We drove up to Dallas July 24th and spent the night at Aunt Shelley and Uncle Jim's. We flew out the next morning on a nonstop flight to D.C. Jason's Mom, Uncle Mark and a few of the kids came to pick us up from the airport in the stylin' 18-passenger van and we began our one hour drive down to Fredericksburg, VA. This is one of the few times we've actually flown out to Jason's parents'. We usually drive 26 hours one each way, but this particular time - we needed to fly because we had a wedding to get to! Jason's little brother Joe (who just turned 20 almost 3 months ago) was getting married! And to whom you might ask? None other than Dillon Mahoney! Lucky for her, she's now Dillon Capra! Haha! I'm just kidding! I think it's the other way around! We're lucky to have her! She's such a cutie!! We actually didn't have to get to Virginia right away, but we did have to leave right away (the morning after the wedding) to get back in time for Jason to be back at work Monday morning. :( Sniff sniff. I can't wait until Jason isn't in some sort of training program, so he can actually have more say in when he can take his leave!!
So despite the hours we saved by flying instead of driving - this felt like the shortest vacation we've ever had! I was so sad! The time flew by at record speed! I didn't even have much of a chance to spend any quality time with my Mommy-in-law!! We usually spend a lot more time with one another, but this time we didn't seem to have enough time!!! It wasn't like we had a whole lot we had to work on (being that we were the groom's family and not the bride's), so I'm not sure why we seemed SO busy!! Let's break it down shall we? ;) I know I say it every time, but I'm going to try to keep it short!! ;)
Day 1: Flew in, drove to Fredericksburg (while jabbering away in the van) and unloaded our stuff. Hugged and squeezed everyone hello and then left with Angie to go to her house and pick up some supplies while Dad Capra started up the grill for some BBQ. We picked up only the essentials: Efes (Turkish beer that Angie found at a Mediterranean market) and ingredients to make Cheese Borek (Turkish appetizer). We came back, made a deep-fried-splattered mess of the kitchen and wolfed down the borek (washed down with some Efes of course). ;) Mmmm...yummy! I miss Turkish food! We spent some time cackling while we visited before heading to bed. I should mention - that upon arriving, we barely saw even a glimpse of Kristin (who was attached at Joanna's hip at all times). ;) We missed the little wench, but we knew she was in good hands. ;)
Caleb meeting Aunt Angie
Day 2: Woke up to a yummy breakfast of egg and bacon sandwiches and watermelon (thanks to MomEE) before heading out with Jason, his cousin Doug (Uncle Jim's #2 kid who was on summer break from the Naval Academy), Jason's brother Mike (we're all familiar with him-kid #4) and Jake (Jason's youngest brother-kid #8). We stopped at Tropical Smoothie first (our most favorite smoothie place) and ran into Dillon and her Mom! We visited with them over smoothies before heading over to Walmart (for Mike and Jake to get fishing licenses and gear). Then we met Jason's sister Rachel and her hubcap Nate at Target before running over to Borders Bookstore (we were on the hunt for some good dancing DVDs, so we could all practice and be prepared for a Capra/Mahoney dance off at the wedding reception!). Our search was a success! We found a collection of 3 DVDs (Tango, Swing and Waltz). Although the instructor and her partner were a little on the cheesy/dorky side - we mastered all of the steps after a couple of sessions (that day and on the morning of the wedding)! Then we met Angie at the mall afterward and tried to help her find flower girl dresses for Tori and Anna. After we got home, all the older girls (Kristin included) decided to make their own restaurant and serve everyone dinner. They named the restaurant Shamu Bayou. Hahahaha!! It was cute. They set up tables, strung up lights and decorated the apartment back porch. They took everyone's drink orders and we were given appetizers of gold fish and chips before our dinner arrived (choice of pasta with shrimp or chicken with orange wedges).
Caleb spending a little quality time with Grandpa and Grandma
Katie with her cousin Anna waiting for their food to arrive
Kristin serving Aunt Rachel her food
Rachel and I (with Caleb hiding under my hooter hider) are ready to eat!
