The parties leading up to Halloween

fall festival at the middle school

The last week before Halloween is always full of fun parties... here is a sampling of this year's festivities (minus the Cole orange party and the daddy daughter pumpkin carve)

ward party...lots of fun!
some of the kids even braved the spook alley

 Trick-or-Treat at the library/Sr. center/County offices...yum, yum, yum!

 Party at the Hammonds...always a great time!

Annual pumpkin carve with the Tripp fam - lots of good creations this year!

3.14.17

Yay for Pi day!  Always one of my favorite non-holidays. :)  I bought some frozen chicken pot pies for the family dinner this year and figured I'd call it a day.  I'd been a party planner for a few fun things right before (George's birthday and Carli's shower plus some other things).  My house needed some serious attention.  And I was not in the mood to frantically clean it.  Buuuuuttttt...the beautiful weather put me over the edge to just suck it up and host the party - just move it outdoors!  It was so nice outside and after a long, snowy winter people wanted to get together and be outside and laugh.  So we did it.  I texted some people that morning, told them to bring a pie and pass the word and we had a casual neighborhood get together.  With lots of fun people (I think we had over 50?) and lots of yummy pie! 

Smarties!
Lucy's friends were the pi recitation winners: Hannah (green shirt)
for 1st place and Makelle (standing by Clara) was 2nd 

  Math nerds, unite!!!

Adventure Awaits... Bridal Shower for Carli

We've been waiting and hoping that Carli would join the family!  Chris told us a little about her at Benji and Morgan's wedding luncheon.  It was a memorable talk because Greg said, "So what's different about her and all the other girls you've dated?" and Chris said, "Well, I LIKE her."  hahaha!  And just to listen to him talk about her to all the extended family Cole's was different too...he was a little giddy and yes, let's say it, in LOVE!  Wedding date was set for April 21 and we started making bridal shower plans.  :)  I usually host because I'm kinda in the middle for people.  It was a busy Saturday and Carli wasn't feeling fantastic that morning, so I was happy everything worked out.  I like hosting because it forces me to clean my house well and de-junk things.  Plus, its lots of fun!  I was grateful to have lots of helpers with food and such - especially my mom and Halle who came up early for lots of prep work.  Out theme was "Adventure Awaits."  I saw the sign from Salty Bison and we did everything around that.  Kinda fitting since the bride and groom are "adventuring" people.  :)  Lace did all the invitations and signage - so cute!  We played the "He Said, She Said" game again - yep, it's now tradition.  :)  We did 4 different types of sliders (the turkey, bacon, apple was probably the fav) with all the fixin's.  {I kinda went back and forth with the menu 800 times, but this turned out great and perfect for a busy day.}  It mostly just fun to visit (big thanks to all the attenders) and welcome Carli into the Cole fam!    

I love all these cute girlies admiring Carli... weddings are so fun!

Yay for showers!  Yay for Carli!

Fall in Love - Bridal Shower for Natalie

It was so fun to host a bridal shower for Natalie!  Her engagement was a quickie (6 weeks!!!) but it all came together nicely.  We served pork salads and they were delicious.  I ordered the pork and a few other things from Costa Vida and that made the whole meal come together pretty easily.  Liz brought yummy cookies for dessert and I did pumpkin tarts.  It's all about the food... ;)

Tripp family tradition is to tie a quilt for the bride to be.  Grandma Tripp wanted some money set aside after
she died so that the tradition would live on!  Malayna and Becky put this activity together and it came together
faster than they thought it would.  Nice job, ladies!   I think Natalie really liked the finished product.    

a few pics of the guests...

It has been so fun to see Natalie so happy the past year or so.  She and Jeff are a great match!  We played a "He said/She said" game and I got a good chuckle from both of their responses!  It was also funny to see Jeff's mom/sisters laugh and laugh at some of his responses.

Meanwhile... George and Grandpa Tom took the boys and Clara fishing.

Grandpa Tom doesn't have a head in most of these pictures.  But... at least we have pictures, right?  :)

Enjoying the lovely fall weather after a busy (and great!) day...  I think fall might be my favorite season.