Grateful she said YES!

I had decided that I wanted to propose at Big Springs back in April, but up until last Friday I didn't know any specifics of what I wanted to do beyond that. As soon as I heard the idea of putting together a time capsule I knew it was the thing to do, so I casually suggested it to Jamie and planned the date up the canyon. 

On the morning of Saturday the 14th we put together our time capsule at her house and made sandwiches for our hike. It was super fun remembering all of the fun times that we have shared over the past year. We included in our time capsule a lot of little things that reminded us of things that we've done together. We also wrote letters to each other to be read in 5 years. I'm actually really curious to read what Jamie wrote, but I guess I have to wait. :)

After getting everything ready we drove up the canyon to Vivian park where we took a right and followed the curvy road up the canyon until we reached Big Springs. There we parked and started up the same trail that we hiked a couple of days before I left for Chicago. It was a beautiful fall day with leaves just starting to change colors and the ground still damp from a morning drizzle. I was hoping to find the same spot where we stopped in April where a little stream splits into two for about 20 feet and then comes back together again; however the vegetation had completely changed since spring so we never did find that same spot.

About a mile up the trail it started pouring rain. Luckily I had packed an umbrella so we didn't get drenched, but about that time we reached the edge of a huge mountain meadow. We didn't feel safe crossing the meadow under an umbrella in a thunderstorm so we wandered into a beautiful little campsite just off of the trail. There we sat on a fallen tree under our umbrella singing and chatting for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop. It was so much fun that we didn't even notice when the rain finally did stop for quite a while. When the sun came out we spread a blanket out in the meadow and had a relaxing picnic in the warm sunlight. 

Then we went back into our little clearing off of the trail and dug a hole under a fallen tree by where we were sitting. There we buried the time capsule. Then while Jamie found a couple of rocks to put on top, I carved our initials in the tree above the hole. When we were finished I held her tight and with shaking knees I decided the time was right to pop the question. 

I began by remembering how impressed I was upon getting to know her last fall. I spoke about how my love only grew as we spent more time together. I told her how the Lord had shown to me in the temple about how I would know it was right if I felt closer to her as I drew closer to the Lord. I shared with her my desire to spend the rest of my life by her side, and I expressed my desire to someday grow to love her as the Lord loves her. Then I got on one knee, pulled out her ring and asked her to be my wife. I cannot express my complete happiness and joy when she cried out that she would and hugged me so fast that she hardly even saw the ring. I then sang “I swear” by John Michael Montgomery to her as I held her tight. 

We spent the next couple hours taking pictures and planning for the future. We planned to go to the temple that night, but we got back too late so we ended up going out for Thai food instead. What a perfect day it was! I don't think I have ever been so happy in my life! I can't wait to marry the love of my life in the house of the Lord!