Thanks

We wanted to say thanks to our parents, who have been so helpful and supportive during our engagement, and who have been working very hard to help us have the wedding we envisioned.  Since there wasn't room to include everybody on our wedding invitations, we wanted to acknowledge them here.

Bride's parents:  Samuel and Patricia Thornton of Tucson, Arizona; and Bruce and Sheila Jones of Overland Park, Kansas.

Groom's parents:  Jerry and Tammy Holmes of Doerun, Georgia; and Rhonda Holmes of Leesburg, Georgia.

Registry Update

We had heard that registering for wedding gifts was one of the most fun wedding planning activities, and we were not disappointed!  Registering was right up there with cake-tasting for pure entertainment value.   

Our Crate and Barrel registry is up and accessible at www.crateandbarrel.com.  To browse it, go to the C&B homepage, then click on "Gift Registry" at the top of the page.  Select "Give a Gift" to search registries by name.  You can use Kristen Jones or Chris Holmes to search.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of other people named Kristen Jones and Chris Holmes out there; we are the ones in California being married on 04/03/2009.  Be sure to check the "Co-registrant" column so you get the right people!

Gifts may be purchased online or in stores; our shipping address will be provided during checkout.  

Hotel Update

Hello again from wedding land!  We just wanted to post a reminder that those of you interested in booking discounted suites at the Radisson Suites Tucson have two weeks left before the discounted price expires on February 16.  Information on pricing and how to book can be found on our first post, which appears at the bottom of this page.  It's the only post from 2008, if you want to use the links at right to find it.

T minus two months and one day to "I do"....we hope to see you in Tucson!

Song Requests

We are in the midst of trying to pick some good songs to dance to during the reception. We really, really don't want to inflict the YMCA, Electric Slide, or Chicken Dance on our beloved friends and families.

If you have a song request, please respond to this post and let us know what you will dance to, and we will do our best to have it on the playlist. No guarantees about the YMCA, though.

Registry

The wedding gift we want most is the presence of our friends and families at our wedding. We know that with the economy in the cesspool it's hard enough for everybody to fly to Arizona. Long-distance flying was going to occur no matter where we had the wedding, so we tried to pick someplace with great weather.

We have been fielding requests about whether we're registering, and when and with whom, so here's the scoop.

We are going to register at Crate and Barrel, but not until early February. They are having a registry party, and when we heard the words "free food" our hearts started pounding with excitement (okay, maybe just Kristen's heart...we know how grad students feel about free food). When we have our registry details sorted out, we'll post them here.

Fun things to do in Tucson (besides watching Chris and Kristen get married)

For those of you planning a long weekend in Tucson, we thought we'd share some fun things to do while you're there. The Radisson Suites where we blocked rooms has an outdoor heated pool, and the weather should be good for swimming/sunbathing.

La Encantada (www.laencantadashoppingcenter.com) is a new, outdoor mall full of fabulous stores (or fabulous window shopping) and great restaurants. This is a good place to enjoy views of the mountains and Tucson.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (www.desertmuseum.org) is a great place to learn about native plants and wildlife. The museum features large animals such as mountain lions, coyotes and javelinas, as well as smaller animals like birds and reptiles (under glass). The museum is mostly outdoors, with paved trails winding through the desert, though some exhibits (reptiles, minerals, etc.) are indoors.

Bike rental: Tucson is very bike-friendly; there are wide bike lanes all over town. Bikes can be rented from Broadway Bicycles (520-296-7819), Tucson Bicycles (520-577-7374) or Fair Wheel Bikes (520-884-9018).

Biosphere 2: For those of you science nerds out there (you know who you are), the Biosphere 2 (www.b2science.org) is worth a visit. Located about 20 minutes north of Tucson on AZ Highway 87, the biosphere 2 was built in the late '80s/early '90s as an experimental research station and space exploration prototype. Now it's a site of ongoing research, and contains an ocean complete with coral reef, rainforest, savannah, and marsh. The Biosphere 2 is currently studying environmental change, and half the admission from guided tours funds ongoing research.

Tubac (www.tubacaz.com) is a great place to go browsing for art, if you don't mind a bit of a drive. This small community is now an artist's haven and is full of art galleries and boutiques, as well as restaurants and lodging. Tubac is located 45 miles south of Tucson, off I-19.

Of course, there is tons more to do than we could put on this list. If you're outdoors-y, there are all sorts of national and state parks with great hiking. Beware the native flora and fauna; things tend to be pointy or poisonous (or both). And NEVER go hiking alone; mountain lions love that. No really, they eat people.

Foodies will be in heaven. We've enjoyed great French, Italian, Asian, fusion, American and of course Mexican cuisine on our Tucson visits.

We found a lot of great ideas in the 2008-2009 Tucson Guide (www.tusconguidemagazine.org).