Murder Mystery Party

Nick and I are in a dinner group with some great friends, it's so nice to have some adult time to just talk and enjoy each other's company. October was our month to host, and I thought since it was so close to Halloween, it was the perfect opportunity to dress up and play a murder mystery game. It was a lot of fun and even the boys were good sports and went all out on their costumes and got into their role playing. The mystery was called "Murder in the Haunted House." There were 8 rounds of scripts and clues, in the end nobody guessed who the killer was (except the murderer himself). Everyone was assigned a character and given costume suggestions to play their roles. The characters were:
Frank Stine (aka Marty Matsen)
Carrie Coffins (aka Angie Matsen

Ace Filmer (aka Nick Larsen)
Eve L. Dedd (aka Emily Larsen)

Drake Yewlarr (aka Paul Pratt)
Dawn Ovdee-Zombiz (aka Kristine Pratt)

Watt Madaxman (aka Jason Whiting)
May Cup (aka Annie Whiting)

Gore Underfoot(aka Sam Shumway)
Kat Peeple (aka Kim Shumway, who by the way just had a baby 7 days ago!)

Moore Bodies (aka Nate Smedley)
Elle Razor (aka Trisha Smedley)

Adam Family (aka Luke Smith)
Diane Screamin (aka Anna Smith)

Spooky Cookies

Isaac and I found these spooky cookies online and after watching the short instructional video, made them with ease. Isaac and I love baking together, it's our bonding time. As you can see, his favorite part of the baking project was licking the frosting bowl.

Miller Farms

The kids were out of school Monday and Tuesday this week, so we decided to do something fun. On Tuesday morning my friend Becky and her kids came to pick us up, we struggled to get 6 carseats in her van and pack all of our gear for the day. We drove an hour to Plateville, Colordado to visit Miller Farms. Becky and I were discussing how much of a chore it is to go on outtings with children, and sometimes it's not worth the trouble. Well I'm so glad we went, it was the perfect day! It was one of those days that all 3 of my children were happy and helpful. We met 2 other friends and their kids, so all together we had a whole wagon load of people. We let the kids play on the hay, dirt hills, drive tractor/bikes, petting farm, playground, fire engine, and other activities. After the kids ran off some energy, we all loaded up into a big trailer pulled by a tractor. We drove a little ways and then the tractor stopped in a big corn field. We were free to jump out and go pick as much sweet corn as we wanted. Isaac and the girls really got into it and we came home with 3 bags of corn. We piled back in and after a few minutes along the road came to a potato patch where the kids picked bags of nice red potatoes. We continued with beets, radishes, carrots, cabbage, turnips, onions, and ended in the pumpkin field where each of us picked our perfect pumpkins. It was so fun to see the kids so involved and eager to harvest vegetables. Isaac was an excellent helper and we ended up with a whole wagon load of produce. It was truly a perfect fall day.

Thanks Meridy!

Meridy, I have to give you credit for the new Halloween background on our blog, thanks a lot! You're a great sister-in-law.

Our ballots have been cast

Nick and I have done our duty, we cast our absentee vote today. We'll be out of the country on November 4th, and we didn't want to miss out on voting. I think Wyoming has enough conservative people that McCain won't have any problem winning here, but you never know. I certainly hope that Palin will do well in the V.P. debate tonight. I've tried hard this year to educate myself on issues and candidates so I'm not so ignorant. Only time will tell what our future holds.

Kids are too honest

Today Nick called and said he had a break for lunch and asked if we wanted to meet him at our favorite Mexican restaurant, I just love going out to lunch, and I thought it sounded like a great idea. Sophia and Savannah are at such a cute age, Sophia always has a purse in tote, and Savannah always wants lipstick. They like to get out and it's fun to take them places. The girls and I were sitting at the table waiting for Nick to arrive and I was having a nice conversation with Sophia. She was very talkative and full of stories to tell. Out of the blue she said, " When we eat lots of snacks our tummies get bigger and bigger, and if we just eat a couple of snacks, our tummies get smaller and smaller." Then she looks at me and said, "You eat a lot of snacks, so your tummy is bigger." Well, that could have spoiled my lunch date, but the chips and salsa were just too good!

