Sarah gives Joe and Elissa a wedding gift.

[Dark Matters]

A photo album of Joseph from birth to marriage. Seriously? Just pictures of him? Nothing for Elissa? I'm thinking this would have been more suitable as a birthday gift for Joseph.

 

blog.titus2.com/2015/05/04/my-wedding-gift-to-joseph-and-elissa/

[Jana814]

Saw the post & I have to agree!! A much better B-day gift.

[MysteryHaggis]

Sarah looks terrible in the photo of her. Maybe it's lighting, but her skin looks like it's broken out and she looks really ill. Poor Sarah :(

[nelliebelle1197]

To be fair, she says "to marriage". She likely ended the book at his wedding. I think it is pretty nice. My inlaws didn't do a lot of photography of their kids growing up. I would like something like that to show my children. This being Sarah, who has a lot of time on her hands, she probably will spend the next two years working on an album to chronicle Elissa's life but we will never hear about it because Elissa is not a real Maxwell.

[Eternalbluepearl]

Sarah is so sweet. Elissa always looks like a scared kitten. :shifty-kitty:

[sparkles]

It's not a bad idea, really. I made my sister a similar book for her 50th birthday and she said it was the best gift she's ever received—and this is a person who likes her expensive stuff. I had a blast putting it together and it meant a lot to both of us. It's kind of an odd WEDDING gift though. I could see as more of an engagement/betrothal gift for Elissa (who seems to be taking that whole "cleave" thing very literally since she always appears to be trying to become one with Joseph.)

[PrairieGirl]

I can't really snark on this. It was a sweet gift, and it is something that Sarah has done for all of her brothers who have been married (and will probably continue to do). I hope it was something she enjoyed doing and maybe she got to have some alone time while putting it together.

Though I feel kind of bad for Sarah in the last picture. It looks like it was meant to be a picture of just Joseph and Elissa, and Sarah is squeezed in on the side. Couldn't Joseph have put his arm around his sister as well to include her?

[MamaJunebug]

It's not a bad idea, really. I made my sister a similar book for her 50th birthday and she said it was the best gift she's ever received—and this is a person who likes her expensive stuff. I had a blast putting it together and it meant a lot to both of us. It's kind of an odd WEDDING gift though. I could see as more of an engagement/betrothal gift for Elissa (who seems to be taking that whole "cleave" thing very literally since she always appears to be trying to become one with Joseph.)

Oh my yes to the bolded.

Confessions time: Photos from my children's growing up years fill at least two four-foot-long storage boxes. If ever I get around to making photo books or even just scanning the important ones onto a thumb drive to give each of them, I expect there will be 100 photos, TOPS, of each child that are deemed worthy to keep.

I was the first-born to a momma who had had nothing and who delighted in keeping a black-paged album of my snapshots, carefully glued on with little corner mounts. From birth to age 12, there are maybe 50 pages. About 25 pages for the sibling after me and barely that for the third one.

My long-gotten-to point? One-hundred-forty-nine pages of Joseph photos is, like, 6 pages per years of the guy's life to date! He's not that interesting! I used to be a Princess Diana fangirl -- six pages per year of her storied and way-more-interesting (but barely less tragic) life would be more than even *I* would be interested in.

But when you're Poor Sarah, and you've nothing else to do, and it's your male, testicles-bearing brother, I guess it's worth 149 pages.

Question: Why couldn't the computer geniuses at OneTonRamp have figured out a photobook program for Poor S to use?

Question: Does anybody else look at the old photos of Teri and Steve and feel a certain amount of revulsion and rage? I think of that smug looking Steve, before grey hair, bedeviling his employer and co-workers with his personal, patented brand of arrogance .... of cheery-looking Teri, on who knows what kinds of meds, acquiescing to Steve's desire for FIVE. MORE. KIDS with nary a whimper.

Those wastes. Those neurotic, conceited people, to force their narrow beliefs and fears not only on employers and co-workers but on eight helpless children. Time for MJB to step away from the Maxwells, again, for a while. It's too infuriating.

[Fascinated]

It's a lovely gift in general, but truly sucks as a wedding gift. Sarah has obviously devoted a lot of time and energy into these albums for her brothers. I just hope someday they will get the chance to present one to Sarah upon her marriage.

[salex]

I can't really snark on this. It was a sweet gift, and it is something that Sarah has done for all of her brothers who have been married (and will probably continue to do). I hope it was something she enjoyed doing and maybe she got to have some alone time while putting it together.

