Sandstone Vineyards

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Our Wedding

Donny and I&nbsp;met while we were freshman in high school. We were both very shy, and we didn't become friends until our junior year. We had many classes together and we also were in a few of the same clubs. The summer after we graduated from&nbsp;high school, we started spending more and more time together. Eventually, summer ended and I left for college at U of O, and Donny left for Basic Training in Fort Benning, Georgia.We kept in touch while Donny was gone for 4 months&nbsp;by writing letters back and forth. Somehow, even though we weren't able to talk to each other, I&nbsp;think this was a really big part of what made us have a stronger friendship.&nbsp;Even though we were in completely different atmospheres, it was really comforting to tell Donny about what new and challenging experiences I&nbsp;faced, and vice versa.



After what seemed like forever, Donny graduated and we were able to talk everyday. Soon it was summer again, and Donny and I&nbsp;were hanging out basically&nbsp;any time we weren't at work. We dated&nbsp;for a bit that summer, but we ended up deciding to&nbsp;stay best friends because I&nbsp;was leaving soon to go back to college.

 



We remained best friends and got even closer that fall. Donny came up and&nbsp;visited Eugene, and I came home and visited, too. After the term ended,&nbsp;I came home for winter break, when we finally&nbsp;realized that we&nbsp;were supposed to be together. We started dating again, but by&nbsp;this time I was only home for about 6 more&nbsp;weeks before I&nbsp;left to study abroad in New Zealand. We both felt it was&nbsp;worth it, so we spent a crazy amount of time together and after six weeks, I&nbsp;flew across the world for 4 1/2 months. We conquered the time difference and long distance and soon we were back together.&nbsp;

 



Time has kept&nbsp;flying by ever since! We've moved, changed jobs, gone to school,&nbsp;traveled internationally and around the PNW, and now we are so happy to share this new, exciting chapter of our lives with you!

How We Met

Last May,&nbsp;Donny and I found great tickets to Mexico and decided to go for it and book them. Soon October rolled around and we were packing our bags for warm, sunny days!&nbsp;

 

We had a red eye flight, so when we arrived in Mexico, it was really&nbsp;early in the&nbsp;morning. (It was also Donny's birthday). We got through customs and eventually arrived at our hotel...5 hours early. We were pretty tired and wanted to take a quick&nbsp;nap, so we decided to see if we could check in early or at least drop our bags.&nbsp;Long story short, we had a pretty groggy,&nbsp;stressful 2 hours trying to get our phones and cards to work so that we could just pay for the room. (The hotel wanted cash because their card reader wasn't working, but we couldn't withdraw cash because I didn't&nbsp;have a PIN&nbsp;set up. Oops!)&nbsp;Eventually they told us we could go to our room and pay later when the reader was fixed, so we went and took a nap. I&nbsp;know, not the most exciting way to start off a trip in paradise. But we were so exhausted!&nbsp;&nbsp;
 After some much needed sleep, we started our day. We walked down to the beach and explored the area. After dinner,&nbsp;Donny asked if I wanted to go walk along the beach again. We headed down just as the sun was setting. It was so picturesque, I turned to Donny and said "So are you going to propose now, or what?!" completely joking. To my surprise, he got down on one knee. At this point I&nbsp;thought he was just going along with my joke, but then he started to actually propose! Haha, I honestly had no idea he had a ring with him when I&nbsp;teased him about it. It was so fitting because we're always laughing and joking around, and it was better than I&nbsp;could have ever imagined!

The Proposal

Our Story

Directions

Driving from Ontario

1. Get onto I-84 E.2. Follow&nbsp;I-84 E 45 miles&nbsp;to&nbsp;ID-69 S/S Kuna-Meridian Rd/S Meridian Rd&nbsp;in&nbsp;Meridian.&nbsp;Take exit&nbsp;44&nbsp;from&nbsp;I-84 E.3.&nbsp;Follow&nbsp;ID-69 S/S Kuna-Meridian Rd/S Meridian Rd 6 miles&nbsp;to&nbsp;E Rodeo Ln. This is a private&nbsp;dirt road right off of the main stretch. After passing Hubbard Rd, look closely along the left hand side. Sandstone Vineyards about 0.8 mile past the&nbsp;Hubbard&nbsp;Rd intersection.&nbsp;(If you get to&nbsp;E Deer Flat Road, you've gone&nbsp;a little too far.)4. Follow down the lane and turn left before the building.

Driving from Boise

1. Get onto I-184 W (1.3 miles)2. &nbsp;Continue on&nbsp;I-184 W for 8.7 miles. Take&nbsp;I-84&nbsp;to&nbsp;ID-69 S/S Kuna-Meridian Rd/S Meridian Rd&nbsp;in&nbsp;Meridian.&nbsp;Take exit&nbsp;44&nbsp;from&nbsp;I-84.3.&nbsp;Follow&nbsp;ID-69 S/S Kuna-Meridian Rd/S Meridian Rd to&nbsp;E Rodeo Ln.&nbsp;This is a private&nbsp;dirt road right off of the main stretch. After passing Hubbard Rd, look closely along the left hand side of the road. Sandstone Vineyards&nbsp;is about 0.8 mile past the&nbsp;Hubbard Rd intersection. (If you get to&nbsp;E Deer Flat Road, you've gone a little too far.)4. Follow down the lane and turn left before the building.

