The Summer's Main Event

The cancellation of my late afternoon appointment gave me an opportunity to finally spend some time sorting and uploading photos from the Main Event of our summer: the celebration of Active Son and New Bride's wedding. And mostly, if gave me an opportunity to remember what a wonderful day it was and to give God thanks, once again, for his faithfulness to our families. These images brought many smiles to my face this afternoon!

Our family arrived in Boise just under two weeks before the wedding, but since I was mother-of-groom, this was no problemo--Active Son, New Bride, and most especially, New Bride's fantastically talented mom had all the wedding details in hand. This was a whole different wedding-feel than when we celebrated Oldest Daughter and Music Man's wedding two summers ago!

Relaxed though we were on the Big Day, we still managed to generate a few stressful pre-ceremony moments: The borrowed car that Oldest Daughter drove to transport Tayta, a friend and herself, stalled on the way to the pre-ceremony photo-shoot. Next, I discovered a awkward tan line, acquired by not bringing sunscreen to Artist Son's sun-baked graduation ceremony two weeks earlier. My friend's tan-in-a-bottle lotion (sort of) helped with that. Finally, Dear Husband misplaced the keys to our get-me-to-the-church-on-time vehicle. It was no problem to borrow a friend's car, except that this vehicle sans keys was also to be the getaway car. We did end up borrowing a car so as to get to the photo-shoot on time, and our friends tracked down a second set of keys and brought the getaway car to the ceremony. Whew!

It was nice to have a few minutes with Active Son before the ceremony. He was so happy, calm, and so ready to get married. (Smile)

 Active Son and New Bride's first moments together at the wedding venue, Scentsy Commons in Meridian, Idaho.

((Smile))

 What a blessing these two are, to each other and to so many who love them. 

Active Son and his groomsmen and ring-bearer

...and with his Best Man, Artist Son

This is just one snapshot example of the deep and wide faith community which surrounds Active Son and New Bride. 

Our families, united by Love and Marriage

(((Smile)))

I couldn't be more thankful for the wonderful family that Active Son has married into, and for the new parents he has gained--not to mention four more brothers, sisters-in-law, a niece, a nephew, two more sets of grandparents and a whole bunch of uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Indeed, New Bride's mom has become an esteemed and treasured friend. New Bride's dad shot this candid picture of us before the ceremony. (((Smile)))

Dear Husband had the privilege and honor of officiating the ceremony and pronouncing the eager couple husband and wife--after a well placed pause. ((Smile)) 

We returned to our home church for the reception, the church I have attended since high school, the church where Dear Husband and I had our wedding reception, and the church where John and Lisa put down spiritual roots during their college years at Boise State.

(photo credit to Oldest Daughter for this favorite photo)

These two pictures show a just a little bit of New Bride's mom's baking and decorating talent...

...and how Active Son and New Bride love to have fun together.

We brought an Arab tradition to the reception: The bride and groom where hoisted into the air amidst clapping, drumming, and chants of blessing.

Congratulations, Active Son and New Bride on your marriage and the beginning of your new life together as man and wife. You're off to a fantastic start! And thanks be to God for expanding our family and our hearts yet again. We are blessed.

#manningupforlife 

#loveit #lovethem #soverythankful 

#beautifuljordan #springtimeinjordan

I think I can say that I've never experienced a more beautiful spring day in Jordan than I did last week--and I've enjoyed some very fine spring days in Jordan over the years. It was Dear Husband's birthday week and so on his day off we decided to drive around the countryside of northern Jordan, drop down into the Jordan Valley, near Pella, and then drive up to Amman  to end the day with dinner and a movie--our second movie in the last two months. Are we empty-nesters or what?! We used to see a movie about once every three years, and we weren't alone.

Preparation for the trip was easy: I made a chicken quinoa salad, a thermos of tea, and grabbed my phone (I've been taking all my pictures on an LG G4 these days).

As we drove along the Mafraq-Jerash road I spotted a lone black iris on my right, so Dear Husband stopped the car. I had never seen any black irises in this particular area, though I always scan the hill sides every spring as I drive his road. Additionally, it was nearly a month earlier than I usually see black irises. All around, unexpected.

I excitedly photographed that lone iris. A black iris sighting is always special. But then I looked around me and begin to see more: twos and threes, and clumps of black irises. We may have seen 30 or more, many more than I have ever seen in one location. You may have laughed at me if you had seen how exuberant I was about this flora find.

And this clump, later found blooming just a few meters from the road. How did I miss them?

