Carpe Reunion

Last weekend, we had a big 4-day reunion with all of my friends from college. Everyone left their kids (except nursing babies) and were ready to party. Our friends, Liz and Mike, have an awesome house right next to the Hotel Del on Coronado, so all 17 of us moochers crashed their house for the whole weekend and had the best time. (That picture was taken on the beach right in front of their house. Amazing!)

People who were there:

Jack, Mindy, Ashley and Chase




Todd, looking as good as ever....





and jeff (featuring jack)




Craig and I




Jamie and Jon all the way from Georgia





Jeno and Adam




Karisa and Mckay




Liz and Mike, the best hosts ever.




Grant and Chels




and last but not least, Hil.




The highlights:

1
..................................
Being on the beach.
All day long.



2.
..................................
Watching the Beijing Opeining ceremonies, complete with a Chinese-themed meal. Liz is amazing like that.



3.
..................................
The buttercream gang.
We didn't have enough cars, so the boys rode to the restaurant on these:



The girls loved riding them, too, and I have to say we looked a little less, well, gay.





Craig here: Buttercream gang? Let me add some additional photos.

Look at McKay. He's got the look that says, "Ya it's a kid seat. Look away for one second and me and your kid will be half way to Mexico."

And how about Mike? Nothing is more intimidating than a low rider.

Kristin my mom has a framed copy of this somewhere. Don't make me put it back up.


4.
..................................
"Cruising"





5.
..................................
Watching Chase eat sand.

(And Ashley wasn't even fazed. That's what being a mom of 3 boys will do to you. Ashley said her oldest was pooping sand for 3 months even after they moved to Boston. )





6.
..................................
These awesome shades.
(PS They velcroed in the back. what, what!)



7.
..................................
Ashley's awesome game called "It's a sad and solemn occassion. UUUUUUUhhhhhh, HUHHHHHH"
(That's really how it's spelled.)


8.
..................................
All the guys got along. They boys occupied each other the whole trip. At the beach, I didn't even have to pretend to like frisbee, football or going in the water. It was awesome.




Thanks again Liz and Mike for letting us crash and thanks to everyone else who came and made the trip so fun. See you suckas in two years!

The (Sick and) Amazing Race

Last Friday, my company participated in our very own amazing race. The whole company was split up into teams of four.

My team: Andy Yorkin, Ryan Wood and Paul Gadd (aka the Dream Team.) Fittingly, we decided to name ourselves:

3 bros and a ho

We even got t-shirts.



On the day of the race, we all were given clues and based on what we were given we had to run all over Salt Lake via TRAX or on foot. We ran to the Gateway, we went to the Huntsman Basketball Stadium, we went down to the IHC hospital, we went to an archery range (where I wasn't even able to hit one bullseye. In an apocalyptic world, I would starve). The clincher: we were sprinting around like crazy in 100 degree heat, each team carrying two HUGE watermelons. We must have run at least 5 miles.

Not to mention this challenge happened:

Kristin: Wait, what do we have to eat?



Worms? Are you kidding me?




OK. Here I go.....




Oh no. Here it goes.....




That actually happened. (For the people that are really sick, you can click on the picture to enlarge it and actually see the barf coming out of my mouth. Yuck.)

Even though I was exhausted and sick, it was actually pretty fun. (It was better than work, right?) Plus, my team got 2nd place. Go 3 bros and a ho!

If you want to see video, check out this link. We were on the news!

Friday Night Cry

Am I the only one that finds Friday Night Lights really depressing? The ratio of sad to non-sad is somewhere around 12:1. Given we've only watched three episodes, and I'm sure there will be some tearfully joyous moments to cap off season one but come on.

Kristin also asked me in bed last night (in a very concerned voice) if I thought the paralyzed guy would ever walk again.

Ch-Ch-changes

This week has brought about quite a few changes in my life.

1. Our TIVO is officially up and running.
(I know we keep talking about that, but it's a big deal. I now have a season pass for: So You Think You Can Dance, The Office, Ellen, Oprah and Hopkins. Obviously, Craig didn't get much of a say. I can't wait till fall TV season....)

2. I have internet at home
(And yes, I know it is 2008.)

3. I bought my very first iMac.

4. I now "office" in 2 cities.
(I accepted an new job in Phoenix, but mainly I will be working remotely. What does that mean? Instead of being a bi-city exec who wears pants suits and pantyhose, I get to wear sweat pants. Brilliant.)

5. I cried watching a teen drama
(Friday Night Lights, man. It's really good and really sad.)

6. I hated So You Think You Can Dance
(There was no WAY Will deserved to be voted off. I was super pissed, to say the least.)

7. I got tired of Ikea.
(Even for an avid shopper like me, I was tired walking around in that maze asking myself, "Should we go with the metal or the birch?")

I'm really mixing things up. At the rate I'm going, next week I'll have a ying-yang tattoo, convert to Judaism and have a baby.

Time to Say Goodbye

vs.

As some of you know I've been forcing Kristin to record her favorite shows via VCR this past year. I bought our outdated little friend on Craig's list for $10, and in addition to saving us money, I think having it has been a character building experience for Kristin. She really feels like she's been driving around town in a horse and buggy the last year.

Well, Kristin's repeated pleas along with the Wimbledon Final debacle of '08 have given the Tivo movement traction. Our Tivo should be in a full swing by next Wed.

I'm torn on the future of our VCR. I feel guilty needlessly adding it to the land fill, but what am I supposed to do, list it on Craig's list for $5? I'm definitely not willing to drive it anywhere.

Happy 4th!

This year, Craig and I went up to his parents' house for the 4th. This is the view from their front porch. I mean, really? That's what I said when I got there.



When some parents have all their kids out of the house, they get lonely. Not Gary and Mignon. Can you blame them? The moose keep them company.



Below is what we in Mills family like to call a pickle pancake. Yum yum (Kaden said he loved pickles on anything so Craig attempted to call his bluff. Ivan added the two blueberries for good measure).



Kaden wasn't afraid of taming this beast.



Gretchen and her new baby, Cooper.



Sunny and her new baby, Lincoln. These babies are the cutest.




Here are all the nieces and nephews on the Brighton parade float (which may or may not have been blasting Neil Diamond's "Coming to America.").



I guess Felicity was too cool for the hat. Clever girl.

As usual, we had a great time up the canyon. Thanks Gary and Mignon for a great 4th!

Go Rafa!

Our favorite Spaniard pulled it off yesterday after two rain delays and in the longest Wimbledon final in recent history (notice it's dark in the photo). I don't know if anyone else watched this match but we we're exhausted afterwards.


*** Kristin here. Craig failed to mention one very important point of the match. Imagine: The biggest final in a long time. Nadal and Federer each have 2 sets. It's 3 all in the 5th set and then... black. Why does our TV go black? Because we are living in 1987 and our VCR tape ends. I was hating my life. Damn that rain delay. But don't worry, two good things came out of it: One, Craig's sister Melissa bailed us out because she had the rest of the match recorded and two, we ARE getting TIVO. Case closed.


Craig again: Don't bad talk 1987. '87 brought us Robocop, Three Men and a Baby, Michael Jackson's "Bad", and the emergence of acid washed jeans.