Theme Night!

Being the newly converted Netflix lovers that we are, we find ourselves renting all the classics from our childhood. Angels in the Outfield, Sgt. Bilko, A Far Off Place to name a few. This picture is from our first official "theme night" as a married couple. The night included a private screening of "Rookie of the Year," (a total classic!), the eating of ball park-style hotdogs and peanuts, the wearing of baseball caps and other baseball paraphenelia, and a vigorous singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Random acts of funness such as this always remind David and I how much we love each other and why we get along so darn well! :)

Grandma Wride's Famous Toffee

Mmmmm mmmmm. Toffee! To the average Joe, this word means nothing more than a sugary, buttery hard candy. But, to my family it means delicious, amazing, splendid, scrumptious, true genius, etc. For years, Grandma Wride has been making her famous toffee and we have been eating it like ravenous wolves. Man...it's so good!

So, at Thanksgiving this year, Grandma gave us a wonderful gift. She taught us to make toffee! It took David and I several batches to make it just right, but when we finally got it (still not as good as grandma's, of course) it was great. Here's a picture of this little piece of chocolate covered hard candy that brings our family so much joy. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Wride!!!

Holiday Rewind

Wow! Forgive me for the lack of updating the blog. I'd say we had a pretty eventful holiday season. For Thanksgiving we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Farmington, Ut. It was so fun! We had the whole family from my mom's side together for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. We took a picture of all of us and stuffed ourselves with turkey and it was great. The highlight was my grandma teaching us how to make her secret recipe toffee. That in itself was an adventure. Let's just say I went through 4 pounds of butter trying to perfect it...David and I ate burnt toffee for weeks.

Christmas was a blast. We stayed in Boise because I had to work, but it felt like a vacation. We went to David's house almost every day over the break and stayed there over night some of the nights. The highlight was sleeping on the hide-a-bed and being awakened every morning by my cute nieces singing, dancing or jumping...on us.

Christmas Eve was wonderful. We acted out the Nativity, which is David's family tradition. I was a shepherd (kind of funny and awkward, but not nearly as awkward as when I played Joseph when I was 8). Then we sang all the Christmas hymns together. What a treat! I married into a family who sings!!! We went to bed and slept in the next morning. It was a Luker Family record...I think we slept in until 8! For Christmas morning with 8 anxious kids in the house, can you believe we didn't get up until after the sun? It was great. Everyone loved getting and giving presents. David's favorite was our new electric toothbrushes. His mom asked him, "If you could pick one thing for Christmas, what would you want?" Can you believe he asked for a toothbrush!? But, I give in, they are pretty darn awesome.

On New Years Eve we ate fondue and it was spectacular! Daniel went out and bought some special swiss cheese, we had marinated steak and chocolate and fruit. It was great! Well, that's it for the holiday update. I'll post some pictures and more details when I find the time. :)

The Bike...

As you may know, about a month ago some jerk stole David's bike right out of our backyard--in midday! Cut the lock and everything...while we were home! The nerve. Well, I am proud to report, that the same dummie that stole it later left it on the side of a major road to rot. The sherriff picked it up and called David to come get it. This time we bought an amazing lock! We were glad to get the bike back, but honestly, we were more sad that the mean bike stealer didn't get busted!

One Year Older and Wiser too...

Some friends and I threw David a surprise birthday party for his 25th birthday! It was a blast. David’s friend Reed took him out before and when he came back, our tiny house was crowded with two dozen people. It was fun, and David never even saw it coming. We had family and friends, and best of all good food! Here is David with his pile of presents, looking thrilled as always.

Baking in Boise

I bake incessantly out of boredom. It's great. I love bread. I think it’s the greatest thing next to, well…sliced bread. I could eat it all day! And, since I was given the most amazing appliance ever created by man (a kitchenaid) for my wedding, I make a lotta bread. I’m still getting good, so we’ll call these experiments, but I was still dang proud! I made homemade French bread, which David loved. I thought it was okay. But what’s way better than that, was that tonight David and I made our first ever attempt at “Lambert’s Rolls.” If you’ve ever been to Lambert’s and had their rolls, you know how amazing they are. If not, I feel bad for you, I really do. Because you’re missing out on quite possibly the best rolls known to man. So, I did a little research—223 calories per roll. But does that stop us from putting our arms in the air and catching the “throwed rolls” in this classic southern restaurant? No way! (Mine weren’t half as good as the real thing!)

Filthy Lukers!

So, Halloween rolled around, and it was time for the ward Halloween party. David's birthday is on Halloween, and I admit, I was having a little bit of trouble getting into the spirit of the holiday. Even though our yard was decked out with pumpkins and spiderwebs, we had no ideas for costumes! So...we did the only thing we knew how to do. We turned to the only cheap, easy and "fitting" costume we could think of--we were 'Filthy Lukers'. I wish I had better pictures, because our blacked out teeth, tacky accents and trashy demeanor was pretty good. This is a picture of yours truly, taken by me. Because really, how could this costume go completely undocumented?! You can only see my head, but other than the t-shirt that said, 'Filthy Lukers' and the jeans we loaded up with dirt in the church parking lot, our heads were the best part. If you look closely at the picture of David and his physics project, you'll notice left over "dirt" from our night of fun. When all else fails, come up with something that goes along with your last name! It's fun being a Luker...