The Remsen family has a tradition of going up to Tahoe to cut down their Christmas trees. In December 2021, 3 years after Kevin and Kate started dating, Kevin privately says to Kates dad, Charlie, “so, what do you think about Kate and I getting married one day?” Charlie responds “yea! That’d be great!” 1 year later… In November 2022, Kevin and Kate go to the jewelry store to talk about designing a ring. Kevin’s idea is to propose while they’re all out searching for the perfect Christmas tree. His goal is to surprise Kate in one way or another and thought exclaiming that he’s found mountain lion bones in the snow would do the trick! He knows that if he plans a romantic dinner or a walk on the beach in Costa Rica, Kate will know something is up. Unfortunately, the jeweler wouldn’t have the ring in time for Christmas so that plan was scrapped. Another year later… It’s Christmas morning 2023, Kate has just given Kevin her version of a ring: a beautiful fishing kayak. Kevin was sure surprised! In secret, he tells Charlie “It’s cool she bought me a kayak because I bought her a ring.” Charlie responds “well, where is it?” A few months later… February 2024 Kate is planning for her yoga retreat in Costa Rica and of course, Kevin is coming along for support. As they were packing, Kate asks Kevin to save some room in his carry-on for snacks (because she always brings snacks on flights). Kevin proceeds to tell her that she has her own carry-on and not to use his for her snacks. Thinking that he’s being ungrateful for a FREE trip to Costa Rica, Kate gets angry and starts to question whether or not she should even bring him on the retreat. Meanwhile, Kevin is having a panic attack as it turns out he’s HIDING THE ENGAGEMENT RING IN HIS BAG! He texts Charlie “YOUR DAUGHTER wants to use MY BAG for HER snacks! What do I do?” Charlie responds “You’re going to have to get creative.” Kevin reluctantly lets Kate put the snacks in his bag and they head to the airport. As luck would have it, Kevin’s bag gets flagged at security to be manually searched. Being the expert traveler that she is, Kate is watching security like a hawk just in case they had any questions and to make sure Kevin gets his bag back. Kevin is sweating profusely at this point, thinking “Well, it’s going to happen right here in the airport.” Security must have flagged the snacks as nothing was found and all was well. After a 6-hour flight and a 5-hour bus ride, they arrive in on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica and begin the yoga retreat. Inside the jungle, surrounded by howler monkeys, red-eyed tree frogs, and tons and tons of orb weaver spiders, life is good. The thing is, being in the jungle, away from society, has its caveats. During dinner, the power goes out. Literally, it is pitch black at the resort since the trees are so high, they are blocking the shine of the moon. After dinner, Kate and Kevin head back to their hotel room by flashlight, marveling at the absurdity of the situation. The first day they arrive, having herded 15 students to the other side of the world, exhausted and ready to decompress, and the power goes out! Of course. Back in the room, they unpack. Kate is in the bathroom setting up her toiletries when she hears “OH MY GOD!” Now the last time they were in Costa Rica, Kate found a HUGE SPIDER in their room so she immediately thinks it’s déjà vu and she’s going to have to go save him, again! Then Kevin says “I know why my bag was flagged at security.” “What?!” Kate is now thinking, “did he bring one of his pocket knives on the plane??” It’s been a long day, so much has happened, and they are still unpacking in the dark by the light of their headlamps. What the heck is going on! She walks back into the room and Kevin’s on one knee holding a ring. He says “I couldn’t hold onto it any longer.” Kevin really did get his surprise!

In the age of digital dating, Kevin and Kate met on Bumble. After both "swiping right," they agreed to meet for a coffee at Bad Ass Coffee in Santa Rosa. It so happened that President's Day was coming up and they both had the day off work, so a date was arranged. Kevin had put an image on his profile of himself and his Grandma Sue. It looked like he was 6 feet tall and Kate got excited because she's tall herself. When Kate first saw Kevin, she was surprised to see he was the same height; it turns out, Grandma Sue is just super short! Cue a typical coffee date of chat and conversation. Could you say it was love at first sight? Maybe. But it was definitely easy to talk to each other and neither of them wanted to stop talking so they decided to go take a walk. The walk turned into "lets get lunch" at KC's in Windsor. Lunch turned into "let's get dessert at Powell's sweet shop." The dessert turned into watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in Powell's make-shift 2 seat theater. Nonetheless, a typical coffee date had turned into an all day event. Kate was hinting the entire time that she wanted to kiss Kevin but he wasn't getting the hint. Once back at Bad Ass Coffee, at dusk, they kissed for the first time and the rest is history.