Zooming Extravaganza!

A few weeks back, Kendall's brother & wife (Steve & Kitty) & I decided a Family Zoom would be a grand idea - and to liven it up (as if the Millers need livening), we'd add a dessert decorating contest to the evening's entertainment. The big event was last night. What fun! Extraordinarily clever desserts and two hours of rapid fire chatting. Excellent!

The gang - a bit difficult to see in this photo but, from left to right / top to bottom:

• The southern Oregon gang, K's sister Cheryl and husband Harry, Cheryl's younger daughter Shana and her husband Moudy and their sons Andrew and Tony. Andrew did the baking and, unfortunately, I did not get a photo when he first displayed it to the Zoom crowd - and then the Medford gang ate it all before the end of the zoom call!
• Me and Kendall (Boulder, Colorado)
• Paul (Boulder, Colorado) our younger child
• Corinne calling in from North Carolina
• The Fraser, Colorado mountain gang, K's middle brother Andy and our great-nieces Sage & Juniper - visiting for the summer / daughters of our Portland Oregon niece, Sara.
• The Brooklyn contingent, Kersti Bryan - family friend and the person who first planted the seed of the Miller gang having a zoom call and godchild of Steve & Kitty (with whom she planted said seed). Also joining in on the frivolity, Kersti's partner Jonathan.
• Tara (Arvada, Colorado) our niece, Steve & Kitty's elder child
• Sara (Portland, Oregon) our niece, Cheryl's elder child
• Sasha (Portland, Oregon) our elder child
• Steve & Kitty (Westminster, Colorado) - Steve being the eldest of the Miller siblings

Now on to The Desserts:

Steve - a play on A Trip to the Moon. Steve said he was thinking of Kendall when he made this (the candle in the back of the rocket is actually lit!):

 Kitty - a combination of two favorite things - a cookie and pizza!!!

Tara - who proudly announced that the decorations all came from the Dollar Store. What a party cake they make!

Sage - who, speaking of party cakes, celebrated her Birthday Eve by concocting this beautiful creation (another yummy dessert that was disappearing quickly during our call).

Kendall - should have know that whatever he made would have at least somewhat of a science fiction twist - in this case, meet Oreobot!

Paul came up with some of his very most favorite things for his dessert: pancakes, cherries (from his tree) and blueberries - and, voila'! A volcano! With cherry lava pouring into a blueberry ocean!

And, lastly, mine - Michigan. As Kendall said: if we can't go visit Michigan this year, at least we can eat it. Bonus points to anyone who can find: lighthouses, Mackinac Bridge, Traverse City cherry, Michigan State University logo, Detroit 'rusty chevrolet' (borrowing from the Yoopers hit), ore boats, sailboats, and Isle Royal. (Mackinac Island is there too but is a bit hidden.) I'd also give bonus points to those who know what kind of stones those are along Lake Michigan, but anyone who knows me, know what those are :-).

 

This really made for a fun evening. I highly recommend it for those of you missing your favorite friends and family!

Extraordinary!

I must confess, I am not one for repetitiveness. My career was built upon designing and implementing administrative computing applications with a new project every couple of years. My running has always gravitated toward new distances, new sights, new quests. With the stay-at-home orders of the last couple of months, and without the delightful diversions of running companions, the feeling of same-old same-old was beginning to creep into my daily runs even though I've been switching up all of my running routes since, without the normal metropolis hubbub, I've been able to run carefree routes down normally busy roads. To attack the humdrum, I came up with a mini-quest: a tour of the four buffalo statues on the CU campus, with Taz and camera at the ready. We went on that tour yesterday and, oh my goodness, did we ever get a break from the humdrum between buffaloes three and four!

Buffalo One, at the southeast corner of campus:

 Buffalo Two, at the CU Events Center:

Buffalo Three, at the Stadium:

And then our surprise. 

This little critter started following us after we left the stadium and as we circled through the campus to the fourth buffalo. We stopped often, for a good look at each other and for me to take photos. Occasionally when we stopped it would start to move closer to us (from its already close 10-20 yards away). I would say "unh unh" and it would stop. Such an amazing turn of events!

...and on to the fourth buffalo at the Fieldhouse plaza

 Buffalo, Cattle Dog, and Fox all posing patiently for the camera

 Nothing same-old same-old about this run. Extraordinary!