Guess what, guys and gals?!?! These two lovely people pictured above are ENGAGED! Yes, my youngest brother Stephen proposed to his girlfriend Emily on April 11th, bringing the Walther engagement count to two, and we could not be any more excited!
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| Aww...look how young they are! |
Stephen and Emily through the years
Now, Stephen had been working on his engagement plans for a while. Unbeknownst to Emily, he drove up to her parents' one weekend and asked for their permission to marry their daughter. We made it a Walther family day to go down to IW Marks to buy the ring back in February (in fact I had to watch what I was putting on Instagram so Emily didn't know Stephen was in town with us). But what we were really waiting to hear about from Stephen was the final game plan for the big day, April 11th. He had kept changing his mind about what he wanted to do (there was a scavenger hunt involved at one point), but he did always know that he wanted the engagement part to be a private moment between him and Emily. So at 2 AM on April 11th, Stephen texted us all that he had changed his plans yet again and had proposed to Emily earlier that evening at 12:15 AM!
THE ENGAGEMENT STORY - STEPHEN'S POINT OF VIEW
A few months ago, I decided that I was going to propose to
Emily on April 11, 2015. I chose this date because of the fact that 4 plus 11
is 15, which is perfect since we are Class of ’15. So the planning began and
everything was going smoothly until the 10 day weather forecast started showing
that there was a 90% chance of rain on the 11th. For the next 10
days, I continually checked the weather to see if anything had changed. When it finally
got to Friday, I was starting to get a little stressed out that it would be
raining while I was trying to propose to Emily. So as I was driving home from
work that day, I began to think, “What if I just propose to Emily after midnight
tonight?”
My friend Tyler met me at home, and I began to tell him my idea and he
told me to go for it! Tyler and I went to eat burgers over in Paige, and we
decided that on our way back we would stop at the George Bush Library and make sure
that the path was lit up and everything would work out how I wanted it to.
After confirming those details, we then had to figure out how we
were going to get Emily all dressed up without being obvious. And after talking
with Tyler and Brandon, we realized that a bunch of guys could not come up with
a good excuse.
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| The setup at the gazebo |
Luckily, Emily texted me and told me that she was going to go
hangout with our friend Brittany for the night. I immediately called Brittany
and filled her in on what my plans were. Despite me just dumping all of this on
her at the last minute, Brittany assured me that they would take care of it. So for
the next hour and a half, Brittany was sending me updates on how they were
coming along with getting Emily dressed up. Needless to say it was a struggle,
but it ended up working out perfectly. I then drove out to the George Bush
Library and set up two chairs and some candles underneath the gazebo behind the
library. The water in the pond was calm, the flowers were in full bloom, and I
was ready to propose. Leaving my friends on guard at the gazebo, I left to go
pick up Emily from her house.
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| The happy couple! |
When I arrived, Emily answered the door, and I
asked her if she wanted to go on an adventure with me. So, we hopped in the
truck and off we went. The entire car ride I was just trying to keep her
distracted from where we were going in hopes of her not figuring it out. When
we parked at the George Bush Library, I opened her door, and we began to walk
towards the park. We reminisced about taking our partner pictures here many moons
ago, but it was just another ploy of mine to keep her distracted so that she
wouldn’t see the gazebo before we walked down the steps. As we made our way
around the pond, I could tell that she was beginning to catch on to what was
happening.
We sat down in the chairs, and I began to wash her feet and pray for
her and for our relationship. We then sat and talked for a little bit as I
began to tell her how much she meant to me and how I was ready to show her how
much she means to me. I then got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, and
she, of course, said yes! The rest of the night was filled with hugs, kisses,
celebrating with those who had made the night possible, and repeatedly saying
the phrase, "It’s real!" So a decision
on the way home from work that day turned into one of the most memorable
moments of our relationship and the beginning of a new chapter in our lives.
THE ENGAGEMENT STORY - EMILY'S POINT OF VIEW
Friday evening, I had planned on getting dinner with some
friends since I knew Stephen was hanging out with Tyler. My dinner plans fell
through though, so I decided to go to Brittany’s house to hang out with some
people. As I was driving down my street, she called me and informed me that
they were all coming to my house instead. Unfazed, I turned my car around and
went back home.
We spent a couple hours just talking about life, and then they
asked if they could see the dress I had bought to wear on a fancy date with
Stephen. Brittany and Natalie proceeded to look through my entire closet, which
I thought was super strange. We sat in my room for a bit, and then Brittany
tossed me a shirt and sweater and told me that we were having a scavenger hunt
with exec for Impact. Even though it was almost midnight, Impact functions on
late night meetings, so I didn’t think there was anything going on. Brittany and
Natalie kept urging me to hurry, and I heard a knock on the door. The two of them shoved shoes on my feet, and I
went to open the door. Stephen was standing there dressed nicely, telling me
that it was just for fancy Friday (which our friends used to do, so I also
believed this). I honestly thought he was taking me to get some ice cream;
something we frequently do as a late night study break.
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| She said yes! |
He drove me out to the
George Bush Library where we had taken our partner pictures together as
freshman. We got out of the truck and laughed at all the silly stuff we did
that day as we walked to the park in the back. When we passed the building, I
saw the gazebo lit up with candles, and it looked so beautiful in the dark. We
walked over, and I saw there were two chairs. I sat down, and Stephen asked if he
could wash my feet and pray for me. It was such a meaningful example of how he
wanted to serve and love me.
After he finished and started talking about what I
meant to him, I realized what was happening and the rest of what he said was a
blur! Next thing I knew, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him, and I,
of course, did the oh-my-gosh-hand-cover-mouth pose, burst into tears, and said YES!
We kissed, and he motioned to our friends hiding to cheer, at which point I
jumped up and down because we had people to celebrate with. The best part was
that Stephen had only decided a few hours before to propose to me at midnight, since
it was supposed to rain the next afternoon. So in the midst of it being
completely planned out, it was still spontaneous too! It took me completely by
surprise and was magical!
THE NEXT AFTERNOON...
Now that wasn't the end of things because we had planned an engagement party for Saturday afternoon that Emily didn't know about either. Her parents were supposed to come visit her that same weekend, so you can imagine how disappointed she was when they called earlier in the week saying, "Dad had to work" ::wink, wink:: No worries, though; Stephen had told Emily that they were going to go on a fancy date to Messina Hof that Saturday evening. As he left to go pick up Emily for their date, we finished putting the last few touches together for the party at his house, and got his friends all congregated in the living room, ready for their arrival.
After going to pick her up, Stephen mentioned that he left his wallet at home (oh no!) and that they needed to circle back and get it. Emily, being the trusting soul that she is, didn't really question it even though it was weird for Stephen to be without his wallet, so his last surprise was safe as they turned on to the street which just happened to have a few more cars than usual on it. And she walked in, she sure was surprised to see all her family and friends there waiting to congratulate the newly engaged couple!
Of course, her family had made it in for the occasion (which just upped the emotional ante)! The rest of the night was spent celebrating the lovely couple as they start down this path together towards becoming husband and wife.
Lots of hugging ensued!
Even Stephen got some love!
More pictures of the festivities
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