Picture This

It is 1:27 a.m. and you are in bed fast asleep when you are suddenly jerked awake by intense pounding on your front door. Husband groggily gets up, opens the door and greets two policemen at the doorstep. They ask if he is the owner of a silver Honda Prelude, answering affirmatively, the policemen escort him to the parking lot. Before even leaving the internal hallway of the building, some kind of incessant alarm can be heard. The alarm, as it turns out, is coming from aforementioned silver Prelude. It seems that the rain has somehow triggered the horn to blare nonstop of its own accord. Unfortunately, said horn is loud enough to wake every neighbor within a half-mile radius. And is, apparently, annoying enough to prompt some roused neighbor (or three) to call the police and complain. Policemen track you down and help you remove fuse for car horn.

The ridiculous part about all this? It happened to us last night. It appears we have a possessed car horn. So, in the event of an emergency, in the absence of a horn, we will be the weirdos waving our arms and shouting out the car window.

It took me awhile to stop chuckling and fall back to sleep after that one. What are the odds!

From a Colorado Garden

I had a lovely surprise earlier this week.

I took a trip to the Denver Botanic Garden and found a plethora of plant life budding, blooming, and leafing out. Colorado horticulture early spring has an abundance of color and variety to share, I just needed to know where to look. It would appear, therefore, that much of the local public lives far beneath their horticultural privileges. In my frequent walks around local neighborhoods and parks I see the same twenty plants that are nice, but not terribly unique. I was beginning to think that the altitude, the winds, the dry soil, and low rain fall would not allow any great diversity of plant material to thrive. Not so!

Here are some favorite mid-April bloomers from the botanic garden, which are well-adapted to Colorado and could very easily be added to a residential landscape for some extra pizazz.

Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie' Burkwood Daphne (shrub)

Pulsatilla vulgaris Pasque Flower (rock garden perennial)

Anemone blanda 'White Splendor' Greek Anemone (from a rhizome-like tuber)

Chinodoxa forbessi Glory-of-the-Snow (bulb)

Aubrieta intermedia Rockcress (rock garden perennial)

Viburnum carlesii Korean Spice Viburnum (shrub)

What is leafing out right now? Silver Maple, Hedge Maple, Honeylocust, Green Ash, Peony, Filbert, Ninebark

What is blooming right now? Lilac, Tulip, Crabapple, Pearlbush, Quince, Flowering Plum, Serviceberry, Redbud, Hellebore, Fritillaria, Bleeding Heart, Currant/Gooseberry

Good News!

Today was my 20-week ultrasound, and we are having a BOY! Everything is perfect--he has textbook measurements and weight and all organs are functioning well. He was super wiggly and active during the doctor appointment, but we did get this nice profile shot with his hand near his face.
And this one with his feet side by side, all cozy--look at his little toes!

As of the middle of week 18 my nausea went away. Hip-hip-hoorah! I have been feeling his bumps and wiggles more lately, and today when baby had the hiccups I could feel it! Fun!

Reason no. 8

Dear Dallin,

You make me smile. (And, no, this is not the beginning of a cheesy Iowa tourism commercial.)

You make my day. You make me laugh every day. I love your silly songs, your spontaneous stories, your characteristic Dallin-isms, your jokes, your sense of humor. I love you for your carefree, happy ways. I knew long before I met you that I needed to marry someone who could do that for me; you are my perfect combination.

How grateful I am for a gentleman husband, for a kind husband, for a hard-working husband, but also for a husband who knows when to be silly. I love that you keep things light and lovely.

"In all living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Here's to many, many years of fun and laughter.

Love always, Liezel

An Aunt and Uncle Weekend

This past weekend was the annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I look forward to this time every year because I love to hear from the leadership of the Church and gain instruction on the things that matter most. This April conference was another miracle as some of my personal needs were met through the words of the Prophets and Apostles called by God. I know that revelation continues!
This weekend was also a unique chance to spend time with my sister-in-law and her two children visiting from Wisconsin. Other than some brief encounters during our wedding last year and talks on Skype, I have not been around this niece (4 years) and nephew (19 months) at all. Dallin and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We played in the park, blew bubbles, had piano concerts, and snuggled. My niece is a doll and so loving, talkative, inventive, and talented. My nephew is a whirlwind, a blue-eyed charmer, so contented, and also very loving. We had hours of fun and play, and a few precious moments, like when my nephew began to understand how to fold his arms for prayer time. He was also intensely interested whenever the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang a number during the conference.
On the way back home Dallin and I realized that we had just seen the next five years of our life. And then we realized that we had just seen the next five years of our life! There is no doubt that the stage of life we are about to enter has its unique challenges and that parenting is demanding and exhausting, but at the same time so rewarding. I look forward to beginning the adventure.