Washington 2023:
Day 15 - Kirkland, WA

	Sunday, August 27, 2023: We spent the morning organizing, repacking, and getting ready for the hectic evening and upcoming days.
	For lunch, we drove to Ivar's in Bothell, ...
	... where Tom ordered fish and chips, Debbie ordered shrimp and chips, and we shared a bread bowl of chowder. We found a table outside that was in the shade and we savored our last Ivar's visit on this trip.
	After lunch, we walked across the parking lot to the Safeway grocery store, ...
	... and purchased two six packs of Schilling cider in two new flavors: Imperial Pineapple and Imperial Red Glo.
	Back at the hotel, we got caught up on writing captions, and took our time getting ready for Lyndsay and Stewart's wedding.
	Right at 6:00 PM, we arrived at JM Cellars where cars were already lining up for their valet parking. After turning our van over to the attendant, we checked out the signage that Lyndsay and her dad, John, had created for the wedding. The flowers at the base of the sign and all of the other flowers at the wedding were beautiful.
	There was a bowl with boxes of white Tic Tacs that had labels saying "Mint to Be" with the couple's names and the date on them. Clever!
	There were gold Sharpies for guests to use to sign two bottles of wine for the couple, along with a box for cards.
	The venue had wine barrels set up as cocktail tables in their courtyard area. Everyone mingled in this area before we were invited to go down the hill, ...
	... to where the wedding ceremony would be held. Once everyone was seated, the officiant asked that all cameras and phones be put away, so we don't have any photos of the ceremony itself.
	After the ceremony, family was asked to stay behind for photos, so Debbie and Doug got their photos of each other, ...
	... and Tom captured the moment.
	The father of the groom and the favorite aunt of the groom both looked gorgeous in their finery.
	Susan and Doug got their photo with the newlyweds, ...
	... and we joined them. Next, it was time for each of us to pose with our favorite nephew.
	Tom and cousin-in-law Stacia had dashed up the hill to grab cocktails for their respective spouses while we waited for our turn to be photographed, and with that done, we clinked our glasses.
	We headed up the hill to the patio to enjoy drinks and appetizers which were accompanied by napkins printed with fun facts about Lyndsay and Stewart.
	The cocktail stirrers were engraved with the words "The Schillings" and "8-27-2023."
	It was great fun as always getting to hang out with our Normark relatives including cousin Karl, Stacia, and Aunt Ruth.
	Technology is awesome. In this case, there was a QR code for the POV app that gave everyone 25 photos to take over the course of the night to be shared with the bride and groom (and everyone else).
	The seating chart was custom made, naturally, and looked like a sleek business directory that you'd see in a building lobby. Here are Debbie and Tom pointing at their seats at table number one, ...
	... and Stacia pointing their seats at table number eleven.
	Dinner was served in an L-shaped space, with seven tables set up in this section, and four more set up in the area beyond this one.
	The round tables were set up with a tall central flower vase and smaller vases spread radially around the table.
	The longer tables had two tall vases and then medium and small vases down the center of the table.
	At each place was a custom-made menu along with a 3D-printed first name indicating where each person was seated. There was a little confusion at the family table as Lyndsay's father, his father, and her mother's father are all named John.
	Once Debbie got the POV app started, she went to work making sure that Lyndsay and Stewart had some priceless photos. Here a selfie with Debbie and Lyndsay's paternal grandmother, Lynn. We had really enjoyed getting to know her and her husband at the previous day's events.
	Karl, Ruth, and Stacia were seated with the parents of Stewart's best friend, Tyler, who unfortunately couldn't make it to the service. Tyler was going to be the best man, but his work in Saudi Arabia detained him until it was impossible for him to get back on time.
	Here are the parents of the groom! Don't they look gorgeous?
	Dinner started with a Caesar salad and bread, ...
	... followed by a main course of baseball cut top sirloin for Tom and roasted chicken for Debbie.
	The DJ was one cool cat. He had kindly filled in for the original DJ at the last minute and he did a fantastic job.
	After dinner, it was time for speeches, and Lyndsay's sister Leila gave one of the funniest speeches of all time. No. Not one of the funniest. THE funniest. Ever.
	The best man knew that it was an uphill battle to follow Leila, but he did a great job.
	Next up was Lyndsay's father, John, who made us laugh and tugged at our heartstrings.
	Lyndsay wrapped it all up and thanked everyone for sharing in their special day.
	They moved right into cutting the cake, which had three tiers that were all different flavors: chocolate salted caramel, brown butter toffee, and lemon blackberry. The cake toppers were figurines of their dogs, Blaze and Brembo.
	Stewart showed everyone his moves when he kissed Lyndsay after they shared the first piece of cake.
	Here's another flower centerpiece from a different table. Rather than a huge bouquet on the large one, there was an orchid suspended in water with a candle floating on the top.
	We headed outside for Stewart and Lyndsay's first dance.
	Stacia got this candid shot of Debbie and Tom getting all mushy while thinking of their own wedding.
	Next up was the father-daughter dance. The song that Lyndsay and John danced to was the same song that had been used for John and Lisa's first dance when they got married. How sweet!
	For the mother-son dance, Stewart and Susan picked up the pace a bit with some fun up-tempo footwork.
	When the dance ended, Stewart gave his mom a long hug. It was a very sweet moment. Debbie sent this picture to Susan the next evening, ...
	... and the day after that, Susan's neighbor had printed and framed the photo as a gift for Susan.
	Normark family represent!
	After Debbie used up her 25 photos on her POV app, she took over Tom's phone to take 25 more. She takes her responsibilities as a party guest very seriously.
	We headed back inside, where they had sliced the wedding cake, ...
	... and turned part of the room into a dance floor. When the DJ played You Spin Me Round, Debbie, Doug, and Susan rushed out to dance. This is the song that Doug and Susan danced to when they first met.
	Look at that hair! That's some gorgeous hair right there.
	There was lots of dancing, and laughing, and more dancing.
	Later, a dance circle formed with the bride and groom, ...
	... so Debbie snuck in to get this great shot from inside the circle.
	As the bride and groom prepared to depart, fiber optic wands were distributed for everyone to wave at the couple as they walked to their limo.
	Some of the guests tried to persuade Lyndsay and Stewart to stay a little longer, ...
	... but they were unconvinced. They had an early flight to catch to leave on their Greek honeymoon, and it was getting late.
	Shortly after the bride and groom departed, the valet parking attendants managed a heroic effort to get all of the vehicles untangled so that everyone else could leave. It had been a fabulous night, and a good time was had by all. Day 16 >