Day 3: Jason and I headed over to the local YMCA to exercise (while Katie and Caleb waited for us in the nursery). We headed back home for showers before Angie came by to pick me up for some shopping. We were out for a good chunk of the day (part of it looking for our bachelorette party presents for Dillon). On our way back, we checked on the kids at home before heading back out to meet Jason, Mike and Doug at the Fredericksburg Pub for a late dinner and a couple of drinks. It was good! They've built a lot of new shops and restaurants in Fredericksburg since we moved away!! Unfortunately for all of you - I forgot to take pictures!!! ;)
Day 4: Jason and I went to the YMCA and came back for showers before we all headed over to Chuck E. Cheese for a late celebration of Jason and my birthdays. We all ate some pizza and then paired up in twos. Everyone had the same goal - lots and lots of tickets (which were then used for a lot of candy and junk toys)! Angie then proceeded to buy 20 bags of cotton candy for everyone to share! I've never seen that much cotton candy in one spot!! After that, Jason got his haircut and we went back home to watch the kids play in the pool for a little while. Later that night, Jason and I went out to a Thai restaurant with Angie, Mike and Doug (we've had much better Thai, but it was still fun!). Then we came home to for some drinks and s'mores around the fire-pit.
Danielle and Caleb at CEC
Uncle Mikey introduces Caleb to CEC
Caleb and his Aunt Sarah
He never had a chance of avoiding Katie!! ;)
Jason gets serious about winning tickets ;)
Angie knows where to get the most tickets for her token! ;)
Katie and her Aunt Julia pair up
Kristin and her Aunt Emily
Tori and Joanna with cousin Darby at my favorite game at CEC (Deal or No Deal)
Mark and cousin Jack
Jake is all on his own with nothing but tickets on the brain
Anna and her Aunt Danielle
Me and Angie-poo taking a break from the craziness
The Capras have overrun CEC!!!
Jason and Doug get serious... This is no time for fun and games!!! ;)
Caleb looks pretty cozy with his Aunt Angie
Some crazy Capras trying to get every last ticket out of this machine
Kristin is overcome with candy-crazed joy!
Michael enjoys the feeling of tickets in mass quantities
Becky can't believe her eyes! 20 bags of cotton candy?!!!
Mike has never been so happy... ;)
Me and the boys (well - Sarah's head popped out of no where!!)
Jason doesn't look happy about something...maybe I was standing too close to Mike or something. ;)
Katie and Anna with their Grandma Capra
Jason's Mom in the pool with Julia, Katie, Caleb, Emily and Tori
Apparently Katie isn't afraid of the water anymore...
Kristin always loves the water, but it only took a couple of days of this and she was swimming all over the pool without a life jacket! I guess two days of intensive training is all it takes! ;)
Jake sports his beginning swimmer flotation device... ;)
Caleb enjoying the water...and all of the attention!
Doug, Jake and Mike (a really pale Mike that is)! ;) I hope Jake didn't break anything of value! Eek! That looks like it should hurt!!
Caleb with his Uncle Michael
Joanna, Danielle and Rissy
Caleb with his Grandma
Daddy Capra at the grill. Come on Dad! Not even a tiny smile??? Pretty pleeeeaase??!!
Jason and Doug at the Thai restaurant
Mike, Angie and me
Mike, Doug and Jason enjoying a little stroll across this oddly-placed bridge in the center of the tiny Thai restaurant. There was water under it and everything! It was cute - it just looked out of place!!
Kristin and her Aunt Joanna making s'mores
Day 5: YMCA. Showers. Dad picked up James and Tish (who had just flown in from Italy - where they're now stationed). Before they arrived, the guys went out to watch Harry Potter at the theater while I stayed home and got to work with Becky and Rissy on the sun-room and family room. We were trying to get the house ready for all of the visitors that would be coming over for the rehearsal dinner. We named ourselves the Texas Team - since we were all from Texas and the only ones doing all the cleaning!! ;) James and Tish arrived and I had a chance to visit with them before heading out to Target with Tish, Angie, Mom and Dillon (we were helping Tish find a top to go with her pants for the wedding). Afterward, Tish, Angie, Dillon and I picked up James from the house and met the rest of the guys (Jason, Mike, Doug and Joe) at the Fredericksburg Pub for dinner and drinks.
