Cheers!

We've been together so long, I'm sure y'all have heard our story one too many times. For those who have not, here it goes! Daniel and his family moved to Boise, ID when he was young, and he grew up here alongside his best friends (and groomsmen) Tim Harris, AJ Winslow, and Geoff Beotcher. These silly, creative boys made music (shoutout to Audible, the best garage band of all time), videos for "class assignments," and a lot of interesting hair-related decisions (peep them blue hairs, Geoff). After graduating from Capitol High School ("OHHHH SIXXXX" *said in AJ voice*), he enrolled at Boise State University to start his new college life (with Tim, of course <3). At this time, 800 miles down the Rocky Mountain Range, Zoe was beginning her junior year at Niwot High School, surely causing all sorts of trouble with best friends (and bridesmaids) Sarah Pflipsen (now Brittenham), Brianna Laartz (now Lahman), and Whitney Fredericks (now Schroeder). Eventually, despite youthful shenanigans and a few [HAHA] mistakes, she graduated in 2008 and turned her eyes to a new adventure- the home of the Smurf Turf. This is no lie- Zoe applied to Boise State after watching the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Who wouldn't want to be a Boise State Bronco after that game?? Statue of Liberty play, c'mon!! As an extra bonus, she wouldn't have to change mascots or team colors from her hometown NFL team. I guess what we're trying to say is: we owe everything to Jared Zabransky.

Fast forward to the summer of 2010. Daniel is still living with Tim (why aren't they getting married?), they're still making music (except now shoutout to Platinum Records, the best...rap?...group ever), but now with two new additions, (1) new roommate (and groomsman) Tucker Robb, and (2) the best thing to ever happen to any of us and the softest pupper in all the land, Chloe AKA Derby AKA Gerby AKA ... this goes on for a while. Zoe was just completing her sophomore year at BSU and, despite homesickness and more than a couple thoughts of moving back to Colorado, she was settling in to Boise life and meeting great friends, including a hootin'n'hollerin' translucent man from eastern Idaho and co-creator of the game Drunk Kart (and bridesman), Casey Gaughan **wheeeeeeew** Now follow us on this- Zoe is friends with Casey, and her roommates play kickball with Tucker. Casey, Tucker and Tim are in the construction management program at BSU together (and we mean together, like all the time). Tucker and Tim are roommates with Daniel. See where we're headed here? So, the summer of 2010 begins. Tucker invites Zoe's roommate (and by proxy, Zoe) to camp in McCall for 4th of July! This was back when North Beach was open and McCall was essentially mini Lake Havasu on 4th of July. Mountains. College kids. Debauchery. Of course, Zoe was in! And unbeknownst to her, so was Daniel. The weekend went exactly as you'd expect: 8 people and 1 dog in two tents, beach frat party, belongings thrown out of one tent so now 7 people and 1 dog in one tent, North Beach AJ (a sight to behold), downtown McCall AJ (a sight to behold), fireworks, lost dog, found dog, shotgunning beers on a cliff overlooking Payette Lake and Casey's axe left in a tree. McCall has been special for Daniel his whole life, and this trip made Zoe fall equally in love: with McCall and with Daniel.

Eight years of growth, love and experience is a lot to cover, so instead we'll offer a brief summary in numbers: 8 years 3 dogs 6 houses 6 cars 8 jobs 3 degrees 4 family cancer diagnoses And well over 3,000 days of saying "I love you."

For those that didn't know, Daniel's birthday is October 4th! So for his 31st birthday, we wanted to celebrate in our favorite place- McCall, ID. We rented a little dog-friendly cabin, stocked up on junk food and a few [HAHA] beers, and off to the mountains we went! The forecast wasn't great - cold and rain all weekend - so our original plan to take the dogs on a hike the next day was starting to look downright soggy. Nonetheless, Daniel was determined to give it a go, and it really doesn't take much arm twisting to convince Zoe to hike around McCall with her loves. We woke up on Saturday and *BOOM* the sun!! It had rained through the night, enough to soak the tree trunks for a dark and epic contrast to their spectacular autumn leaves. We packed a small Lefthand cooler with some snacks and a few [HAHA] beers, loaded up the pups, and headed out for our hike in the surprise sunshine! Now if you're still with us, you'll remember we met and fell in love camping in McCall over eight years prior. But, even after countless trips back up to our mountain retreat, we have never gone back to that first campsite! That spot was our goal for the day. The weather was breaking, the pups were psyched and we roll up to the trail head. There's an RV there. Crap. We're both disappointed, but for some reason, Daniel is uncharacteristically VERY disappointed. Instead, we board the nostalgia train for a different target: North Beach. We let the dogs loose, not a person in sight, drink a beer and take in the fall colors. Daniel wants to try our spot again. We get back on the road, roll up- the RV is still there. Since it's a little hike up to our spot from the trail head, Daniel asks the guy in the RV if he wouldn't mind us walking through and up to our spot. RV guy says of course, and off we go with the pups and our cooler.

We immediately starting reminiscing about that 4th of July trip- where our tents were, where Daniel fell down, even the notch in the tree where we left Casey's axe was still there (no axe, though...sorry, Casey). Overlooking Payette lake, Zoe suggested we should shotgun a beer in commemoration of making it back up to our spot. Approaching behind her, Daniel said "For sure, but let's do this first..." Zoe turned around to Daniel on one knee and the following went like this: *Scream* *Drop beer* *Cry* *"OF COURSE"* *Happiness blackout* *Come-to at the Yacht Club* McCall is our happy place. There's a moment on the drive up from Boise where the air changes, and you change. We couldn't imagine getting married anywhere else, and we are so honored and excited to be able to share it with everyone we love the most. The FIRST day *7/3/2010* The YES day *10/6/2018* The BEST day *9/14/2019*