Tahoe Trip

Mark Twain said it best when he wrote about Tahoe, “Those who wish to breathe the same air as angles…come to us [Tahoe] and we will meet your wishes in every possible way.” This past week, I truly experienced a slice of heaven. In fact, there could not possibly be a better name for the local ski mountain: Heavenly. The natural surroundings were truly breathtaking and the memories we made will endure through our lifetimes.  

Our good family friends had a charming, cozy house on the lake in South Lake Tahoe. It had a large fenced in yard with stunning views. I am so thankful they allowed our big family to stay in the house for the week. It was a true blessing and I thank God for such generous people in the world. We started our drive Thursday afternoon and stopped for the night in Bishop. We stayed in a hotel, which is always exciting for kids, but not always exciting for the adults. I apologize to the vacationers that had our adjoining walls or the room below ours. Hayden would not sleep in her portable crib and so I attempted to share my bed with her.  She fell out of bed multiple times during the night. THUMP…WAAAAAHHHHH! The next morning at the complimentary breakfast we were the only family there, and I was sure everyone was thinking, “Oh. It was YOU guys that kept us up all night!” Well, yes. It probably was and I am sorry. 

Fortunately, we left Bishop early in the morning on a beautiful sunny, crisp day. Those that live in snow conditions know that these are the best days of all. The roads were clear and dry, but there was snow on the surrounding mountains as we drove through the valley. Eva and Adolf were truly amazed by the scenery as we passed. They have never experienced such majestic mountain peaks. 

Immediately upon arrival the kids found an old saucer sled in the house and took it out to the snow bank wearing only their Southern California street clothes. They were too excited for the snow to care much about mittens or jackets! After unpacking and getting settled, we realized we were missing something super important.  We had: food, toys, books, street clothes, boots, and games, but were missing one box: OUR SNOW CLOTHES! It was the first box I packed for our trip, but it didn’t manage to make it into the car! By this time it was Friday afternoon, so we quickly sent a friend to our house to take the box to FedEx for an overnight shipment with Saturday delivery. I thought it would be expensive, but spilled my hot chocolate when they said “$1000!!!!” Holy Moly! I could buy a plane ticket for cheaper, so we went to plan B. A little bit of overtime for one of Scott’s officers, 10 hours, and a few tanks of gas later we had our box of snow clothes and an extra guest! Thank you to Thomas for driving it up to us! We hope you enjoyed your stay in heaven as much as we did! 

The first full day in Tahoe we decided to start the trip off with a bang, so we went to a tubing hill, rented some tubes and had an awesome time! Most of us declared it was one of the best days of the trip. It had not snowed for a while so the snow on the tubing runs had become very hard and icy. Not so great for building snowmen, but AWESOME if you want to go fast down a hill! All of us had a great time and Adolf learned an important lesson: Do not attempt to stand on a sled. Any pictures you see of him with a multiple bandages on his face will show you the result of his lesson. I have to say my favorite run down the mountain was when Uncle Laine and Neville (his friend) connected their tube to mine and Scott’s. We went speeding down the hill so fast that we crashed through the boundary barriers at the bottom and almost took out an unsuspecting gentleman walking to the snack shack. We then got told by the tubing police, “One tube at a time.” Oops, but totally worth it!  

When we returned to the house after a long day of tubing we were all ready for some rest and relaxation by the inviting fireplace. Unfortunately, when we went to unlock the door, the entire deadbolt broke in the locked position. We called company that manages the house and told them of our predicament and they said they would send someone out “right away.” Well, I guess “right away” in South Tahoe is a little different than “right away” in so cal. We waited and waited and waited. We had five hungry, cold, tired, and cranky kids as well as five hungry, cold, tired, and cranky adults. We called the company again and with baby Hayden screaming in the background, I think they realized they really did need to get to the house “right away.” One hour later, we finally entered the house! It was this point (after leaving the snow clothes behind and getting locked out in the cold) that Laine declared, “I am never traveling with you guys again!” 

Fortunately, the rest of the trip went very smooth and we continued to make many wonderful memories. One of the best points of the trip was when I was making breakfast in the morning and Adolf came downstairs without his leg braces and sat down on the couch to play cards with Uncle Laine. He said, “Look, Uncle Laine. My legs are just like yours.” Reminds me of the things I take for granted every day. Fortunately, Adolf’s injuries were able to be fixed, but there are many others in this world that have to live permanently with life-changing injuries. I pray for them that they may have a strong heart. I am so thankful to walk, see, laugh, hear, love, and have the body that I do (even if it is not in as good as shape as it once was!)

We packed a lot of fun into the week and shared many “firsts” with Adolf and Eva. In the end, I think Laine will travel with us again, but will probably bring extra supplies! Please enjoy the pictures to see a sampling of our activities. 

With all the fun we have been having, we are now back at home and were reminded of the reason of Adolf’s visit to America and on Thursday (Valentine’s Day) Adolf will go back for an additional surgery. This time it is only on his left leg, so I hope it is less traumatic than the previous surgeries; however, I am not looking forward to another surgery as the others have been so emotionally and physically draining. Please pray for a painless recovery and strength for our entire family. 

I wish a happy Valentine’s Day to all my readers!

Adolf in the snow for the first time! Look at that smile!

Playing around with Uncle Laine.

Kelly doesn't care she is in a short-sleeved shirt!

From the backyard of our cabin. I love this picture because Laine is taking a picture of Adolf and Maverick and I am in the background showing them how to pose while holding baby Hayden. You can also see our beautiful view!

Maverick trying to climb over the fence. (He really only had to walk a few feet over to use the gate, but he preferred the hard way.)

Hayden is not so sure about the cold snow.

Eva holding baby Hayden in the snow.

Uncle Laine with Hayden.

Kelly and I are tubing! It was so hard to get good pictures of the tubing because we were going so fast!

Hunter and Adolf tubing.

One of my favorite pictures of our trip! Kelly is wearing Neville's hat while we are eating lunch at a restaurant.

An action shot of Uncle Laine ice skating!

Adolf ice skating! Look at those legs!

The family on the ice!

Uncle Laine ice skating with Adolf.

Eva and Adolf at the end of a two mile hike.

Adolf enjoying his hike.

Eva and Adolf making memories!

Daddy helping Kelly bowl! Unfortunately, the camera battery died after taking this picture, so I didn't get any pictures of Adolf or Eva bowling, but they did great and had a great time.