Our Story
How We Met
Tayah and Matt met at Camp Lebanon where they both worked on Senior Staff in the summer of 2023. During the previous school year, Matt had felt God calling him to be a counselor, and his brother-in-law told him about Lebanon. He applied and was immediately hired on! Tayah had worked there since she was 14 and was expecting it to be a normal summer like any other. God, on the other hand, had different plans. At staff training they didn't have much interaction, but during the first week of camp, Levi (Tayah's brother) was Matt's junior counselor. That was really their first connection. Both Matt and Tayah came early to devos each morning and were often the only ones there for the first ten minutes. They started having conversations about faith, life, and family and slowly learned more and more about each other.
About halfway through the summer, they both recognized the others’ interest and Matt asked Tayah out for coffee. They sat for a couple hours and had a great conversation. Since Tayah was going to be a camper at Senior High the next week, they talked about how they wanted to approach the week ahead. Things definitely didn't go as they were planning! During Senior High, they had decided to avoid talking too much so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. That only lasted for the first few hours, and then they gave up and kept talking like normal! Tayah's counselor and cabin mates (who were all her friends) started teasing her about liking a counselor. Thankfully, her and Matt didn't mind and laughed about it the whole week! After that week was over, Tayah and Matt sat down, and he officially asked her to be his girlfriend. She said yes, and they had one last week together before he headed back to Sioux City for college.
During their season of dating, they were long-distance, so there were many, many phone and video calls, long drives for the special weekends that they did get to spend together, lots of conversations about their faith and how the Lord is leading their lives, and so much more. Some of their favorite times have been small road trips together, going to concerts, sports games, and all the little adventures along the way!
The Proposal
Matt proposed on July 19th, the day after picking Tayah up from her week volunteering at camp. Tayah had a coupon for an escape room, so they started the morning with a fun adventure in a casino heist themed escape challenge. Then, they headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch (a very common spot for them). Matt started to get a little nervous, but Tayah had no earthly idea what was about to happen because her sister, Lauralyn, had convinced her that there was no way that Matt would possibly propose this weekend.
We were about to head home, but Matt turned into the wrong lane. Tayah asked where they were going, and Matt said it was "just a little adventure." Tayah immediately knew what was about to happen. They drove all the way up to Munsinger gardens in St. Cloud. As they were walking around the gardens, Matt kept getting messages on his watch and they wandered around until they finally walked down a path and saw Lauralyn and Nana trying to hide in the bushes. Lauralyn yelled "Matt! You ruined the surprise!!" Tayah and Matt just laughed. He proposed and Tayah responded with a resounding yes. Afterwards, they went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner with their parents. It was such a sweet day!
They are so thankful for the way that God brought them together and they can't wait to see how he guides them as they enter this next season!
We can’t wait to celebrate the start of our life together with you all. We will update our website with timelines, RSVPs and more as we get closer to the day!
♡ Tayah & Matt