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!)

Thanksgiving x 2

Thanksgiving was great. We spent the morning and dinner #1 at the Newson’s house. There was a lot of company, hussle and bussle and great food. Then we left and trekked it over to the Stones house for dinner #2. Grandma Baker is visiting and Sean, Mat, Erica and Deanna’s families all came up. It was a full house and lots of fun.  

One of the three Newson Tables.

We tried to get a 'holiday' picture of both of us but it is really hard with the camera counter thing to get a really good one. (My neck looks broken)

Newson Pie Festival

The Newson Family has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Tradition, a pie per person. The idea is that if you have a pie per person the pie will last through the weekend to Monday (that is being eaten breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert). This year we had Jeremy and his family come from Utah, Uncle Kent dropped in for a surprise visit and we had some family friends over. In total we had 22 people (including Malcome who is 2 months old). There were naysayers who doubted our pie making abilities but on Thanksgiving we had 25 PIES!! That is right a quarter of a century worth of pie, a pie for each of my years since birth and MORE pies than people. One of the friends visiting brought a pie with a NPF carved into the top; he said it stood for Newson Pie Festival. We all thought Newson Pie Freaks or Newson Pie Fiasco might have been more suitable.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I brought Hannah, Jared and Aimee over to our place to make pies. Each of them made their own pudding pie and then while the one fruit pie was baking we played Settlers and relaxed; it was so much fun. I forgot to get A LOT of stuff from the store so some of the pies weren’t perfect but they still tasted and looked great. Hannah made a pistachio/chocolate pie, Jared made a peanut butter/chocolate pie and Aimee made a Chocolate/Heath Bar pie. I made (with Aimee’s help) an apple pie and later made a caramel pumpkin pie.

Here is the end result:
1. Minced Meat
2. Cherry
3. Apple
4. Apple
5. Mixed Berry
6. Coconut Meringue
7. Lemon Meringue
8. Egg Nog Pumpkin
9. Chocolate Nutella
10. Bannana Cream
11. Chocolate Death
12. Cayenne Pumpkin
13. Strawberry Cheesecake
14. Pumpkin
15. Pumpkin
16. Pumpkin
17. Pumpkin
18. White frozen thing- I don’t know what it was called.
19. Chocolate/ Toffee
20. Pistachio/ Chocolate
21. Peanut Butter/Chocolate
22. Apple with Crumble top
23. Carmel Pumpkin
24. Pecan
25. Pecan