Christmas!!

The entire week before Christmas I woke up about a billion times every night; I was so excited for Christmas. Growing up we woke up very early and went down to see the stockings and see what Santa had brought us. I remember waking up at 1 o'clock in the morning, going down to see and then going upstairs and back to bed, only to wake up an hour later and do it all again.  Now as an adult I cannot help but wake up to see what Santa brought; however in Ben's family we wait until everyone is awake to go in.  It has been torturous in the past couple years to wake up and find everyone else sleeping in. I would wake, shower, get ready and be reading before Ben stirred. This year, due to a terrible cold,  I slept in (until 7:00) and then showered, got ready and waited for everyone else to stir; yet this year I was not alone (Ben and Rachel woke up early also). We ended up waiting till 9:30 for everyone to be up, yes yet again torture, but it was worth the wait. 

Christmas morning was magical; with the sunshine pouring through the open window, silent anticipation and of course, the crowd of presents. We had a great morning opening presents from Santa and our families. I felt spoiled and overwhelmed but was so grateful for all I received.

We spent the morning with the Newson's and then hustled to church early to rehearse for the Christmas Program. It was wonderful to see everyone on Christmas and be able to take a step away from the bows and whistles and really celebrate Christ's birth. 

In the afternoon we went to the Stones home to see family and play. Dad got a Wii and we all spent countless hours dancing together and laughing. Again I was reminded how wonderful it is to be with family and what a blessing they all are in our lives. 

We had a wonderful Christmas and loved every second of it!

Best 2011 Christmas Eve Ever!

I woke up Christmas Eve with a bad cold. We got up early and went to the church for the final choir practice (before the performance, Christmas day). Afterwards I came home and slept. It was so great to get some sleep but I felt like I kind of waisted away the day. Ben helped me and we quickly made food and headed to the Stones home for dinner and fun. It was great to see everyone and to have a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner (ham, creamy potatoes, gloam, ect).

It is always wonderful to spend the holiday's with family; Mom, Dad and Grandma Baker were there, as well as Mat and Andi with there with their kids and Deanna and some of the kids came (Ricky and Brayden stayed home due to strep- yuck), AND Michael and Taylor came from CA for the week. We had a fun time playing games, talking and watching the crazy kids. Andrew, Tre and I monitored the progression of Santa across the world online- it was cool to see where he was and how fast he moved from one place to another. 

 

We also got to open our Christmas Eve presents. Growing up we had Christmas Eve presents from the Stones Family; each cousin was matched up with another cousin (same for the adults) and we got them a present to open Christmas Eve. It was a fun way for us all to stay in contact and remember our cousins. This year we decided to try it in our family. I had Andi and Ben had Ben Dawson, we had a lot of fun thinking about them and trying to decide what to get them. Andrea had me and she got me a vinyle saying to stick on the wall (I have found 100 places to stick it but still haven't decided. I need her decorative advise!) and a beautiful flower pin. Taylor has Ben and she got him a movie night (popcorn, candy, mini root beer and a movie)- he loved it.  

 That night we went home to get our stuff and head to the Newson's for Christmas night/morning. While we were there we opened our Christmas presents from Mom and Dad (yes, it was one day early but we justified it by saying we wouldn't really be home the next day). We got some pillows (for me to use as pillow forms as I make new pillows for our house), a red tea kettle (Ben loves that it whistles) and a red microwave, we didn't have one and having one has been so convenient (Ben loved it because it was full of microwave popcorn).

That night I told Ben that it felt like we had already had Christmas because we got to spend so much time and make so many happy memories with family. It was such a fun Christmas Eve and a great way to start the Christmas weekend and bring in the Christmas spirit.

CU vs Texas Southern University

Ben got season tickets for free from Crocs to the CU Buffs basketball team. We got to go to our first game last night; CU vs Texas Southern University. CU won but it was close there at the end.

We will keep you updated on the games through the season.

A Colorado Snow...

Some things that should be know about a Colorado Snow…


- If the weather men predict 1-6 inches you should probably bet on getting 6-10 inches (or more). We were predicted to get no more than 6 inches but ended up getting closer to 16 inches.

The snow was so high that it was up against the door.

- The likelihood of snow at Christmas is very low and the likeliness of snow on Easter is very high. I remember spending the night outside one Christmas (maybe it was Christmas Eve) but always, without fail, having a snow covered spring break. On Wednesday night we had an unusual and wonderful Colorado snow, preparatory for Christmas.

