What's up with Sierra?

Sierra Hanging out with her
Papa Morris.

Sierra's friend Cassie, spent
2 weeks with her in Alaska.

Sierra after one of her

Cross-country meets.

Sierra is very talented!

She can email and text at the

very same time!

It has been hard for Sierra's Dad and I to watch her grow up this past year. She has really grown up fast. When we left for alaska last year she was still just a little girl but now she is a full fledged teenager! equipped with a brush, lip gloss, cell phone and money! She has been such a great oldest child. She is a great help to us and we are so grateful to have such a "sweet" teenager in our home. Sierra loves her friends and trys real hard to keep up with the ones she left behind, and has no trouble making new friends. She is still just as friendly and outgoing as ever and is so fun to be around! And makes her Mom and the rest of the family laugh hard. This year she ran on the Cross-country team and found that she really enjoys running. She just finished playing church basketball and will start playing city ball in January. Sierra is enjoying learning a little more about history this year and loves the novel "Twilight"!

What's up with MaKayla?

MaKayla trying to make the

best of a cold summer day

and an ice cold pool! Brrrr!

MaKayla fishing for Silver

Salmon in the Knik River.

MaKayla busy rock hunting.

MaKayla wanted to grow her

own potato plant this summer.

This was her harvest!

Beautiful, Fun, MaKayla!

MaKayla seems to be up to just about everything. She trys everything atleast once and she is always busy. Her latest adventure was taking a trip to Anchorage to visit a gold smeltering shop, where they take gold harvested from alaska and make it into gold bars. She was able to get her hands on a $100,000.00 gold bar! She was in heaven and hopes to work there when she is older! She is still dreaming of treasure's around the world and cannot wait until she is old enough to travel the world and find them! Until then she'll just have to find more gold in our front yard! MaKayla is playing Hockey with her Brother this year and is loving it. She loves getting on the ice and loves the competition!

What's up with Denver?

Denver mudbogging with one
of David's Scouts.

Denver and MaKayla climbing
through a tunnel that goes under
the road.

Denver fishing with his

"Uncle Ben".

Denver snuggling with his Dad.

Denver fishing again

in Soldotna.

If you haven't guessed by now, where ever there is action you'll find Denver!

He loves being where the men are! Denver is definitely growing up fast. He is outgrowing his sister MaKayla by height, mass and shoe size. He is playing Hockey again this year and loving it. It is so fun to watch him grow and change. He is really fun to watch on the ice, and he is finally understanding how the game works and how to play in his position. He just played his first Hockey game of the year this past week and he scored his first goal! He is very protective of his Mom and sisters and we feel safe having him around. He keeps us on our toes, makes us smile, laugh and his motto is still "Hey it's Alaska!"

What's up with Alaura?

Alaura at her 5th Birthday Party,
with all of her friends!

Playing in the dirt at "Jim Creek"

Daddy just can't get in enough
snuggles with his littlest angel.

Alaura dressing up
and striking a pose!

Alaura spends much of her time
hanging out at the ice arena!


Alaura is definitely busy! Just keeping up with everyone else is a full-time job! She spends a lot of time in the car with mom running the bigger kids around and so she loves to stay home when she gets a chance, and watch movies. Her new favorite is "Tinkerbell!"
She is quite the little artist! She draws atleast 1 masterpiece a day and she loves writing her ABC's and her name. She is working on her letter sounds and the pledge of allegiance. She still enjoys dressing up and her new favorite is her pink cheerleading outfit. She also loves to dance to moms old favorite Michael Jackson songs. She's got some pretty good moves! This year for Halloween she was a "Style Cat!"

PaPa Morris

Grandpa enjoying some goodtimes

this summer with his Mama.

We all took a fieldtrip to the

Cancer Center in Anchorage

with Grandpa and Aunt RaeLynn.

Grandpa on his 65th Birthday!

Grandpa doing a little fishing

with his brother, Tim.

It has been a pretty rough year for John. Being diagnosed with Lung Cancer in january of last year he has put up quite the fight for life! We are so proud of the strides he has made! He has had many treatments in the past year, chemotherapy and radiation to the lung and radiation to the brain, which has been extremely hard on him. It has caused extreme nausea and fatigue which has brought about major weight loss! At his lowest he weighed in at about 145lbs. In fact my thighs are bigger than his right now! Although the battle has been long and hard, it has been successful and we are all happy to report that things are definitely looking up! The reports are showing no cancer in the brain, and what they see in the lung might only be scar tissue! He just might be, cancer free! We will find out for sure in January. Anyway he is currently living with us and we are trying to fatten him up for the holidays! We love him so much and we are so grateful to be able to be here with him to help him through. Again we are so proud of him. He has been patient and long suffering and has had a positive and humorous attitude about his condition. We pray daily that he will regain full health and that the day will come that he will let us know that he is heading out to go gold panning!

We are so grateful to all of you who have come to see him and to help him through the healing process! We also appreciate all of your love and support!

Our Trip to the State Fair!

Me, My Handsome Guy and Alaura Lin
Enjoying some rides at the Fair!



All Alaura wanted was pink hair....
oh yes, and cotton candy to match!



Denver fits in real well with the
Alaska crowd! Gun and all!



