davis loves a themed party

Davis is a sucker for themed parties. He loves them. He loves them even more when there is a good historical story behind them. A few years ago, we celebrated his birthday with a Great Depression themed party. It was quite easy to plan for because people just did not have a lot during that time. As November 17th drew closer, Davis and I had several party conversations. I suggested a Mexican themed party, margaritas  and tres leche cake sounded really good to me. Davis wasn't satisfied with the simplicity. Then I suggested a Mexican and Austrian party, since they were partners through marriage briefly at one time. The sentence that followed has probably never been uttered in all of history, it is quite unusual but so Davis. His eyes lit up and he exclaimed "a Zimmerman telegram party! I have always wanted to have a Zimmerman telegram party!" So we did. And just in case you need to brush up on history; read the invitation that came straight from the mind of the guy who has dreamed of such a party for years, I have copy and pasted it at end.


So, we invited all our new friends in SLC to celebrate with us. It's hard to believe we've only been in Utah six months with the turn out. Our house was packed! Everyone  was extremely gracious to get into the theme with Davis. He was tickled so many really got into character/costume. We are so very blessed in every way, we even had Lora and Andrew fly in from Boulder, CO to celebrate with us.

a pinata and beer steins

tres leche and tres cakes
and a ton of margarita supplies, thanks y'all!

el presidente and his senorita

german folk supervising the lime juicing
at the carnitas bar

straight from oktoberfest to mexico :)

best costume award to jenna, best frida complete with uni-brow

the pinata met it's match with the tennis racket

Thank lora and andrew for spending the weekend with us!

Such a fun evening. Happy birthday Davis!

thanks for everyone loving us so well!



--------- the email invitation that confused the masses and ended up in a few spam folders due it's title of "urgent diplomatic message"------------


At the outbreak of the Great War, the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. When a German U-boat sank the British liner RMS Lusitania on May 7th, 1915 with 128 Americans among the dead, President Wilson insisted that "America is too proud to fight" but demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied. Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. However, he also repeatedly warned that the United States would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, in violation of international law. Germany saw no other option than to use submarines to break the British blockade.
Then on January 16th, 1917, British intelligence intercepted the following coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt:

FROM 2nd from London # 5747.

"We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace." Signed, ZIMMERMANN

Mexican President Venustiano Carranza considered the proposal, but thought it was too risky since 1) the US was far stronger militarily, 2) Germany's "generous financial support" was likely too good to be true, 3) even with financial support, the US was the only major arms dealer in the Americas, and 4) the English-speaking population of the southwestern US was too well stocked with guns and ammunition to allow for a lasting occupation.
The American public was angered by the proposal, and the US entered the war against Central Powers in April 1917.


THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16th AT 6:30PM, however, you are invited to Mexico City to a ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM PARTY to celebrate the GLORIOUS ALLIANCE of the GERMAN EMPIRE and LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS (and Davis's birthday). The Mexican Foreign Ministry is located at 659 Elizabeth Street in Ciudad de Salt Lake.
Dinner will include traditional carnitas, quesadillas, chips, salsa, queso, margaritas, and Mexican beer. Rumor has it Secretary Zimmerman also loves unicorn-shaped pinatas. As guests of this diplomatic celebration, you may come as German emissaries or as Mexican Foreign Ministers and their staff. Costumes are encouraged. Mustaches will be provided for all. If one were to bring gifts, fine ideas are German beer and treats from the Fatherland or a bottle of tequila, margarita mix, Cointreau, or some limes for use in Presidente's kitchen (gifts are not required by any means). There may be a small French envoy joining the festivities, but ve can put our differences aside for one night, ya?

President Carranza only requests that you RSVP and indicate whether you are bringing a bottle of liquor (so we can be sure to have enough, but not too much, because that mierda can be expensive.)
AS ALWAYS, spouses are encouraged to come.


Sincerely Yours,
Esmeralda Curiel
Secretary to President Venustiano Carranza

star shots

This morning, I woke up to a few inches of snow blanketing Salt Lake City. I love snow but really only on my days off. Today I had to be at work working at 6am. The dark early morning hours scraping snow off my car wasn't so fun. I don't think many people saw the snow coming, or at least that it was going to stick and accumulate. The roads were a bit slushy and slippery, my least favorite thing about snow. I would have taken a good picture to show off the arrival of winter but it was dark. The snow is still lingering a bit, mostly in shady areas. It is interesting to see yellow fall leaves and snow simultaneously, does not seem quite right.

had to scrap all this off (some of it into my shoes)
before work.

As promised, I managed to snag a few star shots from Mark. In addition, a few non iphone shots of the trip as well. Enjoy!

group shot thanks to camera timers

big hole, tiny people

my favorite harper

starry night

milky way on the right

the brightest is Jupiter

there was little to no moon that night, all light was cast by the stars.
milky way at center
so lovely, so very very lovely.

I am so spell bound by God's handiwork. His creation gets so big and vast with the heavens and then so tiny and intricate on the other end of the scale. Yet, with all the detail and enormity, He knows us each by name. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, and so very very loved. Pretty crazy.

congratulations!

I forgot to mention this but my younger brother, Daniel, recently became engaged to his long-time girl friend, Ashley. We are all super thrilled she will officially be in the family although she has basically been a part of our lives for years now. Love you both!

early november adventure

For what will probably be our last camping adventure of the season, we made a quick trip down to the Moab area of Utah. It was a great, chilly night of camping and a warm Saturday of exploring. So glad we decided to go because this morning we woke up to snow falling.

Ingrid watching the snow fall this morning

 As I mentioned in the previous post, Davis has gotten into star gazing and it was a moon-less Friday night. Davis' enthusiasm for night sky watching has spread and for this trip we had six adults and one baby join in. The night sky was perfectly clear and being in the middle of the desert, we saw a whole lot more of the starry span than is usually visible in the city. Our friend Mark, the amateur star photographer was present again. I promise to one day post a few of his shots. We saw dozens of shooting stars, the Andromeda galaxy, and what we believe to be the moons of Jupiter. I am slowly improving my ability to point out certain stars, planets, and constellations. We all can't help but spend the night in awe of vast array of heavens and know that God is quite a lot bigger and more creative than we give him credit.

davis taking in the scenery

it went a long way out there

desert hole with snow capped mountains in the distance

Since we arrived after dark, none of us know what exactly our camp ground looked like. Nor did we know the spectacular view that awaited us. The area has a view of the Colorado River as it curls through the canyon lands of Utah. The area is called Dead Horse Point, for sad historical reasons, but clearly it is a beautiful and rugged bit of earth.

crusty campers in love and clashing flannel prints

wee harper and davis

Also, in this area is Arches National Park. We spend the afternoon doing a turbo tour of Arches, seeing rocks turn into bridges without man's intervention. Before moving to Utah, I honestly had no idea how many national and state parks it had. And so many of them are just incredible for so many different reasons. I keep thinking how little thought I have given my whole life to the beauty God put into rocks.

double o arch

delicate arch, graces the utah license plates

suuuuuper skinny arch

After Arches, we had a Mexican food fiesta feast with shared margaritas,  since we had some driving to do, in the town of Moab. With our bellies full, we headed back to the big city of Salt Lake.

I can't believe it is already November. We have some fun things lined up this month, much to look forward to!