Endowments

Getting my Temple Clothes at the Beehive Clothing Center behind the Seattle Temple.

May 17th I was able to go and take out my endowments. I had been wanting to go to the temple for my endowments since I was a Laurel, but even more since going to college. And I wanted it to be its own day and not overshadowed by the wedding. I went to the temple with an open mind and no expectations of what was going to happen. I loved every minute of it. I loved walking into the Celestial Room and seeing my family and friends and young women’s leaders. I felt like I had “made it”, that I had been worthy and had overcome a lot of things to be there at the temple with the people I loved. It was one of the highlights of my life.

Bridal Shower

Jessica Schill and Cori threw me a bridal shower at Jessica’s house on May 12th. Debra (Grandma) Bennion was in charge of most of the games. I had lots of my young women’s leaders there, and my family (Mom, sisters, cousins, aunt and Grandma). It was such a fun night and the food was awesome. The one game that Debra didn’t do was probably one of the most embarrassing things I ever had to do. I was blindfolded, and then 6 or 7 guys were brought in. I had to feel there leg from ankle to knee and try to guess which one was Chad. I was SO embarrassed- I had never felt Chad’s legs before, how was I supposed to know?? In the end I ended up picking a Chad but not the right Chad- I picked Chad Ford one of Andy’s friends. Two of the guys were MARRIED men and in my ward!! Brother Schill and Brother Gonzales- like I said it was really embarrassing. After they left I got to open presents. I got a lot of great things, I also got a lot of embarrassing things (especially because my mother-in-law to-be was there.) From the Relief Society presidency, Chad and I got a bed set: sheets, a comforter, pillows and a throw blanket. It was awesome and the colors matched a picture that was to be hung in our room. Such a great night

ENGAGED

April Fools Day was a Friday and Chad and I had plans to meet at a friends house, Susan for her birthday party, and then go out after that for dinner. Unknown to me at the time, Chad had gotten a call from Ben Bridge the night before saying the ring was ready. So early on Friday Chad met with Jon for lunch and Jon gave him the “transfer of stewardship” conversation, and gave Chad his blessing and told him “You’re her perfect match.” Chad later asked my Father, Doug for his blessing as well. Chad picked up the ring before going to Susan’s house, and he got there before I did, so he showed the ring to Jon and Cori. When I got to Susan’s I had no clue that any of this was happening. We stayed at Susan’s house only for a little while and wished her a Happy Birthday, and then left to go out to dinner. Right across from Susan’s apartment is Gene Coulon Beach Park. Chad had been asking about that park when we were still at Susan’s and he thought that he had been there before. So when we got in the car to go eat, he said he just wanted to stop by the park real quick. I didn’t mind so I said sure. When we were pulling into the park it said it closed at dusk, and it was already dark, and there was a “Park Ranger” type of car driving by, so I told Chad “let’s just go”. To my surprise he was very adamant about walking around this park. I kind of thought that was a little weird but walked with him anyway. The park has these docks that go around an swimming area and from the dock you can see Mercer Island. It was pretty dark now, and so the lights from Mercer Island were beautiful. While we were walking a duck splashed into the water, and it scared and I actually screamed like a little girl and I jumped towards Chad. And again to my surprise he jumped away from me. I was totally weirded out by this, because I was thinking, “He doesn’t want to protect me,” or “He doesn’t want me close to him” it was just weird. What I didn’t know was that he had the ring box in his coat pocket, and he thought when I jumped into him, I would feel it, so he jumped anyway from me! We kept walking and when we got to the park path again under a lamp post Chad toward to face me. He said, “I love you so much. You’re the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I want to be with you for Eternity. I want to grow old with your and have kids together.” The he got down on one knee and asked, “Kate will you marry me?” I said “Absolutely” then I screamed, “Wahh whoo!!!” He put the ring on my finger and we kissed. From the time Chad picked up the ring until the time he had it on my finger was only an hour and a half. He was so anxious to get that ring on my finger. Cori and Jon had tried to persuade Chad to pull some kind of April Fool’s prank on me, but just said he couldn’t do that because he had been waiting so long to get that ring. We drove up to the Temple to look at it, and then we had dinner at a little Italian restaurant close by. It was the perfect place because we almost had it all to ourselves, and the lights were dimmed- just the perfect setting. I couldn’t stop looking at the ring and how the diamond sparkled. When we got home Cori was soo excited to see me with the ring. We took some pictures where I look so happy and Chad looks so relieved.

