We're getting married!

Kenzie's version of the story starts a little earlier... Here's the background: Kenzie’s in 8th grade, Nate’s living the high school dream working the McDonald’s drive-thru. As they wait for their food, Zach casually drops a bombshell, “Oh, that’s Nate Sparling. He’s never had ramen noodles.” Kenzie, a self-declared ramen connoisseur at the time, took that personally. She ate that delicious 29 cent snack nearly every day after school. Audibly gasping, she made sure to let the whole car know, she would ensure Nate Sparling tries ramen noodles at least once in his life. Additionally, if you know Nate, you know he drove a loud rally red evo with clashing teal blue wheels, that was impossible to miss driving around good ole Billings, MT. between that, and the ramen noodle debacle, Kenzie knew who Nate was long before he ever even knew she existed.

Two years later—Kenzie a sophomore, Nate a senior. They found themselves in first-period drafting with Mr. Woosley. As one of the only girls in class, Kenzie spent most mornings being relentlessly bullied by her brother and his friends for not knowing what she was doing, and failing to ever get two lines to actually connect. Then Nate moved to the seat beside her. He quietly helped with every assignment, laughed at her jokes, and told her she was pretty— By the end of the semester, Kenzie loved drafting, (and was now doing so well in the class), she went on to take drafting 2. That semester, there were many drives in that Rally Red Evo, study sessions at Off the Leaf Coffee, and alas, Nate Sparling finally tried ramen noodles, all while Kenzie worked up the courage to tell Nate she wanted to be his girlfriend (September 2015)

The dates transpired to evenings spent in Kenzie’s mom’s basement, where the movies ran late, the popcorn ran out, and the siblings never did. We learned patience there. And how to laugh when one of the siblings was falling through the snow covered window well or asking Nate for a ride to buy a soda at midnight. Then came Bozeman. College. Where we learned to navigate the stress of school, what the infamous Bucket Night consisted of, and how to live together, and with some of the worst roommates (ok…maybe one was pretty good). We left beautiful Bozeman behind for Nate’s first engineering job in Dayton, Ohio—officially roommate-free, learning to live with the brutal humidity, the absence of mountains, and the unfamiliarity that came with leaving everything we grew up knowing. Then came Utah - our now. Closer to family, closer to friends, back near the beloved mountains. No more Evo, but a handful of new car projects have come along the way (and Kenzie is kind of an expert at bleeding brakes now), followed with house renovations, Kenzie's first adult job, and a new doggy. From awkward high school dances to college graduations, first jobs to new cities, renting with roommates, to buying our first house, then the biggest change of all, Nate’s daily driver. From a loud, modified sports car, to now a half ton diesel.

Ten years. Ten years of growing up, growing together, and growing into a love that never wavers—through the chaos, the changes, and every new chapter. No matter where life has taken us, one thing has always stayed the same: our love.

Thank you for celebrating with us