- Nothing stops; rain, shine or snow. Thursday morning I had to go to work and knowing it snowed I decided to leave about an hour early. Ben went out and started shoveling and wiping off the cars and by the time I got ready there was a nice path to the car and it was warm and ready to go…or so we thought. I started to reverse and got stuck, so I pulled forward and tried to reverse hard and fast and got stuck. Ben started digging me out with no avail; soon our neighbor came and helped him. After about 20 minutes and lots of shoveling and pushing they finally got me free and on my way to work.

I was working a stocking shift at work and got there to find that there was no truck. No truck to unload and stock. Eventually the truck got there so we were able to start working.

-The rate of chiropractic visits increases exponentially after a snow storm; the snow is usually very heavy and wet. This snow was not unusual. Ben went over and to help his parents dig there way out and found Rachel shoveling the tractor out. They tried the tractor and found that the snow was too heavy and too deep, so they continued shoveling. After a while the neighbor came over with their snow blower to help with the driveway. After four hours of the three of them working they finally got the job done.

This pile is the snow depth plus what Ben shovelled.

- The lanes and typical road conditions are bad but the drivers always seem to be pleasant and courteous.





-The snow can be waist deep but where shoveled the sun will melt the snow on the roads. This morning although the side roads are still covered in snow the highways were clean.

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

I love Colorado snow storms!!! 

What a perfect way to start the Christmas Season.

2011 Crocs Christmas Party

This weekend we went to the annual Crocs Christmas party. It is held at the Omni Hotel in Superior (only about 10 minutes from our house) and it is so nice and fancy. There were a lot of differences from last years party to this years, both good and bad.

We got their early, becuase last year we didn't get a table and had to stand and eat, and got a table with some close friends in Ben's department. They had food on the outside of that ballroom in a buffet style. This year there wasn't as many food choices, which Ben was a little disappointed about, but it was still good. 

Last year there were photo booths spread throughout the party for people's pleasures but because of an insident with indecent photographs (all of the photos were put on the company page so people could get to them) they were not aloud this year. Instead they had people taking prom like photos, and printing them on the spot, and they also a characture artist (he was so busy we could not get ours done).

A huge difference from last year to this year was the alcohol location. You would not think this would make much of a difference but it did. Last year the bar was in the ballroom (with the food, dance floor and band) but this year it was in the hallway, leaving the ballroom almost completely empty (maybe one reason we got a table so easily).

Last year the band was..so so. This year we had the Six Million Dollar Band from Denver and they played 80s music. It was really good and after some cohersing I got Ben to dance with me.

One of the big differences was the mode of fundraising for charities. Last year a raffle was done, everyone paid $50 to get tickets and they were giving prizes for the raffle winners. This year no raffle was made so half way through the night they announced that if they could raise $4,000 the CFO would do the move from the movie  'Risky Business' and dance in his underwear. Well, the money was raised and it was pretty funny watching him.

The party was very fun and we are glad we went.

Stones Family Birthday Party

Erica, Mat and Dad all have birthday’s in December so we all got together for a family birthday party. This year we all went up to Evergreen to Mat and Andi’s new house for the party. The new house is beautiful (inside and out) and they are all so excited. There was amazingly good food (thanks Andi) and TONS of desserts (thanks Christmas). It was fun to have everyone there and spend time together.

Mat sporting his awesome new camo socks.

The kids all had fun together playing with legos, dancing with the wii and playing in the wrapping paper and gift boxes.

Christmas Cookies

We spent an evening with our neighbors, the Woods, making Christmas goodies and listening to Christmas music.  It was so much fun and really got us in the Christmas spirit.

Annual Holiday Book Exchange

I have been a book club with some close friends for a a little over two years now. We all get together at the beginning of the year and vote on the 11 (we don't read January- that is our voting month) books we will be reading. We always have a great choice of books, a lot of them I would never have picked but I ended up loving. At the end of the year we have dinner at a fun restaurant and do a book exchange. This year we met at the Bushambe Tea House in Boulder; the Tea House has all sorts of foreign foods (Indoneishan mainly). It is delicious and has such distinctive and strong flavors.

Jaime, Kristen and Tanaya

Wendy, Aubrey and Uli

Uli, Me and Emily

This year for the exchange I recieved The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is a book about World War II and I have been wanting to read it. I am really excited to have this chance.

Here are the books we read this year in book club:
Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd- This is a chick flick, girl meets boy and falls in love, book but it is interesting because it takes place in a bakery


Oneness with All Life by Eckhart Tolle- This is a book of inspirational quotes (I must admit I didn’t really read this one).

