We are so excited to celebrate with you! Check for updates to the site as we finalize details.

Dave and Parker met the old fashioned way these days - on a dating app. Intrigued by the attempted “Hawk” joke (having to do with Hawkeyes and Seahawks), Parker asked Dave where in Iowa he was from. The conversation flowed from there and hasn’t stopped. Parker worked up the nerve to ask Dave on a date - to a Sounders game - not knowing Dave is also a big soccer fan. They met at Elysian Fields for a pre-game drink, managed to pick each other out even while wearing masks (still required because of COVID), and went on to watch the Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0. We can’t remember exactly when Parker spilled the beans, but that game was one week to the day before she was set to deploy for 10 1/2 months. We met up again for dinner and drinks two days before Parker deployed and had a great time. She assumed she’d never see Dave again and if nothing else, it was a good couple of dates. Dave and Parker texted almost every day during her deployment. They sent small gifts to each other, Dave’s being the best because he would just wander Pike Place Market and send little tastes of home to Parker. And we made plans for future dates. Dave still has that list somewhere. We had our third date 11 months after our second and have been nearly inseparable since. Dave helped Parker move into her new home a week later, and pretty much never left. We’ve been through a lot together - moves, vacations, illnesses, grief, joy, and humor (mostly due to our very weird pets and Dave’s silly jokes). We look forward to much more in our future.

After asking Holly, Parker's maid of honor, what she thought, Dave scrapped his idea to propose in public at our weekly trivia game. Instead, he suggested a sunrise hike at Tolmie Peak. They looked at the trail online, and Parker wasn't sure she'd be able to do it (lots of elevation gain in a short distance). But she agreed to try. After a 3 am wake up call and an hour drive in the dark, we started on the trail up. We both started with red lights on our headlamps, and then realized that no one was going to yell at us for light discipline (an Army thing) and switched to white lights. We made it to Eunice Lake just as there was enough sunlight to take off the headlamps. Dave encouraged Parker to try to make it to the fire lookout at the top of the hill. We made it to the top just after sun break. Dave stopped to look at some mountain goats before we made it to the fire lookout. We sat and had some coffee and watched the sun rise totally above the Cascade mountains. Dave wandered around a bit before coming back to get Parker to go out on a ridge line. Not a huge fan of heights, Parker tried to get out of it. Dave insisted, and pointed out a different view of the mountains. While Parker looked out, Dave got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Easiest yes ever.