Our story starts when we were just freshman at Colorado State University. Dirk was playing football for CSU and Taylor was deep into her classes and her sorority. They saw each other a number of times and started dating in March of 2021. They continued dating and exploring Colorado and California for the next three years with them spending more time with each of the extended families. They both graduated in May of 2024 and each started a new job after college unsure where they were headed but they knew they wanted to be together!

In April of 2024, Taylor was on a trip with her friends. Dirk texts Taylor’s dad (Shawn) and he invites Dirk to breakfast with Taylor’s grandma. Dirk was a bit nervous at breakfast and stated he wanted to stop by the house after breakfast. Shawn called Taylor’s mom (Melissa) and said “either Dirk is going to ask for Taylor’s hand or break up with her, lol.” Dirk brought Shawn a bottle of 1792 bourbon and proceeded to ask for her hand in marriage. Of course, Shawn and Melissa were thrilled because they loved Dirk the first time they met him. Fast forward to Fourth of July week. After whole lot of scheming from the families, all of Dirk and Taylor’s family stayed in the same house in Meeker, CO. Taylor had no idea what was planned. The plan for the next morning was for everyone to dress up and recreate pictures from when Dirk and his brothers were kids. Dirk convinced Taylor to walk their dog Sage down to his grandparents house since she’s included in everything we do. Ironically on the way down Dirk sweating with nervousness. Taylor starts mentioning how much of a perfect opportunity this would have been to propose and Dirk laughed it off for the short walk. At the entrance of the ranch Dirk takes a knee. Both of the families were watching the proposal from a distance and cheering!