Engagement Anniversary

Today we celebrated our 5 year engagement anniversary! I realize not a lot of people remember or celebrate this kind of thing but I always remember it being on my parents' calendar growing up and so I am going with tradition and honoring ours as well. Plus Graham's proposal was pretty over-the-top-amazing so I think it is worth reminiscing. He had no idea what day it was today but I whisked him away with a trunk full of gear and told him I had a little surprise for him. Apparently he connected the dots once we hit the highway to Edmonds and figured out what was going on. This time we had Isla and baby-to-be along which I feel is so fitting--if it hadn't been for this big day 5 years ago, these 2 little people would not be a part of our lives!

I packed a lunch of the "gourmet sandwiches" mentioned below (Shrimp Sandwiches w/ Mango Salsa and Avocado Spread on Baguette)--this time I was determined we would get to eat them!

I'm re-posting an old e-mail that I wrote shortly after the proposal occurred. It's a great reenactment of that wonderful day.

"Big events just don't seem to cease with me lately....Last Thursday was a big day. Things were looking pretty serious with Graham and I but then a few days ago, he gave me this huge talk that he needed more time because he really wanted to have a place to live, have found a church etc. before he proposed. I was so bummed because he's been looking for a place for 6 months + !! Then on Thursday night we went on our weekly date. We'd spent about an hour making these gourmet sandwiches and a nice salad to take for our picnic. I put the sandwiches in the oven to keep them warm while we packed everything else. We arrived at the beach only to find I'd left them in the oven! I was so frustrated with myself and the fact that we didn't have our yummy sandwiches (figures I'd be paying attention to the food....) that I didn't even notice he was acting nervous. We were at a sandy beach overlooking the ocean with a ferry boat just coming into the dock (Edmonds). Anyway, we were busy reading something together and all of a sudden, in the middle of his sentence, he started looking up toward the sound of an airplane. Since he was in the middle of talking, I followed his eyes and looked up too. There was a nice airplane flying above us---that was all I saw. Then I realized it was one of those planes that flies with a banner behind it and I started thinking, how cool, somebody is going to get a message! Then as I started paying closer attention, I saw that the banner read "Kelsie I love you. Will you marry me?" It didn't occur to me for a brief moment that it was MY name with MY spelling on the sign! When it finally clicked, I looked at Graham and saw he was smiling and said (and I quote): 'ARE YOU SERIOUS!??' Then he asked me to marry him and gave me a beautiful ring. The whole beach began to applaud (as well as the people lining the ferry dock). I looked up to realize Lani's fiance had been hiding in the bushes taking pictures of the whole thing. Graham then ran to his car to get his guitar and some sparkling cider to celebrate. He played me a song that he wrote with the whole beach audience. When I got up afterwards to go to the ladies room, a couple women came running up to me to say congrats and to see my ring. Graham's family then appeared from the other side of the ferry where they'd been hiding. Graham said that apparently about 4 planes flew over us before the actual plane and so every time he heard a sound, his heart would pound and he would casually try and look up and see if it had a sign---I didn't even notice. :o) What a fun week! I was all smiles..."

Here we were then (at an engagement party the next day 8/18/06)

And now! (8/17/11)

Still so happy together.... :)