Nick & Rachel. Our big news is actually a very small baby girl. Alexa Laurie Nelson is now six months old and growing like a weed. We decided to send two pictures because we're in the running for the world's most stupidly proud parents. The more we try to fatten her up the taller she grows. She is a pro at standing with Mom or Dad’s help and
rolling over. She is very vocal both when she’s happy and when someone dares to do something she doesn’t like such as put her to bed. In fact, as we write this she’s laying in her bed squawking away because she thinks it is not bed time when it most definitely is. She has a tendency to start happily yelling at the top of her lungs unexpectedly in places like sacrament meeting.
The legal end of Alexa’s adoption is now almost complete. Currently LDS Family Services is her legal guardian for our “supervisory period”, where they make sure that we are not letting her play with knives or training her to be a terrorist. That is mostly just a formality, although some of her diapers could be classified as
chemical weapons. The final legal step is set to be completed on September 20th (assuming Alexa doesn’t launch a diaper-bomb at a major metropolitan area) and we have scheduled Alexa’s temple sealing for October 8th at 11am in the Denver Temple. If any of you happen to be passing through Colorado around then we’d love to have you at the sealing. Our relationship with Alexa’s biological parents is a new experience for us as we’re sure it must be for them, but so far it’s been very positive. Adoption is quite an adventure of experiences and emotions, but we are enjoying it.
Rachel is now a full-time Mom and she loves being at home with Aly. Nick is still slowly making progress toward his PhD. We are loving life as new parents even though it doesn’t involve very much sleep.
Melody. The human heart never ceases to amaze me with its capacity for love. Our Japanese tourists are returning, and I notice that besides the usual omiyagi, or gifts, for those back home, they are really going all out to share their own good blessings to travel. For example, they are taking home TWENTY candy bars (which may melt before they arrive), or TEN polo shirts.
I got rear-ended last month. The result is that I got a new-used car, a 1996 Honda Civic EX (moon roof), silver, with only 153,000 miles on it. I had 117,000 on my 2006 Hyundai. It’s in very good condition, feels "homey," and has been good to drive thus far. I'm
in good shape, I can't lift as much weight with my right arm (yet?) as I used to, but almost. My chiropractor said that I never cease to amaze him. I don't know if that means it shouldn't be humanly possible for me to walk around from week to week, or if I'm snapping back (literally) faster than he thought.
I've also been so busy I haven't had the energy to even get online lately, I'm trying to fit too much into my days, but it's kind of nice to get massages and chiropractic sessions. I reconnected with my doctor, my massage therapist is an old friend, and I'm seeing people I don't usually see -- kind of like travelling without leaving home.
It was so nice to see Robert and Merrily and family. I'm so excited that they are going to return.
Greg & Kandice. All is well with us. We are still in Pullman, Washington and will be here for one more year. Greg is just starting his second year of grad school. He will graduate next May. He as been working hard on getting his research done and has enjoyed the freedoms of grad school. Greg has also been the ward mission leader for the past year. He has enjoyed working with the Elders and helping spread the gospel. The boys are growing like crazy and keeping us busy as ever. They enjoy playing outside when ever we let them out. Zachary is now four and Joshua is two. Zachary is looking forward to starting preschool again in the fall. Joshua wishes he was old enough to go to preschool too. He likes to keep up with Zachary and does a good job at it. The boys love to color and build things. They are a great help to both Greg and I. I have been busy keeping up with the boys and trying to keep the house clean. I have made sure we get outside occasionally and have some fun. I have also been busy conducting our ward choir. We have enjoyed lots of family time this summer. We hope all is well with all of you. We love you all.
Annie. Summer is over here. Of course, it's still over a hundred degrees every day and sunny with blue skies. The pool is lovely, but Will started back to school last week, Al is traveling again, and I'm working hard to meet a deadline at the end of the month. The end of July all of us--except Rob and Rachel who had to work--went on a cruise to Bermuda for Al's family reunion. His dad turned 80, so the Morrison kids planned this trip to surprise him. He knew he was going to be there--but he didn't know the rest of us were coming. It was great to see Andy and Kay and Shante and Jack. Rachel rode the bus from Washington, D.C. the weekend before the cruise left, so we got to see her, too. And we got to see lots of Morrison cousins who live in Eastern Canada--we rarely see them, so that was a good thing.
