Grandpa Sid Morgan

We are sorry to report that Yuri's Grandfather, Sid Othneil Morgan, passed away this month. Sid was a wonderful human being and we are so lucky to have had him in our lives. We will miss his huge heart and meaningful conversations.

Sid Othneil Morgan died peacefully at home during an afternoon nap on August 10, 2010. He was 90. He was born May 21, 1920 in Glendive Montana, the youngest of three children. He was raised in Montana, Florida, and Southern California (most of the travel in a Model T Ford on the typically rutted and muddy roads of the period). When he was 14, his family moved permanently to Castle Rock, Washington. While there he developed a lifelong interest in hunting, fishing and camping. He graduated from Castle Rock High School in 1940. He married his high school sweetheart, Erna, on January 1, 1941. While working in the shipyards as a welder during the early part of World War II, he was drafted into the army in 1943; he served honorably with the 101st Airborne Division in Europe and was discharged in the fall of 1945.

Returning to Seattle, Washington following the war, he worked as one of the last ice men in the city, delivering ice to those households that had not yet converted to refrigerators. Between 1948 and 1952 he worked seasonally for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bristol Bay in various capacities, including building and operating the Ugashik River Weir, operating boats, and participating in the management of set net and gillnet fisheries in the region and enforcement of related federal regulations. In 1953 he was appointed to the permanent position of assistant district agent in Dillingham, where his family joined him. While in Dillingham he was also appointed as a U.S. Deputy Marshall. In 1957 he was appointed the assistant district fisheries agent in Juneau, and in 1958 he was promoted to Cordova as the district fisheries agent. Following statehood in 1959 he accepted the job of Petersburg district agent for the Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Protection. In the fall of 1960 he was promoted to the Deputy Director of the division, and he and his family returned to Juneau. In 1963 he returned to federal service as a special agent with the newly formed foreign fisheries unit within the National Marine Fisheries Service. While on U.S. Coast Guard Cutters he enforced federal fishing regulations in the North Pacific/Bering Sea to ensure foreign vessels were not encroaching on U.S fishing grounds. Later he worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service eagle studies program, cataloguing nests and population densities throughout Southeast. He was instrumental in erecting the eagle tree at the state museum. He also worked on enforcement issues related to the Antiquities Act. He retired in 1977 and is remembered fondly by the many hunters he came into contact with on Juneau’s duck flats.

He was a most excellent and loving husband and father who throughout his life reminded his family of how grateful he was for his beautiful wife family and for having a job that didn’t seem like one.

More Summer Fun...

The summers in Fairbanks are action packed as winter is always right around the corner and we will all be home bound for 6+ months. We have been going strong this summer and the month of July was no exception. Luckily, we were able to document some of the fun stuff to share with our family and friends.

Gulkana Raft Trip

This year marked our second group raft trip on the Gulkana river. We had a few new faces this year and unfortunately the Burks clan was unable to accompany us as they just welcomed a new addition to their family a few months ago and it was too soon to leave Baby Bentley Burks behind. I've only posted two pictures of the trip...I'll post some others in a week or two.

Bill, Yuri and Jesse hitting the rapids.

Bill, Yuri and Lanie on the rapids.

When we returned from our Gulkana adventure we put the tent up to clean it...Rory got a kick out of playing in it.

Golden Days

Immediately upon Returning from the raft trip, Golden Days festivities began. There was a parade, street fair and big barbecue at Alaskaland. Oh, and Jesse and crew competed in the bathtub races again this year.

Pictures below are of Rory watching the carousal at Alaskaland in fascination. She didn't feel confident enough to jump on the thing.

Heather Husband, Joe Michel, and Jesse (shirtless in the tub) running the bathtub races. They came in second place.

The great thing about Alaskaland is the fact that they have snow cones. Rory and her dad love snow cones.

Ella and Symone love Rory...and she loves them. Here is the gang watching the bathtub races.

After the parade we headed downtown to catch the end of the rubber duckie race and check out the booths at the street fair.

Tanana Valley Fair

The fair in in town which means that summer is almost over. Nevertheless, we packed Rory up along with Bud and Joyce (Yuri's grandparents) and headed out to ride a few rides, eat some unhealthy food and to check out the sites.

Yuri talked Rory into getting on the carousal but about 2 seconds into the ride she made it clear that she did not want to be sitting on that horse. Yuri spent the whole time holding her while she fussed. Fun times.

There weren't many rides for kids Rory's age but this is one that her dad could bring her on. She looks excited doesn't she?

Okay...after the rides were over Rory got to do what she really loves - EAT.

You can't tell but Rory was having a mini meltdown and thrashing around in Yuri's arms. I took a picture of her from below and I think it looks pretty cool.

Luckily for Rory the fair also had snow cones.

All Rory has to do is point to something and her Grandma Joyce falls all over herself to get it for her. Here she is pointing at an object of her desire...grandma is in the background pulling money out of her wallet.

She liked to watch the big kid rides.

My cutie pie.

Grandma Joyce showing Rory how to puddle splash...

Another picture of my cutie pie.

Other Fun Stuff

Rory tried children chopsticks for the first time last month. Really she just wanted to stab the food but I think she is starting to get the hang of it.

Rory's daycare had a "spirit week". One of the day's kids were asked to dress in the garb of their favorite team. Since the Warwick's are Yankees fans Rory is automatically a fan. So, below she is wearing her mom's hat with a homemade team shirt made by Yuri.

