Hawaii FIVE OH

HAWAII FIVE OH!!!

In less than 6 weeks, 31 of us will travel to Maui for a wonderful gathering and celebration. It will be my 50th and mom's 75th, but there will be other celebrations too.

Let's Get to Know One Another!

Of course -- it all starts with my parents!

Chris and Anita

Mom and Chris have been married for 36 years -- Mom is practicing law.  Chris is now retired, but writing books.  










 

Chris has traced his roots as far back as Ireland and to a Jewish German Diamond Merchant. Ask him about his latest work, "Is That You Grampa?"  They are avid golfers and travelers.

Steve and Sally

Dad and Sally have been married for 38 years.  They started in NY, then moved to NJ, then lived in South America for nearly 10 years, and since then have moved around the country.  They raised 2 terrific kids, Jennie and Pete, and now love spending time with their 5 grandchildren.  Only recently have they really settled down.  Dad has been teaching business classes for the last 10 years and Sally is the ultimate caregiver.

What a crew!  Erik, Toby, Elizabeth, Thea and Anni all pile onto Pops with Mops in the back

Next, there was Richmond College, London, where Steve, Ana, Tammy, Lisa, and I, among others, descended in 1981 during our college years.

Tammy and Lisa in 1986 - NY

Tammy and Jeanine

Tammy lives in California and Lisa lives in Massachusetts.

Lisa is an excellent ballroom dancer and in 2006, we pronounced her Queen of the Polka!

Unfortunately, Lisa will only be with us for a few days, as she is traveling with friends from Boston whom we have not yet met, but who she claims are a lot of fun.

Tammy is now a marketing and advertising professional.  She will be accompanied by the love of her life,  Jeanine  - also known as -- her rock, which is quite coincidental because they first met on a rock climbing adventure.  Jeanine is working up the management chain at REI and we are all looking forward to having her keep us safe on Haleakala!!

Steve and Ana -- Richmond, 1981

Steve and Ana live in Denver now and have now been married for 22 years.




Of course, they look exactly the same now, don't they?

Steve and Ana 1997

The four of us in South Africa in 2007 - Ask Rob and Steve about the Lion Scare

We all have spent many different hairstyles together!

With Ana and Tammy at Nancie's wedding

In the late 80's before Ana and Steve were married, Ana moved to Durango, CO, and didn't know a soul. One day, on an elevator, she heard a woman talking about a party she was having. Ana asked if she could go, and Deidre said Of Course! And from that, a wonderful everlasting friendship was born.

Deidre is a true pioneer -- having worked as one of the only female "landmen" selling oil and gas rights in the West for many years. Of course, there are still days when she doesn't quite know which way to go.Deidre is traveling with JR, who, coincidentally, also happens to be Phyllis' brother.  Who is Phyllis?  You ask?  Well -- just keep reading.

Deidre's cousin, Jody, is a law firm executive in Denver.  Jody will be traveling with her brand new fiance (whoo hoo) -- Doug.  Jody is a former NFL Cheerleader for the New England Patriots and also worked for Club Med for a few years.  But, given all her adventures, she has the worst travel experiences of anyone we know -- just ask.

 

Now, Steve knew Sam from Waxman Photo, and Deidre and Ana knew Phyllis from working together.  One year, Deidre threw a Halloween party, and, as legend has it, Sam the cowboy lassoed Phyllis the minx in the back yard . . . and, well, you can just imagine the rest.

Sam still loves that cowboy look.

Clearly the risk takers of the group, here, the wild couple is seen on top of a boulder at Shoshoni Point -- overlooking the Grand Canyon.

Over the years, we all have traveled together to Europe and Africa, and many places in the states -- Key West, Sedona, Taos, Vail, Napa, Minneapolis, and New York, and have had many many fabulous ski adventures.

Rob, Kirsten, Lisa, Steve, Beth, Deidre, Tammy, Ana

Meanwhile, back in New Jersey.  In the early 90's I started playing volleyball.  Coincidentally, Rob had recently started playing volleyball too, as had Chris and Hugh.  At that time, George and Janice still lived in Illinois, but they were playing there as well.

First, I met Rob (who already knew Hugh and BJ), then we met Diana (who prefers to be called the Volleyball Goddess) and Dave and Terry (who had been playing v-ball for a long long time already), then Chris, and during a trip to New Orleans in 1994, the SNACs were born.

The Slippery Nipple Adventure Club -- First Meeting

Terry is our Renaissance man.   He has reinvented himself several times over the last decade, each time drawing more and more from his artistic side.  Like Steve, he is an accomplished photographer.  But more recently he has moved over to film and editing. 