Rachel came home from her internship in Washington, D.C. and less than two days later she hopped on a plane for Nigeria. She's there now. So far, safe and sound. She comes home Saturday. Hooray! She flew via Chicago and then Frankfurt. When she got to Chicago, the airline announced the flight would leave early because there was a strike planned in Germany. Rachel had a five hour lay-over in Frankfurt, so she was worried she would be stuck there. She was praying; we were praying. Lots of praying. Half-way across the Atlantic, the captain announced the strike had been called off and all flights were normal. Rachel is our miracle girl. This is her fifth trip to Africa. She has to be a miracle girl.
Thanks so much to all of you who came for Andy and Kay's wedding and sharing that special time with us. We love you guys. It wouldn't have been the same without you. I wish I could have visited more with all of you. Sidney took beautiful pictures. And you all look pretty and handsome in them.
Andy and Kay have moved to Dallas. Rob and Shante are returning from North Carolina for Rob's last year of his MBA. Rachel will be home a week and then back to BYU for her last semester. Will is a junior and taking all advanced placement classes. He's sixteen and ready to get his driver's license. Al is traveling less this fall. He's lost 70 pounds since his surgery. He goes for long walks in hundred degree heat. I'm chained to my computer or huddled in a corner scribbling. I have a new agent who keeps me hard at work. She's marketing MY ONLY LOVE--the book about Will Glover -- now. I hope to write a book based on mom's childhood this fall. I'm heading up the Salt Lake and then Rexburg in early October.
Mom & Ramon. I had my fifty-fifth high school reunion this summer. Eighty-six of my classmates attended. It was a great time. Lucy and David and their families visited in July. Lucy will be back in September to bring Sidney to BYU-I. Then Annie is coming in October and Laurie in November.
Ramon had laser surgery a few weeks ago. It will take about six weeks to know how effective the surgery was but everything went really well. Last week we took a “doctors holiday.” A whole week with neither of seeing a doctor for anything. It was wonderful.
Dan. Our family had a busy summer as I'm sure you all did. Nadya taking kids here and there, going to school, running the house, etc., and all this with a baby in one arm, another hanging on her thigh, and the third nagging, "I want, I want, I want". She amazes me. I don't know how you moms do it.
Danil ended the summer by smashing the -bleep- out of his shoulder and collar bone while skateboarding. He's now wrapped up and on pain meds. We knew where wheels and concrete meat, it is only a matter of time before you visit the emergency room. He is recovering nicely. Sofia and Giselle enjoy tea parties, playing in the playhouse, and going to the park and library with mom. Sofia is a master of sign language and knows her ABC's. She loves to sing with Papa and dance. She is fearless and loves to be in the highest, hardest to get to places, without any help, thank you very much.
Giselle admires her big sister but is also very strong willed and has learned to stand up for her self against the tyranny of the self proclaimed queen of our house. Survival instinct I think. (Maybe David can confirm this?)
I had a very busy summer with work as I got couple of pretty good sized remodel contracts. We are doing a 40 room motel, inside and out with lots of updating. Almost finished with the inside. Spent a few days in Phoenix studying and testing to get my commercial contractors license. Still need one more test. The family stayed in a nice resort while Papa went to school all day. It was a nice change for all of us.
Danil will take 'on line school' this semester as we are trying mom wants to try something new. Nadya is back to school soon and will begin the official nurses program instead of the 5000 prerequisites.
I'm glad it is WPN time because I have something to say. I think I speak for some of our family who are like me. We love you all very much. We feel privileged and blessed to be in such a wonderful family with such unique and amazing people. We love hearing about your lives and seeing your photos. We rejoice with you when you rejoice and we mourn with you when you mourn. We wish you joy and peace always. We love hearing your stories and watching your kids grow, as we believe you do ours. However, we (ME), as you know, am horrible at writing, corresponding, sending cards and letters, phoning, etc. This was a summer of many birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, weddings and other things of which I should be much more attentive. We receive birthday, anniversary and other greetings from some of you and it is absolutely wonderful. Again, as you know, this is not my 'gift.' And I think I speak of some others when I say we carry some serious guilt for being this way, but hey, I'm not whining. However, please don't think that we don't think of you and pray for you and wish you every good thing, we do. And we thank you for those blessings, please don't stop. In conclusion, I wish you happy birthday, anniversary, congratulations, Happy Holidays, etc. for the rest of your life. How's that? Does that get me off the hook? Seriously, we are praying for Camille and her medical stuff. Thanks for keeping us updated. I'll shut up now.
