Last weekend Bri and I went to Utah to attend our friends Kerr and Rachel's wedding. We were both looking forward to this trip for so many reasons. For me, this was going to be my first time back to Salt Lake since graduating from "The U" and I was stoked to spend some quality time with some good friends I hadn't seen in a while. Bri was excited to finally meet Rachel (the bride whom she'd heard so much about and Facebooked with for a couple of years) and enjoy the closest thing to a summer vacation she was getting this year. Needless to say, we were both excited for Saturday night when we would be able to welcome another set of friends into "couple hood".
The weekend really was everything we could have hoped for. We landed Thursday night and had just enough time to see Kerr and Rachel for a couple minutes before it was off to bed for Bri, and back to the airport for me to pick up Freddie. Friday we got the chance to go over to the campus to see some old friends in the athletic department before heading to lunch in Park City. The weather was stunning and Bri loved it (she had never been to PC without there being snow on the ground). Probably the only thing she liked more than the weather and scenery was Fred's dog "Pete". Between the weather, a great lunch at the Wasatch Brew Pub, the mountain views, and Pete, my wife was already pleading her case for a future second home in the small resort town before we had made it back down the hill.
Friday night we headed to rehearsal where we met up with another former Ute, good buddy, and fellow groomsman Chad. We got to the venue early enough for Fred to bust out his cooler for a quick wedding tailgate as you can see in the picture (you can also see I didn't get the no jeans memo... oops). Kerr and the rest showed up shortly after and the show was on the road. At this point in the trip is where Rachel began to score huge points with Bri. Having been through her own wedding hoopla, Bri was more than able to appreciate how laid back, relaxed, and sweet to everyone Rachel was. After about a ten minute rehearsal, we were off to dinner. Dinner was hosted by Kerr's folks (some of the nicest Texas folks you'll ever meet) at Tuscany, a really nice Italian restaurant down the street from the hotel. This was a great time for Bri to get to know some of these new people a little more and for me to catch up with my buds. After dinner we headed out to a little local dive bar where we hung out, laughed, met more baseball players from years after mine, and even danced a little.
Saturday morning all the groomsman and the fathers went to play some golf at a nice course out near the airport. Even though I am truly awful at the sport (as is Kerr), it was an awesome time for all of us to get out and play, laugh and relax. I left the rental car with Bri that morning so that she could make a mall run to shop for a dress for the wedding. That morning Kerr's bride scored even more points with Bri. Not only did Rachel have the presence of mind with everything else going on that weekend to think of Bri, she even invited my wife over to the house to hang out, get ready with the rest of the girls, and follow the limo up the hill. Bri really had a great time.
Saturday night's ceremony was the reason we were all there, and it wasn't about to disappoint. The venue was a beautiful cottage tucked deep away in Brighton Canyon (I think). The ceremony was outdoors, with dinner on the patio under the stars. The bridal party hiked way up a hill on one side of the cottage, to come down through the trees to walk the aisle on the other (I was struggling worse than the chick behind me that was pregnant with twins). Rachel looked beautiful and Kerr almost cried. The bishop that officiated the ceremony did a good job following Kerr's one rule, "keep it short." Afterwards we headed across the street for pictures where we had our option of picturesque backdrops between the duck inhabited pond and the 100 ft. waterfall. Dinner was awesome and it was followed by toasts and dancing. Fred, Chad, and I teamed up to roast Kerr as we hadn't known him as long as his other groomsmen. We burned him pretty good as we recalled fun times and funny things he's said in the time we've known him. Kerr and Rachel and the guys in the audience we knew all enjoyed it, and that's exactly what we were aiming for. The reason I say this is because I actually heard the next morning that we had offended some old people in attendance, to which I replied, "ah well... what are ya gonna do?"
Our Utah jaunt was wrapped up with brunch at Rachel's folks' house Sunday morning. Bri and I told our friends to enjoy their honeymoon in Cancun and feel free to come to Phoenix and soak up the Arizona sun anytime they feel like it. We really feel blessed to have great friends like this, and I thank the LORD every day for putting people like this in my life. One of my favorite parts of this trip is it reminded me how funny life can be. For those of you that know the story of my baseball career, you understand how up and down it was. I lived those years and thought that baseball was the reason for everything in my life. What becomes more and more evident to me every day is that those events in fact had very little to do with the sport. Me coming to ASU for one year before being advised to leave, but finding my wife in the process is the most obvious example of this. This weekend though, was another. I still don't know what to think of my year as a Ute from a baseball aspect, but there's no questioning the success of that year off the field. I, by far, made more lifetime friends in my 12 months in Salt Lake than I did in my time in Tempe. Seeing Kerr, Rachel, Fred, Chad, and some of the others last weekend, really served as an awesome reminder about how good my life has been.
