Got Engaged :)

I am writing this post in hopes I will beat Jen to the punch. Really though I am just beating her to posting as she sent out a MASS email earlier today letting all of her friends know about what happened over the weekend while we were visiting her parents in California. She also included a picture we took while there. One more thing, only about five people who read this post anyway: Jen and four of her friends. So much for me being the first to share this wonderful news to the WORLD.

Most of you have how our relationship got started so I will go over the events of the day according to me. Friday morning we attended the LA Temple and did an endowment session. I was hoping to have talked with Jen's father before we went so that I could ask her after attending the temple. I think it would have been nice to be on the temple grounds to do the asking. Since the opportunity to talk with her dad had not presented itself I needed to wait.

After we had gotten back from the temple her father and nephew were sitting in the kitchen eating lunch. This did not seem like a very good time to ask so I abided my time. After they had finished lunch I was playing with Jen's nephew and her father was cleaning up the kitchen. I think he knew I wanted to talk with him and he was making himself available for me to ask him. It wasn't until an hour or so later, when we were all sitting and relaxing, that I got up the nerve to finally bring up the subject of marriage. I was somewhat nervous but knew I needed to talk with him. His response was that Jen is a big enough girl to make her own decisions. I felt like that was him giving us his permission and blessing.

As a side note, Jen and I had talked about going to the Griffith observatory sometime during out trip. I had been there before and Jen, who grow-up in LA, had not. I wanted to go again and she expressed the desire to attend for the first time. Jen thought that I would ask her while there instead of at the beach. This worked out well because Jen suspected nothing while we were at the beach Friday night.

So, after we had dinner with her family we took off to the beach to watch the sunset. We had about 30 minutes at the beach. While there we waded in the water and watched the wave’s crash against the shore. It was enjoyable to be there with Jen; feeling the sand in our toes and the water at our feet, hearing the waves crash on the shore, and seeing the sun as it set on the horizon. This was the perfect time to ask the question. I had my back to Jen while I pulled the ring out of my pocket, I turned around and started to get down on one knee, and before I could even ask the question Jen said, "YES". After putting the ring on her finger we kissed and took in the beauty of the moment.

Later on I was thinking I should have let Jen's family know I was going to ask her at the beach. This way the could have followed us to watch if they had wanted to. Oh well, it was a romantic evening and I am glad we are finally engaged and can move forward with wedding plans. And, spend the BIG BUCKS so all of our family and friends can celebrate this special day with us.