David. This summer has been busy. We started with a road trip home to Rexburg where Dave and his best friend went to Adventures for Youth (AFY) at BYU-Idaho. They got to spend a week doing fun things like rappelling
and white water rafting, and had many good spiritual experiences. While Dave was at AFY we got to visit with Mom and Ramon, and took the rest of the family on a trip to Targhee, Teton National Park and Yellowstone. It was fun to take the kids to 
the top of Targhee to show them where Jen and I skied when we were younger. The scenery was amazing and saw a large number of bears (six, including a mother and three cubs, at a safe distance.
After picking up Dave we went to Jen's brother's house. His house is a huge log house that he built himself, including going into the forest and cutting down the logs. Her twin niece and nephew were getting baptized, so there was a lot of family there.
On the Fourth of July, we enjoyed the Rexburg parade and then met Lucy and her family in Jackson. We went to the rodeo and then watched fireworks. I wish our families were closer so we could spend more time together.
Sabrina kept busy in the summer play our friends put on, Into the Woods. She loves being in plays and did a great job. It certainly kept her busy. David got his first real job with the Dept of Ecology Youth Corp. Ya, it's picking up trash along the
highway, but it pays. It pays with my tax dollars, but it pays. Zach and Daniel have enjoyed the break from school, an unhealthy amount of cartoons, and the occasional trip to the pool when it gets above freezing. Side note: it's been really cold this summer.
Among Jen's crazy schedule of being the mother of four, the Primary president, and an aspiring author, she decided to take on the role of Teacher/Coordinator for a Japanese student exchange group. Which meant she and her friend had to find homes
for 25 students plus their teacher, coordinate activities and field trips, and teach English every day. We have had two students living with us, and as normal with the Japanese students, they have been gems to have in our home. Even though it has been a hectic and crazy experience, Jen has done an amazing job. We just got back from a camping trip by the ocean, where we combined with a couple other families and their exchange students. While camping with 18 teenagers (ten with a language barrier), four smaller kids, and only five adults was fun, I wouldn't recommend it.
In more fun news, Jen has received the advanced reader’s copy of her book, Breaking Beautiful. And it is now listed for pre-order on the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles websites. It's so much fun to be able to hold a printed book that is the realization of her dream. We’re all very happy for her. Also, the book cover features a photograph that we took together out on the coast. You can read more about the cover on her blog http://www.wolftalez.blogspot.com/.
As for me, my summer project has been to build a shed. It seemed simple enough, but like any DIY project it's taking four times as long and costing twice as much. At least it gives me a good excuse to play with the power tools I've bought from all the past projects. After this is done, I think I need to stick with photography and programming computers.
I was asked to give a talk in church about families, and I couldn't resist going back in time and talking about our unique family, how it was brought together, and how we made it work. They were great memories, and I'm so happy to be a part of our family which now, with all the spouses and grand kids, has gone from large to amazingly huge. We’re looking forward to the next time we can all get together again. Love you all.
Laurie. We have had a bit of an unpredictable summer, but it has been good nonetheless. In April we discovered that Camille has an enlarged thyroid which led to an ultrasound which led to a biopsy and now she is scheduled for surgery on
August 25th for the removal of her thyroid. Because of all the various appointments, etc., not to mention her State Jr. Miss rehearsals, we had to do lots of changing to our summer plans. We did have a great week at Twin Lakes, and Neil and I attended a Nelson family reunion in Pinetop, Arizona with Nick, Rachel and Alexa.
Camille just finished the Oregon State Distinguished Young Woman Program (formerly Jr. Miss). She came home with a lot of great memories, good friends, and new skills. Anyone who wants to interview her will be totally impressed! It's a good program to be a part of.
I will be teaching early morning seminary this coming year. I am excited and nervous, as well. My biggest sacrifice is that after about 16 years, I have to give up my early morning exercise time with Neil. It is my favorite time of the day. We run/walk and I jabber away. I will miss those therapy sessions!
One more addition to our news…Cassidy & Jesse were married on May 10th. The wedding was beautiful. Thanks to all who came and all who couldn't come but sent their love. Cassidy & Jesse are living in Salt Lake where Jesse has an engineering internship with Varian Medical. They will return to BYU this fall.
We have a wonderful, strong family and we feel blessed to be a part of it. We love you all.
Jim. We’re closing on the new house this Friday and moving in over the weekend. Starting to think about how sad our old “small house” furniture is going to look in a place 50% bigger and our blinds are coming a week or two late. Our closing date actually moved forward two weeks so we got behind. Then we plan to start some landscaping later in the fall (after a couple more paychecks!), but most of that will be put off until spring.