We set the date for June 4th so Chad’s sister Rachel could come and it worked out with everyone else’s schedules. The rest of April and May just flew by with wedding perpetrations. Towards the end of April I started working for Leslie at Curves being a physical trainer. It was a fun change from nannying.

Ring Shopping

On March 2nd Chad and I went to the Bell Square mall and looked at some rings. I gave Chad some guidelines like white gold, and circle cut, but everything else I left up to him. It was amazing looking at real diamonds. We both got an education from a worker at Ben Bridge about the 4 C’s of diamonds: Clarity, Color, Cut & Carat. I just remember feeling so special and important looking at and trying on the diamonds. A little while later Chad did end up finding the perfect diamond he liked and a setting (from two different Ben Bridge stores) but he had to wait for them to special order it. We waited the whole month of March. By this time we were telling everyone that we were getting married, and the first thing they’d ask for was to see my ring. This really weighed on Chad who felt so bad about not having my ring yet. Whenever Chad got an update about the ring he always told Jon and Cori, but I never knew anything, I just waited.

Airport Pickup

The next day Wednesday Chad and I went to the airport to pick up his Mom. She had been gone in California working at her Curves there and had missed this whole momentous week. I had met Leslie only once for a little bit on our first date, so I was nervous to see her again with all of this stuff happening when she was gone. When we picked her up from the airport she was not in a good mood. She had had a rough week and a really rough day. Now I was scared! She got in the car and asked how things were and Chad said, “Mom, this is the woman I’m going to marry” (I could have died- he could have been a little more tactful). She turns around and said, “You want to marry him” and I choked out a “Yes” and then she turned to Chad and said, “You want to marry her” I felt like I had just been stabbed in the heart. And Chad said “Yep”. She kept asking questions all the way home, and I wanted to be anywhere else except in that car! I got to know Leslie better and soon we were talking about me working for Curves.

First Camping Trip

On Tuesday the 22nd we went with the Thompson’s to Ensign Ranch to go camping. I wanted to see Chad in all kinds of different circumstance- babysitting, camping etc. We had a fun time, I got to see Chad chop some wood- which was pretty much a prerequisite for the Thompson’s. Later that night Chad and I went for a walk around the lake and it was really cold with snow still on the ground. As we were holding hands I was really thinking, “Could I really marry this guy, even though he is older than me.” “Am I ready to be married?” I didn’t have any angelic visitations to tell me an answer just a peaceful feeling that yeah- he was a great choice and it would work out. That night Chad and I had our first GREAT kiss in the moonlight. When we got back from our walk it was time for bed, Chad slept in a cabin with the boys, and I slept in a cabin with Jon and Cori. The next morning I was still sleeping and Jon asked “Kate are you decent?” I replied, “Yes” thinking that Jon needed to get something from the loft where I was sleeping, but to my surprise it was Chad who came up the stairs to say “Good Morning”. It was fun for him to see me half asleep with no make up and messy hair. After this trip is when I knew 100% that I was going to marry Chad.

Meet Chad Steven Dahle

So much had happened in this week, I went from just going on one date with Chad to planning to marry him. There was a lot to catch my roommates back in Rexburg up on, so I wrote them the following email.

“Meet Chad Steven Dahle: This is Chad. Girls he is amazing! He is a man and he knows what he wants and he is wonderful! I'll have to talk to you girls each in person and tell you about him. But a little 411 is: He is 6'4'', he plays basketball of course but all of our time together (excluding our first date) has just been talking and having like heart to hearts, so we haven't even got to play our favorite things together yet-good times are yet to come. He is 26, he'll be 27 on June 19th. He is graduating from BYU-Idaho in April but he is home now doing his internship!! He served his mission in the Czech Republic.He totally understands my family situation and me!! He comes from a GREAT family. I know this is fast but it feels so right. There is a total peace and comfort like we've known each other for years! Everything has just fallen into place. We have talked a lot about marriage but there has not been an official engagement yet. But he told his dad, ‘I'm marrying this girl’ And I corrected him- woman!! Since I am now 20. Tell me what you think. What questions do you have?? I am so glad this is happening at home!! Love you all. Have a great week!! Love, Kate (Dahle-in a few months!!)” Some of my roommates couldn’t believe it and others thought I was crazy!! But after this they made a list of who was going to get married next.