My Mom, the Hero

The weekend of the reunion just happened to be Opening Day at Lake Tahoe and some crazy person thought it would be a great idea to shut down the main road for entertainment and redirect traffic one way on a back road. This was the stupidest idea ever and caused huge gridlock and many angry people. We (Matt, Annie, Spencer and Dad were in one car and Mark, Me, Aurora and Mom were behind in another car) were stuck in a parking lot trying to get to the main road for about 45 minutes. After about 20 minutes of waiting, Mom decided to get out to talk to the security guard to see what was going on. The line started to move a little, but after 25 minutes she still hadn't come back. Mark and I thought she was talking to the other car, but when we got to the front of the line, we saw a sight I never imagined.

You can only sort of tell from this picture, but my mom was in the middle of the street directing traffic! If you know my mom, this is something I never dreamed she would do. She nicely asked the cars going straight if they would let just one car through. And it worked! She helped a woman who was late for work and a bride get to her wedding! And we got to the boat dock just in time for me to waddle/run down the pier before taking off. Hooray Mom! You saved the day!

Lake Tahoe Trip Part 3--The Reunion

The main reason for going up to Lake Tahoe was for the EH Tippets family reunion. That meant my dad's sisters and their families. We had a small turnout but that didn't mean any less fun. Friday night we had a barbeque at a park with tons of visiting. Before we knew it, it was getting dark and we hadn't even gotten to our usual musical entertainment!


Then next morning, we had a huge pancake breakfast at the same park. It's a Tippets family tradition. But we ran out of time for singing again! We just have to much fun gabbing!


That afternoon, the boys went kayaking on the Lake. The girls did their own thing. Mom, Dad, Annie, Spencer, Aurora and I checked out the Lake Tahoe opening day festival being held right outside the hotel. Then we headed back for baby naps.

(Read the following post, "My Mom, the Hero" here)

That night we went on a dinner cruise on the Lake. It was so much fun! The food was great! And the Tahoe Opera Group sang selections from Showboat. Aurora was enthralled. She stopped eating dinner and watched every minute. Good thing they finished before the dessert came! Then we went up on the deck to check out the beautiful scenery.


The next morning, we had a "church service" where we had reports from one recent RM, and three missionaries currently serving. It was so exciting to hear their stories. There were some tearful (by Aurora and Ayden) goodbyes, but we're excited for the next reunion in 2010!

Lake Tahoe Trip Part 2 - Relaxation

Monday through Thursday where just divine. Every few minutes, I kept saying, "I'm so happy to be here!" We just took it easy. Mark enjoyed golfing and going to the gym. I enjoyed reading and going to a quilt shop with my mom. Aurora loved going to the pool and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. We went on walks . . . very short walks. We watched movies on DVD. We went to see Indiana Jones 4. We took naps. We ate tons of yummy food--some we cooked ourselves, and we ordered Chinese and went to Fire and Ice.

Matt, Annie and Spencer joined us Thursday night and we had more fun. We had breakfast at Heidi's Pancake House where I had Blueberry Sour Cream Crepes to die for! We went to the beach and I finally broke out the camera. I was too relaxed to even think of it before!

Lake Tahoe Trip Part 1--The Adventure

Mark and I had been looking forward to our Lake Tahoe vacation with my parents FOREVER! I was looking forward to cooler weather. Mark was looking forward to time off work. And we both were looking forward to DOTTING GRANDPARENTS!

We were all packed by Saturday, ready to hop in the car Sunday afternoon after church and so Mark could get some good sleep after working two nights in a row. Everything went according to plan. We stopped by and wished Larry a Happy Father's Day. Dee graciously gave us some chicken sandwiches for the road. We were on the freeway by 3:15 heading North and feeling quite proud of ourselves. Just past Lancaster, the car started acting weird--the RPMs were jumping from 3 to 4 randomly about every minute. We thought it was just the road but when it kept doing it and more frequently, we stopped on the side of the road, just past Pearsonville in the middle of nowhere. Our cell phone battery was almost dead. Whoops! We called the parents, they weren't sure what it was. So we turned back to Pearsonville which turned out to be nothing but a gas station/Subway and asked around about garages/hotels. They, of course, had none of the above but suggested heading south 17 miles to Ridgecrest. We charged the cell phone for a couple hours and headed towards Ridgecrest, wondering if AAA towed in Nowheresville.

We made it to town without any problems. We found a great little hotel. And Mark got to watch the Laker game. Secretly, I wonder if he made a deal with his car, just so he could watch the game.

The next morning, Mark found a garage that figured out that the problem was just some spilled battery acid on some switch that was confusing the computer. We could wait there two days for the part to be ordered. Or we might be able to make it to Lake Tahoe. We chose option number two--not that the people of Ridgecrest weren't nice enough.

So we took it easy the rest of the trip and had no flare ups. Thanks for all those prayers, guys! We stopped at Schat's Bakery in Bishop and had great sandwiches and chocolate raspberry cake and made it safely to Lake Tahoe about 4:00. Whew! An adventure I do not want to repeat!

Merry Christmas, Animal Style

For Christmas, Annie and I gave my parents a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. But because of crazy schedules, we finally got to go two weeks ago. And without further ado, I present the lovely pictures. Yes, that is a giraffe coming out of my head.
California grandparents
Choo Choo cousins
Maybe Aurora can talk this turtle into going faster!
Just hatched!

