Engagement

After dating for about a month and spending as much time together as possible, we were at Barry's apartment and he was pacing madly back and forth when he got the courage to say, "I love you." Soon after that we were talking about marriage.
We met each other's families and felt welcome on both sides. I'm the youngest of six and Barry's the youngest of eight, both from small towns in Idaho. We understood each other on a lot of levels, and we also shared the same kind of sense of humor. I had a feeling that he would always be there for me. In a lot of ways, marrying him was the easiest decision of my life.
Everything fell into place once we decided we would be together forever. My parents came to Pocatello and he was pretty nervous about asking them for my hand, but they were more than happy to give us their blessing. Barry was incredibly relieved. We didn't want to wait long and set the date for just six weeks away. We looked at rings and Barry proposed to me at my childhood stomping grounds, Krupp Scout Hollow, on a beautiful autumn day.
We were officially engaged October 31, 2006.

Here we are reenacting the moment at my parents' house.

We spent Thanksgiving in Oakley that year. Barry took me to cut down a Christmas tree for the first time with his family. Emily is pictured with us.

Our families were probably a little surprised, but they supported us and worked tirelessly to get the wedding ready - especially my mom. She made my gown, the cake, the decorations, the refreshments, and probably over 40 little dresses and vests for all of our nieces and nephews to wear at the reception. It was amazing.

Between work, school, and wedding plans, it's hard to remember much of went on during that short time, but I do remember feeling so happy and blessed.

On December 19th I took out my endowment at the Idaho Falls temple. My parents and sisters were there as well as Barry's parents. It was very special.

Some of our engagement pictures (taken at KSH):