Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Our engagement hike

As everyone (at least who's in the immediate family or is on facebook) knows by now - Ryan and I got engaged this past Sunday. Somehow he actually managed to surprise me, which I didn't think would be possible. I had plenty of ideas, but it turns out he was one step ahead of me and managed to totally fake me out.

See, we've had the diamond for awhile now and it's been residing in my jewelry box. Every time I opened up my jewelry box to get earrings or whatever, I'd see the diamond. So, on this particular day (though I had thought it would be a good day to propose) I also knew that the diamond was still in the jewelry box. But sneaky guy that he is, he had replaced the diamond with a cubic zirconium so that I wouldn't notice it was missing (and no, I never took a good enough look at it to notice it was a fake.)

So, unbeknownst to me, we left to go on our hike at Little Grand Canyon in southern Illinois. Ryan was cool as a cucumber on the drive there and actually slept half of the way so I really had no idea what was up. But when we actually got out on the trail, he began asking me all kinds of questions about marriage and I started to wonder....

He popped the question at the bottom of the canyon (yes, the dogs were there) and we got to spend the next few hours climbing our way back out and trading stories about all the sneaky things he had done and all the suspicions I had. It was perfect!

It's slowly starting to sink in that we're officially engaged now and my mind is whirring with all the details (which, according to the wedding planning books, we're already several months behind on!) :-)

Here are some pictures from our "engagement hike" as I have now dubbed it.

 It is such a pretty trail! I highly recommend it, especially this time of year!

 Tuesday, taking a break in some leaves.

 Me being silly and trying to figure out a way to show off the ring!

 Our lovely engagement pic. Ha! Can't beat being nice and sweaty!

 Ryan and his followers.

 Just another pretty shot.

And for those who want to see a slighly better picture of the ring - here you go. I LOVE it!

William's birthday

I'm way behind on posts, so you'll have to bare with me as I catch up (maybe), but here are some videos/pictures I've been wanting to share of William's birthday last Friday.

The koala food was adorable, but unfortunately it took a litle too long to prepare for William's taste.

 However, when the cake came out, he was revived.

Check out those big eyes now!


Riding on his new super-cool fire truck!


Enjoying the new tunnel!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Halloween has gone to the dogs

For the second year running our dogs have taken first place at the Happy Dog Spot halloween costume contest!
Tuesday was our little shark. (Personally, I think this particular picture makes her look like the shark is eating her rather than her being the shark.)

And Irie was our diver (or I suppose more accurately, our snorkler.) She was wearing her life vest and my snorkel and mask.

Together they were quite the pair!

 Our proud pups!