Our bedroom window view of Observation Hill. We're in the same dorm, same floor as the last couple seasons.
The view from our outside stairwell. The blue bldg. is the galley where we eat and internet.
Downtown Christchurch was a heart wrenching visit. It's still in ruins and the center is still cordoned off and abandoned. It's eerie, like and end of the world movie.
It's terribly sad to see almost every single church in shambles.
No sounds in the central area, just birds singing, no people walking around and incredible damage in every single direction.
We were very lucky to have an extra day in Christchurch to stroll in the gardens. In addition to the Botanic Gardens, we explored two other gorgeous gardens we'd never seen before. One of them is a rustic preserve with native trees and kiwi birds with lots of jungle vines and songbirds.
Dave and Wendy strolling in the Botanic Gardens. A gorgeous spring!!
The magnolia trees were my favorite! The flowering fruit trees a close second.
Uncle Dave and Grandma Bette with Abby in Fort Wayne. Abigail is adorable!
Aunt Ildi with Abigail at Isaac's 5th Birthday party.
Atop Mammoth Mountain in California. We took the chairlifts to the top, such a view.
We took Mom and Dad to the Ancient Bristlecone Forest as well. Oldest trees in the world!
So blessed to get to spend time with family this fall!! It was wonderful to see everybody, and I feel very lucky! Spent time in Reno & Fort Wayne with our families. We even got to see Brian and his family in Atlanta and at the lake house. Caught an awesome IU football game and time just flew by. The whole summer as a matter of fact. And it's an absolute time warp here on the Ice. It's great to be back and in the bosom of our friends, my stomach is sore from laughter. It's a different sort of season because 45 out of each 60 days this winter in Antarctica were above freezing, when it's normally around -90F. So the sea ice didn't set and there are huge cracks, and we won't get to take field trips, the scientists can't set up their research camps on the sea ice, and we have to move the airfield quickly. I'm on the hose deployment team of 5 people again like last year. But this year we're deploying 14 miles of hose instead of 13, to Pegasus airfield, which is ontop of the permanent ice shelf (it's a glacier that runs down the mountains and becomes flat as it hits the ocean). It's a very special project and great crew, but I will be walking every step of that 14 miles deploying the hose, checking the torque on the connections, planting flags to mark the hose, etc. Good exercise. Dave is well and excited to be as such. Love you all!
Our bedroom window view of Observation Hill. We're in the same dorm, same floor as the last couple seasons.
The view from our outside stairwell. The blue bldg. is the galley where we eat and internet.
Downtown Christchurch was a heart wrenching visit. It's still in ruins and the center is still cordoned off and abandoned. It's eerie, like and end of the world movie.
It's terribly sad to see almost every single church in shambles.
No sounds in the central area, just birds singing, no people walking around and incredible damage in every single direction. 
We were very lucky to have an extra day in Christchurch to stroll in the gardens. In addition to the Botanic Gardens, we explored two other gorgeous gardens we'd never seen before. One of them is a rustic preserve with native trees and kiwi birds with lots of jungle vines and songbirds.
Dave and Wendy strolling in the Botanic Gardens. A gorgeous spring!!
The magnolia trees were my favorite! The flowering fruit trees a close second.
Uncle Dave and Grandma Bette with Abby in Fort Wayne. Abigail is adorable!
Aunt Ildi with Abigail at Isaac's 5th Birthday party.
Atop Mammoth Mountain in California. We took the chairlifts to the top, such a view.
We took Mom and Dad to the Ancient Bristlecone Forest as well. Oldest trees in the world!
So blessed to get to spend time with family this fall!! It was wonderful to see everybody, and I feel very lucky! Spent time in Reno & Fort Wayne with our families. We even got to see Brian and his family in Atlanta and at the lake house. Caught an awesome IU football game and time just flew by. The whole summer as a matter of fact. And it's an absolute time warp here on the Ice. It's great to be back and in the bosom of our friends, my stomach is sore from laughter. It's a different sort of season because 45 out of each 60 days this winter in Antarctica were above freezing, when it's normally around -90F. So the sea ice didn't set and there are huge cracks, and we won't get to take field trips, the scientists can't set up their research camps on the sea ice, and we have to move the airfield quickly. I'm on the hose deployment team of 5 people again like last year. But this year we're deploying 14 miles of hose instead of 13, to Pegasus airfield, which is ontop of the permanent ice shelf (it's a glacier that runs down the mountains and becomes flat as it hits the ocean). It's a very special project and great crew, but I will be walking every step of that 14 miles deploying the hose, checking the torque on the connections, planting flags to mark the hose, etc. Good exercise. Dave is well and excited to be as such. Love you all!