Mike upset that Jason and I were going to work out while he started in on cleaning up the garage
Jason butting in on Joe and Dillon's pose ;)
Tish and James...in his pirate shirt... ;)
Doug and Jason together again... :)
While I'm with Angie and Mike again! ;)
Day 6: YMCA. Showers. Jason and I went out to eat lunch at 5 Guys with James, Tish, Mike, Doug, Joe and Jake. After I got back, I realized my two Texas Team members (Becky and Rissy) were hard at work cleaning and their was no food in sight! I felt bad that they were starving, so I took them and Danielle to McDonalds to pick up some food to bring back to the house. I can think of a hundred other places that are a whole lot tastier, but it was close and cheap. Meanwhile, Jason, James, Mike, Jake and Joe's friend Michael all took Joe out skydiving to kick off Joe's bachelor party! Only Joe and his friend did the diving - while all of Joe's brothers cheered from the sidelines. Now that sounds like a fun idea for a bachelor party!!! It's too bad they couldn't have all went together...it's just a wee bit expensive! Me, Tish, Rachel, Becky, Rissy and Danielle all got ready and headed over to Dillon's friend's apartment for the Bachelorette party. We never heard what we were going to do, so we came over dressed pretty casual. When they opened the door, Dillon, her sisters and all her friends were in dresses and drinking wine! I felt so sloppy and under-dressed! Oh well - we still enjoyed some snacks and drinks while we watched Dillon open all her presents! The party ended within a couple hours, so we headed back home to wait for the guys to get back from their full day out. We picked up some snacks on the way and watched some of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The guys got in pretty late and continued their party around the fire-pit, so we all went to bed soon after that got home.
Bachelorette party (Capra girls): Sarah, Dillon, me, Danielle, Becky, Tish, Rissy and Rachel
I wonder what present (or what comment was made about the present) she's laughing about... ;)
Becky, Rissy and Danielle
Tish, Rachel and me
Day 7: YMCA. Showers. To make it up to Uncle Mark (for forgetting to invite him to the Bachelor party), Jason offers to take him to lunch, so we take him out to Buffalo Wild Wings. James and Tish also come along and we met Rachel and Nate there as well. We had some yummy boneless wings and high-tailed it out of there when we realized the guys were going to be late to the rehearsal!! Tish and I ended up coming along since there was no time to drop us off back at home, so we got a little sneak peek!! ;) They were going to have their wedding at a friend of the family's house. I had something totally different in mind when I heard they were getting married in someone's backyard! This house was gorgeous and the landscaping was beautiful!!! I'm sure all of Dillon's wedding pictures will be unbelievable (which only reminds me of how dissappointed I am with my own wedding pictures - poo!)! Afterward, we headed back home to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. Thank goodness our very own Uncle Jim (from Dallas) came in the night before to help put together the party plans!! He really is a good party-thrower!!! :) We enjoyed the rest of the evening surrounded by family and friends. It was great!
The happy almost-to-be-married couple
Jason getting started on his poses for the camera (minutes before the rehearsal begins)
Here's another...
And another... He'll just keep going if you don't stop him!!! ;)
Oh noooo!!! Mike and Jake are following in his footsteps!!!
