Meet us in Santa Ynez

We owe everything to Lia! We met on Thanksgiving in 2020 at the Alisal Lake. It would have been very romantic, except for Keith was working, and we were both wearing masks and couldn't see each other's faces. But we had a date set for 2 days later, on November 28, 2020. We went on a hike and paddle boarding at Hollister with Lia and John. Lacey was very brave and shared a paddle board with Keith. When Lacey tried to stand up, she fell in the water, and Keith jumped in after her. To this day, Keith insists that he also "fell" due to a "rogue wave." But really, he was just falling in love!

After the day at the beach, Keith was excited to take Lacey out to dinner the following week. We couldn't stop texting all week! The following Friday, we went to dinner at the Tavern at Zaca Creek. It was very romantic, and we were both so nervous! It felt like starting over, in the best way.

From that moment forward, we spent every weekend, and sometimes evenings during the week, together. We had a Hanukkah party, a New Year's Eve party, hikes, and beach days, all with our fun little group of friends and our pack of 5 dogs. Lacey asked Keith to go to a wedding with her in Mexico the following November (10 months away), and that sealed the deal - officially boyfriend and girlfriend :)

For Lacey's 30th birthday that February, Keith made her Adirondack chairs out of wine barrels from his dad's vineyard. The night he gave them to her, Lacey knew she was falling in love. Although it took Keith a little longer to say it, he knew it, too! He (finally) said it in April after Lacey joined the family for Paisley's 3rd birthday party.

On a date night in June, at Pico in Los Alamos, Lacey asked Keith how he pictured her being in his future. His response, "You are in All of my Futures." We confirmed what we knew deep down all along - this was it!

Our first year together was such a blast! There are so many wonderful memories we could share. Lacey lived in Santa Barbara, and Keith lived in Buellton. Because Keith was working weekends, Lacey would drive up to the valley every weekend to spend together, have fun, and relax. When we decided we wanted to live together, we knew that Santa Ynez Valley was our place. We were so grateful to Patty and Johnny for offering the guest house on their property to us for rent. We had our first home for our little family, just us and Waylon and Fiona!

We spent the next year enjoying the ups and downs of life, growing closer all the time. We finally visited Lacey’s dad, Gary, aboard About Time in Palm Beach, Florida in April 2023. Ann and Mike also joined, and it was a fun week for Keith to spend quality time with Lacey’s parents. During this trip, Keith took the opportunity to let Gary know his intentions to propose and ask for his blessing, and he said yes, of course!

In August 2023, we planned a road trip to Colorado to visit Ann, Mike, and Morgan. This was Keith's first time going to Colorado! We brought Fiona with us. We planned to stop in Zion National Park on the drive home, because neither of us had been before. There is one trail in the park that allows dogs, the Pa'rus Trail, and it happens to be a perfect spot to watch the sunset. We got to the park around 3:30PM, drove around where we could, taking in the majestic scenery, and reading the panels on the outside of the Visitor Center. Then, we went to the nearby town for a nice outdoor dinner, when it started sprinkling. By the time we got back to the park just before sunset, it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning. We considered skipping the walk, but we decided to go, hoping the rain would let up. We walked for a while in the rain, and we saw a lot of neat wildlife! Fiona refused to walk after a while, so Keith had to carry her. Once we got to the end of the trail, the rain had lifted, and we saw that the sun was starting to set. We walked back to a bench to sit and watch, and we noticed nearby there was a buck watching over us! The buck and Fiona were the witnesses to our beautiful proposal. Keith got down on one knee, and Lacey said yes to the rest of our lives!