Zo's Swimming Lesson

Diet Coke with Vanilla

Last night Miles and I went to an MMA fight in Grain Valley with the whole ortho clinic because they all know the guy that was going to be fighting in the main event. We arrived at the Whiskey Tango before the majority of the crowd. Yes, it was my first time in a bar. It was set up so that the caged octagon was in the middle of the floor with long tables on four sides. Then there was a perimeter of barstools which is where we sat.

I hadn't eaten dinner so as soon as got there I ordered food and a diet coke with vanilla from the one waitress in our huge section. I was a little disappointed when I got my drink because she added way too much vanilla. But I drank it anyway.

Later on when both Miles and I needed refills our waitress was nowhere to be found, and was nearly impossible to signal even when she did come around. So I went to the drink window and ordered Miles another Sprite and myself another Diet Coke vanilla. The total for our two drinks? $9.50! I tasted it and thought it was a bit off. So I had Miles taste it along with Liz and Suzette from the office who know their alcohol. Sure enough, it was vanilla vodka that had been added. Awesome. My first taste of alcohol. I told Dr. Ross what happened (who also knows her alcohol VERY well) she laughed and said, "And you didn't spontaneously combust?!" Ha ha.

Liz took it back to the window and the bartender said that if I wanted non-alcoholic drinks I needed to order from the waitress. I flaged her down a few minutes later and ordered my drink. When she came back with it I thought it too tasted off. Once again Miles, Liz, and Suzette tasted it, thinking maybe it had vodka, but not sure. Waving down the waitress once more we asked if my drink had alcohol. She nodded. Awesome. What did this mean? My first drink of the night that I totally downed also had vanilla vodka in it. So what I thought was just way too much vanilla turned out to be vanilla vodka! Finally we just ordered my a plain diet coke, nothing added. What did I learn? When asking for vanilla anything at an alcoholic service venue, assume you are asking for vanilla vodka.

As for the fights, some were good, a lot were boring. Our guys lost. I have to admit I was pretty busy watching all the weird drunks getting more drunk throughout the night instead of watching the fights. Drunk people are entertaining to a point, and then they just get loud and annoying.

Oh and my total for the night for 1 chicken sandwich, some sprite and unwanted diet coke with vanilla [vodka]? Almost $30! Crazy!

Family Photos

My nephew took these pictures back in November. He did a great job, and I'm sad he's leaving for his mission in April. Hopefully that won't mean no family pictures for 2 years.

#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!!