2 BIG accidents

Isaac is usually such a sweet kid, that minds his business and doesn't do too much harm. This week has been different, a few days ago he broke our big screen TV by punching the screen with the wii controller. He said "It was an accident." We didn't really discipline him because Nick and I both talked about it and decided that we weren't perfect as kids either and we broke a few things too. Well today he threw a rock at a window in the front of our house and shattered it. I had been outside playing with all of the kids, but had just brought the girls inside. I heard a crash and knew right away what it was. Isaac bolted into the house and to his bed, he knew he was in trouble! He said "It was just an accident." I said, if you pick up a rock and throw it, it's not just an accident! I was pretty upset, but managed somehow not to beat him! Nick took it in stride and told me to make a list of jobs he has to do to earn the money to fix the window. I wonder if Isaac is old enough to clean toilets?? I sure hope there are no more accidents this week!

1st preschool Field Trip

Today Teacher Ann took all 7 preschool children in her car (and I thought fitting 3 carseats in my car was rough) to the County Library. The kids all had a fun time playing and learning all about how the library operates. Their favorite activity was story time, they sang, read and danced together while they learning all about the Fall season. My girls really love preschool, it's been good for them to get the social experience.

A wonderful visit from my Dear Mother and Sweet Sister

On Monday the 15th I excitedly drove to the Ft. Collins, Colorado airport to pick up my Mom and Sister, and her darling baby Kate, who would be spending a week here in Cheyenne. The first thing we did was hit the shopping, then we had lunch at Panera. I told my Mom she should try the Fandango salad, she trusted me and ordered it. She was trying so hard to be a good sport and enjoy it, saying how lovely it was. A few minutes later she mentioned that the cheese may not be fresh, and that it tasted like piss ants! Angie and I both got a great laugh out of that comment, and I'll probably remember it for a while, how often do you hear your Mom saying piss ant??

While Mom and Angie were here, Isaac wanted to pick a recipe out of his new cupcake cookbook, he chose penguins. He sent us to the store with a list of cupcake supplies while he was at school. Making the penguin cupcakes seemed like a fun, easy task, but believe me, these were a complete pain! We salvaged a few that hadn't fallen down from gravity and took a picture. I hope he picks an easier recipe next time.



Angie and Mom were so gracious to lend their talents and time to make a Masterpiece for my bedroom. It turned out so well(we all had our doubts during the project), I just love it, and I will be reminded of them each time I see the beautiful piece of art.

A "Man" Blog

Nick(and C.J) informed me that our blog is no longer the Man blog he started 3 years ago, he said that since I've taken over I've turned it into a chick blog. I'm not sure if it was the scrapbook background paper, the flowers, or the Gwen Stefani music that finally convinced him to start his own blog. His new blog will be showcasing his favorite hobbies, so if you're a male(or enjoy looking at my cute husband), visit his blog @
http://flyfishingbackpackinghunting.blogspot.com

An evening of Culture

My calling at church is 1st counselor in the Young Women's program, I get to meet with the 14 and 15 year olds every Sunday and Wednesday. Last Night the girls planned a food around the world activity, each of us picked a country and brought a food dish from that country. We gave a brief report about the church in that particular country. We had a fun, educational evening and the food was really good. I called my brother Darin who had served a 2 year mission in Dominican Republic and asked him for any suggestions. He had several good ideas, but I went with the easiest one(that didn't involve goat meat), fried plantains. Fried plantains are the Dominicans version of our french fries, dipped in ketchup and everything. They were surprisingly delicious and easy. Gemma gave us a detailed report on Norway, and made Norwegian Lefse, they were good too, it was kind of like a tortilla or crepe. Kelsey made a pasta salad from Italy, which I had to get the recipe for, it was divine! For dessert, Amber treated us to German chocolate cake, of course her Country was Germany. I really enjoyed researching Dominican Republic and hearing all about the other countries, it went so well, that I thought when we come home for Christmas we could do this as a family, are you in?