Our Story

Kerk and Bret met online and had their first date at Barrio Brewing Company in Tucson on June 22, 2015. Bret didn’t learn that it was also Kerk’s birthday until it was time to pay the tab that evening.

Four days later they had their second date, which also happened to be the same day the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. Coincidentally, it rained in Tucson early that evening and the city was literally beaming in rainbows. Kerk cooked dinner and even made homemade ice cream for the two of them (something he hasn’t done since). Bret fell in love that night…with Kerk’s dog, Izebel.

Kerk and Bret did, however, quickly hit things off and fell in love somewhere in between their second and subsequent dates that summer which ranged from bowling and dueling piano bars to visiting the SAVOR Food & Wine Festival in San Luis Obispo, California. They said their first “I love you’s” to each other while floating in Lake Roosevelt over Labor Day Weekend.

They have been building a beautiful life together ever since which is even sweeter and hairier now with their two labradors, Auggie and Murphy, following behind them every step of the way.

Kerk and Bret moved into their soon-to-be dream home (once the renovations are done) and got engaged during the peak of the pandemic. Kerk proposed in front of his parents as well as Bret’s mom and stepfather at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with the help of a Eurasian eagle owl named Klaus.