San Fran: Fall AGU

We are all down in San Francisco for Fall AGU. What a great week of science and catching up with friends. We were very bad at both keeping up with photos and with blogging. So very quickly, here are our two good photos, and we are waiting to get friends photos (send ’em, or even put your favorite on as a comment here!). Also, I’d love to get my notes from the meeting online, but so far I’ve only managed to bookmark a few other folks blogs. Check out the day one of Fall AGU Virtual Globe blog over at the Google Earth Blog.

Carrie and Torsten on the Carosel

Torsten in Heaven (street musicians)

Ginger Bread House Building

The UAS Alumni and Friends organized a gingerbread house building. I think it was co-sponsored by the dentists of Juneau. Hard to say if Torsten or Carrie had more fun–Torsten definitely ate more candy, and Carrie really got into the artistic decorating! We all had a blast, and enjoyed decorating (and later chasing sugar amped-up kids!) with Jill and family, Myra, Sophia, and John.
Check out all the photos from the ginger bread house fun!

Hawaii Photos

Hawaii Family Photo

I finally got a chance to put together a photo gallery from Hawaii. (If you’d like to check out all the photos, they are in this gallery.) It was a great trip, enhanced by reading about all the snow that was dumping on Juneau. Kristen, Jarrod, Ava, and Willa thought the idea of a break from the Alaska winter was a good idea, and joined us on the Hawaiian visit. We enjoyed staying at the Sheraton Waikiki right on the beach and exploring Oahu. We wish we had more time to explore other islands–we’ll just have to go back soon!
The trip itself was initiated by Matt’s presentation at the Acoustics Society of America on the bat detector–the poster was Matt, Carrie, and Allan Hall (a 2006 NSF REU summer student). It was well received and we made several good contacts. Allan was able to come to Oahu to join us (since he goes to school at Univ. Hawaii in Hilo, hopping over for a quick conference during finals week was actually possible!).

Don’t miss the “you were there” video as well!

North Shore

Matt took the afternoon off from the conference to head up to the North Shore and the Waimea Valley Audubon Center (at Ed’s recommendation–thanks Ed!). Kristen, Jarrod, Ava, and Willa all went along with Carrie, Matt, and Torsten. We hiked up to the falls and pool and all went for at least a good wade in the pool. Here’s the whole gang at the international market where we ate dinner last night.

Hawaii Beach Time!

Matt and Carrie are attending and presenting the bioacoustic work at the Acoustic Society of America. Alan Hall (a 2006 UAS REU student) will be joining us for the presentation. Torsten came along as chaperon, and we are all getting as much beach time as possible!

Torsten and Carrie on the Hawaiian Beach

Torsten and Matt

Torsten swimming in Hawaiin ocean!

Christmas Decorating Excitement

While Carrie was busy at Fall Market, Torsten helped Matt pick out the perfect Christmas tree so that Tyler and Valli (our house sitters next week) could enjoy the holiday spirit. Deocrating it, putting up lights, everything is just so exciting!

Carrie and Torsten decorating the Christmas Tree, 2006

Torsten decorating the Christmas tree, 2006

Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksgiving is a serious tradition at the Talus-Heavner household. It is a time for friends to gather together either physically or in kindred spirit, celebrate life, eat good food, and reflect on the life we enjoy together. And then we get three days to recover! And it is Carrie and Matt’s anniversary (number seven in 2006). Wahoo! And if you have participated in the feast in person, you know about the weigh-in/weigh-out tradition. Our winner this year went out with a net weight gain of eight pounds. In Juneau, Carrie sells artwork at the Fall Market, and Torsten and Matt enjoy a weekend of hanging out (getting Christmas decorations ready).

We’ve got a slide show of the feast and the weekend available.

Good biking in Juneau

After lots of good snow, we’re enjoying clear cool weather. It is perfect biking. Matt ventured out across Auke Lake from campus at lunch today.

Talus Tiles 2006

Carrie has been working away to get her tiles (and prints and cards) ready for Fall Market in Juneau. You can see some of her tiles at the 2006 Talus Tiles page (this web page is password protected, so email carrie@talus-and-heavner.com for the password.)

Talus Tiles 2006 Logo