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Last weekend Bri and I went to Utah to attend our friends Kerr and Rachel's wedding. We were both looking forward to this trip for so many reasons. For me, this was going to be my first time back to Salt Lake since graduating from "The U" and I was stoked to spend some quality time with some good friends I hadn't seen in a while. Bri was excited to finally meet Rachel (the bride whom she'd heard so much about and Facebooked with for a couple of years) and enjoy the closest thing to a summer vacation she was getting this year. Needless to say, we were both excited for Saturday night when we would be able to welcome another set of friends into "couple hood".
The weekend really was everything we could have hoped for. We landed Thursday night and had just enough time to see Kerr and Rachel for a couple minutes before it was off to bed for Bri, and back to the airport for me to pick up Freddie. Friday we got the chance to go over to the campus to see some old friends in the athletic department before heading to lunch in Park City. The weather was stunning and Bri loved it (she had never been to PC without there being snow on the ground). Probably the only thing she liked more than the weather and scenery was Fred's dog "Pete". Between the weather, a great lunch at the Wasatch Brew Pub, the mountain views, and Pete, my wife was already pleading her case for a future second home in the small resort town before we had made it back down the hill.
Friday night we headed to rehearsal where we met up with another former Ute, good buddy, and fellow groomsman Chad. We got to the venue early enough for Fred to bust out his cooler for a quick wedding tailgate as you can see in the picture (you can also see I didn't get the no jeans memo... oops). Kerr and the rest showed up shortly after and the show was on the road. At this point in the trip is where Rachel began to score huge points with Bri. Having been through her own wedding hoopla, Bri was more than able to appreciate how laid back, relaxed, and sweet to everyone Rachel was. After about a ten minute rehearsal, we were off to dinner. Dinner was hosted by Kerr's folks (some of the nicest Texas folks you'll ever meet) at Tuscany, a really nice Italian restaurant down the street from the hotel. This was a great time for Bri to get to know some of these new people a little more and for me to catch up with my buds. After dinner we headed out to a little local dive bar where we hung out, laughed, met more baseball players from years after mine, and even danced a little.
Saturday morning all the groomsman and the fathers went to play some golf at a nice course out near the airport. Even though I am truly awful at the sport (as is Kerr), it was an awesome time for all of us to get out and play, laugh and relax. I left the rental car with Bri that morning so that she could make a mall run to shop for a dress for the wedding. That morning Kerr's bride scored even more points with Bri. Not only did Rachel have the presence of mind with everything else going on that weekend to think of Bri, she even invited my wife over to the house to hang out, get ready with the rest of the girls, and follow the limo up the hill. Bri really had a great time.
Saturday night's ceremony was the reason we were all there, and it wasn't about to disappoint. The venue was a beautiful cottage tucked deep away in Brighton Canyon (I think). The ceremony was outdoors, with dinner on the patio under the stars. The bridal party hiked way up a hill on one side of the cottage, to come down through the trees to walk the aisle on the other (I was struggling worse than the chick behind me that was pregnant with twins). Rachel looked beautiful and Kerr almost cried. The bishop that officiated the ceremony did a good job following Kerr's one rule, "keep it short." Afterwards we headed across the street for pictures where we had our option of picturesque backdrops between the duck inhabited pond and the 100 ft. waterfall. Dinner was awesome and it was followed by toasts and dancing. Fred, Chad, and I teamed up to roast Kerr as we hadn't known him as long as his other groomsmen. We burned him pretty good as we recalled fun times and funny things he's said in the time we've known him. Kerr and Rachel and the guys in the audience we knew all enjoyed it, and that's exactly what we were aiming for. The reason I say this is because I actually heard the next morning that we had offended some old people in attendance, to which I replied, "ah well... what are ya gonna do?"
Our Utah jaunt was wrapped up with brunch at Rachel's folks' house Sunday morning. Bri and I told our friends to enjoy their honeymoon in Cancun and feel free to come to Phoenix and soak up the Arizona sun anytime they feel like it. We really feel blessed to have great friends like this, and I thank the LORD every day for putting people like this in my life. One of my favorite parts of this trip is it reminded me how funny life can be. For those of you that know the story of my baseball career, you understand how up and down it was. I lived those years and thought that baseball was the reason for everything in my life. What becomes more and more evident to me every day is that those events in fact had very little to do with the sport. Me coming to ASU for one year before being advised to leave, but finding my wife in the process is the most obvious example of this. This weekend though, was another. I still don't know what to think of my year as a Ute from a baseball aspect, but there's no questioning the success of that year off the field. I, by far, made more lifetime friends in my 12 months in Salt Lake than I did in my time in Tempe. Seeing Kerr, Rachel, Fred, Chad, and some of the others last weekend, really served as an awesome reminder about how good my life has been.