Our new mailing address is
5080 Saxton Hollow Rd
Colorado Springs, CO 80908
719-450-4048 (my cell)
Tyler is happy about his new room, but less thrilled about moving to a new school. We thought about hauling him 15 miles to the old one so he could finish 8th grade there but decided that was a logistics nightmare – bus stop for the new school is practically at the foot of our driveway – and it’s just as relevant to meet the kids now that he’ll be going to high school with. Cooper loves it in the forest. He already knows it’s his new home, just doesn’t know we’ll be reigning him in with some invisible fence next week.
Hope everybody is having a great summer.
Merrily. Robert has several projects going on simultaneously at our house. He built a fence and refinished our deck, rebuilt part of the rockery, dug a trench and laid pipe to tie our storm water into the drain system, and has a crew putting a new sidewalk and stairs in front of the house. I’ve been canning, gardening, keeping the house going (but not especially clean), and balancing the checkbook so we can afford the work Robert’s doing.
We had a wonderful vacation in Hawaii. The first few days were on Oahu. We stayed on the North Shore near Kelsey. Robert’s mom and his sister and
family were there at the same time (plus some cousins that live there) so we hung out together and had so much fun. Kelsey went with us to Kauai for a week. Eli, Solomon and Abraham had a surfing lesson and all did great. We did some sight seeing and visited friends and more cousins there. Kelsey, Kaela, and Eliahs went home and the rest of us went to the Big Island for a week.
Kelsey just returned to Hawaii after an internship in Western Samoa. She asked me to pass on a "talofa lava" (hello) to you all. She says “alofa ia te 'oe” (I love you), and “e faalelele la'u faasamoa” (my Samoan isn't good).
Kaela is still workikng full time and has fun with her friends when she gets a chance. Victor and Eliahs go back to school next week. Solomon and Abraham get an additional week of vacation and then they start back after Labor Day.
Amy. We had a pretty quiet summer; it’s been really hot and dry here. Last week we took our annual favorite vacation to the Archibald's cabin in Wisconsin. Brittany and Steven were able to come too, and we had a great week at the lake. Then I drove with Sean out to college in Utah, a 22 hour drive! Colton started high school and Brian started middle school this week, so we're trying to get back into the routine after a much too short summer.
Ken. Leah started at Carrington College in Spokane. She wants to become a massage therapist. She also works at a clothing store in the Valley Mall so she’s pretty busy. Aubrey went back to UI yesterday. She lives within walking distance of campus now with a couple of roommates. She’s reconsidering the Architecture degree.
I moved to a new shop on 29th called Fringe. It’s like a vacation to not be an owner for a while. I still spend whatever money I’m not spending on college on my buildings in Tekoa.
Lucy. We took two trips up to Idaho this summer. Sid, Adri, and I went to Utah for Andy and Kay's wedding. It was a beautiful day and Sidney did a great job capturing it all through photographs. It was so good to get to see some of you at the wedding. Thanks Andy and Kay for falling in love; it gave us all a great excuse to get together and see each other! We then went to Idaho to show Sidney around campus. Bryce gave us the grand tour in the middle of a rain and hail storm. Needless to say, Sidney wasn't that impressed with the weather, but they have the cutest little cupcake shop in Rexburg and that, and that alone, is the only thing that will get her back up there! She is such a sap for anything cute and quaint.
Our second trip to Idaho the whole family went. Matt and I went to my 25th class reunion and then we all went to Teton Valley to celebrate the 4th of July. Nothing beats that part of the country in the summer. There were fields of poppies everywhere you looked, snow on the mountains, and a cool breeze at night. David and Jen came up that day and we had a BBQ, the kids picked bouquets of wild flowers, Daniel kick Matt's can in checkers, and then we all went to
Jackson Hole for the rodeo and fireworks. It was so much fun and I'm so glad we got to spend it with David's family. It was the best 4th of July I had had in years. It was also good to spend some time with Mom and Ramon in their beautiful home.
We have had a great summer! Nice and lazy but the fun has come to an end and the kids are back in school. Carly moved up to the high school (10th grade), Adri moved up to the junior high (7th grade), and we will take Sidney to BYU-I in a few weeks. Lots of changes for the Ulrich girls! Both Carly and Adri said the exact same thing when they came home from school on Wednesday, "HS/Jr. High is way too big, I never see my friends, there are too many kids at lunch, and I want to go back to Jr. High/Grade School." I'm sure it will get better. Carly worked hard all summer at volleyball camps and we are proud to announce her hard work paid off and she made the RMHS volleyball team. We are very excited for her! I love to see my children work hard and accomplish their goals. I hope this finds you all healthy and happy, and I hope it's a great school year for all our kids!
