Dear precious Nate,
Your Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw so wish we could have been there to celebrate your very first birthday!! It makes us so sad that we couldn't be there to watch you enjoy your cake and open your presents! We love you very much nonetheless. Happy Birthday, little guy!!
We love you,
Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw
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Photos my mother, Nate's Nonny, sent to us so we could see the celebration from afar . . .
alternate title: the joy of kids at a wedding
We both LOVE kids (I'm not sure why but Lawrance doesn't like to admit it, but by his actions it's clear he does). I think it is so important for children to have adult friends that love and care about them.
Anywho, we so enjoyed having children at our wedding. :) I couldn't have imagined it any other way!
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Our three junior bridesmaids were such a joy, and oh so helpful. They were never very far away during the entire reception. What a blessing these three girls are!!
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The little girls in blue and yellow have two younger brothers, they both totally adored Lawrance. And, Lawrance returned the love. You can also see in the background my cousin dancing with his daughter.
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We also had an impromptu dance with the kids present to the song "Skid-a-ma-rink-a-dink-a-dink, I Love You" by the Go Fish Guys. The same primarily a cappella preschool group that we walked down the aisle to . . . Lawrance loves their music. Like I mentioned before, if you have preschoolers in the house, you have to check them out!
(All photos taken by Jessica at JGM Photography.)
alternate title: special moments with the men in my life
Oh, my PawPaw . . . I love this man. My grandfather is OH SO special to me. One of the greatest men I've ever met.
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The new Wu's first dance. We danced to "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison. The only reason we danced was because Lawrance wanted to dance on his wedding day.
Dancing with my daddy. We danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland. I cried . . .again.
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I also got to dance with Sam, my younger brother. He needed to leave a bit early, so right after cutting the cake he asked for a dance before he needed to go; I was happy to oblige. :) He is so sweet, and he is turning into a great young man!
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And, last but not least, my nephew, "caught" the garter (with a bit of help from his daddy).
(All photos taken by Jessica at JGM Photography.)
Our Taiwanese marriage covenant ceremony is less than 19 days away. So, I thought I should finish up writing about our American wedding before the Taiwanese one happens.
Therefore this week will be full of posts about the various special moments from our American wedding reception.
We had a blast, and we enjoyed every minute.
Also, I just wanted to offer . . . if you have any questions about the
reception or wedding in America or about the upcoming Taiwanese
ceremony and banquet ask those questions here on this post, and I will try to answer them either later this week or next week.
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Here is a tiny preview of what's to come this week . . .
Don't you just LOVE all that color? We wanted it to be a joyful, happy celebration . . . and that's what we got!! :)
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I only have three "regrets" in regards to the reception . . .
(1) we didn't get a chance to tell everyone thank you for coming. We ended up leaving earlier than planned because most of the guests needed to drive an hour or more to get home, and they were wanting to get home before it got too late. So, we didn't get a chance to get to every table to say thanks.
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(2) we never played our "game" that my PawPaw made for me. We didn't have a DJ, and I didn't exactly give the best directions to the person I asked to help with the game, so it just never happened. And, it just makes me kinda sad that my grandfather spent time and money to make this awesome game that never got to be played.
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(3) and, last but not least, I wish our "guest book" (photo mat) had been either announced or in a better location, not even half of the guests signed it. :( I made my dad and brother sign it later after we got back from the honeymoon.
My sister emailed this photo today . . . my best guess is probably 1983 at our paternal grandparents house giving our NeeNee some V-day candy.
Clues to it being my grandparent's home . . .
Happy Valentine's Day!!!
Continuing a blogging tradition that I started three years ago when I first started blogging . . . a month by month look at my 2008 using only one photo per month.
(BTW, each month name below is a link to a calendar view of pictures taken that month and uploaded to flickr. Just in case you wanna see more
than 12.)
January: We Went on Our First Date
February: And Dated Some More
March: We Shared the Gospel Together
April: I Turned 30, but I had Someone to Celebrate With Me
May: We got Engaged 
June: I Got to Meet My Nephew for the First Time
July: Smith Girl's Threw Me a Bridal Shower
August: Lawrance Came to Texas and On the VERY Last Day of the Month . . . We Got Married!!
