Kevin moved to Salem, VA, from San Diego, CA, in April of 2023. Morgan moved to Christiansburg, VA, from Bolivar, MO, in May of 2023. Little did they know they would soon meet about a month later. How did their first encounter occur you might ask? Through a dating app believe it or not! Upward is a newer, faith-based dating app that allows you to swipe on people in your area. It has many sections for users to input their beliefs, favorite Bible verses and even preferences in a partner. Once they matched, Morgan initiated the first conversation. They began texting regularly for a little over a week before Kevin asked her out on their first date to Cabo Fish Taco. As soon as they met, they had an instant connection and talked for 3 hours at Cabo. Here's how each one felt after that date:

Kevin: I thought she was beautiful! I was very excited to see where things went. She also had a great smile and personality to go along with her beauty.

Morgan: I was so impressed! He could hold a conversation and was so chatty. He was so polite and kind, I just knew something was different about him. I called and texted my friends and was like, "Yeah, I think I'm going to marry him!"

From there, they continued getting to know one another, being prayerful about each other, and having fun. Morgan made Kevin wait longer than he wanted to ask her to be his girlfriend, but he thought it was definitely worth the wait.

It was Easter weekend of 2024. Kevin and Morgan went up to Morgan's parents' house to celebrate. Everyone had been telling Morgan they were going to be doing an easter egg hunt with Lola (our flower girl), but Kevin had other plans. :) When they arrived at Morgan's parents' house, Morgan's dad Brett told them that he was running out of pellets for the meat he was smoking and needed to take Kevin with him to the store so he could help and so her dad could give him first meat smoking lesson! Morgan was bummed neither one were going to go to the "Easter egg hunt", but just went along with it.

Morgan's mom said Cat and Lola were running behind and would text when we were to meet them for the egg hunt, but in reality, they were setting up for Kevin's big surprise! Once mom got the text, they hopped in the car and started heading to where everyone was - the Pole Green Church.

The Pole Green Church is a historic sight about 10 minutes from where Morgan's parents live. It was the church Patrick Henry attended way back in the Revolutionary War days. It had been burned down, but now they have memorialized it by building back the basic frame structure so it's a very cute spot for weddings, pictures and engagements!

When Morgan's mom pulled into the parking lot of the Pole Green Church, Morgan was confused. She said, "Wait, what are we doing here? This isn't where the Easter egg hunt is!" Her mom replied with, "Just go with it!" So they parked, and started walking up the pathway. Once they reached a certain point, her mom told her it was time for her to go on by herself.

Continuing on the pathway, Morgan saw Kevin standing in the chapel portion of the church with an archway of candles and orange rose petals sprinkled on the ground. Kevin then grabbed Morgan's hands and said all the sweet, cute, wonderful things, dropped the knee and asked, "Will you marry me?" Of course, she said yes! Kevin got up, hugged Morgan and said look over there. Morgan turned and saw her sister Haleigh all the way from St. Louis walking up the path! Then her grandma Nancy comes out from behind a tree as well! The surprises just kept coming!

It was so sweet and a wonderful addition to a wonderful day! We can't wait to celebrate with you!