We're getting MARRIED!

Dave and Rockie met online two weeks before their first date. Their conversations were sweet and intriguing, which led to their first date! They shared a crab pretzel & two waters at Looney's Pub.. except they were both so nervous that they didn't touch any of the food/ drink! The nerves may have kept them from eating, but not from talking. They sat and talked for FOUR hours! Everything from family, to goofy high school moments, favorite music, church and everything in between. Rockie left the next day for Annual Training, this left the two of them with a lot of time to get know each other over the next month before date number two.

We were camping out in the woods; enjoying hiking, the fresh air and getting to know each other more and more. At this point we had met each other's families and spent some sweet time with each of them. We were out at Keen Lake, PA with Dave's family. We decided to go out kayaking in the lake with Lexi and Amy (his sister and her girlfriend), while we were out there Dave did accidentally tip his kayak.. which was HYSTERICAL. That's a great story.. please ask us to tell ya the deats. But once Dave was back safe and sound in his kayak, he thanked Rockie for collecting all of things that had fallen out while his kayak tipped. He knew from this moment she was a keeper and he asked her to be his girlfriend!

Dave had talked with Rockie's sisters, her parents and even her best friend all the way over in Japan. He wanted to make sure he covered all his grounds to make sure that this proposal was everything Rockie had hoped and dreamed it would be. He got Rockie's family to play along with a plan to get her to go up north for Maeve's birthday party, knowing that she'd drive anywhere for those lil niece's and nephew. After they decided to go the party Dave suggested that they 'stop by' Rhode Island on the way up there. If you didn't know, Rhode Island is not 'on the way' to New Hampshire so Rockie did need a little convincing. We drove up Thursday after Dave got off work early. We love road trips, singing to our favorite songs, playing car games or just talking about random things with each other. This road trip was different, Rockie and Dave were having a lot of really hard conversations about his move to Alabama (which he found out about on that Monday). They both did not want to move down as boyfriend and girlfriend.. this confused Rockie, she eagerly wanted to know what was taking him so long then to propose! ...little did she know their first stop was the Narragansett sea wall near the Narragansett Towers. This is beautiful historical landmark in Rhode Island and one of Rockie's favorite places to get out and enjoy the sea breeze. They get out of the car and Dave says that he wants to talk to her and get some fresh air. Not knowing what they were going to talk about, Rockie sat down on the sea wall. As she sat down, Dave got down on one knee. He proposed, she whispered yes. They hugged and cried tear of joy. As they hugged a woman and her husband pulled up in a mini van and yelled, "DID YOU TWO JUST GET ENGAGED?!" We excitedly said "Yes!!" She told us that they just had a dinner to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. This was such a sweet picture to see alongside the beginning of our story!

We walked a mile up to the Weverton Cliffs with a our officiant Kolia Lutow and a photographer. The sun was bright, the trees were colored perfectly with fall colors and the view was absolutely breath taking. Our ceremony was simple and sweet. We read scripture, shared in communion and said vows. This time was full of laughter and emotion, we truly loved every second of this and wouldn't change any second of this. We are grateful that we were able to share in this ceremony prior to moving to Alabama. We found out we were moving to Alabama three days before Dave had planned the proposal. We wanted to move to Alabama as a married couple and get to care for one another in a new place. We have been praying for a big change in our life since last January, we weren't sure what God had in store for us until he heard about this. We are excited to see the ways we will get to grow together and serve the Lord in Alabama. Please pray for us during this exciting new stage. We hope that all of you can recognize our desire to be married before we live together. Both of our families supported us in this decision. We hope to still celebrate the union of our marriage and have a sweet ceremony full of our two families alongside all of our closest friends.