We’re getting married!

After a few months of talking, we decided that it was time to actually hangout, just the two of us. So, one day we went for a bike ride around our little hometown of Hesperia. First, we biked a couple of miles to an out-bridge by the White River, played in the water for a bit, climbed a tree, skipped some rocks, then we hoped back on our bikes to another little park with a small bench right along the river. We set our bikes down and sat on that bench, which is where we shared our first kiss! Little did we know that that kiss was the start of our lifelong love.

It all happened in the beautiful Mermaid Caves on Oahu, HI. I was very eager to visit the Mermaid Caves since I had arrived the previous month. Bennett said I should just go with my friends after he left for his training because he wasn't that interested. One weekend when I was packing my clothes to go stay with him, he told me to pack a swimsuit because we might go to the Mermaid Caves. I was shocked because he had expressed no interest prior to that moment, but of course I just ran with it. We ended up going that weekend and I was so excited to see the caves. We went with some of his buddies and their wives, one of which was a photographer who brought along her camera, which I thought nothing of. We arrived at the beach and walked over to the caves to find human sized holes in these dried up coral, rock-like features. Bennett had gone down and I was trying to figure of the best way to go about it, but obviously I had failed because when I landed on the rocky bottom, my whole left forearm was bloody from cuts I had sustained from sliding into the caves. After I got that washed off, Bennett asked if I wanted his friend's wife to take a picture of us. Of course I did! So we are both squatting and smiling for the camera, when he turns to me and grabs my hands. I made a small gasping sound as I saw him reach for his pocket and could feel myself shaking as I waited to hear those words so that I could say YES!! In that moment we heard everyone cheering and looked up through the holes to see people clapping and congratulating us. It was such a beautiful and perfect moment and I really couldn't have asked for anything more special! He did an amazing job planning everything and I am so appreciative to everyone who was there and helped make the moment what it was! -Delaney