Newlyweds Love Cheyenne Frontier Days So Much They Honeymooned There

Here’s a couple who loves Cheyenne Frontier Days so much, they spent part of their honeymoon there.

Newlyweds Sheena (Krehbiel) Kothe and Trey Kothe have a pretty good reason for that — Cheyenne Frontier Days is where the Kansas girl met this Missouri boy two years ago and they fell in love.

“So, my cousins make it an annual thing where they come out from the Midwest every year to Cheyenne Frontier Days,” Sheena told Cowboy State Daily. “And my cousin Chase brought his best friend along two years ago, who is Trey, and now my husband.”

Trey, meanwhile, describes himself as a “country kid” who grew up around rodeos and had heard a lot about the world-famous “Daddy of ’em All” CFD rodeo, though he’d never been to it.

“We always went to the Sidney one in Iowa,” he said. “So obviously, I was excited to come to Cheyenne Frontier Days for the first time. And what I remember about that year was a lot of going, and seeing, all the things around Cheyenne.”

They Meet

Sheena didn’t make it easy for Trey.

“When I got to her brother’s house and I introduced myself to everybody, she was the only one who didn’t like look at me when she shook my hand,” Trey said. “She just kind of like ignored me while still scrolling on her phone.”

That continued on through hiking in the Snowy Range and Vedauwoo, but eventually during one of the Professional Bull Riders nights they were seated next to each other.

“That’s where the conversation started between the two of us, back and forth about different things,” Trey said. 

It wasn’t until the next to last concert of the week, Eric Church, that the two really began to hit it off, though.

“So, my biggest memory of the week is post Eric Church, just two-stepping through the carnivals and through Frontier Park,” Trey said.

“He two-stepped me all night,” Sheena said laughing, and agreeing that’s what finally won her over.

“We just kind of like started to have a little crush on each other,” Sheena said. “And then I actually walked up to him — and he’s so tall, because he’s 6-foot-7 — and I stood up on the bleacher behind him and I said, ‘Are you gonna kiss me or not?’”

It was game-over from there, Sheena said. 

When You Know, You Know

It was during the next Cheyenne Frontier Days that Trey talked to Sheena’s father to ask his permission to marry her.

“It was him and her brother, so I talked to both of them,” Trey recalled. “And then I ended up going to buy the ring.”

With Sheena’s birthday in September, Trey had some time to plan things out and do something special.

For Sheena’s birthday, the family all gathered in Cheyenne to hang out. 

“I went up to Snowy Range just west of Laramie and then I texted Sheena and her mom to come meet us up there in the mountains,” Trey said. 

The lake is a special place to Sheena and her family. 

“Growing up as kids, we’d always walk around there because it’s so beautiful out there,” Sheena said. “So we always, my family and I, always went hiking around there, and we had taken Trey out there before, too.”

That made it the perfect location for Trey to propose, Sheena said, adding that, “It’s so spectacular out there.”

Living In Wyoming A ‘No-Brainer’

With the engagement, though, there was a little bit of a debate on where the couple should live. 

“My family farm is in Missouri,” Trey said. “So, there was a debate whether we were going to stay in the Midwest or move West.”

Ultimately, the couple decided Wyoming would be a no-brainer.

“I’m a personal crop contractor, so I knew I could find work out here. And (with) Sheena’s family business being fireworks, it made sense for her to open up a new location in Lander,” Trey said. “But I’ve also always loved the mountains and I’m always telling myself big excuses to move or travel West, so the opportunity to come out here, it was a no-brainer to come to the mountains and to the wild West.”

During their discussions there was also a mini-debate about which state has the prettiest mountains, Colorado or Wyoming.

“I have family who live near Dillon, Colorado,” Trey said. “So, she and I early on had big debates on which mountains look better.”

That debate was ended after the couple’s first trip to Jackson together. 

“We went out there and celebrated her birthday up in Jackson,” Trey said. “And that was my first time in the Tetons. (They’re) definitely breathtaking. And so she was the one who introduced me to that beautiful part of Wyoming. It’s definitely a special place now.”

Sheena, meanwhile, who is originally from Kansas, had no doubt the couple should live in Wyoming.

“Wyoming, to me, truly has always been my second home,” she said. “We used to come out here every summer growing up as kids, and then I’ve lived here now for five years. In my mind, the only answer was Wyoming.”

Wedding In The Tetons A Childhood Dream

Growing up, Sheena fell in love with the Tetons long before she met Trey, and always knew that’s where she wanted to get married someday.

She got her wish and realized her dream July 22 when she married Trey at the Snake River Ranch in a small, intimate wedding of 50 guests. 

Afterward, the couple had a party at the Million Dollar Bar in Jackson before finally heading toward Cheyenne for Frontier Days.

“I’m still pinching myself that my dream has become reality,” Sheena told Cowboy State Daily. 

The couple planned trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as some time at Cheyenne Frontier Days, for their honeymoon, before returning home to Lander.

“We know Wyoming is going to be a good home for us, and that’s why we chose Lander,” Trey said.

“It’s kind of between Jackson Hole where we got married — our favorite spot — and then our other favorite spot, Cheyenne Frontier Days,” Sheena said. “We’re kind of smack dab in the middle of both of those, and we love to call Lander home. Wyoming in general is very special to us.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.