Not Afraid of Life (15 page)

I fished in the Mat-Su Borough from a young
age. Here I am fishing with my grandfather at Willow Creek.

After a summer basketball camp with Coach
Bradley, I enjoyed hanging out with my sisters.

Piper and my cousin McKinley, both one, while
I watched them at my grandma’s house.

I spent my school breaks attending Coach
Bradley’s basketball camp.

I joined the football team when Track
insinuated that I couldn’t handle the practices. I had to prove to him that I
could!

Posing next to fossils at my grandparents’
house. These same fossils were later inlaid in my parents’ fireplace.

The cousins gathered at my grandparents’ house
during Christmas 2004. This is a family tradition that we do every year.

The entire family lining up for a snowmachine
ride.

A photo spanning the generations, including my
great-grandmother, grandmother, and sisters, celebrating our Alaskan heritage by
wearing Kuspuks.

When I was a freshman, I went to a school
dance with a friend.

After my mother became governor, we posed with
the newspaper the next morning.

The governor’s gala helped celebrate my
mother’s gubernatorial success. She was the first woman elected governor of
Alaska.