September: We Honeymooned in San Antonio
October: We Enjoy Married Life (ie. I learn to cook Chinese food and Lawrance builds some shelves)
November: The In-Law's Come over for Dinner
December: We Celebrate Our First Christmas as Husband and Wife 
So, this was one LIFE CHANGING year . . . awesome in every way imaginable!! We look forward to seeing what 2009 brings!
Blessings!
A Little History:
Right after the wedding we got a group shot of everyone who came to witness and celebrate with us our marriage.
Group Shot #1: Everyone look at the camera
Group Shot #2: Everyone give the Taiwanese "yeh" sign
Group Shot #3: Everyone watch the groom get to kiss his bride again :)
Being presented as man and wife for the first time ever . . .
At first we were trying to find a peppy version of" Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us." But that just didn't seem to exist. Lawrance wanted something happy, so we tried to find an "Ode to Joy" we liked. But, have you ever really listened to "Ode to Joy" without the words? We had a hard time finding a recorded version that was well . . . joyful. (I am sure that with a live musician they could liven up the tempo.)
Lawrance wanted something totally fun and celebratory to walk down the aisle to together. So, I played the "If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life" song for Lawrance and told him I'd love to find a song like that that we could walk down the aisle to. Finding nothing, we eventually decided to just go with the best "Ode to Joy" I could find.
Then, it hit me. Children's songs. "I've got the joy, joy, joy down in my heart!" There had to be a version of that song that we could use. We are, after all, both kids at heart.
So, I started my search and soon found this song by Go Fish, an acappella children's group. (If you or your child likes their songs, what preschooler wouldn't, you can download some of the songs being given away here at the official MOPs site.)
Lawrance absolutely loved their "I've Got the Joy" song. So, I spliced it together with about 10 seconds of a very formal "Ode to Joy" beginning.
We made it a "surprise." The program said "Ode to Joy." The music started to play "Ode to Joy." But, then it switched to this and we proceeded to dance down the aisle. It was a blast!
Also, a few seconds after we started walking, the wedding coordinator at the inn began ringing the chapel bell. We had no idea she would do that. It was great. So, we actually had wedding bells ringing on our wedding day . . . how cool!!
Yay!! We are married!!
P.S. In honor of keeping it real, I will now tell you the part of the story that I asked Lawrance to stop telling because I don't want to dwell on an "uh-oh."
I told our wedding coordinator at the inn all about the surprise ending, but she forgot to pass the word on to the lady doing the cds. When the music switched she panicked a little and turned down the volume.
However, in my head the music was loud and celebratory, and even with quieter music the two of us still had a blast. . . and that's all that counts, right?
After my dad blessed our new marriage with payer, he then told Lawrance some words he'd been waiting a LONG time to hear:
Can you tell how excited we are?
Finally, he hears . . . "Lawrance, you may now kiss your wife."
And so . . . we had our first kiss, as husband and wife.
I have no idea how long it lasted . . . all I know is that he started kissing me before I had a chance to "pucker up." So, the entire time we are "kissing" I'm actually "smiling."
So, when he finally releases me from our first kiss, I can't help but laugh . . . from excitement, joy, and from not actually being able to kiss back and just the blissful awkwardness of it all. :)
We are so grateful for God's grace in enabling us to be able to share our first kiss as man and wife.
You should see the looks on people's faces--especially nonbelievers--when I tell them our first kiss was on our wedding day. They can't believe it. Sometimes, ironically, it seems like if in that instant they lose all respect for me, thinking I must be insane.
We dated nearly two months before he held my hand because he knew that once we started touching we would just want more and more. So he waited.
After we were engaged is when the physical intimacy beyond hand holding started. The day he asked me to marry him is also the first day we hugged--a very awkward side hug at that. The first time he kissed me on the cheek was a few weeks later during our engagement photo session (right there in that photo to the left).
Anyway, point is even with caution and even with taking it very slow, after getting engaged the physical intimacy began to heat up rather quickly, especially the month we were in America together. We are both so glad that we had that line of no mouth to mouth kissing because in so many ways it helped us stay pure--even when we wanted more.
There were a couple of times the month before the wedding where I was like, "ahh just go ahead and kiss me . . . there is nothing wrong with kissing before our wedding day." But, he wouldn't. He had promised me our first kiss would be on our wedding day, and so he kept his promise.
What a blessing!!
In all it's awkwardness it was totally worth waiting for . . . and a moment I will never, ever forget.
{Oh yeah, and by the way, I think kissing this guy has now become one of my favorite pass-times. ;)}
In addition to the sand ceremony, we also choose to do a "cord of three strands ceremony" too.
