I invited Dieter to Wisconsin with me for Mary's wedding in February 2002. He turned me down, but invited me to Lyden's wedding in July. I accepted and had the most fantastic time I've ever had on a date! Honest!

Lyden & Wife cut the cake
It was a cute cake, the groom's cake had a tent on it, symboling his proposal to her. Lots of cute stories told at the wedding. :)

Dieter won the garter!
How great is that? Sadly, Dieter doesn't "believe in marriage," so it's pretty doubtful he'll be the next one to be engaged. Either way, it's still an honor. :)

The Crazy Uncle
This man got up, said 'everything that can be said for a wedding toast has already been said. so instead, i'll do a interpretive dance.' I thought he was joking, but he was serious (and insane). I've been to a lot of weddings in my day, but nothing close to this insane. :)

Start a trend...
Apparently the A/V guy took this as a hint, and he too (not pictured) stood to address the happy couple paying them to be DJ on their special day. He said: 'I don't know the couple, I just wanted to say congrats and do my impression of Flipper the dolphin.' Too insane. He then proceded to squeak himself into the mic and be a dolphin. What a crazy, fun wedding! The best part, not pictured, was when Dieter decided we needed to slow dance. Towards the end, he decided to dip me. He wasn't subtle about it though, he threw his cast leg behind me and tripped me, causing me to scream and fall into his arms. Quite a move, quite memorable for months to come. :)

Old Sand Point Naval Base
I think we were both having entirely too much fun to go home after the wedding and reception, so we headed straight to a park (and then another!). The first one we hit had a giant salmon float... looks like it's eating Dieter! Watch out!

Smiley couple
I don't either of us is captured in this picture in a particularly kind light, but I still like it anyway. Quite colorful. :)

Black berries
Dieter took me to pick black berries... how great is that? :) He also taught me how to pet bumblebees... my hero! He's so terrific!!

It was fabulous...
... and I got tons of berries that eventually totally stained my hands. :) Well worth it though.

Flowers
At the park, we took a walk and ended up at a tall fence. What to do? No question... scale the fence. I climbed it in my nice dress, and he climbed it with a cast on. We're pretty silly, but it was worth it. Was a great walk!

Sound Garden
Yes, it's a name of a Seattle grunge band, but that band took their name from this awesome garden. It's not a garden that harvests plants, but a garden that collects sounds from wind off the water going through these metal art sculpture. Too amazing... I'd name a band after it too!

All in all, it was the most amazing day. We did the wedding. The reception. Slow danced. Talked and joked. Hit the park, pet bumblebees, picked berries, climbed fences. He drove me from there to another park, atop Capital Hill somewhere with an awesome view of the city. Entirely too romantic... he truly made it a memorable day for me. :)

Like Father, Like Son
A few days later, Dieter's dad Cal was in town on a business trip and he invited me along. They were adorable together, and that made me like them both all that much more! What a great family!