With that great flora encouragement to begin our journey, we cut across the Jerash highway and headed up a country road in the direction of Ajloun, winding through charming villages and driving along roads which overlooked terraced valleys.

I love the varied texture and colors of the landscapes: red soil, tan soil, stone walls, green grass in the springtime, and always, olive trees.

We decided to enjoy our picnic lunch in the Forest of Healing, near Ajloun. Dear Husband found a lovely spot near these red-barked Arbutus trees, which are indigenous to the region.

God's teeny tiny rock garden. So lovely to find beauty in small, unexpected places.

Something in the Umbel family of plants

And more breathtakingly beautiful wadis (valleys) which were a feast for the eyes--another scene of grandeur around nearly every bend.

When I saw the yellow hillsides, I knew that we must be just in time to see Jordan's crown daisies burst into bloom.

Down the hill...

...and around the next bend. Are we really in Jordan? Why hasn't anyone opened up a bed and breakfast up here??

Echium catching some rays

And then we saw a old metal sign with the words "Jesus Cave" painted on it, pointing down this road. At this point we had made so many stops, we were getting behind schedule if we still wanted to make dinner and a movie. We agreed that seeing the Jesus Cave might just be better than a dinner out and so we turned down the road.

No tree looks deader in winter than a wild fig tree, its knarled and twisted branches drooping down toward the ground, and no tree looks more alive in the spring than a wild fig tree, with its new green leaves reaching up toward the sun.

Here we have arrived at the Jesus Cave, or a better translation, The Cave of the Messiah. The legend goes that Jesus took shelter in this cave. Maybe. The cave was used as a wine and olive oil press in the Byzantine era, and the oil press has been restored inside the cave.

The area for grape stomping 

The oil press, inside the cave

The kitchen area

Dear Husband signing the guestbook. What a wonderful detour!

The opportunity for a restaurant dinner had surely slipped away as we still need to descend into the Jordan Valley and then ascend to Amman. We did end up getting dinner as the movie theatre had surprisingly fresh offers of Greek salad (for me) and a chicken salad sandwich for Dear Husband.

The movie with which we ended our day of touring: "Theeb", the acclaimed Jordanian film, filmed in Wadi Rum, which earned an Oscar nomination, just one of it's many awards. Though it was released last year, we hadn't managed to see it then, so we were thankful for its re-release after its Oscar nomination. Active Son recommended it: "Very good. Kind of like Lawrence of Arabia, but better--and shorter." We agreed. and we discussed the subtleties of Bedouin culture as portrayed in the movie, most of the way home.

Such a wonderful Jordan day.

A Pleasure Full Grown VIII~Um Qais

It had arrived; the last day of TBCBE. Active Son and Bride-to-Be had already returned to work and studies in Boise, Idaho, Artist Son had returned to school near Boston, and tonight Oldest Daughter and Tayta would begin their journeys back to Chicago and Houston. But we had one more day: the weather couldn't have been better, and it was a Saturday, which was Dear Husband's day off. Oldest Daughter and Tayta spoke as one in their desire to visit a favorite Jordan site, the ruins at Um Qais, the ancient decapolis city of Gadara. How many times we have visited Um Qais, I do not know, but we always find things familiar and new to enjoy there.

View from the entrance to the ruins

On this day, I decided to explore the inside of some of the old rooms near the entrance of the ruins.The layers of plaster, the layers of paint, the layers of sediment, all made me think about the past lives lived here.

The sky was clear and we enjoyed the best views of surrounding areas that we've ever experienced.

We headed up the north end of the cardo to visit the museum

Hiking up the back way

The wild flora continued, even inside the the museum courtyard

 Cyclamen persicum, growing right out of the limestone walls and floor.

One of the fortunate statutes, which still had its head

Bacchus: a melding of human, animal, and plant-like features

 doors and more doors...

Golden Flowered Henbane

Hyoscyamus aureus

Finally, we looped around the site, back to the cardo to enjoy the magnificent view of the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee/Lake Tiberius.

We stopped to enjoy a simple tea and salad picnic which Tayta had prepared for us, under a favorite tree with a view.

And so it was the end of the beginning of our pleasure. May we nurture the beauty and sweetness of this time together as we remember it in the days to come.

A Pleasure Full Grown
A Pleasure Full Grown II~#amafraqychristmas
A Pleasure Full Grown III~Amman
A Pleasure Full Grown IV~Wadi Dana
A Pleasure Full Grown V~Little Petra
A Pleasure Full Grown VI~Madaba
A Pleasure Full Grown VII~Jerash