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza- This is a true account of how a woman finds God through the Rwandan genocide. This was one of my favorites.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin- This was a mystery with an interesting ending but it was written for a much younger age and was a little dull and boring.

Matched by Ally Condie- This is a ‘Giver’ esk book about a strange ‘perfect’ futuristic society and a girl who goes against the idea of arranged marriage.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot- This is a scientific history about the woman who’s cells (HeLa) began almost all medical advancement in cancer research and many other ailments.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne- This is a story about World War II from the perspective of a little German boy, who finds himself friends with a Jewish boy in a concentration camp.

The Blue Zone by Dan Buettnet- This is a documentary of the lifestyles of groups of people throughout the world that have the highest life expectancy rates.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde- A comedic mystery in which all the characters are from Nursey Rhymes. Very clever and very funny.

Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Party

Some of our good friends threw a Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Party the other night, and it was a lot of fun. They went online and found recipes for non-alcoholic cocktails (catered to pregnant women who can't drink) and we made those; drinks like a 'Warmer' (pear juice, lemon and cinnamon) it was all so delicious. AS with a cocktail party we all got to dress up and there were h’orderves. We had a white elephant gift exchange (each couple brought one real and one goofy present and they were all in one big pile so you never knew what you would get).  It was so much fun and there were a lot of laughs. After lots of stealing Ben and I ended up with drinking glasses (one side of the eye glasses are in the drink and the other is in your mouth- very funny) and delicious chocolate bars. As always it was wonderful spending an evening with our close friends; talking, laughing and, of course, eating.

Zach got a bump it- so his hair could be bumped and beautiful (Utah hair- ahhh).

Natalie, Jaime and Eric- Lounging

Aubrey, Emily and Tanaya- Anxiously awaiting the next gift!!

I got drinking glasses- Ben tried them on for size!

Maybe a little too much Mocktail!

Melted Dessert

I was asked to make a dessert for our annual Relief Society Christmas Activity. I found a recipe for Salty Carmel Shortbread squares on Pinterest decided to try those. It took some learning and cooking skills I had not yet done (candy thermometers, ect) but it turned out great. I made them the night before and left them to set and harden.


The next day I ran home from work, cut them into squares, plated them and was off to the activity. By dessert time they had melted into one big pile of shortbread and caramel. I don't know what happened, was the caramel to soft? Did I not let it boil long enough? Was the shortbread slippery (haha)? Needless to say, they did not get served for dessert at the Activity, some ladies chipped off a piece and ate it and told me it was delicious.

I took this picture as I started cutting because I was going to put it and the recipe on the cooking blog but I probably wont now.

Nedra told me to cut them up and roll them into balls, pushing the caramel and shortbread even closer, this however lead to melted balls on a plate. So, I don't think I will be making this recipe again!!

Frosty Window Panes

Before the winter started we got our front window re-done and resealed. This has been a great blessing as the cold winter months have approached. However we were not able to get all of our windows/doors fixed so we have been having some 'cold' problems. Our front door is not actually an exterior door and because of the carpet it does not close completely to the floor. You can see light streaming in under the door, which was bearable until it got below freezing and you could feel a frozen breeze coming in, resulting in a bundled up towel by the front door.


The other day we were down by our game room and noticed it was very cold, despite the heater being on. And we found that our back windows and door were not as insulated as we initially thought. We had ice covering the INSIDE of the windows and backdoor. So we covered those seals with towels and extra sheets. We have been able to control the cold pretty well; the only problem is that we are running out of towels!

This shows that this is not dew/fog it is indeed ice (this is toward the top of the door- not down by the seal at all).

The Interest in Pinterest

I have been hearing about Pinterest from some of my friends for a while but was a little skeptical. Pinterest is an online billboard where you can find something online and 'pin' it to your board for future use (example: recipes, Sewing patterns, crafts, home design ideas, family games, ect). These pins are also shared on a group page, where others (usually friends/family) can see what you pin, and in turn you can see what they pin. By looking at these things you get more ideas (that you can pin to your wall of stuff to remember). Many of these 'pins' come from blogs, which you can peruse and find more things to pin. It is an ever going link of creativity and fun. I find that I am really enjoying it, even, sadly to admit, addicted to it. I have to check it, I have to know what others have found. I have to find new creative and innovative things to fill my 'part-time stay at home' lifestyle.

Ben has been teasing me about it and when I sit down to show him things, he even gets into it and wants to link and see more things. If you have not experienced this wonder of internet and blog browsing, you should defiantly try it out.

pinterest.com

You know your from Colorado if:

Michael posted this to facebook and I just thought it was so funny and so true:

98% of Americans scream before going in the ditch on a slippery road. The other 2% are from Colorado and they say, "Hold my soda and watch this."

