Engaged!!!

Yep, Natalie is engaged! All of this happened last week, and I'm just now taking time to blog about it. Ready for the details???

Nat and Brandon met during band rehearsals before the first week of school at ETBU last year. I remember her calling me to tell me that she had a date with a great guy one of the first weekends she was in school. She was incredibly excited about it...more excited than she had been about anything in a while. They continued to date, and spent time with us and with his family in Baytown through their first year at school. It was pretty obvious from the start that Brandon and Natalie had a special relationship, so we weren't at all surprised when Brandon asked for time to talk to Chris and me a couple of months ago. He was incredibly nervous and very sweet when he asked our permission to marry Natalie. It was obvious that he put a lot of prayer and thought into his decision to marry her. The hardest part was keeping it a secret for two months!

Natalie flew to Houston to spend some time with Brandon the week before Christmas. Brandon's plan was to take her to Galveston to spend some time on the beach and then to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Nothing about that was unusual or surprising for Nat. What she didn't know was that he was going to propose on the beach around sunset. How romantic!!! He asked and of course she said yes. I don't think the smile has left her face since Wednesday!

Here's the cool part for us - Not only were Nat and Brandon having dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, but his parents, his sister and her husband, and Chris and I met them at the restaurant. Nat and Brandon got to the restaurant just before we did (our flight was over an hour late), and they were at the door getting ready to go in when we arrived. Nat saw the truck drive up, but she had no idea we were with Brandon's parents. She couldn't believe we were there. It was a great surprise for her, and we were thrilled to be with her on this special night. Dinner was great, and we spent time on the beach taking pictures as Nat and Brandon recreated the whole proposal. It was a wonderful night.