Christmas Dinner

" What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past,
courage for the present, hope for the future.
It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." Agnes M. Pharo

Another wonderful Shuttles dinner gathering.

Auntie Nancy and I at Christmas Dinner- no we did not mean to coordinate our outfits. :)

Auntie Nanc and me for our Christmas photo. :)

My Adorable Niece!!!

Okay, so I know this photo is on Britta's blog (that's where I stole it from) but it just makes me smile every time I look at it!!! That's my niece Katie swinging in her swing in the snow in a moment of pure joy! She was almost walking when I left, not quite, but now she's walking on her own. Soon I'll get to talk to her on the phone I hope!!! Britta and John are preparing Katie for her adventures with Aunt Kris in the snow and ice to come later in her life!! :) I miss you and love you guys!!! Send me a picture of her in her hat I made this summer please!

1st Annual McMurdo Softball Tournament

What a beautiful day!! This softball match hadn't happened before here and it was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Shuttles was matched up against the VMF- which is notorious for taking sports events very seriously here. We only lost by 1 point, score was 13-14, and that was a huge accomplishment for us!!! Rock on Shuttles!!!



Our Shuttle Team manning the bases. Brandon's random outfits here crack me up.

So plan B if our team ended up doing terribly was for me to run around the field in this wig and my bright green jacket in hopes of distracting people or blinding them. As it turns out our team played an awesome game and so I got to sit in the stands and hold down the cheering section instead.

I can't believe the lousy call that the umpire made- it lost us the game!!! Brandon had totally tagged out Jackie before he reached home plate, but Jackie's roommate was the umpire and called him safe. We were ROBBED!

Jackie arranged the whole softball match, he's from Boston and clearly is a Red Sox fan. Brandon on our team did get him to strike our quite a few times though!

Our Shuttles Team!! I'm so proud!!

I didn't play, probably a good thing since there were so many injuries in this game, none were in shuttles, though had I played, we might have had the one injury in the game that would have been self-inflicted where I somehow would have hit myself with the bat, or the ball- take your pick. That's me in my wig, and my roomie in her pink hat.

Shuttle Jojo hitting the ball!!

Pinky, Taryn, Brandon taking a look at the batting roster line-up.

Our team watching the game from our "dugout."

Our Team switching out from the outfield.

Kelly running makes me giggle, she sort of frolics from base to base- it's great because it confuses the other team as to whether she's running from base to base or not and what's going on. :)

My New Year Wishes for You

Find Joy in each moment,

Smile several times a day,

Laugh til your stomach hurts,

Learn something new,

Enjoy the company of good friends,

Hug your loved ones,

Impact someone's life,

Accept loss and pain- they make the great moments that much sweeter,

Recycle,

Travel someplace new,

Take up a new hobby,

Eat healthier- as my friend says "Eat better meat, less often",

Keep in touch with friends and family near and far,

Sleep soundly and dream peacefully,

take a Risk often enough to keep you on your toes,

Love,

Find Peace within yourself.

Lone Flag

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."- Jimmy Dean




A picture I took while out at the Ice Caves a few weeks ago. The red flags are used to mark paths here for both walking and driving on. This one is marking the edge of the foot path to the Ice Cave, and keeps wanderers from going in to the pools at the bottom of the pressure ridges here. It was a windy day so the flag is blowing in this picture, it's one of my favorite pictures from this season and I wanted to share.