May 2008 - Misc.

This is Trisha at her baby shower given by her mother-in-law and I in Santa Monica. She looks beautiful as a pregnant lady. Trisha has been part of my family since she and Mark were in High School together. I'm very proud of the woman she's become and I can't wait to be a pseudo-grandma!
This is on the Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River in Redding. I was at a conference there for the California Employer Advisory Council. Oh and by the way, I was voted the incoming President for the next two years! Pretty cool!

We actually did work at this conference but those pictures aren't any fun. This is my friend Hope and Lynne at the wine tasting social in Redding at the Turtle Bay Museum on the river.
Well, who is this cute guy? That's Rusty - the newest member of Marv's family. You can't really tell from this picture but his face is sort of wrinkly because he is part Sharpei. He is going to be a tank - you should see his feet!

Stagecoach Music Festival

The final day of Stagecoach had Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood, Trace Atkins, Big and Rich and Tim McGraw. Mark had an extra ticket so I got to go.
Aaron and Monica
Tyler is Mark's God-Daughter and he got tickets for her and her friends for the concert. They had a tough time staying awake.

Oooops, looks like Mark had a tough time staying awake too. Poor guy, he went to 3 days of Coachella the weekend before these 3 days of Stagecoach. Guess 6 days of concerts in 10 days took it's toll on him.

And More Beijing China

We took a rickshaw ride to see the Hutong area. This area is just outside of the Forbidden City. How would you like to cook in this kitchen? Everything is very small but this is how the "Common People" live.
The girls always attracted attention everywhere they went and people would look at Donna and I wondering what the heck we were doing with these Chinese kids????

More Beijing China

This was my favorite place in Beijing. It the Summer Palace where the Imperial Family went to vacation. The story is that one of the Emperor's was 5 years old when he became an Emperor so his mother, the Empress Dowager (aka Dragon Lady) really ruled the country. She is not well loved as she spent way too much of China's money enlarging this Summer Palace among other things (she loved pearls and jade). The lake was enlarged and lots of temples built for visiting monks from Tibet and Mongolia. The place is huge but very beautiful and serene.

This is a boat made all of marble - looks great but couldn't be used as it would sink. Another senseless expense by Dragon Lady.
This corridor at the Summer Palace goes on for more than a mile and each of the beams above you is handpainted with different scenes.

Beijing China

These gas masks were in the closet of the first hotel we got to in Beijing. It was sort of scary. Donna moved us the next morning to a 5 star hotel that was very nice. I never did find out what the gas masks were for!
This is the hotel we moved to. It was closer to some of the tourist stuff and we could walk to the stores. Do you see Gwen and Maddy at the right?
Yes, this is the squatty potty that the Chinese use. You have to stradle the sides and squat. Some of the children wear "split pants" that are open and they just squat and do their business because that area of their pants is open. Pretty interesting!
Yes, I did walk on the Great Wall. It's one of the seven wonders of the world and is in length the equivalent of the distance from San Francisco to New York. I was complaining about the steps as they are all different heights and very difficult to walk up and down. The guide told us they were built that way to keep the approaching enemy army from being able to get a rythym.