Magistrate Zwahlen Stories, Submission 1

I was working a Friday evening shift as a Virginia Magistrate. We were covering neighboring Scott County when an officer called up over the video conferencing system. After swearing him in, he stated that he arrived at the residence after receiving a phone call from the person stating someone had stolen her red truck. The Officer noticed a red truck sitting in the driveway when he arrived and knocked on the door. The Officer asked the woman if this was the red truck she reported stolen and she said yes but she wanted her f***** dog back. The woman had exited her house and was on the front step yelling at the Officer, beyond reasonably drunk.

The Officer, having dealt with his fair share of drunks before warned the woman to return inside her house or he would have to arrest for being drunk in public. She refused and hurled a few more expletives and she was placed under arrest.

During this recital of the Officer’s pleasant evening, the drunk woman was screaming and swearing at the top of her lungs. I finished my business regarding the arrest and wished the Officer luck.

About 30 minutes later I received another video conference call from the same Officer. I wondered what could have possibly happened while he was at the Sheriffs Office. It turned out the extremely intoxicated woman had requested to go to the bathroom and taken all of the toilet paper and clogged the toilet and flushed the toilet multiple times. Of course this resulted in a flooded Sheriff’s Office.

Oh, Dang It!

Roy and I have laughed the last few days over the funny things that have come out of Abby's mouth. So, in the constant effort to bring a smile to people's faces, I present to you Abby's latest and greatest:

• Abby and I met her friend at the park yesterday and they had a great time running, playing, and just being kids. On the way home, I asked her if she had fun and she started recapping all the things she and Virginia did together. She told me about how they were spinning on the tire swing (more like walking around in circles holding onto the tire swing) and then falling. Then she said, "Oh, dang it! Abby fall, Mommy. Are you okay?"
• While sitting during a particularly quiet moment in Sacrament Meeting at church today, Abby loudly whispered, "Shhh, Mommy. No talking!" At the prompting and prodding by the two laughing kids behind us, the shushing continued until their mom noticed and threatened to take away the chance to go to the upcoming birthday party of a friend. Then when Abby would start to shush me, they would shush her in hopes to win over their mom.
• Abby went running out of our room today past the very organized desk (and by very organized, I mean we have a small stack of boxed chocolates, a very tall but neatly stacked pile of "important" papers, and several other piles that both Roy and I swear are the other person's responsibility). On her way past the desk, one of the boxes of chocolates fell down. But that didn't stop Abby from continuing the dash out of the room, accompanied by a loud, "Oh, geez!"

In other news, we have just under 3 weeks to go until baby Sam is due and we're pretty ready for his arrival. We've got the bassinet set up and clean, the car seat ready to go (pre-tested by Abby and each of her 7 babies), a dresser completely full of clothes, and three anxious family members (plus excited extended family members). All that needs to happen is for my mom to arrive and the big program that I am doing for the teenage girls at church to pass. Depending on what our doctors decide in the next week, we may induce him up to a week early. Since Abby was so big and he is measuring big too, they may let us have him early to avoid a possible emergency C-section. We're just excited to meet our little man!

Hunger Pangs

When Roy went to go get Abby from her "nap" (which was really just 1-1/2 hours of her alternating between singing, yelling our names, and talking to herself) this afternoon, he made a comment to her about how she should have slept during naptime. Then he asked her if she was ready for a snack, to which she replied, "I'm starving!" When they came out, laughing, to tell me the story, Abby explained, "No nigh-nights. I'm starving!" Needless to say, Roy and I found a fairly good mix of humiliation that we let our child go to bed on an empty stomach and humor that she could vocalize her hunger that way. And, by the way, we could tell by the size of the snack she consumed that she really must have been starving so we're also sort of proud she actually knows what the word means. We better watch out for her--she's going to get us in trouble someday!

Columbia, SC

One of the benefits of Roy's work schedule is that he gets the middle of the week off every few weeks. Of course, the trade-off is that he works 2 weekends in 5, but we're trying to stay positive here. We decided to take advantage of his 3-day holiday last week and go to the LDS temple in Columbia, South Carolina (for more information about temples, click on the short video clip links below). Roy and I both enjoyed attending the temple and getting some one-on-one time with Abby as the other one was inside. It was nice to gain a little perspective about life and get refocused on what really matters. It was also a definite reminder about the importance of our role as parents. Columbia also happens to be my grandma's hometown so it was really fun to see where she grew up and gave me a nice excuse to call and get some ideas on where to go and what to see. It was definitely a long car trip, but well worth it. The best part of all was when Abby, who explored the gardens outside the temple for a grand total of 15 minutes told us that she loved the temple, but that she wanted "no more car". With Sam's arrival in the next 3-4 weeks, we should easily be able to grant her request of no more long trips in the car.

Why Mormons Build Temples

The Blessings of the Temple

True Colors

As we were eating snack today, Abby looked over at Roy and said, completely unprompted, "Hi, Dad. You're weird."

Arctic Freeze

We have had temperatures between -1 and 22 degrees for over a week. So we've spent a whole lot of time at home. And we've gotten really creative with the activities and fun things to do around the house, finding new hiding places, rediscovering cabinets (not that we have more than 4 in the house...), and combining toys in interesting ways.

Can't Resist

How can you beat this winning smile?

Today I dropped one of Abby's favorite cups and it crashed just right and broke. Yes, it was plastic, but again, it hit just right. As I was cleaning up the apple juice that spilled, I apologized to Abby and told her we could go to the store and buy a new one. I was bracing myself for tears (minimum) or an angry tantrum (maximum) when she surprised me by patting me on the shoulder and saying, "It's okay, Mama."