#1 Thing NOT to pour down your sink

What is that? And what is that stuff coming out of that pipe? The answer: Grease, pure solidified grease coming out of the pipe that we had to replace.

We've had minor prolems with our sink ever since we moved in, and major problems for the past 2 weeks. Our kitchen sink was so clogged that it would take 8-12 hours for the sink to drain, depending on how much water was in there. It was nearly impossible to do dishes, which has meant a very dirty kitchen and house. (I feel like if my kitchen can't be clean, why bother with the rest?)

A lot of money and two plumbers later we found out the problem was built up grease that previous owners had apparently dumped down the drain. You see, grease doesn't flow down your pipes into the sewer or septic. It solidifies and stays in your pipes and just builds and builds until they're full, and finally the only solution is to replace the line. Sadly we had to tear out the dry wall of our laundry room ceiling (which is WAY harder than they make it look on TV) and have that part of the line replaced.

So next time you think about pouring any grease down the drain, think of this picture:)

Summer/Fall 2011

In a nutshell...

My mom and sister, Mindy, came and visited us. I showed them Van Meter Park where we went on a nice nature walk. All the boys had a blast finding all kinds of strange bugs, frogs, and birds. Poor Matthew and Zo accidently touched poison ivy along the way. Thankfully my wonderfully prepared sister had this magical mud stuff that helps take away the sting.

St. Louis Botanical Gardens with 2 of my sisters, Floris, Mindy, my mom, and all our kids.

We went to the pool a couple of times. I think Liam had the best time splashing with his blue ball.
Our neighbors invited us to the Demolition Derby. Zo LOVED it. He sat by the girls the whole time and intently watched the crazy loud cars all night. This is definitely the red neck event of the summer.

We made the insanely long drive to Utah at the end of the summer. The way there got pretty ugly around 9pm. Liam had been sick so we gave him some Benadryl. Turns out it has the opposite affect on him and so he was wired until about 11pm. There was a lot of screaming during that time. While we were there we visited my parent's house in Fairview. Zo had the time of his life. He fed the goats, picked apples, helped milk the goats, rode the 4-wheeler multiple times a day, watered the chickens, gathered the eggs, rode the horses, rode the plasma cars, and fell in love with his Grandpa.

I went on a beautiful horse ride with my dad up Fairview canyon. I must say it took awhile to get used to riding a horse again, and I was unexpectedly sore the next day. But it was so fun riding horses again!

We went to Tepanyaki Steak House with our friends from PA school, and sadly none of us remembered to take a picture. We had so much fun with them.

Sarah and Blake got married, and the ceremony was absoltely beautiful. It was great that we got to be with them on their special day.

I ran my first 5k while we were there, and just yesterday I ran my second. Times haven't been posted yet but I'm hoping I beat my previous time.

We also got together with the old house boys from BYU. We barbequed, played football, and got shakes at Artic Circle. Then we watched the game at my sister's house.

Liam turned 1 on Sept. 20th! We celebrated with cake and presents. He is such an easy going kid and follows Zo everywhere, even though Zo beats up on him a lot. He is always smiling and always on the go. He loves to play with Zo, especially in the rocks. He can say a few words like ma ma, da da, bye, and hi. I think he has also started saying, "What's this?" He loves to play the piano and had started to dance. He is a determined little guy and already will practice something until he masters it. He did that with walking and going down stairs. I love him so much!
I planned the Branch Halloween Party, and it went very well. We did a pot luck dinner, a gag raffle, fishing for prizes for the kids, a cake walk, and a trunk or treat. I made homemade root beer, caramel popcorn, and cupcakes that had little ghosts on the top made out of meringue. Zo was a cowboy and Liam was a Karate kid.

My neighbor brought me tons of tomatoes this summer so I canned like crazy. I canned 14 quarts of tomato soup, 4 quarts and 3 pints of salsa, 3 quarts and 5 pints of chili sauce, 2 quarts crushed tomatoes, 3 quarts and 2 pints of spaghetti sauce. Plus I made a big batch of fresh salsa. I learned that as the jalepenos sit in the salsa they get hotter. Brother Harris was sweating as he ate it at the pot luck. He said he would have kept eating but he ran out of napkins to wipe of the sweat. Lorenzo described it as so innocent looking, but it's defintely not baby food. (Our friend, Blanca, says that if food isn't hot it's like baby food.)

Entertaining Liam

No one can make Liam laugh as hard as Zo can...

Recent Romney Happenings

I'll start with Zo getting his new bed a little while back. Liam was outgrowing the pack 'n play, so that meant Zo got booted out of his crib. He has done very well adjusting! It was fun going with Nancy to pick out his bedding, mattress, dresser, and nightstand. His walls are still bare, but that way they match the rest of the house:) I will decorate my walls someday, there are so many things to buy that it all just takes time!

A few pictures of Liam:

A rad tech that Miles works with had a play set that her kids had outgrown, and so she was wanting to sell it. It is pretty cute, and she gave us a pretty good deal. So two Saturday's ago Zo got a play set, and has really enjoyed it so far. Loves the slide, hates the swings. He had a good time helping his dad put it together.

Then came Easter and we had a good time on Saturday. We started with an Easter egg hunt, which Zo quickly got the hang of and had a lot of fun.

About 2/3 the way through he opened an egg and realized they were filled with candy! Best day ever! ("Until Halloween" Miles replied)

The rest of Saturday was spent out in the yard. We took a whole bunch of garbage to the dump, Miles tilled and filled the holes left by the U-Haul last year and planted grass on those patches.

