Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!  What a wonderful month December was for me.  I was able to make a very quick trip to Houston at the first of the month before I returned for my third winter in Death Valley.

One week after I started work, my family came out to spend Christmas with me.  I am so thankful they are willing to change traditions, accommodate my schedule, and go without cell service and internet.

Dad, Mom, and Adam at Ubehebe Crater.  It was really windy Christmas day and they didn't stay too long.

They came to the Castle and went up the hill to visit Scotty.  It was pretty windy up there too.

I worked all week.  One of my favorite duties is swearing in junior rangers.

I put up a tree in my apartment.  I used algebra.  It was exciting.  I called the length of the top horizontal branch 'x', then had branches that were 2x, 3x, nx, I knew the length of my lights string, solved for 'x', and went from there.

I am pretty proud of this particular project.  I'm only wondering how long I can keep it up before it becomes so seasonally irrelevant it's ridiculous.

I was off on Saturday and the family went for a hike.  Adam--part man, part bighorn sheep--climbed and scampered around quite a bit.

I know this is dark, but for some reason, I really like this picture. We got Dad to climb up on a large bolder with us.

Fall Canyon is really pretty and there is some awesome geology.

The family attended my church meetings with me and then we said goodbye and they headed to Las Vegas.  My little apartment seemed really empty after having them as guests half the time I had lived there.

I have my very own little apartment this year.  I have my air mattress.  I now have an extra comforter and extra towels.  I'm ready for visitors!