I have no idea how I found this, but I do know I found it while surfing for ceremony ideas, and that I ended up here, which is a site that explains the idea and sells the cords. This was probably the last thing we added to the ceremony.
Lawrance loved the idea. It was also something that we could easily do in both the American and Taiwanese ceremony, and something we could frame and keep for a long time.
I braided the three cords while Lawrance held them, and then he tied the end of the braid together with a small wire when I was done braiding.
Here is what we put in the program to explain the symbolization of this unity ceremony:
Ecclesiastes 4:12 illustrates the importance of Christian companionship. Two Christians that are bound together in Christ are stronger than the individuals themselves. We believe that Christian marriage is about more than the union of one man and one woman. The Bible teaches us that God performs a miracle in our marriage, uniting us together in a covenant relationship with Him as one. The Cord of Three Strands is a symbol of that sacred union created today.
The gold strand symbolizes that we have invited our Lord Jesus Christ to the position of authority in our marriage relationship.
The purple strand represents the groom. It illustrates the majesty of God as head over the husband. As Lawrance submits himself to the Lord, the Lord in turn will hold the marriage together through him.
The white strand represents the bride. It illustrates the purity of the bride of Christ. As we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are cleansed through Christ.
(Some of this wording came from the site where we got the cords.)
Here is also what my dad said before we started to tie the cords:
Lawrance and Amanda have also chosen to braid three strands together into a single cord. A "threefold cord" is a symbol of union. Where two are closely joined in love and fellowship, Christ will, by his Spirit, come to them, creating a threefold cord.
In braiding these three strands together, Lawrance and Amanda are demonstrating that their marriage is more than a joining of two lives together. It is a unity with God as well. They are choosing to allow God to be at the center of their marriage, woven into every aspect of it.
As I started braiding the cord, Lawrance told me I was going too fast and needed to slow down. So, I slowed down a lot just to tease him. Well, apparently to some of our guests the exaggerated movements I made as I slowed down seemed to them that I was flirting with my groom during the ceremony. That wasn't the case . . . but we both did laugh at my silliness in taking his slow down command very seriously. :)
While we tied the cords, we had "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us" playing. We used 4Him's Hymns: A Place of Worship CD. This song was my mom's suggestion--she always thought this was a great hymn to use at a wedding, and we agreed. We thought about using it for the recessional, but it just wasn't "peppy" enough. However, I do love the words of the song, and I am glad we found a place for some of it to be heard during our wedding.
We decided on two unity ceremonies. We were going to wait and do the unity candle when both mothers could be present to help light the starting candles, so I looked online for some other options. I will explain the first one today, and plan to explain the second one tomorrow.
So, from searching online (which is how I did 94.9% of my wedding planning) I saw the "sand ceremony." From what my online surfing tells me is that it started as a trend from California beach weddings. Candles don't stay lit very well on a beach, so those wanting to have a unity ceremony started combining two containers of sand into one.
We made two unique twists to our sand ceremony--at least I've not read about others doing what we did. One, we used sand from two different countries. This is what really sold me on the idea of doing the sand ceremony--that we could combine sand from Taiwan and sand from the US. And, we also used a solid white base at the bottom of our vase; this was to symbolize Christ being the foundation of our marriage. (We had talked about using rocks--because who wants a marriage built on sand--but Lawrance was afraid the rocks might eventually break the jar.
While we poured the sand, we played recordings from three special people in Taiwan reading Scripture in Mandarin Chinese. Ellen, one of my dearest friends, read Isaiah 60:19-22; Dennis, one of Lawrance's Christian teachers, read Psalm 67; and Corrina, our matchmaker read Psalm 128.
Also, to make things more simple--it is not easy to move in a big white dress--instead of moving to a table to pour the sand, we just had the table placed behind my dad. And then when it was time for the sand pouring, my dad turned around, handed us the separate vases, and held the vase we were pouring into.
I found official "unity sand ceremony" vases online for upwards of 50/60 dollars or more. We got ours at Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars.
We carried our combined sand jar/vase back to Taiwan with us. Lawrance had it in his carry-on. He was stopped at every security check-point because of it. :) And, the sands inside are now all mixed up completely. Since we were already expecting this, we weren't too disappointed that it's no longer in pretty layers.
This is how we explained the sand ceremony in our wedding program:
