Katie and Cooper originally met in 2016 while at Sheridan High School. Well, technically their first encounter was in 2012 when Katie was in 8th grade and Cooper was in 7th. While comparing places they had traveled to before, they realized they had both gone on a school trip to Washington D.C. around the same time. Katie sifted through old photos and sure enough, there they were together at ages 12 and 13! Fast forward to high school when they crossed paths again, they quickly became close friends and loved spending their time golfing, bowling, and watching movies together. They even went to prom together. Coincidentally, Katie and Cooper both got summer jobs at Kendrick Golf Course that year. Needless to say, they could almost always be found on the course when they weren’t on the clock.

After high school, Katie attended Colorado State University while Cooper attended the University of Wyoming. During this time, they went their separate ways and grew apart until reconnecting in July 2021. Katie was living in Golden, Colorado at the time and saw that Cooper was golfing at the golf course only one mile from her house. She messaged him without thinking much of it. It turned out that he was living in Sheridan for the summer but had been visiting Golden to play in a tournament with a friend. After talking for about a month, Cooper made the drive back down to Golden to visit Katie for the weekend and they picked up right where they had left off five years ago. They had such a great time catching up, golfing in Colorado Springs, and going to a Rockies game. It wasn’t too much longer before they were officially dating. Of course this is all right as Cooper was beginning his three-year endeavor as law student at the University of Idaho. However, the long-distance gave them so many amazing new friends and experiences between Boise and Denver that they’d do it all over again. Cooper graduated in May 2024 and quickly made the move to be with Katie in Denver where they are proud parents to their spoiled cat, Vinnie.

As somewhat of an impulsive decision, Katie and Cooper booked a week-long trip to Iceland in October 2023. On the second morning of the trip, they found themselves at Djúpalónssandur Black Pebble Beach. They were the only ones on the entire beach and thought this was a great moment to take a photo together. Katie was waiting around as Cooper fiddled with the phone to keep it from falling over. Next thing she knew, he turned around with a little box in his hand. She was quite stunned to say the least. It was an obvious “yes” followed by a “now what?, since apparently you don’t feel all that different after getting proposed to. They then got to spend the next five days exploring Iceland’s beautiful waterfalls, volcanoes, beaches, and glaciers. They couldn’t have imagined a more perfect vacation. Iceland will forever have a piece of their hearts!