All That Glitters Is Goldmann: Vegas Baby (Literally...get it? I'm hilarious.)

A Christine Entry:

So Jon's good friend from childhood put a ring on it. This meant we were taking the baby to Vegas! Vegas Baby (literally...get it? I'm hilarious).

Jon and Scott have been friends since 2nd grade. Scott has been living in Las Vegas for about the last five years. He met Renee (his now wife) at his work, so it was no surprise they'd decided to have their wedding in Vegas.

Jon and I had a little anxiety over bringing Nolan on the airplane. We all know no one is crazy about an unpredictable baby on a plane. We jammed a ridiculous amount of baby distractions in the diaper bag to endure the flight. When we boarded the plane, passengers avoided eye contact with us. It was understandable people were nervous about sitting near the baby. :) Though Nolan was a little tired and had a hard time falling asleep at first, he did AWESOME. He had no apparent ear problems and the (second) bottle is what helped him fall asleep. Once he fell asleep Jon and I were both thinking (as we later admitted), "Just twenty minutes, Nolan. Just stay asleep for twenty minutes. That's all you need to get us through the flight."

Our wishes came true. :) As soon as he woke up, he gave us lots of smiles and a couple of happy screams (but thankfully only two of those).

After the plane landed, three passengers told us, "What a good baby! He did great!" Of course NOW they want to talk to us. :)

Hecho (Andrew) and Allisen picked us up from the airport. Allisen (or Lis, as I like to call her) and I hugged for about 10 minutes before we were on our way. "Be ready for this weather," she warned us on our way out of the airport, "the heat is about to slap you in the face as soon as we walk out!" She was right. It was hhhhhhhot. Our Nolan handled that heat like a champ!

We stayed at Hecho and Allisen's house. We are pretty sure the Hardys can out-host anyone in all areas of hosting. They provided anything and everything we could possibly have needed to live comfortably...including delicious food, beverages and their (ahem) Mercedes for transportation. Seriously, it was hard to come home. :) Not only did they take good care of us, but they are super fun and babysat Nolan for us while we went to Scott and Renee's rehearsal dinner. I mean really, eat your hearts out, Five Star Hotels! If you think I am bragging about our awesome friends and their far, far superior hosting abilities, you are correct. But I digress.

Jon had a lot of fun with Scott and the other groomsmen. They had their special "Guy Time" at Red Rock (which is, I think, Scott's favorite place) before the wedding while I hung out with Allisen and Nolan.

Jon and I both had a great time at the rehearsal. It was the first time we got to meet Renee's family (who we really liked) and share a more intimate celebration. Scott and Renee did the impressive task of introducing every single guest at the party in front of the group...and it was quite a large group! They said something nice about each person and made everyone feel special.My favorite part of the evening was watching Scott and his mom share a moment together. I won't go into too much detail, but it was pretty much the sweetest thing you've ever seen if you can imagine your own baby has grown up and gotten married.

Scott and Renee's wedding was beautiful. Our highlights of the event were Scott's adorable, beaming face while walking down the aisle, delicious food, Renee and her dad dancing to Sir Mix A Lot for the father-daughter dance, their awesome photo booth and Nolan's skinny jeans complete with cute gray vest.

The wedding venue was great. It was an outdoor ceremony with with a tunnel of white archway pillars and a pretty water feature and trees. They married under a gazebo with white draped fabric. The reception was indoor in a giant room with fabric draped everywhere. The tables were decorated with black and purple and there was a dance floor under a giant staircase where the bridal party entered. All the guests were a lot of fun! We danced, toasted with champagne and had good conversation.

Scott and Renee, we are very happy for you! Renee, again, you looked gorgeous!

Aside from the rather unhappy security people at the Las Vegas airport (although one of them was nice), the flight home was even better than on the way to Vegas. Nolan fell in love with the beautiful animated woman in the seat behind me. He played with her and tried to crawl back towards her for a good portion of the flight. "Bye, Handsome," she said to him when we parted ways.

Several passengers complimented him on the way off the plane. One guy said, "I didn't even hear that baby! At first I was all, 'aaaaaw man, I don't want to sit by the baby!' But he was great!"

We had an amazing first real trip with our little family.

P.S. We love you, Allisen and Hecho.