8 years of marriage + 3 kids + 8 moves + 3 graduations + 12,956 diapers + 5 trips to the ER + 33,842 pictures taken + 2 notebooks of love letters + 17 years since we met each other + 11 years since we graduated from high school together + countless memories + 1 amazing man = the best eight years ever!!!

Here’s a quick look into the past…

High School:

Engagement:

Wedding:

One year ago:

Where it began…

This sign is monumental for us… Troy proposed to me underneath it. Yep, in true South Dakota style, he asked me to marry him on the side of the freeway. He had it all planned out…. we were driving from SD to Utah to go back to college. He pulled over because he said he wanted to take a picture under the sign. Technically, I was standing in Wyoming. He wrote a poem that said I had to “walk across the state line to South Dakota to claim my boy.” Let me tell you, I didn’t walk, I ran! And there he was, on bended knee. The semi trucks driving by, honking their horns. It was incredibly romantic. I love him so much, and perhaps that is why I love this state so much too. It’s where we fell in love!

We are going home for Christmas in just a few days, and we can hardly wait!