In case you haven’t already heard from Kris, as he loves making it known, I “slid hard into his dm” just about this time 5 years ago, which turned out to be the greatest out of character thing I’ve ever done.

Rewind three decades earlier, when I was being recruited to play volleyball at Georgia Tech, Kris’s name was brought up as he was already there playing football and baseball and of course was well known in this area. And while he was drafted and left GT before the end of my freshman year, his teammates were close with my teammates, and our paths randomly crossed during college and many times after. I can vaguely remember Kris and Trevor throwing a football together while hanging out at our mutual friend’s house in Tampa while Kris was still playing professionally. Shortly after that I recall trying to “recruit” Kris’s niece, this “little” softball superstar, Morgen, to play on Taylor’s u11 club team that I was coaching. Over time there were even some GT football tailgates we were both at, and Kris even met both of my parents (who I know are so happy for us right now) at a beach volleyball tournament that Morgen and Taylor were competing in, well before we could ever imagine THIS would happen someday.

Returning to about 5 years ago, Trevor had a basketball game at Canterbury where Monica was the athletic director, and it led me to wonder where Kris had landed after finishing playing baseball. A couple blueberry vodka drinks later that night with friends, and I decided I should look for him on Facebook, resulting in the most invaluable dm message ever! I truly wasn’t expecting this “happily ever after,” as I wasn’t even trying to date and even made it clear during our first date that I had no desire to get serious or married before the kids were out of the house, as they are my whole world, but when I got the phone call on my drive to Craft Street that he was early and already ordering me a drink, I jokingly told my friends I was going to marry him some day. Turns out shortly after, I found that committing to Kris made all three of our lives more complete and happier, and that I could not be more wrong in thinking I didn't need anyone else to make my life better!

Fast forward through soooo many incredible life events and adventures, I couldn’t imagine not having Kris by my side through it all! So blessed to have found someone so close with his family that they immediately included the kids and I, and so willing to give his life to Trevor and Taylor. Kris jumped right in and did amazing dealing with crazy teenage drama and never made me feel bad for dropping everything for them. Didn’t take long for the kids to love him, either. Pretty sure Kris managing to hit an unsuspecting lady walking out of the convention center at a volleyball tournament in Kansas City with a snowball from, I would guess, 50 yards away, was a defining moment in Taylor and his relationship, and seeing all the Calvary students go crazy signaling to Kris as Trevor hit his tenth 3 in a critical basketball game, as Kris promised him $100 if he could do it, definitely cemented him as part of the family. Between the two of them plus Morgen and Maya, we have turned billions of sporting events into amazing adventures, be it state championships or tournament trips to The Coast Guard Academy, Kansas City, Vegas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Clermont, Orlando (okay...could have done without some of those), Boston, Chicago, Indiana, UF, Colorado, Costa Rica, Nebraska, NC State, plus many more on the horizon. And in the meantime, we became RV-ers with trips to Ft. Lauderdale, St. Augustine, Savanah, Asheville, West Virginia, and (most frequently) Taylor’s front yard, plus created some forever memories during Kris’s first cruise and attending the most amazing wedding ever in Montana. But even just the sunsets in our back yard, afternoons at the horse track, playing pickleball, kayaking, throwing darts, or e-biking to bars and festivals, everything is so much more fun together!

So grateful for the path God has laid to bring us together, for the friends and family he has put in our lives, and for the plans he has for our future! Hope you can join us to celebrate!