the day in which the last of us freeman daughters took a different name

finally, here are some pics from my sis' wedding. it was absolutely beautiful. there was fog and orchids. there were kayakers. there were bagpipers and sunglasses and Vans shoes. it was perfectly sean and jessica. congratulations, you two McElvenys!

i was delighted to run around playing "freelance photographer." i can't wait to give these to them. to view this aright (that is, chronologically), go to the bottom of the post and read up.

a very contented husband and wife

and finally dad even loses it. he had all the women weeping.

ok, we've all gotten pretty blurry at this point

still under control, but you see the napkin handy

dad dances with the bride, and tears are already threatening

paul and joanna koomas, nick and kristopher. joni's the oldest of us three girls.

dad's girls and the boys-in-law (and grandy! plus a few extras like kids)

mrs. mcelveny holding kristopher koomas, who just happened to be born in time

victorious

cutest

cuter

cute

can you hear the bride-y music?

sean wanted to make sure the most important element of his attire was duly noted. vans shoes, skull-and-crossbones socks.

the guys. the secret servicemen.

this guy looked right into the camera. made for a very auster picture, but so the moment.

like i promised: bagpipers! they were absolutely fantastic

dad of the groom...a little blurry but totally sweet picture!

mom and bride

gorgeous fur shawl, provided for in the event of fog...and there was fog.

dad, in a moment of pure insanity

the bride. she was perfect.

this face is called "we woke up late the morning of the wedding because neither of us set our alarm, and now i have to smile for a picture while drinking my breakfast in a wool sweater in august."

koomas #3: kristopher

koomas #2: nick (i assume you already understand who's koomas #1)

what would a wedding be without the harley? it belongs to paul koomas, brother-in-law.

father of the bride

here they are, sean and jess! (rehearsal day)

hard providence

God's wisdom is not our wisdom. In the flesh, God's goodness seems unfair, foolish, unreasonable, even mean. and what's even more unfair is that we can't know why He's giving us this particular goodness. but His ways are far above ours. because sin is backwards and turns the world on its head, we look at everything with our head to the ground and our feet in the air. thus, everything holy and good, and often what God sends to us via life seems to us upside down. how can a child born with turner's syndrome be a good thing? that is, where is God's goodness in that? we Christian humans call this a hard providence - something given to us by the hand of the Father which causes us physical, emotional, and/or spiritual pain. it is something "bad" which came unexpectedly, an unrequested gift, and therefore we immediatly think that it can't be good. but if we believe when God says He is good, then our challenge is to find (and believe even when we don't see) the good in what seems bad, unfair, foolish, unreasonable, mean. what makes us think we deserve a life free of hard providences? what do we deserve? we deserve damnation and hell. what have we been given? life in Christ, a life so rich and full we can scarce take it all in...and that's just this life. sin won't be with us forever. what was turned on its head will be righted, the scales will fall off our eyes for good, and we will see more clearly God's wisdom. and we will finally understand that what we thought was a moment of hard providence was really the highest expression of love God could have poured out on us. it was good.

elizabeth joy is in the hospital awaiting a very difficult decision. the options for her at present are either a shunt or a liver transplant. both carry with them life-changing ramifications. both include regular hospitalizations. both exclude a life of normalcy. this is so hard for matt and sara, as they have to choose which of the two no-so-great doors to open. complications loom over both choices, some known and some unknown. for those who are reading this, please pray for this family. they are strong in the Lord's strength, and exhibit wonderful trust in the Lord. elizabeth continues to live up to her namesake: joy. but just because it's good doesn't mean it's easy. so we plead with God for a miracle. we bend our knees and humble our hearts before Him, asking for a rainstorm of mercy. we, like Elijah, bang on the doors of heaven and speak boldly in God's presence for the life of this little one. and we know we can do so because we have been made priests in Christ. Lord, have mercy.

strong tower

elizabeth joy is home now, awaiting the surgery to her portal vein. doctors say now that, what looked like healthy weight gain and nutrition over these 9 months of her life (ie, her poochy stomach) was really the result of her liver not functioning properly. it is hard to know that all this time, she has not been getting the full nutrition that was needed, and doctors are curious to know how her body will compensate for it. this is a hard providence. but we don't trust in organs and veins; we trust in the mighty name of our God. we seek the Physician for His mercy, His miraculous touch, to heal elizabeth and cause her to grow mightily...like a cedar of lebanon, like an ivory tower.



" strong tower, high and glorious, strong tower, mighty in love. like a fortress never failing, strong tower, Lord above."

huge

this post is entitled huge because this post is huge. also, because joe took me on a huge surprise weekend for our anniversary (i thought dinner was great!). destination: san fransisco. car trip: 1.25 hrs. first goal: de Young museum to see the Dior gown that my granma wore. second goal: Palace of the Legion of Honor to see Monet. third goal: lunch. fourth goal: the Argonaut hotel, fisherman's wharf. fifth goal: dinner. that was the first day. the second day didn't have an itinerary, but bummed around and ended up in los gatos for a nap and a movie (little miss sunshine. wouldn't recommend it...funny in parts, but a lot more Godless than we expected).

the very ugly de Young museum. i didn't bother taking anymore

pictures of it, it was so ugly. like a 70's town library. here's me with my thesis.
i asked to see the dress, but they would hear of no such visiting,
and they confessed it wasn't even on the premisis and they weren't quite sure
where it was exactly, and i'd have to call the curator...blah, blah, blah...
they were very cranky and very disappointing.

the very beautiful Palace of the Legion of Honor...the very place where Vertigo was filmed.

joe art

lunch at the legion...joe trying to teach me how to blow fog horns from a bottle.

joe laughing at me trying


bird in the celarium, eyeing our lunch


guy at the legion just playing for the passers-by. said i could take a picture of him if i made him look like johnny depp.


can you see the sf bridge coming out of my head?



joe art



dinner



our louis armstrong for the night...except...no horn. ah well. he was awesome.


he's chatting it up with the kiddos


um, well, looked like a photo op

happiness is being married to a tall swede who planned this surpise getaway for me

joe's dessert...with a little bailey's.

my dessert. perfect.

our hotel, done up in a nautical theme. they take very good care of you.

hubby already enjoying its full amenities

leapard print?

here's me carrying all the junk while hubby walks around looking dashing and waits for our car

lunch at union square. awesome, awesome place. went here with my parents last october. it's a gem.

some city sights

just 'cause i love the name

palace of fine arts...kinda looks like a space ship.

you're just goin' along, minding your own business, and then whoa!

it was being worked on, hence the fence

do i hav'ta say?

at the park, los gatos...ye english bloke!

reading flannery o'connor (yes, that is the appropriate face)

reading billy collins

random baby, but totally cute

babe, you did awesome. thanks for such a well-thought out surprise. (you know you're gonna have to top it next year, right? that's the danger with these things). love you.