Blogstipation?

Okay, okay, so I’m not such the prolific writer I thought I was. That being said, a lot has happened over the past several weeks.

For starters, last week we played out our own version of ‘Meet The Fockers’. Funny as that sounds, there were actually no surprises and everyone got along famously. Jon’s father, step mother, and sister all made the trek from Atlanta to SLC. We were honored and flattered that they traveled so far to attend our engagement party. Several of our friends here in town couldn’t get off their asses to travel the 20 extra miles to my friend’s beautiful mountain home in Wanship for the occasion. I’m not talking about the folks who couldn’t attend because they were out of town, etc. I’m talking about the people that overtly chose not to join us. But that’s all I’ll say about the losers of that deal because we really had a lovely time and I can’t thank my girlfriends Brooke & Barb enough for organizing the majority of the festivities, along with our other friends Syd and Missie. Everyone who came had a great time and we are really honored and grateful to have such wonderful friends and soon-to-be blended family. We both majorly lucked out in the ‘in-law’ department, and I’m still not sure what exactly we did to deserve that.

The weekend kicked off with Jon’s folks arriving around noon. We picked them up took them on a quick spin around town, then brought them out to the house to show them where we live and to meet all the furbabies. We took them to Trio for lunch. It was ok, as Trio usually is. Nothing spectacular, and of course it was loud & crowded, but it worked. We dropped them back at the Marriott to register and get settled in, and we went home to take a quick snooze. We had dinner reservations for 7:30 at Faustina, which is probably our favorite restaurant in town. Jon had gone to the liquor store the day before to purchase a bottle of champagne for us to toast with at dinner. He went a little crazy and bought a bottle of Moet, which was nice. We had also agreed that we would pick up the dinner bill far in advance so that there wouldn’t be any squabbling over whose father paid and whose father got their nuts chopped off, so to speak. We spared everyone the awkwardness and chopped off both sets at the same time. The dads were pretty pissed off at us, but that’s not anything we haven’t dealt with (some of us more than others). We told them that if it meant that much to them then to just add it on to the tab they’re each already pitching in for the wedding. Ha!

Dinner was great. A little slow going at first but after the first glass of champagne things rolled merrily right along, and after a while in true Aalen-Dunn fashion no one could get a word in edgewise because everyone else was chatting away. It was great. We also presented both sets of parents with a framed 8x10 photo we had just had taken during our engagement photo sitting. (Which is another tale entirely)?

Halfway through dinner during a smoke break, Jon got a text message from Rachael. We knew her flight was delayed but we had no idea exactly how delayed. She sent him a quick text saying they were taking off and that the ETA was now 1:15 a.m. Ouch! Ordinarily would not be a big deal but we had a huge day ahead of us on Saturday, so that was a bit of a drag.

Dinner wrapped up with dessert and the much anticipated bickering over the kid-paid bill, but after all was said and done, the evening was, in my estimation an enormous success. We said our goodbyes, my folks headed home, and we drove over to the hotel to drop off Jon’s folks for the night. We came home and checked the Delta website and watched in eager anticipation as Rachael’s plane flew s-l-o-w-l-y across several states until finally reaching Utah. It was 2:00 a.m. before they finally landed. We drove up to the curb and scooped Rach into the truck full of the drooling welcome wagon (we took the doggies with us to the airport). We came home and of course no one was in the mood to go right to bed so we visited and looked at old photos Rachael brought. Finally we turned in around about 5:00 a.m.

Saturday we picked up Jon’s folks and took them to Squatter’s for lunch. That is where we will be holding our rehearsal dinner so we wanted to give them a taste. Midway through lunch Jon got a call from the Governor’s assistant who informed us that our walk through at the Governor’s Mansion had been pushed back for a few hours. We met my folks at the Wells Fargo Building and our caterer, Mysha, with Panache escorted us to The 23rd Floor, where our reception is being held. My parents had both been to events at the venue before so they knew what it was like, but I think Jon’s parents and sister were pretty surprised how nice it was. Not surprised like they didn’t expect it to be nice, but surprised like it was more spectacular than we could have described. Afterward, we reconvened at the Gov’s and did a walk through the first and third floors with all the folks. (The second floor is the Gov and family’s private residence). My mom was especially enamored, as I expected. She has been in love with Victorian design and architecture for as long as I can remember. I took a bunch of photos, but in all honesty they likely did not do the interior of the building any justice. I didn’t take them for display, or publication, but more planning & design although we aren’t really going to do anything but carry our own flowers and have a string quartet in the ballroom.
After our majestic tour of all venues wedding related, everyone split up to get ready for the evening. We once again picked up the Dunns and headed up the mountain for our dinner party. When we arrived the place looked fantastic. Barb, Missie, Brooke & Syd were all running around hurriedly putting things in place. I must say I felt a bit out of place not being on the hostess side of the party. All the parties we’ve had there I have had a hand in preparing for. Not this one. They wouldn’t let me pay for anything either, which is annoying. Jon & I escaped to the back deck for a quick break and agreed how surreal it was to be the guests of honor. It was kind of a little bit shocking. I think it just was finally sinking in just how cared for we are by our friends and families, and how big of a deal this wedding business is. And we’re still 5 months out from the big event! Despite our shared state of awe we managed to choke down several glasses of champagne during a toast in our honor when my lovely parents shared some charming stories about yours truly. Even David Dunn did not pull out the proverbial ‘legend of the toadstools’ (thanks a lot, dad). Overall, though, the fam and friends were very gracious and wished us well on our shared journey. And yet, we’ve only just begun