Though I feel kind of bad for Sarah in the last picture. It looks like it was meant to be a picture of just Joseph and Elissa, and Sarah is squeezed in on the side. Couldn't Joseph have put his arm around his sister as well to include her?

I would venture a guess that there is little sibling touching allowed among these best friends, because they all must be so sexually frustrated that daddy probably fears what any sort of friendly touching might spark.... not that they would feel anything in particular toward a sibling as much as skin hunger might be ignited...

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Her amazing writing:

"Oh, the treasure chest of memories those pictures flooded me with. "

[rural juror]

I think it's a nice gift and makes sense in the context of their lifestyle. Joe and Elissa didn't know each other well and didn't spend much time together before marriage, so I'm sure Elissa will enjoy looking at these old pictures of Joe now. What I don't get is why this gift is 8 months late. For people who don't have real jobs and are so into scheduling, the Maxwells don't actually seem that good at time management. Even if Sarah started on the gift after the wedding (I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to jinx it, after all Elizabeth called the wedding off a week before the date) and considering the printing/delivery process might take a while, there's no reason for this present to be so late.

[nelliebelle1197]

Thos ceiling fans don't dust themselves!

[salex]

Her amazing writing:

"Oh, the treasure chest of memories those pictures flooded me with. "

Apparently their Kitchenaid has a metaphor mixer attachment.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Sarah is just so awkward in everything she does, but she worked so hard and its a sweet idea.

[HereticHick]

This thread title isn't sufficiently awkward.

A sweet wedding gift that Sarah recently gifted to Joe and his sweet bride Elissa.

[Mela99]

Well I'm sure her baby pictures and pre-Maxwell clothes were far too slutty and worldly for an album.

Or it's a nice reminder to Elissa to produce male heirs.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Her amazing writing:

"Oh, the treasure chest of memories those pictures flooded me with. "

Now I picture Sarah being smothered in treasure chests...ouch!

[IReallyAmHopewell]

This thread title isn't sufficiently awkward.

A sweet wedding gift that Sarah recently gifted to Joe and his sweet bride Elissa.

Nope--you forgot to work in the word "precious" lol

[Justme]

Boy, what took her so long??? They didn't elope, so they would have had at least 2-3 months of an engagement period to plan the wedding. Nice idea, but totally for Joe. It would have been much "sweeter" if Sarah contacted Elissa's family for pictures of her.

[Marian the Librarian]

Boy, what took her so long??? They didn't elope, so they would have had at least 2-3 months of an engagement period to plan the wedding. Nice idea, but totally for Joe. It would have been much "sweeter" if Sarah contacted Elissa's family for pictures of her.

It took so long because Sarah is always so busybusybusy CRAZY busy!, as she hath protested in numerous posts.

And yes, agree that a mix of pics from both of the newlyweds' lives would hold much more meaning. One of the few possessions I'd grab in case of fire is a small frame holding school pics of myself and my beloved, both age 10. It's fun to look at it and wonder, what if our paths had crossed then?

[Rosie]

Did she include photos of Joseph's first engagement? :shifty-kitty:

[ILoveJellybeans]

Did she include photos of Joseph's first engagement? :shifty-kitty:

But why would Sarah remember that. It never happened, just ask her daddy. Just like her daddy said that her childhood experiences were horrible and scary, so they were, he said that Joseph's first engagement wasn't to be mentioned again, so it didn't really happen and scrubbed all mention of it, so to Sarah it must not be real. If she mentioned it, she will probably have to spend a day in the prayer closet having her memory wiped of it.

[fundiefan]

It's very common at weddings to have slide shows of the bride and groom growing up and of their time together before the big day. But, in Maxhell, they didn't spend time together or share any experiences, so the only pictures available to Joseph's spinster sister with too much time on her hands were pictures of Joseph - and his family.

As a wedding gift, I think it kind of sucked. As a gift for Joseph, personally, for his birthday or some other accomplishment (cough, cough) it would be cool.

In Maxhell it's just more glaring evidence that these people don't live normal lives or share their existence with normal people. It's all Maxwells all the time. The great dog & pony show even withing their own insular world.

[Georgiana]

I can't imagine it would be terribly hard to make the book about the two of them. I made like a side by side scrap book for my friend's wedding with pictures of the bride and groom at the same age. I didn't know his family, but all it took was a quick email and I had the pictures within a few days.

Sarah knows Elissa's family. She could have just called them up, told them what she was doing, and asked for pics.

Like others have said: cute gift, but more appropriate for a birthday or even baby shower gift than a wedding present.