MaKayla saved up $20 for her Fair Hair!
It took and hour and a half to get that long
hair to stand up that high! She was as tall as her Dad!
She was a big hit at the Palmer High School football
game that same night! Go Moose!


Where's Sierra? You ask?
Missing in Action!
Money in Pocket...rides...food...friends....
She's outta Here!

Our "Home Sweet Home"

1. Finished Product!
2. Kitchen
3. Looking up at vault and loft
4. Family Room
5. Ready for Guests!

I would show you more pictures of the bedrooms if they were clean, but that may never be!

Basically this home is one big great room which sits right behind the big gable windows that you see in the last picture. It consists of the kitchen and dining area (right) and the family room (left). Stairs lead up from the great room to the loft which is Mom and Dad's bedroom. Just below the loft and behind the great room a hallway leads to 3 bedrooms for the kids, a hall bathroom and half bath guest bathroom. Just inside the garage entrance to the house and behind the kitchen is a coat closet and the laundry room. We also had an apartment built onto the back of the garage for PaPa Morris or other guests.

We Love it! It is cozy and we feel very at home here!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Building a New Home

1. This is the Place

2. Foundation of our new lives

3. & 4. Lincoln Logs

5. Happy to see things moving along!

Alaura -Cute on the Butte!

Alaura is still trying to figure out this Alaska thing. She wonders why there are no sidewalks or Grandma's in Alaska, and would very much like to make some changes. She is currently learning to ride her bike and it is very difficult on dirt roads! So she told Daddy that he needs to make her a sidewalk! Maybe next year! She enjoyed being with all of the Grandma's that came up this past year and has a hard time when they go! And she loves getting the mail in hopes there might be something from Grandma! Alaura will be doing homeschool preschool with Mom this year and has been very excited about helping set up the classroom!
We Love her so much and she plays the part of "Baby" of the family really well!

Denver - and his new best friend "Tank"

Denver loves his adventures here in Alaska! He has enjoyed playing hockey this past year and is looking forward to the new season! He loves climbing the Butte (a small mountain near our home), riding his 4 wheeler, playing with his friends and his new dog "Tank" and hanging out with his grandpa. He still gives us girls a hard time and his name is the most frequently used name in the house. But I think if he couldn't tease us a bit, he might go crazy! Denver loves Alaska and Alaska loves Denver! He takes to heart the Alaskan concept that one only needs a bath once in a long, long while! Denvers famous last words are

"Hey it's Alaska!"

MaKayla - Lookin' for Gold!

MaKayla is loving it here in Alaska! She is definitely in her element! She loves the outdoors, she loves hiking, she loves fishing, she loves rocks, and she loves Gold! And she is good at finding it too! We went goldpanning with Grandma Shari and she found more that anyone all by herself! MaKayla has loved making new friends and exploring Alaska! She hopes to be an archeologist and find something amazing when she grows up! But for now she plans to play hockey this year and maybe take up some art lessons! She is great at keeping us all on schedule and remembering things for her mom!

Sierra Lee - "Takin' a Break"

Sierra has had to get used to a lot of new things this past year and has taken it all in stride! new state, new home, new school, Jr high - Aaaagghhhhh!!!, braces - Aaaagghhhhh!!! And she just keeps on smilin! She has enjoyed getting to know some new friends, having her own cell phone - which she loves to text with, playing basketball, running cross country and communicating with old friends through email! She still continues to bring us so much joy in our home by being a peacemaker and she is such a great example for the younger kids. She is excited about turning 14 and being able to go to stake dances and to youth conference this year!

Me - Gold Panning with My Mom!

As for little ol me? I'm surviving! To tell you the truth it has been a difficult year and my heart still aches often to be close to the family and friends that I miss so much!

Besides that, I have to say that Alaska has been good to me! I do love it here! I have always loved the outdoors and I feel a lot of peace up here in the woods! I love the enviornment and the pace of Alaska - which is slow and laid back. No one is in to much of a hurry and so I fit in here real nicely.

I spend much of my time trying to keep up with my family who is running faster than I would like, but hey atleast they are running! I am so proud of them and how well they have all adjusted to such a big change!

Life is good and I am blessed and I love you all!

David Lee - "Shootin the Breeze with his Dad"

David has worked really hard this year making a new home for his family here in Alaska.

It has been a dream of his for a long time and his wife finally decided that it was a Great Idea!

He is currently working for WorldWide Technologies in Anchorage and seems to really love the company and the work.

He has also enjoyed being close to his Dad again and has been able to help him get started with cancer treatment, which has gone really well! What a blessing!

He is Happy to be back home again and is excited about showing his family Alaska!

Dear Family and Friends...

Check out our new home in Alaska!

We thought this was a great way to celebrate our year.
By publishing it for all of our loved ones to see!

It has been a difficult and crazy year and this is long in coming!

Thanks to all of the Family and Friends

who traveled so far to see us!

You made us feel loved and filled the aching in our hearts!

We are so grateful for all of you and the love and support

you send our way!

We couldn't do it without you cheering us on!

Please know that we All Love and Miss you so much

and think of you and pray for you always!
You are in our Hearts Forever!

Love - The Morris Family!