We met on the Bumble dating app. We both swiped right and Kaitlyn sent the first message- a generic "Hey, how was your weekend?". Brandon promptly replied and then Kaitlyn left him hanging for two weeks. Luckily, she came to her senses and resumed the conversation. We were supposed to meet for our first date on November 15th, but a long surgery at Kaitlyn's work prevented the date that night and both of us were traveling the rest of the week. We tried again the following Monday and met at Sidekicks Bar in De Pere, WI. Conversation flowed easily and neither wanted the night to end, so we made plans to meet up the next night. The rest is history!

Brandon had actually wanted to propose to Kaitlyn a month earlier before he left for a work trip, but because of Kaitlyn's nosey tendencies and him having hidden the ring in the attic he had to wait for another opportunity. On Saturday, August 12th Kaitlyn was on call for work and had an early morning surgery she had to cover. Naturally *eye roll* the surgery went longer than anticipated and Kaitlyn ended up getting home in the early afternoon. Brandon asked Kaitlyn if she wanted to take their dog, Leeby, for a walk at High Cliff State Park before they went to the hot air balloon rally that evening at the Seymour BurgerFest. Kaitlyn, being tired from a late surgery the night before and an early one that day, debated taking a nap but reluctantly agreed to go for a walk. On the drive to the park, it crossed her mind that maybe he was going to propose on the walk... But she glanced at his shorts pockets and didn't see anything shaped like a ring box. She figured if he was going to propose that weekend before he left for a 3 week work trip it would definitely be at the hot air balloon rally! At the park there were many kids, dogs, and adults all over the trails. Leeby was having a field day trying to meet everyone! Meanwhile, Brandon was trying to find the perfect place to propose to Kaitlyn, who was quite distracted by Leeby and his antics. Brandon saw a nice place and said to Kaitlyn "Wow this is really pretty." Kaitlyn just shrugged it off and was trying to wrangle Leeby away from the other groups of people. Kaitlyn finally got Leeby under control and turned around to Brandon down on one knee! Kaitlyn agreed to spend the rest of her life with Brandon, who proceeded to ask if she just wanted to go to the courthouse and make it official. Kaitlyn shot that idea down, because she would much rather celebrate the special day with all of you!!!