Meet Francesca Mirella L. Marfori

Born on February 25, 2011. She's now seven months old.
Who does she look like?

This is Kim's boat... I can't wait to go boating in this stylish banca! Sail in style!

I'm on my 37th week. Almost there. Today is my last day at work. I will take three months off -- Thank God!

I'm excited to meet the girl version of Mario... Francesca Mirella.

my maid of honor's speech

Good Evening! I want to start by congratulating the bride and groom, and thanking all of you for coming here today.

I do not really like speaking infront of many people. But for these two special people, I am forced but pleased to do it.

Probably the best way to describe having Sining as a twin sister is like having a soulmate. As children, Sining and I were partners in crime, we always did everything together. Ang mga pinaka masasayang alaala ay ang pagbibisikleta buong hapon at pamimitas ng aratilis.

To this day, we remain very close, not needing words to explain everything. We support each other all the way.

Nung unang sinabi ni Sining sa akin na she and Mario are getting serious, syempre hindi ako naniwala... Pero as time went by, I saw them grow with each other. Indeed, ika nga ni Sining, “Dreams do come true!”

Mario, in behalf of the Lumbera family, we welcome you to our family. Salamat at nabawasan ang gimik life ni Sining... Sining, salamat at nagdala ka ng chef sa pamilya! Lagi kaming looking forward sa winner na mga luto niyo ni Mario! Sana sa future, magkatotoo rin ang pangarap nating Cafe Marfori-Lumbera—Cafe Marera for short.

I am definitely not an expert in love but just some words of advice I got from the bible:

•First: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry (Ephesians 4:26)

•Second: You should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James
1:19)

•And last but not the least: Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colosians 3:13)

My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years, your love for each other will deepen and grow. I wish you the very best. My love to the both of you.

To the bride and groom!

Tala N. Lumbera

take a peak!

BENDISYON (Tula ni Tatay)

(Sa kasal nina Mario at Sining)

Munting kapilyang lunan ng kasal
Langit-langitan duyan ng magkasintahan.

Hininga ng kandila ang ulap-ulapang
Pakpak ng ligayang noon pa inasam.

Panginoon,
Tunghayan ang bagong kasal,
Pangaraap nilang langit gawing totohanan,
Pinag-isang puso'y bigkising matibay.
Tulutang walang hanggan ang pagsisintahan.
Pagsapit ng dilim, itanglaw ang buwan,
Sabugan ng bituin ang pagsusumpaan,
Pagdating unos, iyong ipatanaw
Bukas may bubukad na bukang-liwayway.

Bulong na dalangin
Paalingawngawin,
Ipagdiwang natin
Tagumpay ng paggiliw.

Panginoon, pagpalain
Sina Mario at Sining.


Saint Pancratius Chapel
30 October 2010

The law of Love: A Mom’s Message (my mother-in-law's speech)

(Wedding of Mario Francisco Valdivia Marfori II & Sining Nograles Lumbera, Paco Church, Mla Phils. 29 October 2010, )

Love, most definitely, is the centrepiece of this special occasion, the centrepiece of our life, the centrepiece of the union between my eldest son, Mario and my new daughter, Sining.

Thank you my new in laws, the Lumberas and the Nograles, the siblings, friends and colleagues for the affirmation and love you have showered Sining. If not for your love, Sining wouldn’t have the patience, to take all the crap of my firstborn, if not for her patience and intelligence, Sining wouldn’t last a day to understand the many quirks and shortcomings of this mama’s boy.

Mario is a miracle child, he is compassionate but is not the easiest person to be with. He was a fretful, colicky baby, and at 3 days old, he was covered with sores and pus from allergy. He grew up on soya milk. He was allergic to milk from mammals. So as a baby, he smelled like taho or tofu if newly bathe and like tokwa at the end of the day. That’s probably the reason why as an adult, seldom, will one catch him smelling like human. He smells like a bottle of cologne walking. Despite his unsettling idiosyncrasies, like taking a shower, every time he sees the bathroom, Sining obviously is fascinated. Thank you Sining.

I’ve always prayed for someone to love my children more than I loved them, my only condition was for somebody to love them unconditionally, like how I love their Dad the past 35 years. Like how Je and Ingko my third son, who gave me my first grandchild, 3 weeks ago, love each other unconditionally.

And am so happy today, that finally, Mario surrendered his life to the best, who stood by him through the highs and lows of his life, but more on the lows. Most poignant scene that will forever be etched in my mind was their scene together in Makati Medical Center, when Mario had his laparascopic surgery for his gall bladder. Sining was slicing a pizza she brought for Mario, and he was the picture of a little boy, smiling in glee. I knew then that Sining was perfect for my son. From then on, I stormed heaven for this day, their union as husband and wife.

I have only one message to Sining and Mario, and that is to live on the principle of love as mandated by God in the Ten Commanments, which is to love God wholeheartedly and each other. The first and greatest commandment is, to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And the second is to love your neighbour as yourself. Another biblical verse on love is, “Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8) Does this mean, that when one loves more than one, he knows God more, than the one, who only has one love? No. But what a good justification for the philanderers, ei?

The seventh commandment answers the foregoing question, “You shall not commit adultery” mandates that men and women were designed to be together, that marriage is divinely ordained and established by God as the foundation of the family, which in turns stands as the foundation and most important building block of society.

Finally, may I share the story of 2 porcupines who lived in the Ice Age. To get warm, they drew close to each other, but needled each other as they did. It hurt so much, so they pulled apart. Apart, they got cold again, so they got closer and as before, hurt each other. This is the predicament too in most relationships, either the lovers are too cold and far apart or too close and hurting. Personality differences are like the quills of the porcupines that can hurt. Only with Christ-like qualities of compassion, self-sacrifice and a forgiving heart, can a couple weather any cold or storm in their relationship.

Loving unconditionally and unselfishly does not mean making the least of ourselves but making the most of our beloved. So Sining and Mario, love unselfishly, and be grateful you are not porcupines with the predicament of an impossible love. And even if love sometimes turns cold, remember what Thomas Kempis said, “Love knows no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility for it thinks all thinks lawful for itself, and all things possible.

Mario, be a child always, teachable, accepting of the quills of your married life, and Sining may you continue to accept my son, with the child-like love of Christ. I love you!

This is REALLY is it!

I just want to share these with you...


INVITATION

THE SYMBOL OF OUR LOVE

TO BIND US AS ONE

GIVEAWAYS TO WELL-WISHERS

MY WEDDING DRESS




(from my friend, Ina Stuart Santiago's blog)
...because on one rainy day my friend S, who owns a spot in my heart, sends me a message to say she’s getting married. she, the friend of my adventurous self that found a way to start over long ago, because S had done it countless times: reinvention seemed to be the name of her game, and when that was difficult she always had friendship and alcohol and music to tide her over. and this she always reminded me just by living the way she did: there are many ways to move on and forward and beyond that which we imagine we deserve: if there’s one thing that S always had fire and passion for, it was dreaming.

i am certain she had dreamed this wedding into fruition, if not just treated it like a bull that needed to be taken by the horns.