Terry and niece Zhu Zhu

Chris is the consummate swing man.  We became friends playing volleyball, but he also flew out and met the Denver crew in the early 90's with me and quickly bonded with them as well.  Chris and Steve have shared some very special moments together:

Like Rob, Chris works from home managing finances, and recently met a beautiful woman, Adrienne, who, coincidentally, had worked with Chris in the early 90's.  Yet another reconnection.


Between the two of them, they are raising five children.   Whew!!!

 
In or around 1994, George and Janice moved to NJ and joined the volleyball crew as well.  

George is a mad scientist who literally has helped to cure cancer and Janice is simply a saint (you'll figure out why fairly early on).  They are both terrific golfers, too.  George and Janice have traveled with us,  Mom and Chris, Jan and Robert -- so lots of connections there.

 
 
In 1995, thinking that we were  really good volleyball players, the SNAC crew flew to Gennep Holland to compete in an international tournament.  Here we are getting ready to take on an Italian team:

Diana, Terry, Rob and Kirsten

And here am I after the first play:

It's only a flesh wound!  What else you got?

Hugh is a recovered physicist who made the decision to stay home and raise his and BJ's beautiful daughters, Alex and Jordan.  Hugh has taken volleyball so seriously that he is now coaching at least two teams of teenage daughters.  Rock On!  BJ is our resident physician, who has always been free with her advice on literally hundreds of volleyball sprains and pains over the years.  Hopefully we will not need her services on this trip.

Diana met Dave playing volleyball and by the time we met them, they were living together in Bound Brook, NJ.  Many of you will recall Hurricane Floyd in 1999, which pretty much took out Bound Brook and centered on their home.  Dave and Diana moved in with us for a few weeks, which turned into a really fun year, where, among other things, we had both a surprise wedding and a surprise reception.

 We all clean up pretty nice, though:

Chris, Diana, Dave, BJ, Hugh, Janice, George, Kirsten and Rob
 on Dave's 50th Birthday Cruise

Over the years, this crew also has traveled together, partied together, hosted weddings, and crashed dance parties.

MEANWHILE, OVER IN THE OFFICE, In 2000, I was working on the first floor of my building and i had a screensaver that read:

VOLLEYBALL IS LIFE, EVERYTHING 

ELSE IS JUST DETAILS

Lo and behold, Kris had the same philosophy and she happened to be working just around the corner from me. She saw the screensaver and stopped by to chat. and sure enough, another wonderful friendship blossomed.  Kris and her husband Peter, have 2 awesome sons, Brian and Alex, and all four of them are great athletes.  Unfortunately, only Kris will be joining us, but it won't take you long to get to know her.

 

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE GOLF COURSE,  Rob and I traveled with Mom and Chris to Costa Rica in 1998, and there, Mom  and Jan met one another and realized that they were long lost twins, separated at birth, 10 (or so) years apart.

Like Jody, Jan is a former law firm executive, who now lives with her husband Robert, another MIT brainiac, in New Hampshire.  Ask them about the airport they run in Nashua and what fun NASCAR and Presidential Campaign seasons are.

SO, BESIDES ALL BEING BEAUTIFUL AND SMART PEOPLE. WHAT DOES THIS  GROUP HAVE IN COMMON???

A BOUNDLESS WILLINGNESS TO BE SILLY, OF COURSE!!! 

Don't they look cute?

This is one of Terry's really bad hair days.

Be sure to ask Diana to tell you about "JuDianEfPusElotOck"  It's a story that only she can tell.

Just who is the real Dave Stock????  Malcolm Gladwell would tell you that Dave is a tipping point unto himself.  He is the one you go to for advice, cuz he's always trying new things -- for example, can volleyballs really be used for x-ray vision???

And yes, the Pillsbury Doughboy lives!

Not everyone can look this good with Bunny Ears!

See What I mean?

 

AND, NOW FOR THE PIES OF RESISTANCE -- NO PARTY IS COMPLETE WITHOUT A GURNING COMPETITION.

JUST WHAT IS GURNING  YOU ASK?  WELL, STEVE AND RICH DISCOVERED IT ON A LONG AND LONELY JOURNEY IN 1981 -- AND THEY HAVE TRIED OVER THE YEARS TO PERFECT IT.

 Gurning Contest

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ---

So -- now that we've all had a chance to "meet" each other -- let's have a great time in Maui next month!!!

See you soon.

Kirsten and Rob