Colorado's Capitol "Tree of Honor"

The Colorado State Capitol building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. The building is intentionally reminiscent of the United States Capitol. Designed by Elijah E. Myers, it was constructed in the 1890s from Colorado white granite and opened for use in November 1894. The distinctive gold dome consists of a real gold plate, first added in 1908, commemorating the Colorado Gold Rush. The building is part of Denver's Civic Center area.

A view looking up at the interior of the dome.

More views of the magnificent interior of the Colorado State Capital building.  All photos can be clicked on once and then again when they open on a new page to enlarge for a better view of the details.

Located inside the capital building is this year’s Colorado's Christmas "Tree of  Honor" in memory of all the fallen members of the military from Colorado who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. The 13 foot Noble fir tree is decorated with cards bearing the names of 142 service men and women.

A close up of the three hundred red, white and blue LED lights and patriotic ornaments and flags, plus the individual plaques with the name of each fallen service member. It was a very beautiful and touching memorial to all the military from Colorado who have given their lives for our freedom in the current wars.

Can you see the "one mile above sea level" inscription on the capital building's steps? Click to enlarge.

The view from the top of the Colorado Capital's top steps, looking at the Denver City and County building is in the distance

The snow-capped Rocky Mountains can be seen in the distance.

I was in Colorado this past week to see my grandson help to decorate his family's tree, and also to celebrate his second birthday!

He's growing up so fast and has a lot to say now. It was so much fun to spend time with him and my son and daughter-in-law, and also my son's in-laws who graciously shared their home with us.

Please accept my apology if I've been slow to visit your blogs the past week or so -- I will be catching up very soon!

I'm linking this post to Mary's "Mosaic Monday" at The Little Red House. Please visit Mary to see her beautiful mosaic and links to the photo mosaics of all the participating blogs.

Beautiful Poinsettias and the Jacques Torres Chocolate Winner

I love Denver International Airport this time of the year as it is decorated so festively. This beautiful poinsettia tree was located in the main arrival area.

Even the baggage pickup area was beautifully decorated with poinsettia plants.

 Our hotel was fabulously decorated with hundreds of beautiful poinsettias!

Now for my Jacques Torres Big Daddy Dark Chocolate Bar give away winner!

I used Random.org to chose the winner. I had a total of 120 entries and it chose number 35 as the winner!

The thirty fifth comment was Proud Italian Cook!  Congratulations!  Please contact me with your full name and address so I can send out the Big Daddy bar as soon as possible! 

Thank you to all who entered the give away and to all my new followers --I truly appreciate your comments and support.  I have been away this week in Colorado visiting my grandson for his second birthday so if I have not had a chance to visit your blog recently please be patient with me!  I hope to do another give away soon, so stay tuned.