More June Photos & Videos

 

Brady and I loved visiting my cousin's wife, Christine, & her twin boys, Harrison & Henry, this month!  We also decided to get season passes to the amusement park down the road from where we live, which Dan and Tyler have had the past few summers.  It's so fun to meet up with friends there!

Making me happy this month...

The birthday note Brady made for his cousin, Julia, who recently turned 11...

Selfies with friends & family (both in color & in black & white!)...

My brother & sister-in-law celebrating 20 years (!!!) of marriage, and looking back on the gorgeous photos from their wedding...

Amusement Park photos...

New furniture, home decor, and a heart on our deck...

Brady's amazing artwork...

I love these selfies with Tyler SO much!  (Even though he was purposely making funny faces, I still think he looks adorable!)

I love this photo and video of Tyler biking on a pump track!  I told him that I promise to capture one of his jumps next time!

I love seeing Brady with his friends, Milton and Ella...

15 Years Ago Today!

 

I can't believe that Dan and I got engaged 15 years (!!) ago today!  I love the story of our engagement (even though it was a very crazy day!) and I feel like I have told this story over and over again.  In fact, it may be one of my favorite stories to tell!

Dan and I had been dating for 2 years and 8 months and we had been living together for over a year, but we had never, ever talked about getting married.  We had planned a trip to St. Thomas & maybe two weeks before we were scheduled to leave, I was watching Bridezillas & Dan said, "So how is the guy supposed to know what kind of ring to buy?" I said, "They ask her best friend!"

I remember my friend Vanessa visited us shortly before our trip, and I told her that I thought Dan was thinking about proposing and she said, "Maybe he'll propose in St. Thomas!" and I said, "No, there's no way...he can't get a ring that fast."  

Our travel day, like always, was full of unexpected complications.  Our first flight was fine, but our second flight was delayed two hours.  When we finally boarded the (rather small) plane, Dan seemed really stressed when he was told that they had to take his carry on suitcase, rather than keeping it with him.  I just figured he was stressed because he had a laptop in the suitcase.  There was a PDA loving couple near us on the plane and at one point I (somewhat jokingly) said to Dan, "We should be more like that!" 

When we finally landed in St. Thomas, our luggage was missing.  We took a cab to our hotel, we checked into our room, and we decided to go explore the property.  We'd had such a long day, and Dan doesn't share my love of picture taking, so I said, "You know what?  I'm not going to bring my camera," and he said, "No, you should bring it."  So I did, not thinking anything of his comment.  The hotel property was stunning & when we started walking along the shore, Dan took my hand.  I thought, "He's holding my hand because of what I had said about that couple on the plane!"  

We stopped in a gorgeous spot, and he said, "Sara..." I cannot remember what he said after that, but I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, he's proposing without a ring!" because there was no way in my mind that he could have had a ring.  But then he got down on one knee, he took out a ring box, and asked me to marry him!  When he opened the box, I saw a beautiful ring, that looked exactly like what I had described to my friend, Chrissy (in the hopes that Dan would call her for advice!)  I was shocked and so happy!  I'm so glad that our phones worked because I called my mom and said, "We're engaged!" (sounding just like Monica on Friends when she and Chandler got engaged!)  I'm so thankful to the sweet couple who was on the beach at that time, who snapped the photo of me & Dan!

We walked over to the restaurant near the beach and after a while I said to Dan, "So how did you get a ring that fast?" and he goes, "Well..."  It turns out that Dan (not really knowing anything about rings) had called Chrissy & they met up at Tysons Corner to go ring shopping.  When asked, "When are you planning to propose?" Dan replied, "On Monday...out of the country."  Most of them laughed and said it was impossible to get a ring that fast.  But bless the sweet lady at Christian Bernard who agreed to loan Dan the sample ring to use to propose, and then I'd be able to exchange it for the actual ring when it was ready in a few weeks.  The side stones of the sample ring were all real, but the actual diamond was fake.  (I LOVE to tell people that Dan proposed to me with a fake diamond ring!)

Of course during our stay in St. Thomas, Dan said, "You know, you seem SO happy with this ring, so maybe we should just keep this one and then we could save thousands of dollars!"  I politely declined.  Once I got my "real" ring, it looked exactly like the sample, only with a more sparkly center stone!  Dan said he wanted to propose on our first night in St. Thomas so he wouldn't have to stress about keeping the ring hidden, but by the end of the trip he realized it would've been best to wait until the last day.  Because what did I want to talk about nonstop during our vacation?  Wedding planning!

A Bro Trip & A Staycation

 

Tyler & Brady finished up their school year on a Thursday.  That Saturday, Dan & Tyler attended a BMX event (where they got to see some extreme tricks!) and then that Sunday, they headed to Hilton Head.  This was their third annual "Bro Trip".  Brady and I crashed their trip last year, but this year we opted for a "staycation".  Dan and Tyler had a great time going to the beach, eating out at different restaurants, and going to the pool.  Brady and I had a very busy week, but since Brady kept saying, "Dada?" wondering when Dan and Tyler would be back, I wrote him a schedule for the week so he could understand.  He was thrilled that his Gaga and Papaw came to visit us twice, & he loved playing in our little pool in the backyard.  We took a trip to Target & he had two ABA sessions - one at the center & one at home.  We also attended Brady's summer camp orientation.  We had to do some shopping (for a new rug!) after Brady got into my nail polish & decided to paint all of his nails & toenails!  ("Just like mama!")  I had phone dates with my friends, Megan, Nina, & Julie, & I took Brady to the playground at his new school!  Of course we were so happy once Dan & Tyler were back home!  (I could tell that Skye really missed them too!)

Highlights...

Getting my hair done!  (I consider myself to be very "old school" so I loved that it looked like the Rachel cut from Friends!)

I changed my desktop background to this photo & it makes me happy every time I use my computer...

Skye continues to amuse us...

Brady had a playdate with his friend, Madelyn...

I love these pictures of me with my boys...