One for the Books!

May of 2025, we both moved to Omaha, and it may seem that is when we met, as we were in the same wedding party, Justin being the Best Man and Elise being a Bridesmaid, however that is not completely where the story starts! About 10 days after first seeing each other at the wedding without any introduction, Elise was serving at a Bible boot camp, as a leader for high school girls. Monday rolls around, and a seemingly nosy 16 year old, Peyton Baker, asks Elise if she has a boyfriend, the answer was no. Tuesday rolls around and Peyton continues to ask Elise if she is 'talking' to anyone, the answer to that was also no. Peyton then continues to go on and on about this guy that is so awesome, funny, good looking, athletic, Godly, etc etc and that the two of us would be perfect together. Throughout the course of the week, Peyton found time to visit Justin at work and tell him all the similar things about Elise. She even took the reins of exchanging our numbers for us. Friday rolls around, and Elise receives a text, and then a few hours later a call from Justin, asking about some pickleball plans Saturday morning Peyton had told him about. The rest is nearly history from there. Saturday morning was the first pickleball date which included a 45 minute drive to the Estudillo's house, and playing on separate teams. On the way home, despite not being partners, somehow 3 future dates were already planned. With nearly opposite schedules all of June, each week consisted of one date, only a couple hours each at most. Wanting to speed up the process of getting to know each other, as well as make some memories, Elise invited Justin on a 5 day trip to Minnesota over the 4th of July with 18 of her college friends all in one house. Justin answered that with an immediate yes, followed up with a dinner with a concerned father (Reed) before a boy crossed state lines with his daughter. The trip rolled around, and July 2 we headed up to Prior Lake, MN. Amidst the 5.5 hour drive, Justin asked Elise to 'make it official.' To his surprise, the answer was no. However, after a few more days of talking, boating, and getting the friend stamp of approval, things were made official July 5, 2025. The coming months included many core memories such as several country concerts (Justin's fav), a dozen flights together (Elise's fav), growing to love our church together, lots of walks, card games, more pickleball, hanging with friends (it paid off to have friends that got married!), ice cream dates, movies, time with family, visiting new places, and a million miscellaneous memories. February rolled around, and the Nyffeler family headed to northern Georgia, without Justin, or so Elise thought. He had been scheming take the first flight that morning into Atlanta, get picked up by Elise's dad Reed, and propose in Ellijay, Georgia as a total surprise with her immediate family and family friends there. Arriving to the restaurant venue, after being seated, the waiter said today had a special menu, bringing around a custom menu Justin had made, creatively recapping more than a dozen different significant memories throughout the relationship, at the bottom, telling Elise to go outside and find him there. From there, Justin proposed and Elise said yes! Truly we feel our story was written by God, and couldn't have imagined anything better. We are filled with nothing but gratitude for the Lord's hand and sovereignty to give us such a beautiful story and love for one another, as he first loved us! Ephesians 5