Unbeknownst to Tasha, Michael started planning “the proposal” months before. We were going to Tahoe for Tasha's big 4-0 bday. He planned to take her to a spot overlooking the lake we had been to years ago. At the last minute, plans had to change due to the fires, and so we ended up flying to Colorado. The Airbnb had a beautiful creek behind it, and he decided he would do it there, on a rock. After a few birthday drinks, and a couple stress poops, he asked her to go down to the rock. Michael gently glided onto said rock, but as Tasha stepped onto the rock, she quickly fell waist deep into the icy cold water. It should be noted she did not drop her drink. Michael pulled her out of the water, and proceeded with his toast. (I’ll leave out the mushy words.) With tears in her eyes, and water in her shoes, she said yes!
After talking over the “big day”, we both decided we wanted something intimate, simple, and beautiful. We would have loved to have our family there, but we thought the 6 of us was just too perfect. (We apologize to those who wanted to be there. Yes, it was selfish of us, but we still love you.)
With no venue needed, and with our love for nature, we wanted to find somewhere beautiful to say the "I do's." After looking at a million places (waterfalls are louder than you think, and lots of beautiful places were too crowded), Tasha decided to put all her faith into Michael. She made sure that all of the appointments were made for hair and makeup, the dresses and outfits were purchased, but the location was picked by Michael. It was a beautiful seaside cliff called Pacific Valley Bluff, about 45 minutes above Cambria.
The day of the wedding, Tasha and Presley woke up early for their hair and makeup appointments. The boys “relaxed”, and did some necessary packing, since the destination was around 3.5 hours away. Michael and Phoenix left in the afternoon, to get to the site early and set up. Michael actually edited and practiced his vows in the car. Tasha, Peyton, Presley, and Hudson left shortly after. The photographer joined us at the site. He was quite surprised at what a beautiful site we found and was a champ about it being a half-mile hike, each way! Tasha and Presley got dressed on the side of the road and started hiking. Unfortunately, someone un-named had to squat and release on the side of the trail. It wasn’t Presley. The girls smartly decided to wait until the end of the trail to put their heels on. It’s good to throw in a compliment after divulging the peeing in public story. The weather was perfect and so was the wedding. Tasha only stumbled a little bit, as she made her way down the “aisle”. So maybe by the 10th anniversary, she will stay upright the whole time. Everyone had their part and did a wonderful job. Phoenix set up all the cameras and the angles. He was able to create an amazing video for us to share with everyone. Having all 4 kids involved in the wedding meant the world to us. We wrote our own vows, some gushy ones, but mostly funny ones. We both thought it was weird how much easier it was to make the vows comical, but it is just who we are.
After the wedding, and A LOT OF pictures, (Michael’s favorite part), we headed off to Robin's Restaurant in Cambria for dinner. The staff was amazing and allowed us to have our first dance as newlyweds. The other tables around us joined in and helped us clear some tables for the dance. The song we danced to could have been written about us. We just happened to stumble upon it on a TV show. The song was never released but will now be forever OURS. Tasha’s gorgeous yet constrictive dress didn’t allow her to wrap her arms around Michael’s neck, so the dance was a little awkward. But nevertheless, the crowd clapped and cheered when we were done! Presley and Hudson then gave their Maid-of-Honor and Best Man speeches, which was a great surprise for Michael. Both speeches were absolutely perfect. Everything worked out better than we could have possibly imagined.