Happy Times

I haven't written a blog post in so long, I hope I remember how. One phone call changed the course of my spring. From that moment on the bulk of my attention was focused in one direction. 

My 24-year-old daughter, Kiah, called on March 28 with the wonderful news that her boyfriend, Dayton, had proposed. It's been four years since the last Vik wedding and Keith and I aren't getting any younger so if our children don't want their kids to have old grandparents, they might want to get married sooner rather than later. 

Sooner, rather than later. I should know to be careful what I wish for. Kiah said they wanted to get married on July 12, which at the time was 3 and 1/2 months away. 

At first I panicked. A wedding is a lot of work and we didn't have much time. I barely slept that night. I got up in the middle of the night and started making to-do lists. I finally calmed down by telling myself that to get married, all one needs is a minister, a bride, a groom, and two witnesses. Everything else is extra. If things get done, great. If not, they would still get married. 

We're really happy with how things turned out so I want to share about this blessing in increments. Today will be a little background. 

Kiah had not dated for four years after a painful breakup in 2009. She focused on college, work, fitness, faith, friends, and enjoying her family. 

She went through a couple years of having no interest in being in a relationship. If a guy looked at her twice, she quit talking to him. She said married people were boring. She thought her married friends were settling, that there were many more exciting things to do than get married. She said she hadn't seen a lot of marriages that made her want to get married. I listened, but didn't say that I knew when she met the right person, she'd change her mind. 

Two years ago in 2013, Kiah went to work for the summer at the camp where Andrew worked. Andrew confided that he hoped to set Kiah up with someone. I recommended that he not tell her, because if she got wind of his matchmaking, the match would be over before it began. Ironically, one of the people Andrew had in mind was Dayton's brother. Right family, wrong brother. 

Kiah called home to chat and talk about her time at camp. She said there were no guys she was interested in. So what else was new? She hadn't been interested for awhile so that didn't surprise me. I asked her who she had enjoyed getting to know. She mentioned a few people and then said there were these three brothers that she really liked. She said they were nice, fun, hard working, funny, and everyone liked them. 

Fast forward one year to the next summer (2013) when Kiah returned to camp. She called home to talk about her summer. She said, "You don't have to worry Mom. There's nobody here I'm interested in."

I told her I wasn't worried. I firmly believe God is my children's matchmaker and does a much better job in that department. I trust God for His timing.

We talked a month later and she confided in me that she was interested in the youngest of the three brothers she had gotten to know the summer before. 

She was concerned that he was four years younger than her and wanted to know if that was okay. I told her that once people get past high school, age doesn't matter as much. Maturity doesn't always correlate with age. I know young people who are mature and old people who aren't. 

I went to camp six weeks later to see my new granddaughter. Kiah said that she was still interested in Dayton and asked if I would pray with her about it. She wanted to trust God and didn't want to get weird. She also wondered if I thought it was okay for her to ask him out. 

I didn't know what to say. When I was young, the guys did the asking. It had been so long since I dated that I wasn't sure what was acceptable now. Andrew said it was okay so she decided to take a risk. I wouldn't have been that brave. 

She asked Dayton to hang out and they did but it was very awkward. He later confessed to being scared. He liked her but wasn't sure he wanted to pursue a relationship at the time.

Picture taken by a fellow camp member the first time they hung out

After camp they started corresponding electronically. They used up more than their fair share of Facebook's personal message space. Dayton lived in Florida so they were a long way apart. Kiah was unsure for a few months how he felt about her. 

On December 23, Dayton called to ask Keith's permission to date our daughter. Keith had never met Dayton so wasn't sure what to say, but based on his children's endorsement who did know Dayton, he gave his blessing. 

Two days later, on a Skype date, Dayton sang her a song and asked her to be his girlfriend. She was ecstatic, happy to know that he returned her affections. 

Kiah and Anna went to visit Dayton and his family in January. 

First official date

 

The visit went well. Dayton visited in February but spent much of that time with our family when Keith's mom passed away. 

