Autumn and Mike's wedding!

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to Seattle to watch our daughter, Autumn, get married. It was an amazing and very beautiful ceremony, and an unforgettable week!

Melanie and I arrived at SeaTac airport on Sunday, the 14th of May, then rented a van and drove to Autumn and Mike's apartment. We were a little tired but it's SO much easier for us to travel East than West. Not quite sure why that is, probably something physiological.

That night the kids took us to one of their favorite chicken joints called "Brothers and Sisters". I'm not a huge fan of fried chicken but... oh... my... god.

This is known as "Nashville Hot Chicken" and it's amazing!

Brothers and Sisters' signature dish starts as Washington-grown chicken. It is brined in buttermilk for 48 hours, then dredged with a secret blend of "spices and love." Next, the chef fries the fowl in cast iron Dutch ovens, coats the pieces in pork fat, and then bastes them with a special hot sauce, followed by a dusting of a proprietary spice blend.

Autumn kept apologizing for the restaurant being "so small". We said, "Oh... it's so cute that you think this is small..."

The interior of Brothers and Sisters felt quite roomy...

... compared to what we are used to in Paris

The next day Autumn and I went climbing at her gym. She did a lot more than me, but I made it up a few of the easy routes! Considering this and her marathons she's becoming quite the athlete!

Autumn is a member of a gym called "The Seattle Bouldering Project"

On Wednesday, Melanie and I bought Autumn and Mike a wedding present: a gift certificate to our favorite Seattle restaurant, and a night's stay at the nearby Inn.

The Herb Farm offers a 9 course meal, with wine pairings. The whole experience takes almost six hours!

Later in the day we stopped by CostCo to help Autumn pick up supplies for her guests. I have no idea how we fit so much into her car!

Autumn wanted to have food and drinks on hand for her guests

Once we were all packed up we drove to the wedding venue: the Cave B Resort and Winery. It's a breathtaking location, technically in the desert, that sits almost a thousand feet above the Columbia river in central Washington.

I took this picture from our deck the next morning

Here's Grandma giving Autumn some last minute advice before the wedding

The day before the wedding I hiked down to the river with my brother-in-law and nephew (it was EXHAUSTING)

Dad enjoyed meeting Autumn's Burning Man friends at the pre-wedding dinner

Two of Autumn's Burning Man friends officiated the ceremony and it was beautiful. Here's a short clip:

Afterwards, the wedding party got together for some pictures:

The happy couple (Melanie took this photo using the digital SLR Autumn gave her for Christmas)

Autumn has some crazy (but really wonderful) friends

The reception was great fun, and Autumn I thoroughly enjoyed our Father/Daughter dance (watch to the end):

As is the tradition, at least in the United States, the happy couple fed each other cake... or in this case "pie":

Instead of the traditional wedding cake, Autumn and Mike had pie (there were about 20 different kinds!)

It was very difficult for me to "give Autumn away" (fortunately, they took that part out of the ceremony), but she seemed really happy, and we couldn't be happier for both of them.