Beautiful Times

A glacier's edge in the Dry Valleys. One of the many stops on the helicopter flight to Marble Point.

Frozen lake in the Dry Valleys.

A helicopter with a sling load.

The fuels building at Marble Point. This is where I would wait for helicopters to land (because they're so loud and they kick up so much dirt).

Dave made Grandma Koehlinger's lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving, and it was phenomenal. I made the crust, greek salad, mediterranean olive tapenade, roasted eggplant and hundreds of chocolate truffles in six flavors. Karen made traditional fare; the turkey and mashed potatoes. It was awesome! Just being with three wonderful people for the holidays made it great.

The 7.5 hour Thanksgiving Day hike up Hogback was well worth the views.

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! Time has absolutely flown away from us this season. I've been enjoying my job, especially being outside all day everyday. Marble Point (helicopter refueling facility) for 2 weeks was a bit of perfection for me, as was spending Thanksgiving there with Dave, who was out there for a week after me. He's been staying busy at the gym and on a volleyball team. I've been making hats, making costumes for random events and hosting our wonderful friends, whom are stacked McCall heavy (I think there are 18 of us here this season). It's always a bummer being away from family for Christmas, and we miss all of you. We will, however, have dinner with my college friend Julie and her husband. And the other Ildiko is making some traditional Hungarian fare. It will be a two day weekend, and the thing I'm most excited about is our Fuels Department's Secret Santa exchange. It'll be good. Love you. More pics up on facebook if you go there.