As for Easter Sunday, the morning was a little crazy. Here's why:

6:15 - Zo wakes up and I lay in bed with him until 7 trying to get back to sleep. Did he fall back asleep? No.

7:15 - Liam wakes up. I feed and dress him. Then I cut up the Rice Krispie treats for primary.

8:10 - About to get in the shower when I check my phone. I see that I have a new email, and a new email on Sunday morning is never good. The pianist is sick so now I have to play for Sacrament. (We had a meeting that morning, so we have to leave by 9:00). I am now frantic as I start to try and practice all the hymns for that day. And as you know, piano is not my strong instrument. I practice for about 20 min. until I absolutely have to get ready. What gets left behind? A shower. Who needs them anyway?

Needless to say we did not get an Easter family picture, and now I'm really sad. We have no family pictures. I think we have one, and that was on Liam's blessing day. So pathetic! Sadly, me playing for sacrament, doing sharing time, making treats for primary, and playing piano for primary is not an unusual Sunday. I don't mind it that much, I just would appreciate some notice when I have to play!

After church we went to Nancy & Lorenzo's for Easter dinner. It was so yummy! Nancy made her famous roast, potatoes & gravy, corn, peas, and rolls. After dinner we colored Easter eggs because we didn't have time Friday night or on Saturday. Zo had a ton of fun!!

Happy Birthday to my little Valentine!

Although we celebrated yesterday, today is Zo's birthday. He is 2 years old now! I just can't believe he's already a full-blown toddler (except for when he throws his tantrums - then I believe it). To celebrate his birthday many of the Romney family came over to our house. Jen, Jared, Adelyn, and JR couldn't make it because they have been deathly ill. We are sad that they are sick, and I know Zo loves his cousins and would have had a lot of fun with them.

We played with Zo and his new ball that Nanny gave him until dinner time.

Zo got hit with the ball so he...

tried to hit Naomi...

then hit Julie. (Sorry Julie!)

For dinner Lorenzo cooked his spaghetti, which Zo throughly enjoyed as usual. Then we opened presents, ate cake, ice cream, and cupcakes. The cake was my first attempt at doing a creative/themed cake. It turned out okay. I thought it was gross with the sprinkles and stuff on top which is why I made the cupcakes too. (Those were good:) )

Zo got some really great presents from his loving family. Thank you everyone for your love and gifts!

Lots of REALLY cute clothes (that he desperately needed) from Nanny.

A lovable, soft Buzz Light Year with blanket (that he took to bed that night:) ) from Benjamin and Kalie.

Books and a cool flashlight toy from Jen, Jared, Adelyn, and JR.

Tricycle!!!! From Grandma and Grandpa Olsen

A kid's pinic table with an umbrella from Mommy and Daddy

The bummer part was that by the end of his birthday celebration he had croup. I'm glad we celebrated a day early. Otherwise his birthday would not have very fun.

Zo is such a funny kid. He loves to clean. He gets upset if I take out the garbage without letting him help. When he makes a mess he gets out a rag and wipes it up. He can't sit on his high chair if it's dirty. It must be cleaned first!

He now loves his movies which include: How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Over the Hedge, and Beauty & the Beast. He likes to watch "Super Why", "Sid, the Science Kid" (I'm so proud:) ), and "The Cat in the Hat". He likes Elmo, but otherwise does not like Seasame Street. He's starting to like coloring and will get into the drawer, get the crayons, some paper, and start drawing. He loves to count, but usually can't make it past one. He just says, "One" over and over again while you keep counting the stairs, toes, fingers, or whatever. (This can easily throw you off when trying to remember how many cups of flour you've added.)

He loves to all kinds of balls. Love to kick them, throw them, roll them, and spin them.

He LOVES cars. When he sees a truck or car pass on the road he says, "Beep, beep!". When we're in the parking lot and he sees a car he says, "Owie." This is because I tell him he has to hold my hand when we're in the parking lot because the cars can give him a big owie. He also knows that knives, lighters, and scissors are also owies. That still doesn't stop him from bringing them to me.

He loves to help with the dishes. I think he likes this one because he gets to play in the water in the sink.

All animals roar, with the exception of pigs and monkeys. He's starting to make their noises.

When he's scared he starts to pant and take really shallow breaths.

He loves Liam and likes to help. He will bring me Liam's pacifier and blanket. If Liam kicks of his blanket, Zo will go and put it back on him. Everything Liam does is, "foounny".

Zo LOVES his daddy and calls for him all the time during the day. He points at Miles' chair and says, "Daddy". Same with the front door, Miles' glasses, shoes, and other things Zo manages to find of Miles'.

Zo is obessessed with shoes. He is always trying to put his on him, mine on him, mine on me, or his on Liam. Last night when everyone was starting to leave, somehow he knew which shoes belonged to who. He got Jacob's shoes and brought them to him. He did the same with Julie's and Kalie's (I think). He loves to go outside and finally when it was slightly warm yesterday was so happy to be outside without his little fingers being in danger of frost bite.


I love this kid so much, as I know Miles does. My dad used to always tell me I would never know how much he loved me until I had children of my own. He was so right. Of course I love my parents, but the love that a parent has for their child is different. You are constantly serving that little person by doing EVERYTHING for them which results is a kind of love that is so deep and powerful that it makes me tear up just thinking about how much I love him. Happy Birthday Zo!