As happy as a tree-hugger in Muir Woods

My Aunt Nancy, Uncle Harry, and cousin Daniel are visiting from Cincinnati, Ohio this week. I was relieved when they said that they preferred to see Muir Woods over touring San Francisco today. I wanted to get out of the city after working all morning at the shop. I discovered that they are a great family to show around because they "oooo" and "ahhh" at the appropriate moments and because they are fun to chat with. (by the way, I've given up on caring about ending my sentences with prepositions because, damn it, this is my blog, my little piece of the Internet, and if I wanna break the rules of proper English grammar, so be it.)

The ubiquitous Golden Gate Bridge shot. A must-have for every amatuer photographer tourist.

Our Twenties community group bids farewell to a gentleman and a scholar

This evening, our 2007-2008 Twenties community group had dinner together and enjoyed fellowship as we said good-bye to our friend Billy (second from the right). He is headed back to West Point to study, back to his girlfriend and his normal life. In Billy's own words...

"I wanted to take this time to express how being a part of 20's has given me the opportunity to mature tremendously as a Christian. Being probably one of the youngest in terms of age and my coming to believe in Christ, it was so great to be able watch how everyone, married and single, interacted with each other and in their love for God. I really learned what it meant to be a Christian and what it means to have the blood of Jesus save us."

Well put. Here is another photo of Billy and the members of last year's community group. We are the losers dressed up like cowboys in the bottom right hand corner of the photo. To earn votes in the best-dressed costume contest that night, we all preformed a flawlessly Western version of the Electric Slide. Who is that studly cowboy in the fake mustache?

The power of Jesus to unite

I read a testimony written by John McCain in this week's issue of Time magazine. It concerns his time spent as a POW in Vietnam.

"In prison, my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put a finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.

A month or so later, on Christmas day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw the same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me. Then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross..."

McCain's testimony itself was less impressive than the obvious changes in the heart of the Vietnamese soldier. Only Jesus has the power to shape and soften a person's heart like that. When your eyes are on Him, you begin to see the world in the same compassionate way in which Jesus saw it. We are all afflicted with this self-obsessed heart. Belief in Jesus takes away the guilt of having that type of heart and gives us the freedom to love other people wholeheartedly, without fear of losing out or not being taken care of. Jesus gave the Vietnamese soldier the courage and compassion to loosen McCain's ropes. I'm glad He did, because this story really encouraged me this morning.

Preparation for the wedding day

Christine got her hair and make-up done at a salon in a Korean strip mall. This poor man tried to style my hair after he finished with Christine. First he tried to blow dry it and then brush it out. Anyone with curly hair knows both of these are big no-no's. I thanked him for his 30 second effort to fix my hair and promptly left the salon. I found an unwilling hair assistant when I got home to 360 Carmelita Drive. "Thanks to you, now I know all about flowers and how to finger-curl hair. It's not very manly." -Francis Tao


Here are my orchids looking lovely in her dark hair.

Rehearsal for Christine and Patrick's Wedding

I was blessed to be invited to be a bridesmaid by my sister-in-law Christine. I am so lucky to have gained an awesome sister by marriage! Here I am in line with her other bridesmaids, about to practice our big entrance into the wedding. From the left are Jaime and Natalie (high school friends), me, and Hazel (Patrick's sister).

Francis walked Christine down the aisle, so here they are standing in the mock ceremony. The girl in the yellow dress is Justine, Patrick's cousin and kick-butt emcee for the event.

Christine and Patrick generously bought us all dinner after the rehearsal. We just walked across the street from the wedding location to this cool little restaurant/ biker pub. They served us outside under heat lamps. You can tell Francis was enjoying the chicken in this photo. The wedding location was way up in the mountains above Palo Alto and Redwood City. It was a pretty remote location, about a 20 minute drive from the freeway on a dangerously curvy road. The reward for the long drive was the fabulously humongous redwood trees that filtered soft light onto the field where they were married. Christine loves trees, so it was perfect.

Birthday Barbecue for Jen and Jordon

Danielle hosted yet another spectacularly delicious and well-attended barbecue for our good friends Jen and Jordon. They both turned 25 in the past few days. That's the birthday guy and girl above. The spread was fabulous! Grilled burgers and Italian sausage, succulent watermelon, cherries, strawberries, and grapes, lemonade, chips and fresh, homemade salsa. Wish you were there? Can't say I blame you. Danielle is a wonderful hostess!

Everyone relaxing in the summer sun on the back patio of Danielle's boss's home. They graciously let Danielle throw parties there.

She looks so cute snuggling with Walter the Weiner Dog!

Recent Weddings We've Done

Mike and Megan Northcote on 8/1/08 in Oakland, CA. A strawberry shortcake wedding!




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Will Feeney and Brenda Flanders on 7/26/08 at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. Tall elegance!

You can kind of see the bride getting her picture taken in the background of this shot.