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!"