Our Story, Part 7: July 4th and August 9th

For previous installments of Our Story, click here!

The morning of July 4th dawned bright and Marquette woke up with the sweetest feeling of peace and love. All the knots in her stomach were gone and the doubts had been erased. She knew God had his hand in what was happening and she knew Cameron was sincere with everything he had said from the beginning. She did want to marry Cameron and even more, she knew that that was what God wanted. Feelings of nervousness still stuck around though, what if Cameron woke up feeling different that morning?

Cameron and his 7 year old little sister Abigail picked Marquette up for their morning picnic and Cameron drove them out to a beautiful little creek. Cameron jumped down the ravine, but Abigail and Marquette wanted a smoother walk down to the creek, so they walked along the road together looking for a better route. Marquette saw the opportunity to try and see if Abigail knew anything, so she asked her what she thought about her and Cameron getting married. “I like it. I’ve always wanted a sister. Besides, Cameron already told me you guys are getting married.” Relief washed over Marquette…they were both on the same wavelength. Finally they all got down to the creek and had a fun breakfast. As they sat there talking Cameron asked “Last night we talked about if we get married…well, I do want to marry you. I don’t want it to be if. What are your feelings?” “Exactly the same.” From that point on all the talk was “When we get married…” and no more ifs. That morning was euphoric; anyone would be hard pressed to find a prettier morning in their minds. The sun was perfect, the creek was gorgeous, the temperature was beautiful,  the birds were singing…it truly was one of the most perfectly beautiful mornings either can remember…it was the perfect setting for such a decision to be made. 

And that was Day 4…July 4th. 4 days of dating. 

They returned to their homes and he told his parents and Marquette called hers, both a little nervous at what the parents would say about such a fast “official” relationship. Much to their surprise, neither of the parents were surprised or worried about the news. “Well that’s exciting, what plans do you have?” Really? That’s it? Excited exclamations or worried lectures were expected, but instead they got a calm and slightly amused “That’s wonderful.” Marquette’s parents told her that they thought they shouldn’t try to get married in the middle of the school year, but rather at the beginning or end. They then explained that if Cameron and Marquette decided to get married in December that Marquette would still be sent up to school in Idaho for the semester. Pshh. That wasn’t going to happen. So August 9th was chosen as their wedding day. About 2 weeks after that came the ring shopping and that night Cameron gave the more “traditional proposal” as they sat and visited at his parent’s house. He gave Marquette the ring and asked her, “Will you marry me? Will you stand with me through eternity as my companion and friend?” That was a no brainer to answer. 

Just one month after Cameron and Marquette sat by the creek and decided to turn the ifs into whens, they arrived at their wedding day. They were expected to show up at the temple earlier than their guests, so when Marquette showed up and Cameron wasn’t there and when he didn’t arrive after a little while, she got worried. The sweet ladies that were working the temple that day kept telling Marquette, “Don’t worry, he’s not going to stand you up. He loves you!” It took Marquette a while to convince them that she wasn’t worried about him choosing not to show up; it had rained hard the night before and she was worried that Cameron and his family wouldn’t be able to get their car through the mud to even be able to make it into town. As Cameron and Marquette were the only couple getting married there that day though, the workers said that if they had to wait a few hours all would be fine. Luckily Marquette didn’t have to wait hours before Cameron finally arrived. She put on the beautiful dress her mother had sewn for her and they gave her and Cameron a chance to sit in the beautiful Celestial Room for a few minutes before the ceremony.

Marquette’s Great Uncle Vern performed the ceremony and spoke beautifully about marriage. While he was talking, Marquette looked over at Cameron, and he had fallen asleep. No joke. He and his family had spent the night before making calls to borrow a truck that would for sure get them through the mud, picking up the truck, and making their way through the muck. Luckily he didn’t jolt awake when she nudged him, and no one else noticed. It made Marquette smile and giggle to herself. This was her sweetheart, her best friend, and the love of her life. And finally they were married, sealed as husband and wife not only for this life, but for all of eternity. 

August 2006:

2007:

 2008:

 2009, while working for Fort Bowie:

 2010

 2011, our 5th Anniversary:

 2012:

 2013, pregnant with our first child:

 2014:

2015:

2016 (10 years!):

2017:

2018:

2019:

2020 (I think is this most recent shot of us from Leap Day at my brother’s wedding, lol):

We don’t have the perfect relationship. It constantly takes work. Sometimes it takes a ton of work.  Going from best friends to Husband and Wife made some things easier and others harder, but it was the exact route we needed to take. God knew it, we just didn’t know it then. We see it now though, and I’m sure it will become more clear as we go along.