My Sister is....

Engaged!!

During the Christmas Break, her boyfriend, Ben De Jesus came up to meet the family. Little did Natalie know, but he had the ring with him and had contacted me about how to propose to her while he was in Washington. (I was glad that he did, and before he contacted me, I almost contacted him to suggest proposing while in Washington. I didn't because Jeff told me that he should be able to choose when he proposed, and I agree, it was sweeter that he came up with it on his own.) Natalie was totally caught by surprise because she didn't think he would be able to pick up the ring until after they were already back at school.

On January 2, Natalie and Ben went out to eat, and while they were gone, we got things ready. Jeff and I went to pick up the roses, and then Mom and I got things all cleaned up. We got the room, "in the mood" with lights and got the CD that Ben had made all set up. Then we took pictures. :) Mom, Natalie's friend Rachael, and I all had fun with our cameras and took TONS of them!



Ben wrote a poem entitled, My Angel, and had it in this frame. It looked really nice and was a beautifully written poem. Throughout the poem there were red highlighted letters that when you put them together spelled out, "Will you marry me?" It was very sweet!
I really liked how the box looked next to the berries.

As you can tell, I was having too much fun with this. I really like how the light stands out on this one.
I was trying to get the picture of the Mesa temple in this shot with the ring, as that is the temple that they are going to be married in.
The whole room. The only thing missing in this one is the candles in the fireplace aren't lit. Later we lit them and it added a wonderful affect to the room.
While checking to make sure that the CD was going to work, Lydia started dancing in the living room. She was really sad when we turned it off and made her go out.
We recieved a text message from Natalie and Ben when they were finished with dinner so that we would know they were headed home. by the time they got back, we were all down in the family room, and we had the music going. By the time my mom was sure that Ben had proposed, she sneaked a couple of pictures (hopefully she'll post some of them on her blog eventually). This is one of the first pictures that I got after they walked in to see the family!
Another cute picture of the newly engaged couple.

We are excited to have you as part of our family Ben!! They will be getting married May 26, 2009, in the Mesa Arizona Temple.

Here is Natalie's more detailed version of the proposal!

That is our final written segment from, A Washington Christmas (Unless Jeff adds any, or I may add video, I haven't decided). Natalie and Ben left the day after he proposed, and then our little family were the only ones left. It was nice to be able relax a little bit before coming back to all of our craziness at home!