Santa Barbara Zoo is fantastic--not too big, not too small. And who can beat the weather?!?! I think I might get a family pass next summer.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Okay, so I'm a bit late since his birthday was Saturday but better late than never to express the wonderful love I have for my crazy husband. So thanks to all my blogger friends who did this husband tag thing so I can think of some fun things about Mark. Oh, and extra special thanks to Mark's dad who took him to the All-You-Can-Eat Dodger Game for his birthday. It was Mark's birthday dream come true!

His name: Mark Brandon Lisonbee
How old is he? Just turned 28.
How long did you date? About ten months, eleven if you count the month we hung out before actually finding time for a real "date".
How long have you been married? 4 years.
Who asked who out first? Mark asked me.
What was your first date? Mark took me to California Pizza Kitchen and then a classical guitar concert at the Music Center downtain. He thought we were going to see the symphony. He lucked out, because I really like classical guitar. That was the first and last classical concert he's taken me to.
Who kissed who first? Mark kissed me and was a little surprised when I kissed back.
The Proposal: Oh, Mark did a wonderful job and that could be a whole page in itself but to be brief, it involved poetry, rose petals, candles, bubbles, and cheesecake. It was perfect!

Who said "I love you" first? I did, probably a bit prematurely, but we had just been to a fireside where the speaker talked about not putting off saying I love you, because it could be too late. He was talking about family members, not boyfriends, but I felt like maybe he was inspired to say it for me. Mark was a bit surprised.
Who’s taller? Mark
Who is smarter? We are both smart, just about very different things. It all works out.
Who drives? Mark, 95% of the time.
Who cooks dinner? I do, 95% of the time. He did help out when I was working though.

Who eats more? definitely Mark
Who does the laundry? We both do, and thank you Mark for folding the laundry right now during the Laker game.
Who pays the bills? me
Who mows the lawn? the gardener, thank goodness
Who can sing better? I do, but Mark is not bad

Who is more sensitive? we are both very sensitive, but I, of course, cry more
Who is more stubborn? both of us
What is his guilty pleasure? sports, but he sure doesn't feel guilty about it!
Besides you, who is his best friend? Josh, Randy, John Strong, his brothers
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? From the foot of the bed, Mark

Who has more siblings? that question is too obvious
What’s your favorite thing about him? Mark loves kids. It was the first thing I noticed about him. He makes a fantastic dad and I love to see him play with Aurora. She has a special giggle that only he can get out of her. Happy Birthday Mark! I love you!

The Visit

We were lucky enough to have Mark's sister Tammy and her husband Adam stay a little longer after the wedding. I credit Tammy for getting Mark and I together and probably keeping us together too, so she's been a big part of our family. And now that she married Adam (who is just like Mark) we have even more fun! Tammy is expecting her first baby, a girl, a couple weeks after me and it was great being prego together!

Monday night for FHE, we parked at the new shopping center on Newhall Ranch Rd. and walked across to the street to Bridgeport Lake. It was a beautiful evening and we love the lake! We walked down to the lighthouse and crossed McBean to check out the new mini lake. There was a family of ducks that Aurora loved! Then we made our way down to Red Mango for frozen yogurt. If you haven't been yet, it's a real treat. A perfect FHE. Then we stayed up way too late telling Lisonbee family stories which was a riot. Ask Mark about his red cowboy boots!

Tuesday was field trip day. Adam is from Illinois and wanted to see some of the California sites so Tammy, Adam, Dee, Aurora and I took a morning trip to Santa Barbara. Why don't I go more often? It was gorgeous and the weather was fantastic. We just drove around town. We made a quick stop at the Santa Barbara Mission and it looked like the street art festival had been the weekend before. My sister and I had talked about participating some time (she's the real artist, not me) and it was fun to see in person.

We had a delicious picnic on the beach and then headed home for quick naps.

That night, we took Adam to "see" Hollywood. I warned him that Hollywood wasn't as cool as you see on American Idol, but he was a good sport. We parked down at the Pantages Theater where we would be seeing Wicked a little later and walked down Hollywood Blvd about a mile to the Chinese Theater. It was a fun little stroll seeing the stars on the Walk of Fame and the um, interesting variety of establishments along the way. The Chinese Theater was fun--the real Hollywood expect.
Unfortunately, we had so much fun that we had to book it back to the Pantages in about fifteen minutes--no small feat for for two pregnant ladies who had to use the restroom very badly. We made it just as the second curtain call was being announced. When we got to our seats, I realized that we didn't have programs, and when I went to ask for some, the usher said they were downstairs. Ahhhhh! Two guys on the row next to me took pity on the huffing, sweaty pregnant lady and gave me theirs. Thank you! The show was even better the third time (for me) and the other girls loved it too. The boys . . . well, are boys. We tried.

Thanks for coming to visit Tammy and Adam! We miss you guys!

The wedding

Mark's sister, Kristin, got married this weekend and it was absolutely gorgeous! Here are just a few pictures. It was tons of crazy fun hanging out with the Lisonbee clan. They really know how to throw a party. Adam and Tammy stayed a few extra days and I'll post more about that as soon as Tammy sends me the pictures!