Alexandra K. Black (Lexi) was born to Heather Freeman Black and Gary Black Jr. She grew up in the mountains of central Idaho, in the picturesque ski resort town of Sun Valley, where she ski raced, hiked, wrote books (at all ages), painted, sang, danced, camped and played.

David L. Spalding was born to Janet and David Spalding in Milford, New Hampshire. David spent his early days playing in the woods, swimming in Lake Winnepsauke at his family's camps, and learning outdoor skills and stewardship from Boy Scouts.

David and Lexi met as college students at the Killington World Cup in 2018. Sharing mutual friends, the two immediately clicked. The following year's World Cup, they ran into one another again and exchanged phone numbers. From then on, the two talked daily, spending the next couple of months traveling across upstate New York to see each other.

The world changed overnight with arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. David and Lexi, both in their senior year of college, were suddenly faced with a long list of unknowns. Lexi decided to take a big chance amid the chaos and ask David if he wanted to do something a little crazy for a still-new relationship: drive her car from school in New York back to Idaho with her. David said yes. The two took off across the country and somewhere between Davenport, Iowa and North Platte, Nebraska, they fell in love.

After dating long distance for a little over a year, David and Lexi move in together into their first apartment, the "Brick Bungalow" in Manchester, NH. Many precious memories were made in this corner unit of the Jefferson Mills building, as David and Lexi settled in together.

After Lexi's work brought her back to Idaho for a few months of the year (and a few friends from back east also decided to move west), David & Lexi decided to make the next big jump to move to Idaho. The two continued their adventurous hobbies, only at slightly higher elevations.

David takes Lexi to pick out her birthday present a week early! They come home with a third member of their little pack, the feisty and adorable kitten Herman (named, of course, for ski racing legend Hermann Maier).

On a quiet, snowy afternoon at Elk's Rest, Lexi's childhood home, David surprised her by getting on one knee. The day quickly took the place of Lexi's happiest memory, competing only with the memory of the first time he told her he loved her.