Places To Stay

Meridian

Best Western Plus&nbsp;1019 S Progress Ave, Meridian, ID 83642 (6.6 miles to venue)TownePlace Suites by Marriott Boise West/Meridian, 1415 S Eagle Rd, Meridian, ID 83642 (8 miles to venue)Candlewood Suites Boise-Meridian, 1855 S Silverstone Way, Meridian, ID 83642 (7.8 miles to venue)

Boise

Best Western Vista Inn at the Airport&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;2645 W Airport Way, Boise, ID 83705 (15.9 miles to venue)Hilton Garden Inn Boise Spectrum&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;7699 W Spectrum St, Boise, ID 83709 (12.7&nbsp;miles to venue)Oxford Suites Boise&nbsp;&nbsp;1426 S Entertainment Ave, Boise, ID 83709 (12.8 miles to venue)

Ontario

Holiday Inn Express &&nbsp;Suites&nbsp;Ontario&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;212 SE 10th St, Ontario, OR 97914 (52 miles to venue)Best Western Inn & Suites&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; 251 NE Goodfellow St Ontario, OR&nbsp;97914 (51.8 miles to venue)

Because we know that many guests will want to visit with family in Ontario, stay in an AirBnb, or arrange other accommodations, we have not reserved any&nbsp;hotel room blocks. We decided we wanted&nbsp;to let you each decide exactly where you want to stay. However, we have outlined some basic hotel information for Ontario, Meridian, and Boise, if you want to stay in one of those hotels.

Details

Kai and I&nbsp;met in high school&nbsp;and have been great friends ever since! No matter what the occasion is, we always enjoy hanging out together.&nbsp;&nbsp;Although he is&nbsp;now living in Salem, we still remain very close.

Kai Burks

Kendra and I&nbsp;grew up together camping, swimming, playing with pets and jumping on the trampoline.&nbsp;She was my very&nbsp;first friend and she's always up for an adventure, whether it's to a fun&nbsp;local spot&nbsp;or&nbsp;to a National Park! She now lives in McCall, Idaho working as an accountant.

Kendra Haidle

Jenny was one of my amazing flatmates in New Zealand. She's one of the most&nbsp;genuine and hilarious people I've met.&nbsp;Last spring I&nbsp;visited her (and her sweet mom) in her home country of&nbsp;Ireland, and it was amazing getting to see her and the beautiful countryside! She is currently&nbsp;working in Dublin at a nonprofit.

Jenny Hughes

Alex and I&nbsp;have been friends since middle school. The&nbsp;summer after 8th grade, he moved across the street&nbsp;from my house.&nbsp;We spent a lot of time together playing football, video games, and going on tons of adventures together. He is now enlisted in&nbsp;the Navy and&nbsp;stationed in&nbsp;Virginia Beach.

Alex Gallegos

Leslie was another of my wonderful flatmates in&nbsp;New Zealand. She was my rock when I decided I&nbsp;wanted to go bungee jumping!&nbsp;She's super supportive and always making me laugh. She also&nbsp;just moved to Ireland at the beginning of June!

Leslie Olimon

I&nbsp;also became friends with&nbsp;Adam while we were in middle school. While he was still in&nbsp;high school, he&nbsp;lived with my family and became my adopted brother. He and I&nbsp;have shared quite a few memories&nbsp;over the years. Now, he is attending college in Eugene.

Adam Gallegos

Taylor and I go back to freshman year. We played football together all four years of high school. We were always encouraging each other and pushing each other to do better. He is also my go-to guy after I watch any superhero movie, because he knows more about comics than anybody. He is currently living&nbsp;in Salem.

Taylor Kennedy

Kearney and I met in the dorms&nbsp;during&nbsp;our freshman year at University of Oregon!&nbsp;&nbsp;Kearns is extremely passionate,&nbsp;hard working,&nbsp;and fun. I&nbsp;have so many great memories with her,&nbsp;from hiking around Eugene to visiting her in Alaska! Now she is living in DC working at an international&nbsp;nonprofit.

Kearney Newman

Vanesse (Bubs, as we like to call her) and I&nbsp;have been close&nbsp;friends since high school. Her creativity and energetic spirit always&nbsp;lead to&nbsp;good times! Honestly, you really never know what you'll be doing with her. She just&nbsp;graduated&nbsp;from OSU&nbsp;this spring and is living&nbsp;in&nbsp;the Portland area.

Vanesse Chew

Jake and I&nbsp;went through&nbsp;Basic Training together&nbsp;in Fort Benning, Georgia. While at training, he&nbsp;and&nbsp;I were placed in the same platoon,&nbsp;which led us to bond over our&nbsp;18 weeks away from home. Since returning to Ontario,&nbsp;we have stayed very close.

Jake Captein

Braulio was also with us in Fort Benning, Georgia for our National Guard Basic Training. Since then, Braulio and I have been on the same tank for the majority of our time&nbsp;in the Guard, and we have become good friends. He is living in Boise now.

Katie & Donny