Dillon and her Dad practicing their walk down the aisle
Look at those nosy boys - all up in Joe and Dillon's ceremony business! ;)
I didn't have a good view of Dillon and Joe from this angle (the bride's side of the aisle), but Michael's face in the background amuses me... ;)
Jason doing what he does best...stealing attention from other people (by noisily unwrapping a granola bar and eating it during the rehearsal ... ;)
Tish, Angie and me at the rehearsal dinner
Day 8: It's the BIG DAY!!! Joe and Dillon are getting married!!! ...but not for several more hours... So until then we moved the table out of the way and started practicing our dance moves in the dining room!! I wish we had pictures of it! Actually...I think Nate took some pictures! Maybe I'll beg him for some pictures and post them on here later!! We were all paired up and twirling around in formation (me and Jason, James and Tish, Mike and Danielle, Doug and Rissy)! It was great!! We practiced the Tango and Swing (because I thought Dillon said there would be swing music). Much to our disappointment - the music at the wedding didn't really go with any of the moves, but we still tried to do our best to incorporate what we learned!! Oh well - it wasn't time lost! We actually had a lot of fun!!! After getting all sweaty from dancing, Danielle and I took our showers and then headed over to a salon to get our hair done for the wedding. I am so mad though! I surprisingly loved my hairdo (something that never happens) and I have no picture of the back view!!! Man!!! From the front, it almost looks like I always wear it - which is the disappointing part. I spent $50 and it looks like I didn't do anything (from the front view)!!!
Anyways!!! The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! Dillon was gorgeous of course! So far she is only one of two people I know that never seem to take a bad picture (the other person being Rachel)!!! Poo on them!!!! ;) It was one of those weddings you wish you had been to before you had yours (so you could steal all of the ideas for your own). It's a shame I had only been to two weddings before my own! I would have done it a WHOLE lot differently!!!!! Maybe we'll have to do a 15 or 20 year wedding vow thing, so we can have a do-over! ;)
Unfortunately, the reception didn't last very long. It probably lasted the appropriate time, but it honestly didn't feel like it lasted more than 30 minutes!!! :( That and I barely ate anything! I made a plate, ate a few bites and got up to use the restroom and when I got back my food had been taken away! Then Nate went and made me another plate, but I got up to dance with Jason for less than 5 minutes and my second plate was taken away!! I was SO hungry!!! It's no wonder my milk supply decreased!!! ;)
But besides that - everything was beautiful and I'm so very happy for Joe Shmo and my new sister!! He couldn't have found a more wonderful wife!! Congratulations you two little cuties!!!!
Becky and Katie are ready to get this wedding started!!
Doug and Jesse (Uncle Jim and Aunt Shelley's two oldest kids who are out of the house)
Uncle Jim with Caleb (we miss our Aunt Shelley!!!)
Me and my Rachel-poo
The boys in uniform (Doug, Mike, Jason and James). Can anyone guess which Air Force member is wearing his uniform properly?? Hint: He's not missing his work badge or jacket-closing-device... ;)
Come on Jason! Don't ruin the picture!! Do you know how few pictures we have as a couple?! Seriously!! ;) And another thing...I wish you were just 2 inches taller, so I could wear some heals for once!!! ;) I love you bubble butt!!! :)
There! That's better...I suppose... ;)
James and Tish
Joe Shmo and his best man Jake doing their signature pose ;)
Jesse and her fiance Mike (congratulations!!!!)
Rachel and Nate
Our little Kristin-poo (where have you been this past week little girl??!!) ;)
Kristin and her Aunt Joanna (a.k.a. Bean)
The Dallas, TX crew!! Becky, Doug, Micah, Mike, Jesse and Rissy (Mark is missing because he had just left for the Coast Guard Academy!!!)
Sarah and Robert (her Marine-man boyfriend) ;)
Beautiful little Rachel-poo
Me and Tish-a-lish (and Caleb too!)
Waiting for the bride to make her entrance (Joe, Jake, Mike, Mike-Joe's friend)
James, Mark (Tony and Angie's oldest little man) and Jason
Joe and Jake watching Dillon make her way down the aisle
Angie taking pictures down the aisle
Jason being cute as usual :)
Let the ceremony begin!!
Singing praise songs
Exchanging vows
Dillon laughing after Joe pulls out a $20 bill (he was supposed to pull out his letter to her) :)
Both families (parents and siblings) pray over Joe and Dillon...
While Dillon's Mom sings a song
They sealed the deal!!! ;)
The wedding party
Parents with the bride and groom
A blurry family picture that I stole from Angie's facebook page
Me and Dillon
And now...I'm going to attempt the impossible...posting one more story before bed, so I'm thoroughly caught up on this whole blogging shmeal... We'll see...
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