Today, I turn 35 years old.
I can't think of a better gift than to be a part of Jeremy's marriage proposal to Katie earlier this week down in Florida. I've known Jeremy for a long time. Almost 13 years ago, I had the tremendous privilege of marrying his sister. Emily has just about the greatest family ever... and I know a lot of people talk like that and don't mean it. I mean it. Getting to know and do life with Emily's family has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my life. And so when Jeremy texted me about photographing his proposal, I was absolutely thrilled.
Just a quick aside... Jeremy is a successful Air Force pilot who plays amazing guitar, sings and makes all of his Christmas gifts by hand in his wood shop. So he's a pretty great catch. Oh... and he's seriously jacked.
It was carefully planned. I would be hiding in a sandy ravine out of view. Jeremy had been talking about taking Katie to a special national park for a while. Conveniently, she asked him to bring along his guitar. So Jeremy would play a few songs and then tell Katie that he had to go pee. Apparently something he says a lot. He would meet me down the sandy ravine. I would hand him the ring and it would be game on.
He finished a special song he'd been working on and before he got to the end, he stopped. He got down on one knee. And then this happened.
There were a few others in on it as well. And they conveniently led the rest of the family (who had no idea) on a "scavenger hunt" to the same spot where the proposal had just taken place. Included was Katie's four year old daughter who got to hear some special news and got a special gift from Jeremy.
Two days later, we went to Fort Pickens Civil War Fort for a proper engagement session. I realize I haven't said much about Katie yet. I think I'll save that for their wedding blog post later this fall. But let's just say the whole family is so happy that Jeremy found Katie. Even mom. ;)
