Thursday, December 30, 2010

Merry Christmas!

First off, I love Christmas. I long for it all year long. I will say that working at Nordstrom kind of sucks the fun out of the holidays due to excessive gift wrapping for other people. But the store decorations still keep you in the holiday spirit. We spent Christmas with my family this year. We went to the Chart House in Evergreen on Christmas Eve and had a HUGE meal of fish, filet mignon, and chocolate lava cake. Then went and saw Narnia- perfect choice for the night. We went to bed that night so excited to open presents. My mom started this new thing a couple of years ago where she gives us our christmas money and then she and my dad pick out one present each for us that are complete surprises. It lots of fun and you get to put more thought into your gifts. So, since we had NO idea what we were getting for Christmas we were all excited to open our presents the next morning. It was 6:3o and I realized Trevor wasn't sleeping so I went upstairs to find my mom already baking and Trevor putting together all of Liza's toys. Chris, Kristy, and Liza came over at 7 and the festivities began! We all got things we LOVED: bose headphones, sewing machines, watches, outdoor gear, clothes, etc. It was so much fun. Little Liza was way more fascinated with the boxes to her toy than the toys themselves. Needless to say she is getting boxes next year ha!

After that we went to Trevor's house to have Christmas with his family. We ate some more and opened more presents. It took a long time because every electronic someone got Trevor was fully explaining how to use it. It was pretty funny. Everyone got just what they wanted and was so thrilled!

After that we went to Grandma Nolen's house for Brunch with the extended Nolen family. More good food! It was fun to see everyone and play games together. It's a great tradition that we look forward to ever year.

After that...haha... we went back to my house for Christmas dinner. We shipped pizzas in from Lou Malnattis in Chicago to have. And let me just tell you they were AMAZING!! My mom made homemade foccacia bread and we had cranberry ice cubes and martinelli's. Moral of this story: I probably gained 5 pounds and ate til it hurt. We then watched a movie and all went home.

It was such a great Christmas and we are so blessed. We have amazing families that live so close and are so generous. We just love them and feel so lucky to have them!












Thanksgiving- a little late!

So...this is quite late but better late than never, right? Thanksgiving was a blast this year. Since we live so close to both families we see both of them on holidays. This year it was at Trevors house so we spent most of the day there. His mom was in charge of a turkey trot so we all participated in that. My participation consisted of cheering them on since I had the worst cold I think I have ever had. Having to work retail didnt help either. I spent an entire week in bed while everyone else was enjoying the festivities, but it was actually quite nice to have a week to relax! This year my job was the rolls and pies. So, I used the Lion House recipe that my sister in law uses. I have never made anything involving yeast without my mom so this was quite the challenge. I think I called my sister in law every 5 minutes with questions. Surprisingly they turned out AMAZING! I was so thrilled! I made pies with my mom and sister in law the day before so we had a blast doing that. I usually just play with Liza and help them when needed :). All in all, we had tons of fun and love our families so much! Oh, and we saw Unstoppable which was a great movie!


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Boys Weekend/Girls Weekend

Last weekend Trevor, my brother, and dad decided they wanted to hike a 14er in sub zero temperatures in knee deep snow. Why you ask, would any human find this fun and put themselves through that? Well, I have no idea. Mostly because that isn't my idea of fun but for these 3 it's heaven. I couldn't get that boy to leave Colorado for anything. My dad said there were many points throughout their 8 hour journey that he thought "this is it, we have to turn around" but Trevor wouldn't let that happen, so they made it to the top to find fiercely windy conditions and freezing temperatures. They snapped a few quick pictures then were on their way down. They were so tired when the came home my brother said someone needed to get Liza from him while he was walking down the stairs because he thought he might fall over. Trev is still sore.

While the boys were doing that....the girls went to dinner and watched a chick flick at home. It was lots of fun to hang out and have a relaxing night. Once Trevor got home we raced over to Grandma Nolen's birthday party and then on to one of Trevor's friends birthday. By the time we got home we were whipped (I have no excuse to be, but Trevor did) I had to beg him to come upstairs and sleep in a real bed. He didn't want to have to walk up the stairs. He amazes me everyday with how driven and adventurous he is. Don't get me wrong, I love physical activity and pushing my limits but I have to draw the line somewhere.










