hoping to have a "mini" orchard next year. Click on planting to see some of the work in action!

Sheep Dog Championship

Last Sat. we had the fun opportunity to attend the Sheep Dog Championship in Heber - at Soldier Hollow. Its a beautiful place where the biatholon and cross country skiing took place for the Olympics. What a day! We were sweltering in the midday- but it rapidly cooled off as the clouds came it. We had great fun with the Marilyn Ryan family. The dogs were amazing as were the bag pipes .

Josh and Alex had fun on a couple of rides they had at the event. Click on ride to watch them in action!

All in all it was a fun day. Its hard to believe that this beautiful mountain range is our "back yard"

Josh turns 10!

Sept. 1st we celebrated Josh's 10th birthday. Despite a foot injury, he managed to enjoy a small party with his football team mates. The following day we went out to dinner at Goodwood BBQ for delicious Ribs (Josh's favorites). His birthday wish ???? A new Nintendo DS lite. His wish was granted.....plus with his birthday money he was able to score 2 addtl. games!


Happy Birthday Josh!!

First Day of School

I am seriously behind on my "blogging!" My bad! The first day of school has come and gone, but here are a few pictures. My kids were boycotting our tradition of first day of school pictures. However "sad" their pictures may look - they had a great day. EVEN ALEX! He gave his teacher a hug "good-bye." So don't give the frown too much weight!

Josh is enjoying his school - he rotates for 5 classes and has 4 teachers. He follows a A/B block schedule and has every Monday as a min. day.

Maggie also has min. day each day and is thrilled to have a block schedule again. She prefers that the best. She also has her driver's permit and has been chauffering us around. She is an excellent driver so far. She also LOVES having her seminary class during the day! No more early mornings!


Alex loves being home with mom. He agrees to go to Preschool when I have a bribe with him. He knows the good life when he has it. He is the family shadow and wants to play everything! Our first pet is a Beta and he has appropriately named it "Blue Fish" since it is blue. Alex is our most entertaining child and we have a great time with him. These days he sings the "ABC" song constantly and counts 1 to 12 in Spanish (thanks to Dora)

Football Practice

Football season is underway and Josh has been steadily at practice. Click on football practice to catch a glimpse of the tackles. There are two so don't forget the second one! Josh is the little guy in white trying to tackle the dark shirt. While Josh practices, Alex enjoys playing on the playground and in the nearby canal. With the nice warm weather, its been a nice way to cool off. Click on Alex to watch him play. Enjoy!

Nana and Tia Rosie visit

This week we were very lucky to have the Nana visit for her birthday - Happy Birthday Nana! Tia Rosie and Madison came along. They only spent 2 days, but it was fun. We spent an entire day shopping and we had a blast at Mormon Handicraft. So many cool projects. My sister and I also loved Ann Taylor's 70% off sale. Why is shopping so fun with friends and family. We were proud of our bargains. It's sad to see them go - but we look forward to the next visit. Tia Rosie has the pictures of us at Heritage Park- so those will be coming soon.

Highland Fling

This weekend our little community celebrated "Highland Fling" which is a festival with a parade, games, food, vendors and concerts. We thoroughly enjoyed the parade and music. It was fun to see Kirby Heybourne and here all the girls yell and scream for him. He was gracious to stay HOURS later to sign autographs for his adoring fans. We had a wonderful picnic dinner with Jay's old roommate, Robbie Nichols and his beautiful family. The end of the day was great with an amazing firework show. Several vendors sold glow in the dark items, such as necklaces, balls, bracelets and mouth pieces. Alex loved all of it! It was fun to be a part of a community tradition and we look forward to next year !

Utah County Fair

The annual County Fair is this weekend (at Thanksgiving Point) and Josh had the opportunity to earn a patch by attending. So we braved the sweltering heat - but had a great time. Alex LOVES the rides. We were hoping to eat roasted corn, but it was way too hot. We opted for ice cold slushes - ahhhhh!

Morrison Golf Green

We're finding that Alex likes to play all sports. In the 10 plus years Jay lived in Calif., he played golf twice. Now that he has a lawn large enough for a mini-golf course, he's out practicing almost every nite. It's usually around 8:30p that you find both of them out in the back hitting the green.

