Eagle, Colorado...Skiing, Christmas Eve party, etc.

It’s after Christmas already and time for another update. In case you haven’t heard, I’m back in Eagle, Colorado. I was here last August, but only for 5 or 6 days. With the end of the year right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to look back on 2007 and share some pictures that I haven’t already posted on my blog.

I’ve been thinking about family a lot lately so of course I have to post a couple shots of my favorite photography victim, Joey. He’s almost 17 months now and he’s changed a lot in the last year. The picture on the left was from last year when he was only 4 ½ months old and the one on the right was taken less than three weeks ago just before I left for Eagle. He’s growing up so fast. Running all over and playing with his toys. By the time I return to Minnesota, he’ll probably be talking a lot more too.

During my travels, I usually don’t get to work with the same NDF that I’ve worked with in the past, but there are several familiar faces here in Eagle. Of the 45 NDF here for the winter, about half just went through the Academy in September. I didn’t know most of their names because each class was only there for a week and there were a total of 200 new recruits. They remembered me though because I was one of the assistant coaches and I taught some of the classes. It’s always a little uncomfortable when someone comes up to you, calls you by name, and you can’t even place their face. I think I’ve got everyone’s name down now, but sometimes I still draw a blank. One name I’ll probably never forget…Bennie. Do I need to explain why?

As you might have guessed by the picture, he’s a little high strung. It’s amusing to watch people who don’t know him react to the crazy things he says. I took this picture at Sylvan State Park. He was taking pictures of himself and kept running back and forth like a crazy person.

There’s also another NDF here that is not new to life on the road. Patty worked with me in Key West last December. Meeting up again was like a little reunion. We had a good time reminiscing about where we were a year ago and talking about the others who where there with us. Patty was the one who picked me up when my bike broke down when I was stuck on the other side of the island. She also bailed me out when my credit card didn’t work at the grocery store. Here’s a picture of her (center) at Kelly's in Key West. I don't have one of her at Eagle yet but I'm sure I'll get one sometime while I'm here.

About a week ago, I tried out Colorado skiing for the first time. It was a lot different from skiing in Minnesota. We skied for about 4 1/2 hours and only went down 5 times. That's how long it took and there weren't any lines. The lift was probably 10-15 minutes alone. Then I took the green (easiest) path which crossed back and forth across the more difficult slopes.

One of the other NDF, Gary, was the one that encouraged me to go skiing. I was a little nervous because I've never been very good, but he promised that I wouldn't break my neck on a tree. I only fell one time and it happened after I ran right into Gary. He thought I was ready for one of the blue slopes and was showing me how to control my speed better by crisscrossing my way down. I was doing good at first then I accidentally cut a corner short just as he turned to see where I was. I plowed right into him. It was pretty funny and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the crash, but here's one of us on the long ride up.

The most recent event was our Christmas Eve party. We decided to get together for a potluck since we were all away from our family and friends. Some danced (Sonia and Jaime are pictured below) and we all ate too much. Wouldn't be Christmas without the over eating, right? With dancing there has to be music. Harry provided that. It was a good time.

I think that's enough for now. Please keep checking in for more updates and pictures. I expect to be in Colorado until March 5^th, but as always that is subject to change. I’ll keep you posted and don't be afraid to send me an update in return. Happy holidays!

Love,

Tracie

Seattle pics, C in CC, and Cooking Baking

Okay, time for a real update. There of been a lot of gatherings lately so I'll go in chronological order. First off, here's a couple of my favorite pictures from Seattle. I took the first one on the ferry on our way back from Bainbridge which is across the Puget Sound from downtown Seattle. The second picture is from the famous Pike's Place Market. I was a little disappointed that they weren't throwing fish like they did in the FISH video, but it was winter so I guess I'll give them a break.

Now, unto the more recent events. Last weekend I went to Gustavus, my alma mater, for Christmas in Christ Chapel. This is something my family has done every year for probably the last 10 or more years and it was a good time as usual. Unfortunately, it was also the night of our first snow storm so that made things interesting. Thankfully everyone made it there and back safely. Here's a some pictures from that night. The first is of Courtney taking her first ever bite of lutefisk. She is pretty brave. I had a bite too and one was more than enough. Fish and jello are both good on their own but fish shouldn't taste like jello. The second pic of the Christ Chapel Choir (one of three choirs that participate in the program). It was the only pic I took during the performance because apparently taking pictures is "distracting to the performers as well as other members of the audience." Whatever. I waited until the very end so if they decided to kick me out I wouldn't be missing anything. I also circled Jill. She is my roommate's, Katie's, sister. And last, but not least is a group picture of my family minus Jeff, who was unable to attend. For those who don't know my brother Phill, this is an amazing picture because he rarely smiles especially when a camera is in sight. He has a reputation of being mean and is proud of it so this might cause him to lose his title as a mean, cold jerk. He maintains that he is not smiling in this picture, but that he was laughing at the fact that my dad and sister kept insisting that they needed to squat down during the picture in order for Phill to be seen. Phill said that he was amused by their foolishness and that his "smile" was malicious. I still say that a smile is a smile and that that is the biggest smile I have ever seen on Phill's evil face.

Back row: Nancy, Phill, Chris, and Courtney Front row: Charlie, Jess, and Tracie

On Sunday, the day after Christmas in Christ Chapel, we had our 8th annual cookie baking. There was a small hitch in the plans. Rita and Renee planned on hosting the gathering at their house, but on Saturday night while doing a self-cleaning the glass window in their oven broke. We couldn't bake cookies without the oven so we had to move the location to our place. The only problem was that we didn't get home until midnight and we had cleaning and grocery shopping to do. It was a short night for Katie and I, but we made it. Here's a picture of the broken oven, courtesy of Rita. Next is a pic of Rita with Katie's cat, Shay, before she left. And finally, a picture of the cookie bakers and all our goodies minus Rita.

Renee, Tracy, Katie, and Tracie.