Our Love for Each Other

     We all have a story, some are hilarious, some are cute, and some are just normal. Ours is simple, with a few fun twists here and there. It may not be exciting, but it has to be told, to help understand the rest of our stories.

     Ours begins with how we met. I would love to have a great and exciting story, but it's not. It's fairly simple, and the last way that Ivy wanted to meet. It started at singles ward in Hurricane Utah. I'm from the little town of La Verkin, Utah, and Ivy is from Kamas, Utah, which are both small towns. 

     Ivy had just gotten back from Fiji, and decided to move down to Hurricane with her aunt Patti. She had just broken up with a boy, and wanted to get away. She happened upon a job in a gift shop in Springdale, next to Zion National Park.

     One sunny, fast Sunday, I saw Ivy at church and thought she was one of the prettiest girls ever. I decided to sit next to her and talk to her after sacrament. She was kind and smiled brightly when I asked to sit next to her. She impressed me with her politeness, and when she bore a strong testimony I knew I wanted to get to know her more. 

     We talked, and I got her number. Later that week I called and asked her on a date. We went for a hike in Zion, which was wonderful. We talked the entire time and I had more fun with her than any other girl.

     Later that day Ivy said she had "family" stuff going on. I came to find out months later that she had another date that night! I wasn't too sad about it though, because after her date she ended up calling me and she wanted to hang out again. I figured she liked me, and I sure got excited. She came over and we hit glow-in-the-dark golf balls off a cliff with my friend Brad. 

      My story now fast forwards to Christmas and New Years of 2012. We had hung out and been on dates nearly every day since that first date, and Ivy had told me several times she didn't want a boyfriend and didn't want to get serious because she wanted to adventure and travel the world still. I thought she was crazy, so I never gave up. The first time she told me this, I just smiled, agreed, and gave her a big kiss. 

      I admit, by New Years I was head over heels for Ivy. So on New Years weekend, Ivy invited me up North to her parents house, just being polite. I surprised her by going up North with my friends Brad and Broc. This is when I realized I really liked Ivy, and this is when Ivy realized I was serious about our relationship. We went sledding, played card games, saw the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and had a blast the entire weekend. That was the first time I saw the Salt Lake Temple with its Christmas lights. It was stunning, yet I couldn't keep my eyes off Ivy.

     That Saturday night, I decided to ask Ivy to be my girlfriend. Her answer, "I really like you, but....no." 

     She said no! I couldn't believe it, but all was well, we still hung out nearly every day.  Eventually she said yes, but it took a while. Ivy soon realized that I was the adventure she was looking for, and eventually agreed to be my girlfriend. Months later, we got engaged, and then eventually married. Ivy has come to realize that the best way to travel and adventure is being married to Me. We've also come to realize that the best way to travel, and most rewarding, is to go to a Temple wherever we are, whether it be somewhere simple in Utah, or on an island in the Caribbean, we made it a goal once we started dating to focus our trips on the Temples. That is what we did, and it has paid off, as you may come to see.