The Perfect Proposal

I can't help but think that on this date, 12 years ago, Ryan popped the question. It was 2 months after he got home from his mission to Argentina. Ryan was a little culture shocked when he got home, and it took him a while to get back to "normal". He was living in Utah with his family, and I was living in California with mine. He flew out to Cali for a visit, and I have to say that I was very much hoping that this would be it-he would ask me to marry him. Sure enough it was!! The second day of his visit, we decided to spend the day going to the coast, Goat Rock Beach to be exact (one of the main reasons it's my favorite beach). We walked and talked along the beach, when we stopped and sat down and really started talking about our relationship and how good it was and where it was going. He then got down on his knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. It's all history from there. The beginning of some of the most happiest times for me. I'm so grateful that we're still going strong today. Marriage is a lot of work they say, and it can be, but I feel extremely blessed to have someone that is easy to live with, easy to love, easy to get along with, easy to please, easy to agree with, and easy to look up to. I'm thankful every day that I have him, and being apart these past 4 weeks has made me even more appreciative for him and all that he does for me and for our children. I really would be nothing without him. So today's the day-the 4 weeks are over-Ryan will be flying home this evening. I'm taking him away for a couple days for some much needed time together. I can't wait to see him!!!

This picture was taken after we got back from the beach-I was getting ready to make Ry a special dinner-chicken mushroom crepes and I think I made some asparagus, and I can't remember what else!
The Sunday after he proposed-we were getting ready to go to the Single's ward in Santa Rosa where Ryan was asked to speak. (the bishop was a family friend and knew Ryan was in town).
This isn't our actual engagement picture for our invitations, but it's one of the many that we took. It's similar to the one we used, but I think I like this one better.