Part 1: Where it All Began
Eight years ago, love was born in the crisp January air of Olympia, Washington. I was a young junior (just sixteen) attending North Thurston. Between school, work, family and a boyfriend, I was a very busy girl. One day, I heard that my Uncle Bryden’s best friends were coming into town. Bryden is my biggest hero and inspiration. I was touched by the fact that these three young boys and one young girl would take time out of their busy lives to come see my and their best friend before their mission. I never had met any teenager in Washington who gave Bry the time he deserved like these four, as well as many others in Wellsville did. He has Down syndrome and many treat him differently because of that. The night Luke, Nate, Nick and Shonnee arrived at my grandparents, I showed
up to meet them in my sexy Top Foods uniform…an outift that is sure to win any guy over at any time…not. I was literally wearing a tie when I officially met Luke for the first time. That night I was amazed at the love they showed Bry and the spirit they all had glowing from inside. They all stepped in to give Bry a blessing.
After a few rounds of bowling, we all bonded over game after game of Uno. I knew I had found the one as he slipped Wild Cards to me under the table. 😉 After manicures & makeovers, many lost bets, early morning seminary experience, Denny’s, shopping trips, lots of laughing and joking and just simply being with Luke, I realized I had found a boy unlike any other. The day those Utah plates disappeared down the road was a depressing one, but distance didn’t break the connection. Luke and I talked from the time we woke up till the time we forced ourselves to put our phones down every single day. I didn’t know a guy like him existed. I wrote in my journal that month that I would marry a guy exactly like him one day.
Part 1: Where it All Began (written by Luke)
The first time we met. Three of my best friends and I decided to take a road trip. This wasn’t just any typical road trip however. We were about to embark on a fourteen hour drive to see one of the most amazing friends anyone could ask to have. His name: Bryden William Belnap. “Hero to the boys”. I’ll quickly give a brief background of how we met Bry. Long ago (Eleven years to be exact), in the Wellsville 1st Ward, Nathan Call, Nick Rigby, and I decided we wanted to go spend time with a handicap young man in our ward. This was Bryden. A long with us was Kade Erickson, another best friend. We fell in love with Bry and had a hard time staying away from him. We always had a blast. Basketball was his sport, shooting fake guns was a favorite, and wrestling was always a must. He broke my toe wrestling once; I guess it’s time to forgive him. Over the years more of our friends started to come into Brydens life. Sean and Shonnee are two that definitely need to be mentioned. Sadly, after a short 5 years of friendship, the Belnap family had to move to Olympia Washington for Brydens health. A move that killed all of us. At that time I didn’t understand that this move, as hard as it was, was going to bless my life in a huge way. Kade was on a mission, Sean was about to leave. Nathan had his mission call; Nick and I were both expecting ours to come soon. We needed to see Bryden before we all left. As a result, we planned the road trip. Piled in my car with luggage was, Nathan, Nick, Shonnee and myself. We left January 29th early in the morning. It was late that evening when we finally pulled in. That night I was talking with Bryden’s mom, Mary-Kay, and she kept mentioning her beautiful twin granddaughters who were close to our age. I can’t lie, I thought nothing of it. I wasn’t looking. That night things changed. Kylee, one of the beautiful granddaughters, walked into the room. Smokin’ hott in her Top Foods work uniform :). We spent a lot of time together over the course of my stay in Washington. Every activity imaginable was done. Bowling, UNO, Super Bowl parties, putting holes in the wall while trying to bench more than I weighed, being dressed up as a clown/chick…you name it, we did it. I’m going to take a minute to state that Kylee Ann Falter, her sister Lauren and Shonnee Mecham cheat at UNO. They make bets (like if the boys lose then they have to paint their fingernails for Church the next day) and then pass cards to ensure that they win. Back to the story. Every minute I spent with Kylee helped me to understand more and more what I wanted in a wife. She was amazing. Pretty much everything I hoped for in a girl was found in her. Spending time with her made me happy. To steal a quote from my journal, “If it wasn’t for Kylee today would have sucked so much….She somehow can make me smile even during the hardest of times”. That statement holds true to this day. I loved her then. I love her now even more. Saying goodbye was hard. I didn’t want to go home for many different reasons. One of them being her. Who knew when I’d see her again!
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming next Tuesday ;)
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
October 3, 2017
Kylee Maughan
