Our story officially started back in 2012 after Cody returned home from a recent deployment and the bar which Shyla worked at the time, Rollie's, turned into a common hangout place for Cody and his friends. After numerous encounters with each other, both were too shy to 'make a move' and ask each other out. Years later, after both of us had gone through many other life events and grown into established adults :D, some would say the stars lined up just perfectly that we were both moving/coming home at about the exact same time. Once again, Cody was coming home from another deployment overseas and a few months prior to that, mutual friends had reached out to attempt to set us up on a date upon Cody's arrival home. Long distance actually brought us closer together as we had the opportunity to get to know each other better than we had years prior and as soon as Cody arrived home from overseas - our relationship took off like we had been together for years. It only took Cody one day of being home and officially going out on a date to introduce Shyla to his family and about two months later had moved in together. On December 5th, 2021, we took a sort of last minute adventure up to the Detroit Lakes area to take some fun winter pictures with one of Shyla's childhood friends (our awesome Photographer, Jackie!). Making a day trip out of what was going to turn into a blizzard, we made it to the Christmas tree farm and had so much fun taking pictures in the snow. If you didn't know, snow covered pines are one of Shyla's favorite things in the entire world so this backdrop was priceless! At the end of our photo session, Jackie asked if there were any other poses we had in mind before we head out and Cody started reaching in his pocket and said 'I guess there's one more I had in mind!' He of course got down on one knee and asked Shyla to marry him (perfectly caught on camera - also to Jackie's surprise!). In complete shock, Shyla finally said yes after being threatened to not get the ring :D It was the most perfect day and we are so thankful to have such amazing pictures to keep forever of our special moment. The old farmhouse outside of Foley has turned into our home together with rocking chairs and a wind chime on the porch as we both enjoy the peacefulness of the country. Cody jokes that he has turned into Shyla's farm hand and what started with us and 3 dogs has grown into farm cats and chickens - with plans for more animals in the future. This year has been a bit wild for us as we initially started 2022 ready to plan a wedding and hopefully start growing our family shortly thereafter...God had other plans (huge YAY!) and gave us the most wonderful surprise of finding out we were pregnant in March. Knowing we would be adding to our family a little sooner, we officially tied the knot on our anniversary, May 16th, in front of our families at the farm. It was very important to us that we officially be a family prior to the arrival of our bundle of joy in November. However, we were still very excited to celebrate our big day with the rest of our family and friends on New Year's as we had initially planned! Our New Year's Eve celebration will be a renewal of our vows to each other, surrounded by our most favorite people like we had imagined. As our journey continues on officially as a family of three, we can't wait for you to celebrate our love with us on the night that is all about embarking on new adventures, creating goals and enjoying all of the memories made throughout the year with those you love.