Tuesday, November 9, 2010

You know you're married to Trevor Tripp when...

1. you voluntarily listen to sports talk radio-even when he isn't in the car.
2. you anxiously await to hear what Steve Jobs is announcing next.

I'm married to a sports enthusiast and a Mac nerd. I love him.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Amazing

Last night was a very special night for us. Trevor is the scout master for our ward and loves his calling. Those boys adore him. One of his scouts and his family just got baptized last night and Trevor was able to be a part of it. They are the most amazing, humble, generous family we have ever met. They have such amazing spirits. I was almost in tears the whole night just seeing them make that huge step in their life and how thrilled they were. They are such an example to us and we feel blessed knowing them. Trevor was able to confirm Dave today and I was in tears again as I saw the look on that little boys face. I am so grateful for the gospel and how it changes my life every day. I am also grateful for Trevor and the Priesthood.

Halloween Party

My friends and I decided we wanted to have a Halloween Party. Julie was generous enough to host the party and do a ton of the work. I was in charge of food, Emi was in charge of games, Julie and Emily did the decorations and all of the other cute, crafty, way out of my league things. It was so much fun and the costumes were amazing. We always love a good party! Thanks girls for all you did to make it so much fun, can't wait for Christmas! The party turned out fabulous!





Juno and Bleeker the mummy and the sailor
Barbie and Ken
the bun maker and the bun in the oven (she's pregnant)
Jack and Jill
We went as Tiger and Elin Woods. Trevor hated having
makeup on but he had to be black so he had no choice.
the zoo keepers and the elephant

Orlando 2010

Trevor was invited to a work conference in Orlando for a week which turned out to work nicely in my favor. Since Trev, my dad, and brother were in meetings all day long, the girls got to sit by the pool and relax all day. It was the perfect trip in the middle of a crazy fall. The hotel was amazing. Trevor's day consisted of meetings, meetings, and more meetings. My day consisted of breakfast buffets, lazy rivers, book reading, and playing with little Liza in the pool. I had a blast! The poor boys would meet us for lunch in the 90+ degree weather in their suits and sweat to death. I couldn't ask for a harder working husband. I'm one lucky girl to have him.









The last day of our trip everyone spent the day at the pool, but not me. I was going to go to Harry Potter World, even if I had to walk there. No one shared my desire to go, but my dad was more than willing to go with me. We had a great daddy daughter day. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter did not disappoint. I was so impressed with the whole thing. It was like walking on the set of the movies. The roller coasters were amazing, although butter beer was not. My dad about puked after 2 sips. Hogwarts was exactly like in the movies. I can't wait for the movie to come out in 2 weeks. Thanks for going with me dad!




We went out to the mall for dinner one night, went to downtown Disney the other night, and spent the nights playing in the pool or playing tennis. I do have to say I forgot how much I hate humidity. I complain about Colorado being dry, pretty much my only complaint with this amazing state. Side note: every day I drive to work and have a perfect view of the Rocky Mountains as the sun rises and I remember how lucky I am to live here. Anyways, I could barely move while playing tennis because I was sticking to every piece of clothing on me. We did get to do Disney World one day, and that we did. We hit all of the park, minus Epcot. We went from 8 am to 7 pm. Liza was quite the trooper and besides peeing on Kristy 3 times, seemed to have a great time. Since I grew up 20 minutes from Disneyland, I can't help but associate it with many of my childhood memories. My brother and I were transformed into little kids the second we walked in. The lines weren't long and we never waited more than 20 minutes. It was such a fun day.






We had sooooo much fun in Orlando. It's always nice to come home though. It is still 70 degrees here and perfect fall weather. I'm kind of hoping winter never comes. My family would probably disown if they read this. I'm the odd ball that doesn't live for snow. I never want to leave Colorado, but what can I say, I'm a California girl at heart.