Jeremy & Rebecca

James is Jeremy's younger brother by a whopping 9 years. This puts him in a fairly unique position - he's known Jer his entire life. There are only a handful of other people who can make that claim. He has a great gift for reassurance - just being around him makes you feel empowered to do just about anything.

They've spent most of their time together as brothers should -- playing games and goofing off. Whether it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mortal Kombat, crafting cardboard cosplay arms and armaments, trying to design the perfect board game, or playing Go online, they totally enjoyed each other while pretending to be annoyed, irritated, and frustrated with each other.

Through it all there's nothing but love, and James has it in unqualified, unconditional spades. They say that friends help you move, but real friends help you move bodies. Throughout Jer's life, he has always known he could count on James if he ever needed that kind of help!

Buck has known Jeremy since High School. They met in Silent Sustained Reading and still haven't stopped talking. He shares Jer's appreciation for cinema and both the artistry and technical wizardry that takes place behind-the-scenes. He also likes to read and over the years introduced Jer to such authors as David Eddings and Orson Scott Card.

One of Buck's many gifts is the ability to see something, perceive how it works, and immediately think of a way to make it better. He can fix darn near anything and you'd be well-advised to just let him give it a shot. He's meticulous and a bit of a dreamer, and he and Jeremy enjoy sitting around talking into the wee hours of ways of making things better, be it complex things like computers, software, lego models, and cars, or simple stuff like counter tops, a rubik's cube, or the first three Star Wars films.

Buck spends his days at Microsoft giving meaning and purpose to large racks of computers that are both taller than Jer, cost more than Jer's house (many times over), and have much faster memory and computational skills than Jer does. And while he is, in his own words, "not a gamer," he has an appreciation for the art and science that goes into making them, still wants to make a game (possibly with Jer -- if only they could agree on the spec!), and still plays Counter-Strike with skill and fervor.

Mr. Clint is quite a character. It's never a dull moment with him around. When he's not too busy architecting the future of Costco for Mulvanny G2, he's exploring the Pacific Northwest with his lovely wife Tamryn. They're both from South Africa originally but abide in Woodinville, Washington to make the commute more bearable.

"Clint and Tam" (as we call them) are amazing people. They have an incredible gift for hospitality and humor. They love to laugh and to host and to serve their fellow man and (at least Tam) is quite humble about the whole being-amazing-friends shtick. There aren't many people who will drive through three feet of snow in their brand new car to pick you up from the airport. In fact, I think Clint knows that he's an amazing friend and is quite pleased with himself about that. It can't be helped, of course. He's a very perceptive chap and there's nothing really wrong with that. But you  see, we know that he knows and he knows that we know that he knows and so he can (and often does) pretend that he doesn't know and that what keeps us guessing.

In a past life (the one after the stink beetle but just before his brief tour as a gazelle) Clint was either a DJ or he may have just played one on TV. We're still not sure. But what we are sure of is that he will be programming the music for the reception, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, 'til Death Cab For Cutie do us part.

Mike has a contagious smile and eyes that say "I'm scheming something here."  He first met Jer many years ago when he moved up from Alabama to live with his older brother Joe for "a few weeks, maybe a month." Hah! Every time he tried to get out, we pulled him back in. He lives with his lovely bride Jamie and their newborn son Isaiah in Tacoma.

(As a side note, Jamie (also pictured) is helping my good friend Aaron Hayes coordinate all the amazing flavors you will experience in our reception. Mmm mmm good eats!)

Steven met Jeremy for the first time at the baby shower for his wife Rachel and their first son, Justus (pictured). They didn't really hit it off and life took them both in different directions. Little did they know that several years later they would wind up helping to build the same church!

The second time around they got along famously, making a habit of watching the Simpsons, playing Starcraft (Steven, like the Protoss, utterly destroys me), grilling meat, watching the game, deconstructing the normal Christian church life, and generally goofing off.

Did I mention Steven really likes pork? One of their early conversations went something like this and it really served to set the tone of their friendship (Steven played the part of Homer):

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

So hide your pork, people, here comes Steven Rodriguez!

Once upon a time, Brad (pictured with his daughter Rebekah) and my father gathered a Men's Group at the Slusher house. It met on Thursday nights and we had a ball diving into Scripture, talking about and experiencing God -- lots of growing, maturing, and sharpening of one another occurred. The group continued for many years, moving from house to house and taking on different forms with each incarnation. Friendships were forged through it all, and some were definitely built to last. Such it was with Jeremy and Brad.

Since those days, Jeremy has spent countless nights crashing on Brad and Karen's couch, talked and prayed with them into the wee hours of the morning, eaten lots of wedding cake samples and countless other culinary delights, been woken up by sloppy wet kisses from the dogs, pawing from the cats, and the raucous morning debates between Abby and Rebekah. And he wouldn't have it any other way. The Slusher household is home away from home.

Brad is, was and ever shall be to Jeremy a treasured mentor, brother, friend, counselor, confidant, and a damn fine barista. He has very unique socio-political views that Jer frequently shares, a love for the Word and a manner that just exudes the peace of God. You can't help but feel loved, honored and utterly relaxed in his presence.

His wife Karen has a pleasantly sardonic wit and some of the most creative hands you've ever seen. She makes fabulous food, decadent desserts, and seriously-amazing scrapbooks. You all are very fortunate that she's making our wedding cake. It shall be glorious!