Andy, Nicole, Macy, Millie, Pearce

Jessica, Jamie and Adam stopped at our house en route from California to Salt Lake on their way to a wedding. I haven't seen these peeps for over a year and it was such a delight to spend a few hours with them!

Our Christmas in Las Vegas was great - here are some highlights!

We found these trippy chairs at Robb & Stucky.


We had to get a picture of all the Funderburk men with their beards!

This is Kevo and Matt mini bowling at the Roadrunner.

This is the whole family (including cousin Brandon) in front of our condo.

We had such an enjoyable and relaxing time and got spoiled with gifts. We ate so much delicious food and managed to fit in some shopping. It was an awesome Christmas.

When I lived and taught English in Taiwan, I always snickered as I would walk into Taiwanese homes and see the hundreds of shoes laid out in the entry way. I was told it was because the Taiwanese clean their homes twice a year and strictly wear house slippers around their house. Thus, the piles of shoes remain at the front door. Well, I felt a little bit Taiwanese last night when I looked at all of our shoes stacked up in our mudroom, which is really just a stoop rather than a room. I do clean my house more than twice a year, but we track so much snow in the house the rule is to leave our shoes here.

Also, I just have to say how much I am L O V I N G my Touareg. I mean I have really liked it since the day we bought it, but since winter has hit, I have developed a deep passion for this vehicle. From the heated seats, to the all-wheel drive, it makes winter bearable for me and I am so grateful I have it. I just feel safe in it. It is my first time owning a 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicle and now I'm hooked.

Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas to spend Christmas with the Funderburks! Merry Christmas!

We had Andy's employees over for a home cooked meal. We think it was probably better than any restaurant in town. On the menu:



This is Andy with Don and Adam, his two employees.

And this is us!

Are these the most darling things you have ever seen or what? I LOVE them. I saw them at Wal-Mart and could not resist. I used them last night for graham crackers and milk, but mostly I just love looking at them.

These are the treats we made for neighbors, friends, co-workers and anyone else who looked like they needed a dose of sugar. The theme was "WISHING YOU A WHITE CHRISTMAS" even though some of the treats turned out a little more cream-ish. There are coconut bars, coconut joys, meltaways, and pretzels. It was fun spending a day baking while it was snowy and cold outside.

Hey, hey it's your birthday! Today is Andy's Birthday. I love him more than anything. My mom can attest that I have been the happiest in my life since meeting Andy. His light-hearted nature does wonders for my disposition. We do everything together and very much dislike being apart. Just a few of the things I love about Andy:

1. He starts my car every morning.
2. He makes me laugh.
3. He is patient with me.
4. He humors me and my cooking adventures.
5. He has a kind heart to all around him.
6. He has so many great friends.
7. He honors his priesthood.
8. He works hard.
9. He notices the things I want and works to give them to me.
10. He is good to my family.
11. He is the man of my dreams.
12. And most important of all, he loves me.

I love this picture because it shows how much everyone loves Andy - especially Mylee.

We made some homemade fry bread and had Navajo Tacos. They were pretty good. Then we put honey butter on the left over fry bread.

And that was even better.

I used to spend $3 a pop on those containers of fresh herbs from the grocery store produce section. Then this summer I bought a basil plant from the farmer's market. It has been so great to have fresh basil growing right by my kitchen sink (where I don't forget to water it). Thanksgiving weekend I found a mini herb garden planter at Trader Joe's. Mine came with a recipe for Tuscan Style Bruschetta and included rosemary, sage, and thyme. I love having fresh herbs and more importantly saving money!

This is crazy. Andy found it when he googled my name. You may remember this post I did about the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. Well, I was quoted in some random newspaper as paragraph 5 reads:

Bloggers less well known have also weighed in. Nicole Funderburk (funderburks.blogspot.com) in Cedar City, Utah, wrote she cheated “and didn’t use hoity toity cake flour or chocolate disks and I didn’t even chill them overnight. But wow. Wow. They were DELECTABLE.”

You can see the full article at: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36447

I feel famous. But I also feel like my privacy has been invaded. Thus, we changed our settings so our blog can't be found on search engines, something I have been meaning to do for weeks.

But on to bigger and better things. The other day we wanted some tortilla chips to go with our guacamole and carne asada tacos. So, we fried some flour and corn tortillas. They turned out so good. Go ahead and drool now.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with my family (including the Grensings). My contribution was this salad. I just thought it was gorgeous so I had to take a photo. It has mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, mandarin oranges, feta, pine nuts, dried cranberries and a dijon poppyseed viniagrette. It was pretty yummy along with the rest of the food. Props to Michelle for probably the juiciest turkey I have ever had.

We all went to a UNLV basketball game and here is the after-game footage:


And Mylee zonked!

We hit up a buffet and did a little shopping. And I happened up on this gorgeous little number:


Thanks everyone for a really great time!