Rory's great Aunt was a Ballerina and Sydney is thrilled that Rory is showing early signs of being a dancer. Here she is showing her ballerina poses (while eating dinner).

It's Summer...go, go, go

First, you might notice that the look of our blog has changed. I am trying to figure out how to personalize it a bit more but am having difficulties. Hopefully I will learn what I need to learn before I make next month's post.

We have been enjoying our summer and it seems that every weekend is filled with some sort of fun activity or another! We celebrated Yuri's second father's day last month. He is such a fabulous dad - it will take Rory many years to realize how darned lucky she is. With my Mom in New York for a month and Petra (Jesse's girlfriend) in Juneau, also for a month, it was up to me to host the father's day celebration. The dinner consisted of me, Yuri, Jesse and my Dad - food was served, all eyes were on golf, there were no discussions, only grunts every now and then. It was that evening that I realized how important it is to have women around.

The rest of our month was pretty closely documented by pictures...

BOOKSHELF

Our books have been in bins since we moved from Juneau 3 years ago. Our home has little wall space in the main living area so we decided to have shelves installed. Now, as you can see below, many of our books have found a home. We can't put books on the bottom three shelves as Rory's little fingers like to get into things they shouldn't be in. I just love looking at the shelving and think it adds a lot to the living/kitchen area.

GARDEN
I posted pictures of my newly planted gardens in my last post. Well, as you can see below, the garden has gone gang busters!!!! We have already eaten some lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries and the other veggies will be ready for tasting soon! I'm enjoying gardening and am already thinking about how I will do things differently next year.

BANJO LESSONS
Some of you may not know this but Yuri used to play the banjo a bit. Below are pictures of Rory and Yuri "Jamming".

Rory putting on her finger picks.

MIDNIGHT SUN RUN

Those of you that are familiar with Fairbanks know all about the Midnight Sun Run. For those that aren't, the Run is a Fairbanks tradition. Hundreds (if not thousands) of runners and walkers take part in this race that begins at 10pm; and we are lucky to have the race go by our house.

There are parties all along the race course to watch this event, including live music from the local DJ, Jim Matherly, who lives a couple doors down from us. Below is a picture of some of the spectators at our place: (L to R) Symone, Ella and Bill Bailey, me, my Dad and BruceTangeman.

RAIN GEAR

The day after the Midnight Sun Run we had some rain and decided to go on a little walk in our rain gear. Rory looks like a seasoned fisherwoman...although I realize that nothing she is wearing matches.

I've posted the picture below because I thought it was cute AND I wanted to show you Rory's one freckle...isn't it adorable?!

BABY SHOWER
I hosted my sister-in-law, Genevieve Maurits', baby shower last month. I had great plans to host the party in our backyard but the weather did not cooperate until just after the shower began so we stayed in. I like to throw parties and am always kicking myself for not taking pictures of the decor before folks come over; this party was no different as I didn't get many pictures.

Below is a picture of Genevieve opening a gift with her niece, Quinn, looking over the situation. Look closely at the bag on her lap...someone cut out a pregnancy picture of her and glued it to the bag...so cute!

The house was clean and brightly decorated for the shower.

These potted plants were party favors for the guests.

My niece, Addy Morgan, taking over the role of photographer.

Rory and her two cousins, Addy and Quinn, along with Shannon (wonderful girlfriend of Yuri's brother, Nick Otey).

FAMILY

Yuri's brother Leon and his family, along with his sister, Genevieve, and her husband, Kirill, came to town for the 4th of July holiday. In addition to this gang, we were fortunate to have Yuri's Grandfather, Sid, visit from Juneau for several days over the holiday weekend. This was the first time all the FAMO (Frank, Anderson, Morgan, Otey) clan was together in a few years.

Below is a picture of (L to R) Kirill Maurits, Nick Otey and his girlfriend Shannon.

Yuri's uncle, Glen, at the family barbecue at our place. Those of you who know Glen know that he can't stay still...always playing some sort of sport (notice the knee brace).

Back row (L to R) - Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Sid and Grandpa Bud sitting with their well behaved great-grandchildren: Addy, Rory, Quinn and Tyson.

Right after we took the picture above, another grandchild (although she is no longer a "child"), Ryan Anderson, showed up.

After work one day, we found Addy and Quinn manning a lemonade stand. Rory had to get in on the action! She just adores her cousins and I think they return the sentiment.

HARDING LAKE

Our family cabin at Harding Lake is close to 90 years old and my parents have decided to spruce it up a bit. Below is a picture of my dad on his Kubota (I think this is what it is called) clearing some land for a shed.

We spent quite a bit of time over the 4th of July at the Frank cabin at Harding. Below is a picture (L to R) of Kirill, Steve, Leon, Randy and Georgianne Frank.

Rory and Great-grandma Joyce...like peas and carrots.

Kirill, Leon and Nick getting the Jet Ski's going. You might wonder where Yuri is in all these photo's. Well, while I was celebrating the holiday with his family, he was across the lake helping my family remove the old cabinets from the cabin...what a trooper!

Grandpa Sid and Grandpa Bud enjoying their family at the lake.

Pregnant Genevieve, Danae (Yuri's Sister-in-law), and Nick sitting by the campfire.

And finally, we headed back out to Harding Lake this weekend for a friend's birthday. We didn't get many pictures but Yuri did snap this goofy shot of Rory and me. You can see how thrilled Rory is to have her life jacket on.



Hope you are all well!!!