Of course, a lawn this large needs a tractor mower..Maggie was eager to try it out. How many places can you mow at 9pm???

Home Projects

Out here in Utah there is a place call "DI" which stands for Deseret Industries - in other words - the thrift shop. Donations from all over end up at DI stores and its a haven for "do-it-yourself-ers." Its a much nicer Goodwill and we've been going there off and on to check it out. There are some awful things and there are some cool things that need a make-over. Since Jacob's room is "Snowboarder" theme, we decided to pick up a $5 snowboard and make wallhanging with it. I took the bindings off and used them to hold up the curtains (which were a steal at $5 ea.) Maggie painted a Burton logo (snowboard company) on one wall. We found a cool retro chair that we will re-upholster - but not sure with what kind of fabric. The picture here is the "before" picture. It's been my full time job trying to figure out how to decorate my home with a slim budget - its been fun having to work my brain out. Thus far Jacob's room has cost about $50 ($30 paint, $10 curtains and $10 for snowboard decor.)

A little painting.....well, alot of painting

Given our "no budget" availability for decorating, I'm painting rooms for a fresh beginning. Besides, Jacob didn't want his room to stay pink. We started with Jacob's because no one is in there and it was a pretty simple design. Maggie drew out a Burton Logo on one wall and I painted out the rest. Alex helped out too...as you'll see. The room is snowboard theme - so now we're going to start looking for do-it-yourself projects to help the decor. Enjoy the pictures!!

Welfare Square

Today the young women of our ward (Highland 23rd) went on a tour of "Welfare Square" in SLC. Although I passed the silos many times, I had never been there. Boy! I was certainly impressed by the efforts of Welfare Services. Everything from Transient Services (showers, clothing, hot food), to dairy, grain, canned goods, furniture and clothing, and of course Employment services. Each month when we fast we always remember our Fast Offerings (monetary donations that go to Humanitarian Efforts), but its exciting to see all the activities that these dollars allow. The cleaning kit you see above was sent to Katrina victims, along with 140 Semi-Trucks of supplies. The dairy produces milk (excellent chocolate milk!) , cheese, but the greatest "Mormon invention" is "Atmi" which in Ethiopian means "nourishing pourridge." It was developed specifically to treat malnourishment - especially for the famine victims of Ethiopia. Its made to help the digestive system so that the person can begin to take food. WOW!!! At the end of our tour we met lovely Sister Missionaries - from the U.S., Spain, and Sweden. Our tour guide is from Sandy - but he and others also give tours at Temple Square. We are so fortunate to be able to contribute - but seeing the huge warehouses of food and clothing brought tears to my eyes. My few dollars each month was really helping a soul in need - and I was able to witness the service in action. We had a great time together. The picture with the group are the young women and leaders. I'm so happy I get to hang out with this incredible group!!

New Alex pix

Jay and I were out one afternoon - only to find Alex sitting in the desk drawer - quite peaceful.
Enjoy !

Morrison Kids

Pioneer Day in Utah

Hello Family and Friends,
As we are new to Utah - the whole "Pioneer Day" is interesting. For one thing, everyone sells fireworks, Wal-mart, Costco, grocery stores, and corner stands. They're everywhere!! All state offices are closed and there is no mail (not sure why - that's federal). There is a huge parade that people go the night before and camp out to grab a perfect seat. Its even televised on the local station with commentators and everything. What I enjoy the most are the American flags everywhere. I'm posting a picture of our street with flags adorning it - as well as the horses across from us. Its a grand tradition here where Utahns take pride in their state and of being American. Although our family doesn't do much - I'll have to come up with our own new tradition.

Family photos

Chelsea and Michael



Alex on the front lawn....I'm still figuring out how to upload, but we'll add as we can. Maggie is the only one with a digital camera now...
Jacob and Maggie in Rexburg at one of the dances....
The boy with the hawaiian lei is Chelsea's boyfriend, Michael, who is in Maine this summer building a sailboat.....Now that I know we can publish photos's I'll be sure to upload as often as possible..Don't expect any too soon of Jay and I - we're trying to lose weight :)