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| That's Walker on the left as Hawaii's defensive player next to Jeremy Perry who was offensive player of the year. Both Seniors from Kahuku. |
Let's start with Walker Cook Vave. First off, he's the bomb! He was born April 14, 1985 in Kahuku, Hawaii. He's the oldest of five and has two wonderful parents by the name of Sitiveni and Mele Vave. He grew up in the North Shore area of Oahu, around Laie. Laie is hugely populated with LDS folk and Kahuku's High School football is the 2nd most important religion there. I almost forgot! Walker is full Tongan, most of his friends growing up were polynesian, and the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is in Laie, right next to Brigham Young University-Hawaii. Alot of the high school students, including Walker, have worked at PCC at one point in their young adult lives. So keeping all this in mind, you can imagine the type of person Walker might be. He's wonderful! He's so laid back and always happy and hardworking. He loves his family and puts others before himself! There are not enough words! But I should just focus on the task at hand and save this for Valentine's Day..lol Walker graduated in 2004 and soon turned 19. He was call to serve a 2 year mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador. From the pictures he has shown me and the stories he's shared, i can tell he really loved his mission and the people he served. When he was released, he came to Oregon State University to play football for the Beavers as a middle linebacker. He continued (and continues) to be a missionary. Everyone that knows him, loves him!
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| This is my family and our home in Blodgett! You can probably guess that i'm the one not looking at the camera. lol |
So my full name is Anna Marita Larson (now Vave :) ). I was born on July 18, 1989 in Corvallis, Oregon. I was raised in Blodgett and Philomath, neighboring Corvallis. Philomath is a small logging town. And that's about it.... lol I am the 2nd to youngest of 4 kids. I have two older brothers and 1 younger sister. We grew up with our mom teaching us about Finland (she's Finnish and moved to the U.S. in 1983) and music and our dad teaching us about the outdoors. In school, i played a little bit of volleyball and basketball and was on the swim team in highschool. I also play the flute and was in our school band. I graduated in 2007 and went to school at Linn-Benton Community College. I am currently a nanny for a spunky 2 year old little girl by the name of Meghan. I still need to finish school.. But that's another story!
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| Walks and I at our YSA ward's Holiday Dinner. |
So! How did Walker and I meet?? The versions vary, but mine goes something like this: My friend had a pretty big crush on him. Often i would hear "Walker this and Walker that" about different things. I was young and didn't pay him much attention, plus my friend had already called dibs. I don't quite remember how, but we started talking on Facebook. Walker reminded me once that when i was the Activities Chair at our YSA ward, that he had come up to me for the first time and had given me a few suggestions for ward activities. I guess he added me on Facebook (yeah, he added me lol) and that's where our relationship started! Romantic, huh? lol (I can tell this blog entry isn't going to be very short, but hopefully it'll makeup for it by being sweet! lol) So we had been communicating back and forth quite a bit. I remember there was a multi-stake YSA dance at the Corvallis Stake Center. The whole night I was dancing with my friends and he with his, all the while i was keeping my eye on him. The dance was almost over and i was getting kinda depressed cause he hadn't ask me dance even once! The MC announced the last song and that there would be a prayer after. Right as the song was starting I see Walker headed out the gym door with his coat, ready to go home. I keep on dancing with my friends all of a sudden, who comes up behind me but Walker Cook Vave! lol He asks me to dance and while we're dancing I can tell he's pretty nervous (he would probably tell you otherwise). He asks me what i'm doing Friday night and I guess i said nothing! Even though, now that i think of it, i think our date was on a Saturday.. Oh well! We actually ended up double-dating just a couple days before on Thursday with one of his buddies who was also going on a first date and i think was kinda nervous, so he asked Walker to double with him to lighten the mood. So really, our first date was bowling on Thursday, and then on Saturday (or Friday, who knows!) we carved pumpkins, he gave me a tour of the OSU stadium and locker room (no body was in there, don't worry!) and i think we watched a movie and ended the night with a trip to Mcy D's! lol We continued to talk and date and made it official on November 4 2008! Yay!
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| My talented bro and sis in-law took our engagement pics. They were taken in the same rose garden where Walker propose. |
So there is alot more that happened up until our engagment, but i'll just get to the nitty gritty. Walker knew i liked flowers, and he wanted to propose on a date that was significant. So, the day before my birthday, July 17, 2010 Walker took me to the rose gardens in Avery Park in Corvallis. I most definitely had a clue that something was going on because he had been acting kind of sneaky, and when i talked to him on the phone, he said "Wear something nice." I asked him "why can't i just wear sweats, or something comfy?" He said "No! You've got to wear something nice!" Almost like he thought i was trying to sabotage his plans. lol We went to the gardens and walked around. He was SO nervous! Finally i suggest that we go sit down somewhere. He asks if i would like my brithday gift early. He tells me to close my eyes. When i open them, there he is on bended knee with a ring in his hand. He asks me to marry him, and what do i do? I bury my face in my hands and start sobbing! lol But not in the way that he thought! He kept asking me "Well.. Will you?" Later he told me that he thought i was crying because I was going to say no. Even though i was half expecting what was coming, i couldn't contain my emotions and errrrrthing came out.. Poor guy.. lol afterwards, we headed to the car, not really sure what to think. We were engaged now! But it didn't really feel all that different.. My brother said they were going to have a small birthday gathering for my birthday at his place. Bless his heart, he can't hide those kind of things very well. So Walker and I drove to the house that Erik (my bro) shared with a few other guys that were away for summer vacay. We pull up and there are more than just a few cars. Walker, along with Sofie (my younger sis) and Erik, had planned a suprise birthday/ engagement party! After the party, Walker and I headed over to my parents to share the story of how it happened! Walker left the next day for Hawaii where he shared the news with his parents and family.
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| Our beautiful wedding in Hawaii. <3 |
So like any newly engaged couple, we did nothing. lol Well, we had finally set the date for the following July in Hawaii. About 6 months before the wedding, we started getting things together and figuring out plans. Walker's family and friends planned most of the wedding, and for that, we are eternally grateful! Honestly, we only set the date with the temple, picked the colors, organized our dances, got our own attire and payed for our tickets. The rest was basically his family! Even my family who had expected to start helping as soon as they got of the plane were told to kick back and relax! The trip was an unforgettable one for them. (There is SO much that i am missing and not talking about, but i don't think i have much more time.. I think one day i'll try to gather all of the memories from our wedding, for right now, i'll just say this:) On July 23, 2011 in the Laie, Hawaii temple, Walker and i were eternally sealed to one another. I will never forget how beautiful it was in that sealing room surrounded by our closest family and friends. I'll never forget how heavenly it looked in that beautiful room and i'll never forget the face of our sealer, brother Vanisi. He may not even remember us, but he will always be in my heart. I remember him telling us that a marriage is not between two people, but three. There is the man, the woman, and God. Later on I realize that the ring Walker had given me has three diamonds on it with the middle one as the biggest. Every time I look at my beautiful ring I am reminded of the beautiful wisdom he gave us.
Well! There it is for the most part! Like I said, there are so many things that i missed but i'll just have to record all of the rest in my journal! I think that's all for tonight! Chao!
