Welcome to our blog. Here you will find our story - a story of love, laughter, and craziness, and of course Catan!

We thought this was the best way to tell our story, so sit back, relax and enjoy:

Amanda and I were attending BYU - Idaho where the Lord put us in the same Family Home Evening group. That was the first week of September. By October, we were dating. Time passed fast. As November neared, we were talking just about everyday. Dad can attest to that - I had to double my anytime minutes!

Well, Christmas rolled around and we were apart. Amanda and I almost died. We didn’t have a way to get a hold of each other. Santa Clause (a.k.a. Amanda's dad) fixed the problem by getting her a cell phone. It was our lifeline. Amanda was in Draper Utah and I was still at BYU-I in Rexburg, Idaho. She came back up to campus for an exam given at the testing center. We spent the whole three-day weekend together. On the last day, she told me she liked me, no... that she loved me. I pretended I didn't hear because of all the noise. I made her say it three times! (Mwoahaha). The weekend passed; we kept talking on the phone. Then, Amanda drove up the next 7 weekends in a row so we could be together. It was hard. Even when we were together, we were doing a lot of homework!

One thing we did know was the peace we felt was real, and that our time together since we met in September was something special.

This semester Amanda was teaching first grade full time as a student teacher and I was writing, publishing and campaigning. We were busy, but still managed to talk and have time together.

After months of dating and many a-good-laughs, and sweet evenings together we started to talk about our future together; this seemed strangely odd but calm and happy. We discussed where we'd be around fall and winter and how each other's plans included being together. After time, prayerful thought and discussion we talked about marriage. The weekend before Conference, we went ring shopping. It took a couple hours and four stores, but we finally found what we were looking for. I teased her and kept her guessing whether or not I had purchased the ring. I came back a few days later with the money and bought the ring.

I came down for Conference Weekend and brought the ring to get it sized.We didn't have any time though! We bounced around between Provo, Draper and Salt Lake. We listened to Conference from six different places - from Amanda's bishop's house to the Press Box in the Conference Center.

Well, the ring didn't come into play until Amanda's
graduation. Her dad was in town and I was going to ask his permission. He was busy working on two of his kids' cars. Well, it was Saturday before I could get him alone. We drove together to drop things off in storage. Rexburg is small so I had to talk fast. I waited for him to bring it up; he asked me if I really loved Amanda and what my plans were to provide for her and our future family. I assured him I loved her and was willing and ready to take on the responsibility. He gave me permission. I said nothing to Amanda. We just packed the van and headed for Provo. Twelve hours later Amanda and I went with Jay and Susie to have Easter dinner with Jay's grandparents.

The next morning we all woke up early, to take her parents to the airport. Stealthily I directed Amanda to Temple Square. It was early and quiet. Amanda didn't bring her jacket. I gave her mine. As we cuddled on a bench, I reached in to get the ring. She laughed and told me the ring was on the other side. I pulled back, and we watched the sunrise as the cool crisp air warmed up.

The next day, I woke up early again! I wasn’t sure how dressed up and professional I should look for kindergarten. Because we took the carpool lane we showed up to the school an hour early. Again, the air was crisp, the sun wasn’t out and the area was deserted. I asked Amanda if she wanted swing on the swings. She joked, "but it’s too cold." Finally, she agreed and we went out to the swings. What I didn’t know at that moment was that Amanda loves to swing. (This was a perfect coincidence that worked with my master plan.)

I pulled out a poem about teachers and read it. I then told her how good of a teacher she is, and how much she’s taught me. She smiled. I jumped off my swing, almost falling in a puddle of water, went behind her and started pushing her higher and higher. Then I slowed her to a stop came around in front of her and started to get on one knee. She told me to step back a foot or so. I was grateful. I was standing in a few inches of water. I would have soaked my knees! I would have done it but this worked out better. I dropped to one knee and asked Amanda to marry me.

I gave her a kiss and we hugged for a few minutes. With time to spare before she taught, we called Mom and Dad and shared the good news. They had been expecting our call. They were excited for us beginning of our adventure together.