Emily: Hayden and I met at a Christian leadership camp for students at Oklahoma Baptist University called Super Summer. I had attended Super Summer as a middle schooler and high schooler and always wanted to go back as a Team Leader. I prayed about it for months and felt the Lord calling me there. At Super Summer, each grade is divided into colors, and then the grades are divided into "schools". I was a Team Leader and Hayden was the Assistant Dean for Green 2. My first memory of Hayden is meeting everyone at the Team Leader training weekend and him telling the story of entering the NBA draft. Throughout the weekend and next week, we would talk occasionally about music and I thought he was funny and a cool friend. Looking back, I would have not expected him to be my future husband but dang, am I glad the Lord had a bigger and better plan than I could ever imagine!!! Hayden: My first memory of Emily is during the introduction portion of the Team Leader weekend of Super Summer. She was a team leader and I was the Assistant Dean of Green 2 school. During the week, we only talked a few times, which consisted of music, and Oklahoma State University. I remember during the Rally, we both yelled "State!" while the state song of Oklahoma was being played. She was a person that I thought at the time was a good friend and would see at Super Summer in the years to come.

Emily: At the end of July, Hayden reached out to me. We texted for a few days, and then he asked to take me to dinner and spend time with me. I was a little surprised at first, but then thought, "He seems cool enough, why not?" For our first date, we went to Live on the Plaza in Oklahoma City. We ate dinner at The Mule and walked around to the different shops in The Plaza. He even bought me a vintage Hawaiian shirt I really wanted, which I thought was very sweet and intentional. After the date, he texted and asked if I wanted to hang out again next weekend. "Wow, he is so intentional!" I thought. I really loved that. Over the next couple of weeks, I could tell he really liked me, but I wasn't so sure yet. Hayden: After Super Summer I was helping Hannah and Kyle build a flower bed at their house and I was describing all of the people that helped with Green school. Hannah said, "You should ask that Emily girl on a date." Which I dismissed and went on with my life. However, in July I noticed that we had interacted a few times on social media and thought we had a lot in common. So I ended up asking her on that date which Hannah mentioned earlier. After our date, I went to my parent's house and mentioned how I had met the girl I was going to marry.

Emily: Hayden told me he loved me after our first kiss on August 25th. I politely pretended not to hear him (lol!) thinking, "Dang, he's in this!" I knew I really liked him, but wasn't ready to make that jump yet. He asked me to be his girlfriend on August 27th. I had never been treated so well by a man! He was exceptionally intentional, thoughtful, and caring. It was a brand new experience for me. A couple of weeks after we became official, I had two moments of realization that I knew this was the man I was going to marry. I was driving around OKC and had a thought pop into my mind that I'll never have my heart broken again. Then, we were hanging out at his house one night and I looked at him and thought, "That's my husband right there." It was too crazy not to be a God thing! So I told him I loved him on September 12th as we danced on his front porch during a thunderstorm. A moment I'll never forget. Hayden: During the first date, I knew that I really enjoyed talking with Emily, and spending time with her. When I left to drive back to Wagoner, I knew that I was going to marry her one day, and told my mom that when I saw her that next day. This belief of mine became even stronger when that next weekend we both drove to Dallas to see a concert, and I had more fun driving and talking than I did at the show. I knew for sure then that Emily was special.

Emily: After Hayden and I had initially talked about marriage in September, I had told him I wanted to wait until February for him to propose to me. However, the week before Christmas, I realized we didn't need to put a time limit on it. When you know, you know! So I told him he could propose anytime after Christmas. We went to Branson the day after Christmas with his family for vacation. On the morning of the 27th, we went to take family pictures at a shopping center called The Landing in Branson. We took couple pictures first, and after his sisters snapped a few pictures of us posing, Hayden turned to me and said, "One more thing," he got down on one knee and then asked if I would marry him. Easiest yes of my life!!! The rest of the day we spent sharing the news with family and friends and we had a fun afternoon at Silver Dollar City. The best day. Hayden: Emily told me that she wanted me to wait until February to propose to her, which I agreed with, but I started looking at rings in late October. But one day in December she said, "You can ask me whenever." I knew that we were going to have a family vacation at the end of the month, and I thought how perfect since my family would be there, and I had always wanted them to be involved somehow in the proposal. The family helped me plan this whole thing about pictures, and we tried to downplay it as much as possible. But I am sure Emily had her suspicions.