Now, you're from Colorado if: You eat ice cream in the winter. It snows 5 inches and you don't expect school to be cancelled. You live above 5,000 feet. You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature. You have no accent at all, but can hear other people’s, and then you make fun of them. “Humid” is over 25%. Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains. You say “the interstate” and everybody knows which one. You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard. You buy your flowers to set out on Mother’s day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father’s day. You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat. You know what the Continental Divide is. You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, AND as an adult. You’ve gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities. You always know the elevation of where you are. You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and wonder if it’s gonna snow later. You don’t care that some company renamed it; the Broncos still play at Mile High Stadium! Every movie theater has military and student discounts. You actually know that “South Park” is a real place, and not just a dumb TV show. You know what a ‘Trust Fund Hippy’ is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder, Aspen, Crested Butte, Paonia and Telluride. You know you’re talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it ‘Elitches’ not ‘Six Flags.’ A bear on your front porch doesn’t both you. Your favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is beating the Raiders. When people Back East tell you “They have Mountains in their state too” you just laugh. You go anywhere else on the planet and air feels “sticky” and you notice the sky is no longer blue.
You’re proud of being a COLORADAN.

TV Christmas

We have been using the TV we got when we were first married four years ago; it has granted only been used about 1 ½ years and the rest of the time it was in boxes. Compared to the TV’s I grew up with and the small 10x10 box I thought we would have, this TV was great. It was big and it showed movies- how much more could you want? Upon moving into our new place the color started changing on one side of the screen, causing everything on that half to be in green, purple and blue hues. We realized it was the stereo electro magnetic that caused this, so we moved the stereo, but Ben was still unsatisfied. Although the couch is about 6 feet away from the couch he would pull the couch up just to ‘see the TV.’ Needless to say we/he wanted a new TV for Christmas.

Ben scoured on Black Friday and in the evening came home with a TV (I was at work all day so I wasn’t present during the purchase). Ben prepped me with ‘I got a really good deal’ and ‘The bigger one was only $5 more than a small one.’ When I walked into our house my mouth dropped; Ben had not gotten a TV but a movie theater screen- it was huge. After some deep breathing we started measuring the TV and our entertainment center, it wouldn’t fit. By this time I was praising Ben for his buy but told him he needed to take it back- there was just no room. Finally after trouble shooting he said Jesse and he would just rip out some shelves in the entertainment center to make room. I knew he wanted it really bad so I agreed. But I did comment that he needed to wait to take it out of the box until Christmas, that was quickly declined.

As Ben and Jesse started I sat in the den cringing and every bang. What if it was ugly? What if when we decide we hate it we can’t fix the entertainment center? But I just kept reminding myself that Ben was giddy like a small child and it would make him, and in turn me, very happy. Here is the progression of the demolition and installation.

Ben and Jesse enjoying the new TV

When all is said and done, I must admit that I like it. It has WiFi so we can watch netflicks on the TV (instead of the computer). And it doesn’t look THAT big…right? Ben and I both agree that we need to build a box/shelf to raise it about 6 inches but for know we are happy. And what movie did we first check it out with? The Lord of the Rings- of course. So we are excited about our new Christmas present, even though it’s early, and I am so happy to see Ben so excited.

Holiday Helpers Set up the House

Jeremy and Heidi are never in Colorado during the holidays so the kids have never seen Grandma and Grandpa’s house decorated. The Friday after Thanksgiving they decided to bust out the decorations and do it all with the kids. There was Christmas music playing and kids giggling and running all around, it was wonderful. It was so special to see the kids huddled around Grandma as they unwrapped the nativity and excited to decorate the many trees.

Jared was all about hammering those stockings up!

The top of the tree was the favorite- as you can see it has about as many ornaments as all the rest of the tree.

After everything was set up Rachel started playing the piano (and forcefully at first) the whole family gathered around to sing carols. It was so touching and inspiring for the whole family to be together singing about our love for Christ. The spirit was so strong, even through the goofy falsettos and booming vibratos. It was wonderful having everyone come visit and starting the holiday season with family.

I thought we were all singing beautifully and then I watched this video and thought, "Hum..we aren't very good or on pitch at all!" But it is the family comradere and memories that matter.

(You can also hear my squeeky voice loudly- becuase I was taking the video- so just ignore that part.  But a plus you can hear Rachel beautifully trying not to sing like an opera star- she truly is amazing!)