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Today was yard day. Admitting my embarrassment that the before picture is SO ugly, I will say it does make the finished project look impressive.


Finally, after 21 months in this house, our framed weed patch is gone!

The Flabbergaster of my 3rd Anniversary

If my wife weren’t LDS, she would be invited to play poker at least once a week. This is not because she has any great skill; the opposite actually, she would be invited because she cannot lie and everyone at the table would win at least $5 from her. With that in mind, imagine my shock last night when Mary Karlee revealed that she successfully pulled off a deception worthy of getting her hired by the son of the late king of Nigeria. I will refer to this event as

The Flabbergaster of my 3^rd Anniversary

So, last night I was all pumped up to take Marielle on a Daddy-daughter date. MK was going downtown to a Quilting Expo with a friend and wouldn’t be back until late. As she gathered her things to go, she turned to me and said:

“There are times in a marriage when it is required to deceive your husband. This is one of those times.”

Then she tossed me a box of Fig Newtons to help me figure out what we were really doing and ran out the door with Marielle. I knew before I even heard the car start up where this had to be going.

You see, my wife and I have only one association with Fig Newtons: the serving size is 2 cookies, but who can eat only 2 cookies? 2 sleeves should be the serving size.

And now you also see where this is going. Mary Karlee bought tickets for us to go see Brian Regan – and managed not to tell me about it for one month. If you don’t see why that’s impressive, let me share a few memories with you:

1. Last year, Mary Karlee bought me a pair of Vans shoes for Christmas. I got them on November 21 because I found them sitting on the counter, and MK panicked.
2. Some time ago, I wrote a note to Mary Karlee and placed it on our bathroom counter for her to see in the morning when she got ready. Well, the next day she sneakily replaced it with an identical looking note to me, only she was too excited to wait and let me discover it on my own. As I brushed my teeth that night she cried out “I can’t wait! Look at your note!”

Let me emphasize that this is one of the reasons why I love my wife: she is open and good and honest to the corps. And to the core. Not only is she not mean and deceitful, she can’t even pretend to be. And yet she fooled me. She even kept her cool one night when she almost goofed by telling a story related to the tickets, and ended it abruptly by saying “and then Hyrum… well, it was awkward.”

She successfully dropped the bombshell Saturday night and destroyed my simple, trusting, naivete. We met the Ernstrom’s at Café Adobe, which by the way serves the only chimichanga on the planet whose recipe was revealed by a resurrected being. Then the four of us went to see Brian. When the no-outside-food-or-drink-guards told me I couldn’t take in my Fig Newtons, I bluffed my way through saying “It’s a prop. He does a bit about the serving size.” She shrugged. I confidently strode passed. That’s when the guard tazered me. Just kidding. Erica, Mary Karlee & I blatantly ate our 2 cookies, while Hyrum pretended not to know us for fear of being ejected.

Oh, and we laughed until we cried. Then those of us wearing glasses, had to remove them to wipe away the tears.

Ka-ching!

Marielle has discovered her agency in the last couple weeks and replies "No" to a good 72% of the questions we ask her. I'm not sure yet how much she understands of what we say, so we tested her yesterday when we were outside going for a walk. It was so funny, I wish I had caught this on video but I'll just have to keep replaying it in my mind and hope you catch a small glimmer of the moment from this post.

MK: Marielle, do you want to go inside?
Me: Noh. (think Swedish accent)
MK: Do you want to go to bed?
Me: Noh.
RG: Do you want a million dollars? (mimicking MK's voice intonation)
Me: Yah. (big grin and nodding head)

Megan is Home!

We went to El Paso last weekend to celebrate the homecoming of Ryan's sister Megan. The whole family was there plus some of Megan's friends, so it was a packed house! It was so fun to see Megan and hear all about her mission. Her homecoming talk was excellent too.

You Can Throw A Shower in Just Two Days!

I visit teach a girl in our ward, Paola, who is expecting her second baby. Because her first is a girl and her second will be a boy, having a shower is helpful but not necessarily a given. And that is why after 36 weeks of pregnancy we realized that maybe we should throw her a shower. I should also mention that although 36 weeks sounds like plenty of pre-baby time, Paola is already on bed rest was given medication to stop contractions. Upon consultation with my party planning pal Sherrie, we decided our best bet was to have the shower after the baby was born. But Paola didn't want to wait. So on Monday we went out an Evite, and just two days later that Wednesday we threw the party. Surprisingly the shower was very fun and well attended, all things considered. This picture illustrates my favorite part of the party: Designing and Modeling toilet paper diapers. (As Ryan would say, men will never understand shower games!)


PS Sarah, if you are reading this, we missed your diaper cake!

What Marielle's Been Up To

I can think of no witty intro, so ... enjoy! And you might need this picture for a reference point. (You'll see)

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Could anyone tell I was bored today?

70 words

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