Shell

My Dad emailed me on my birthday (he was out in the middle of the ocean still, so he couldn't call quite yet), and asked me if I wanted anything for my birthday from Hawaii. Well, I have a bit of a sea shell collection, so I asked him if he could try to find me a conch shell. He found one, the last in the store, and this is the picture that I got of it:

Shell, looking out at the USS Missouri on the left, and the Arizona Memorial

Shell, watching the USS Pelilieu dock near the Mercy










In case you were wondering, he added the eyeballs himself. He's decided that it's too fragile to mail home to me, so I'll just have to get it from him when he gets back. We've decided to encourage Shell's exploration of the Southwest Pacific. You may be getting more pictures of all of Shell's travels.

To answer some of the questions people have been asking me, my Dad will be gone until the end of September. He's currently communicating with us via email, and his new little blackberry (as long as he's by land-they don't have the satellite phones set up for when they're out in open waters yet). We also have a webcam that we haven't tested out yet. We'll probably wait until he gets to Guam to try it out. My Dad is a computer analyst for SAIC. They contract with the Navy to keep the Naval Hospitals' computer systems running. The Mercy is a hospital ship, and the navy contracted with SAIC to get a computer analyst on board the ship, to keep all their hospital equipment running correctly. After a lot of serious talking, prayers, and other such important things-to-do-when-making-tough-decisions type things, my parents decided it was a good opportunity. Dad applied for the job, and got it. Thus the adventures of Jeff Nelson began. And now my Conch Shell is out having the adventure of a lifetime. I think when I finally do get it, I'll put it on a shelf on my wall, and then surround it with pictures of him all over the world. Sounds great, huh?