Olio, Part I

No, this is not a post about margarine. (Sorry, Graham.) That would be oleo. As all crossword puzzle lovers know, an olio is a hodgepodge, miscellany, medley or potpourri. I’ve been so lax in my blog habits, a slew of stories have been stewing in my head, and it’s high time I dish ’em out.
First course: Luke and Sarah.
If you haven’t heard the happy news, our son Luke is engaged to the beautiful, talented, fun, godly, and “inestimable” (Luke’s description) Sarah Wilson. They’re working on a wedding website that will include their engagement story, and I’ll post a link when it’s up. For now, let’s just say their relationship hasn’t followed traditional patterns. At all. For any known culture in the world. Period.
Luke is currently in his third semester of seminary at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. Last week was “reading week,” so Sarah flew from Dallas to Seattle. (Number of pages Luke read=zero.) Her first day in town, Grace and Curtis took their adorable little boat and the starry-eyed lovers to Greenlake to shoot some engagement photos. Then Grace e-mailed the shots to me and I played with a design for a Save-the-Date card. Here’s the photo I chose to use:

Isn’t that romantic and sweet and charming? I sent them the sample, and Luke wrote back that they loved the card design, but could I use the “poofy cheeked” picture instead.
Seriously? Here’s the one he meant:

Um, okay. Sure, Luke. That works, too. I mean, why look romantic, sweet, and charming when you can look like a dweeb? He is my son. Truly.
Here are a few more fun shots from the session. Click on a photo for a larger view. Aren’t they cute? 🙂