Dayton's family is bigger than ours so I figured we wouldn't overwhelm him. But we did anyway. Turns out a big family with mostly brothers is way different than a big family with mostly girls. Girls are a whole different breed.  

 

I knew they were talking about getting married but no movement had happened in that area. I don't endorse pushing people into marriage, but if they wanted to get married this summer, the sooner he asked her the better. I decided to quit worrying because worrying makes me weird and doesn't fix anything. 

Unbeknownst to us, Dayton had called Keith to ask permission to marry Kiah. Kiah went to visit Dayton's family again in March and this is when he proposed. Dayton fixed her a nice dinner, wrote her a very sweet song, and asked her to marry him. Very sweet and romantic. 

We were all very excited. Andrew finally would get a brother after wanting one for 22 years. The sisters were amazed at Kiah's about face. From thinking married people were boring to wanting to get married as soon as possible. We all liked Dayton and were looking forward to July 12 when our family size would increase by one.

Stayed tuned for more installments in the Kiah and Dayton saga.

Font choices

Apartment by Northland College

Marian is really nice. She's 85 and her husband is 92. He's got health issues and doesn't leave his house much.  Him and his partner built these apartments thirty years ago. When the partner died, they bought him out.  

Apartment looks clean, safe, affordable, is close to Northland, and Marian's willing to wait until September for you to move in. She'd rather have someone who would stay longer than just the school year, but she was okay with that.

Looks great from the street. 

8 apartments - no other students living there. 

Secure front and back building entries. Guests have to buzz front door to be let in. Red carpet has seen better days. Slight old people house smell in hallway.

The available apartment is upstairs.

Apartment's layout is similar to the last apartment Alisha looked at when she was here.  There is a open window into the kitchen to the left. 

Good size storage closet (little bigger than it looks in the picture) to the left as soon as you walk into the living room. LR also has small coat closet. 

Kitchen - appliances dirty. No separate dining area. Room for small table. 

Small  Bathroom - I forgot to look behind the colorful shower curtain to see if the tub was in good shape. 

Doesn't show up good in pic, but toilet is rose colored

Small linen closet in hallway (no picture)

Slightly smaller bedroom

Smaller bedroom's closet

Slightly larger bedroom

larger bedroom's closet

View from back side

Next to Ashland middle school and the high school's football field. Will be noisy on game nights. The empty parking space goes with the apartment. Tenants use the dumpster for their garbage. 

First floor laundry. Clean but cluttered room. 

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

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Family Ties

Keith's parents, Marie and Elmer Vik of Rock Rapids, Iowa

Elmer and Marie Vik have three kids:

Neil Vik, Keith Vik, and Karen Heitshusen

The clan (minus 3) six years ago at Keith's Mom's 80 BD party.

2009 Partial Family Picture

Karen lives in Rock Rapids, Iowa and is a loan officer at a bank. She has two daughters, Mindy Broveak and Jill Thompson


Mitch, Eric, Taylor, and Jill Thompson live in Sioux Falls, SD. This picture is five years old so their kids are older now.

Mindy and Alan Broveak live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Keith's brother, Neil, lives in Kansas City, MO. Neil, and his wife, Sacia, are both Lutheran pastors. They were both married before and each have two kids.

These are Neil's two kids: John and Maren Vik. John recently married Heather. Maren is a senior at Iowa State University.

L to R: Grandma Vik, Neil Vik, Karen Heitshusen, Maren Vik, John and Heather Vik, Jill Thompson, and Kalyn Lehrner (Sacia's daughter)

My family. You can click on the picture if you want to see it bigger as the kids are all labeled.

My son Rachel and his fiance, Rachel

Roy and Gertie Anderson - Beresford, South Dakota. Gertie is your Grandpa's sister or your great-aunt. She's a very nice person - friendly and bubbly.
Nancy (Kluver), Larry, and Hadley Syverud - Minneapolis, MN - Nancy's mother was Francis Kluver (used to be Lee). Francis was a cousin of Elmer and Hervin. Francis and her husband Bert were close lifelong friends of Elmer and Marie. This is an old picture. Hadley is now a senior in college.