It was a cold and windy day in April 2016 at Kauffman Stadium when the Kansas City Royals were playing the Minnesota Twins in what would be a blowout game. Kris, along with his friends visiting from Minnesota, decided to seek refuge inside. Julianne and her sorority sisters had already found shelter at the Blue Moon Bar inside Kauffman, where they got caught up in small wager game with a group of older men. The game slowly got more and more lively as Kris and his friends wandered by they could hear cries of “Grass! Dirt!” echoing throughout the bar and decided to see what all the commotion was about. Soon enough Kris and his friends were entrenched in the low-stakes wager game and started intermingling with Julianne’s friends. Plans were soon made to meet up after the game at a bar in Westport. It was then that Kris and Julianne began talking and soon realized that they didn’t want the night to end. Kris asked for Julianne’s number and texted her the next day. The rest is history!

It was late summer 2019 after Kris and Julianne had just made the big decision to move to Sioux Falls, South Dakota when Kris began thinking about making an even bigger life changing decision; asking Julianne to unite with him in holy matrimony. Kris knew how important it was for Julianne’s family to be present during the proposal. The only problem was finding an excuse to make a trip down to Kansas City that didn’t seem out of the ordinary to keep the surprise intact. That year the plan was to spend Thanksgiving in KC with Julianne’s family and Kris knew that was the perfect time. He then enlisted the help of Maddy Ibarra and the two hatched a scheme to ensure Julianne wouldn’t have any idea what was about to happen. Maddy told Julianne that she had won a free photoshoot through work, and the ever-so generous photographer, said family members were invited as well if they wanted to get any photos taken. Julianne thought it was a great idea and the ruse was set. Thanksgiving Day came and went as normal and two days later it was time for the “free” photoshoot. The couples made their way to the shoot at Lake Lenexa at the photographer’s suggestion. “Coincidentally” enough, it also happened to be the same location where Kris and Julianne had their first date. Josh and Maddy took a few maternity photos and then it was Kris and Julianne’s turn. After a couple pictures, Kris got down on one knee and asked Julianne to marry him. Julianne, of course, said yes! Julianne was completely caught by surprise and the whole thing was caught on camera. Meanwhile, as the proposal is taking place, friends and family were gathering at Josh and Maddy’s home for a special surprise. After the proposal Kris told Julianne he made dinner plans for the two of them to celebrate. They headed back to Josh and Maddy's to change for dinner and when Julianne opened the door she was greeted with a surprise engagement party that Kris had planned. Kris' parents from Minnesota even made the drive down!