New and Happy Beginnings

Dylan saw Madeline first. She moved down to Utah in October 2017 and had no idea she was attracting the eyes of one sweet and handsome missionary in her YSA ward. They officially met in person during a member lesson that December. A few days later the then Elder Saltzman added Madeline on Facebook and then messaged her through messenger two years later once he was home.

Dylan was down for his second weekend visiting Madeline when they decided since neither of them had been to Zions National Park they would go on a Saturday adventure to explore the area together. After a lot of driving and some wrong turns, they found a place to park and grabbed a shuttle to the Angels Landing stop. As they climbed and hiked Madeline found her self wondering what it would be like to kiss Dylan. He had asked her the weekend previous if he could kiss her, but she kindly declined since she hadn't shared a kiss with a boy since 2014! As they hiked Madeline made up her mind that once they hit the top she would kiss Dylan. And that's just what she did- which took Dylan by surprise. Dylan was beaming all the way back from the mountain. He let Madeline know that was his favorite first kiss ever. She felt the same.

I got 3 hours of sleep the night before I proposed to Madeline. Have you ever planned a proposal before? If you have, you know how I felt. What would I say, where would I propose? I was wondering if I would propose in the clouds while on our plane ride or if I would propose after we landed. When I arrived at Madeline’s she opened the door in her pjs and immediately asked why I was dressed up. I told her I just liked to dress up. She went and quickly changed while I made us some bagels. We arrived at the airport and Madeline was shocked and didn’t believe me that we were going to go flying. My friend Cole soon arrived with his girl Jacey and we were off. Here we go. It was a great flight. My favorite part was taking in Madeline’s beauty as she enjoyed the ride. Flying over the sunrise lit Salt Lake Valley where we did most of our falling for one another was a special moment for me. After several maneuvers that made our stomachs drop. We headed back to the airport. I was doing pretty well until we banked into the final turn of our landing. At which point butterflies rushed into every part of my body. I was excited, scared, nervous, and so happy. This was it. This was the moment that had kept me up thinking all night. We landed, and I told Madeline the sunrise symbolized the beginning of a new day, and how I hoped it could also be a new beginning for her and I. Then I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. To my surprise… she said YES.

When covid hit and everything began to shut down including the Temple we had set our sealing date with we began to brainstorm our options. After much prayer and counsel with our church leaders, we felt strongly to go forward with a civil wedding. We worked closely with our families and loved ones to put together a small yet beautiful ceremony that we will forever cherish. We truly felt angels close by and everything fell right into place for our wedding day.