Puyallup mother was just shy of 30; she definitely wasn't sad, sedentary or shy

Lise Palmer loved to run. She'd often wake in the morning and head to the YMCA or set out in her neighborhood in Puyallup, where she grew up and later settled. She used the time to be alone with her thoughts and to pray.

She was a social person, too, and loved to chat, calling her mom several times a day to report funny things her sons had done or said.

But Lise liked the quiet time she spent running. It was one of the contrasts that made her who she was:

A health nut with a sweet tooth, who bought candy in bulk.

A tomboy who played sports as well as any guy, but who was fashionable and as beautiful as any magazine model.

"She was just a happy spirit. She loved the Lord. She loved her husband and kids. They were her life. She was head over heels for her life," said her mother-in-law, Kathy Palmer, pausing to wipe tears from her eyes.

It's hard to talk about her in the past tense.

Two months ago, Lise, 29, was hit by a car and killed while out for a jog in Chelan, where she and her husband, Ryan, had taken their young family for Memorial Day.

She was eight months pregnant with their third child, a long-awaited daughter, who also died.

Her family is left to somehow make sense of the loss. They're leaning on their Christian faith and trying to go forward honoring her memory, including through a memorial run planned for next month.

"Talking about Lise does make me smile. I smile because that's what she'd want me to do," said her mom, Cathy Macadangdang. "It's left a hole in our lives. But one day we're going to see her again."

NOT SHY FOR LONG

Lise, who would have turned 30 in June, was a shy little girl, the only child of Cathy and Craig Macadangdang.

She came out of her shell in second grade, when the family moved to Puyallup. She formed friendships there that lasted a lifetime.

"I met her in elementary school," said Heather Linderman, a bridesmaid at her wedding. "She had a joy for life that was really contagious. She had a way of drawing people together."

The girls played basketball together at Rogers High School. Lise was a point guard, and a good one.

Her future husband went to rival Puyallup High. He also was an athlete, and Lise would point him out to friends at basketball games.

"She knew from junior high or high school that she was going to marry Ryan," said another longtime friend, Lexi Herzog, laughing.

They started dating when Lise was in college. They married in 2006, the year after she graduated from Washington State University with a degree in exercise science.

They soon started a family. Lise had a name picked out for a girl, but she didn't get to use it right away. A son, Ray, was born in spring 2007. A second son, Mac, followed two years later.

Lise was devoted to them, friends and family said. She doled out discipline with love, and also made sure they had plenty of snuggles and fun.

"If her boys would have fun jumping into the mud, she'd let them," said friend Stephanie Horan. "She didn't care how big the mess would be. She'd do anything for them."

Still, she hoped to add a girl to the family.

When she became pregnant again, she got down on her knees at the doctor's office before her ultrasound and prayed the baby growing inside her was a girl, she told a friend later with a laugh.

When she got the good news, she was overjoyed.

"I don't think I'll ever know anyone who wanted a girl as much as she did," said friend Rachel Bailey. "I was so ecstatic for her. (I told her) ‘God has blessed you with this girl.'"

Some friends threw her a small party. They made headbands for the baby, who was to be called Faith, the name Lise had saved all those years.

DEATH ON A TWO-LANE ROAD

Lise grew up going to Chelan with her parents. She loved its natural beauty, and kept the tradition going with her own family.

On the morning of May 27, she went out for a jog – something she'd done during her other pregnancies, after consulting with her doctor.

Just before noon, she was on the shoulder of a two-lane road just outside city limits. A 69-year-old Redmond man driving a Volvo station wagon crossed the centerline, sideswiped the guardrail and struck her, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The driver, who wasn't under the influence of alcohol or drugs, told troopers he wasn't sure what happened, said patrol Lt. Kandi Patrick. He may face charges, she said.

Lise died at the scene.

About two weeks later, 800 people gathered at Puyallup Foursquare Church to mourn and celebrate. Some entries from Lise's prayer journal were read.

In one prayer, she asked to be "a loving daughter, wife, mom and friend."

She asked to have "no inhibitions and follow your word, your guidance by the Holy Spirit daily."

Her final entry was a prayer of thanks.

"I love that this is the perfect timing in our lives to have (a vacation)," she wrote. "Thank you again for everything. Please watch over our safe trip to Chelan and back. I love you."

EYES TOWARD HEAVEN

Lise's family and friends said their faith is helping them through. It's a comfort to think of being reunited with her and her baby girl in Heaven.

And to think of the two of them together, with God.

"We try to look at the difference she made," her mom said.

The runner who kept her family close. The busy mother who always had time for friends. The young woman whose life was cut short, but still filled with love, adventure, fun and happy times.

Ryan Palmer recently has returned to his job at a construction company. It's hard for him to talk about his wife. The two grandmas are helping with the boys, who have so much of their mother in them.

Cathy and Craig Macadangdang have photos of their daughter throughout their home. The snapshots chart her transformation from girl to woman – smiling in a cap and gown, standing on the beach in Hawaii in a white dress, holding her children.

"There are so many images of Lise that flash through my head," her mom said. "I think about her laughing. She had an infectious laugh. She always had a smile on her face."