Jazz v Suns game

Andrew took my brother to the Jazz v Suns basketball game tonight. My brother is a HUGE Suns fan. Andrew took the camera and this is the only picture he took!

Madeline at My Gym

Here are some pictures of Madeline at the Gym she attends. Every week the gym is set up different. It's always fun to see how it's set up and the fun things she gets to do each week.

BOB '09

COBET:

From left to right: Christopher (Manager), Chase (Vocals), Paul (Lead Guitar), Chris (Bass), and Spencer (Drums)

Tonight was the State Battle of the Bands competition. We met my family at Texas Roadhouse to eat dinner. Then we went to Jordan High School to watch the competition. The State BOB is a big deal. It's sponsored by several different companies like Little Caesars, U.S. Army, Coco-Cola, X-96 Radio station, etc. There were 14 bands that made it to the competition. Two of the bands dropped out because they decided to go to their school dance (what were they thinking?). So that left 12 bands that competed. They had to do an original song and a cover song and only had 10 minutes to do so. Cobet took fourth place in the State competition (which is what they took last year also). They missed third place by one point! They did great and I am so proud of my brother. He is very talented. My brother recently got a Theremin which he used in both songs, so I posted a video. If any of you want to see what a Theremin is, you can watch the video. This may be the last time we see COBET because two of the members will be serving missions soon. It was so fun to see their band grow over these last couple of years. We will miss seeing COBET perform!

Maddy (on the saddle) with Grandpa at Texas Roadhouse.

Cobet

COBET's FANS:

Andrew and I with my bro.

Andrew and I with Cobet.

HAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY!!

I just wanted to post some recipes that we had for our St. Patrick's Murder Mystery dinner party. I wish I would have gotten pictures of all the food we had because it looked cool with all the green colors.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
2 pounds small red potatoes
2 cups baby carrots
1 onion, cut in large wedges
1 3-pound corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
Water
½ head of cabbage, cut into wedges
¼ cup butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes, carrots, and onions in a 5- to 61/2-quart Crock-Pot. Top with corned beef brisket ( I actually used 5 pounds of brisket); sprinkle with seasoning packet. Add enough water just to cover brisket (I just added water to cover some of the vegetables). Cover with lid. Cook on high setting for about 8 hours or until meat is tender. Add cabbage wedges to Crock-Pot and continue cooking for about 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender. To serve, remove corned beef from Crock-Pot; place on a platter and cut beef across grain into thin slices. Remove vegetables from Crock-Pot with a slotted spoon; place around the beef. Pour butter over vegetables (I did not use any butter), and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 6 servings.

Irish Soda Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Mint Brownies
1 cup margarine
½ cup cocoa
2 Tbsp honey
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cup flour
½ Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
12 oz. Chocolate icing (use your own recipe or purchased one)

Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, b. powder and salt. Mix well. Fold in nuts. Pour batter into greased 9x13 inch glass pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.
MINT ICING
5 Tbsp margarine
Dash of salt
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring
Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix well. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Monster Maddy

Were were eating dinner and Madeline shoved almost a whole clementine (orange) in her mouth. I took a picture because her face looked so funny. She looks like a little monster.


I wanted to post a video clip of Madeline reading Andrew and I the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We were reading books right before bedtime and Madeline likes to try and read us the story. She has been doing this for the last couple of months and I love it!

St. Patrick's Murder Mystery Party

Andrew and I hosted a dinner Murder Mystery party. I had been to a murder mystery party before but had never hosted one. We had so much fun. We fit 24 people in our house; I don't know how we all fit. Everyone was assigned a character (except for me because I was the host) and came to the party dressed like their character. The mystery was separated into three rounds (appetizers/drinks, main course, and desserts) and at the beginning of each round, each player got an envelope that contained the clues necessary for their character. The clues for the characters provided everything they would need to solve the mystery. Only 4 people guessed who was the murderer. We also played a game each round and gave out prizes. The best costume also got a prize.

The dinner turned out great. Pretty much everything was green. For appetizers/drinks, we had green chips/salsa, spinach dip with mostly green veggies, green fruit dip with fruit, green salad, irish bread, green apple juice, and green slush. For dinner, we had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots, and lasagnas. For dessert, we had mint brownies, mint chocolate chip ice cream dessert, and green ricekrispie treats. I'll post some recipes later.

Thanks so much for all of you who came to the party and for all your help with food, clean-up, etc. We had such a fun time!

The murder mystery crew.

The victim.

My brother-in-law, Scott (far right), and Andrew (middle), tied for best costume.

My sister, Tiffany, was the murderer.

St. Patrick's Murder Mystery Slide Show