Sarah and Tim get engaged!!

(April 21, 2013)

One of the best highlights from our trip to Oregon, occurred when we took a trip to Cannon Beach after our birthday breakfast at Camp 18. 

My sister and Tim started dating in January.  We were excitedly cheering for them along the sidelines, from a great distance, and thrilled to watch my sister fall in love and find true happiness.  Although our paths/families had crossed paths over several occasions in our past, (even our parents' attending the same high school in Eugene), we had never really met Tim.  Until April.  And when we finally met him, we were hooked.

The night before my dad's birthday celebration weekend, Tim got a hold of me secretly, to see about getting together with Brant and me for coffee the next morning.  Back up about 3 weeks prior.  Tim called me to tell me he had bought a ring and was hoping to propose within the next few months.  (Right.  Brant and I both knew that ring was going to burn a hole through his pocket, and it would happen a lot sooner than he was expecting!)  Fast forward back to our coffee meeting.  We managed to leave the kids with my dad (mom was in a meeting and Sarah was out for the day), and snuck over to a local coffee shop to find Tim.  Over the next 2 hours, we shared about our families, our personal lives and goals, and Tim expressed how he would like to propose to Sarah that weekend, while the family was all together.  You either can see where this is going, or you already know this entire story. :)  Either way, I'm going to speed up the story just a bit!

We made a plan to head to the beach after our breakfast at Camp 18.  Unfortunately, the weather at the beach is never the same as it is in Portland, so by the time we arrived, there was a steady drizzle, and it was slightly cold - definitely not a normal day for any of us to desire to "hit the beach and hang out!"  We convinced a slightly resistant Sarah (and my Dad), that it would be fun to just go and run around out there for a few minutes, since we had come "all this way."  The plan was for Tim to take Sarah on a walk, toward Haystack Rock, and propose along the way.  I was supposed to follow, secretly, with a camera to document the entire event.  Editor's Note: Remember, my lost camera? Yeah. So I was borrowing a very small point and shoot camera for our Oregon trip, with a lens that did not do too much in the zoom department.  Having to follow a couple along a walk on the beach - without being seen - and take pictures of them, was a difficult feat! 

Brant and I were the only ones who knew what was about to happen!...

Oh, and Tim, too.

Maddie and Geoffrey, loving the open beach - so different from SoCal beaches!

Sarah, looking a little concerned that they are just walking away from the family.  Tim?  He's a man on a mission.

Grandpa Pat, whipping some seaweed in the air, getting a rise out of Tucker...no idea what is about to happen.

Grandma Kris, and the girls, putting their toes in the water...again, just a typical afternoon at the beach, right?

And Geoffrey, exploring wet sand.

Walking toward Haystack Rock (I am sprinting, trying to get close enough, and stay far enough away where Sarah can't see me  This is not zoomed in).

This is zoomed in...hence, why I had to keep sprinting as they kept walking.

Finally!  They stop (not zoomed in).  I debate if I can get any closer, without my sister spying me.

She says by this point, she has a good idea what is about to happen.

He's down!!  One knee!!  I snapped this picture, then started running!

She must have said yes!!

Right after I took this picture, they turned around, and I started LOUDLY whooping and cheering!!!  I was SO happy to have witnessed this moment and shared it with them. 

My sister, with the man God has prepared so perfectly for her.  I could not be more happy!!

My parents finally just got clued into what happened (they were not sprinting like a mad person down the beach, the way I was - it was more like casual walking, not paying too much attention to why I was acting this way).

LOOK at that smile!!!

"Ellie? Do you see what Tim just gave me?" "Is it a wedding ring?" "Yes. Do you know what that means?" "It means Tim is joining our family!"  Smart girl. :)

What a beautiful day!