Jen and Marty Cusing Wedding

The Twenties girls fawning all over Anthony.

Dancing to a live band at the reception!

So proud of my husby!

Francis was asked to briefly tell the story of how he came to believe in Jesus Christ. Both fortunately and unfortunately, much of my husband's story revolves around God revealing his pride and self-reliance to him over the course of a few years. It might have been a painful and humiliating experience to share such deep personal sin with strangers and friends, if not for the fact that Francis finds his identity in Jesus. After learning some excruciating lessons from God, such as losing his start-up business and having to admit defeat to friends, family, and even in-laws, my husband now understands that we humans can only take pride in and revel in the person and work of Jesus, a man who humbly laid down his life for his friends and enemies alike. This is an extremely frustrating piece of knowledge because it means no amount of earthly success that we achieve means anything! (it is all a gift from God anyway) But it also means that no earthly disaster can bring us down or make us feel worthless. I respect and admire my husband so much for his humility and for the graceful way he has accepted God's challenges to his pride. He doesn't need to be full of boastful self-assurance to win over this girl! ;)

Discovering Daniel's secret talent

Roughly 15 minutes from arriving home in Mountain View at the end of our trip, Francis and I uncovered Daniel's extraordinary talent for beat boxing. I knew he was a gifted musician, but he blew us away! Francis sang along as Daniel made a variety of different sounds and beats, using only his mouth as an instrument. I love electronic music, so to hear those same sounds replicated so closely by just a human mouth was incredible. Check it out in this short video. You can't see anything because it was so dark in the car.

Visting the giant Sequoias at Mariposa Grove

I've always wanted to see the giant Sequoia trees. Luckily, we were able to swing by the park before heading home on Saturday. It took quite a while to make it into the park because it was a weekend day. We had to park at a supermarket, wait in line, and then take a hot shuttle bus packed with people about 8 miles into the park. But it was totally worth it!



One of my favorite parts of the trip came on the drive home from Mariposa Grove to the Bay Area. As we passed through rural California towns and watched the sun set over corn fields and rolling gold hills, we began to chat about God. It felt awesome to relate to my aunt and uncle as an adult believer. They were instrumental in laying the groundwork for my faith when I was a girl. In fact, I think the first time I accepted Jesus was under a tree in their backyard at a summer Bible study for kids. We played a game where everyone would ask each other questions about the Bible. Daniel gave us some stumpers concerning the order of the books of the Bible and the names of the twelve disciples. Aunt Nancy asked a piercing question about the difference of God's forgiveness between Peter and Judas. We talked about the meaning of baptism and the trap of legalism. It was an experience I will remember for many years to come.

Our trip to Yosemite with the Turner Family

Aunt Nancy and Uncle Harry!

Aunt Nancy living the Ansel Adam's experience.


My cousin Daniel exploring the rocks and caves.

Behind us is one of the most famous waterfalls in Yosemite...except in the summer dry season. Doh!

I am a big fan of miniature things. For example, dollhouses, kittens, and tiny stop signs.

When we visited the Grand Canyon two years ago with my family, Francis became obsessed with capturing this awe-inspiring shot. (That's my little brother in the background) So naturally...
I especially like the water bottle in the foreground.



Here we are climbing El Capitan.
Or just a big boulder at the foot of El Capitan.

We stopped for dinner at a steakhouse on the way home that night. Francis made me ride the horsey.

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?