The Proposal

Are you kidding me? Marry me? We had officially been dating for 5 days!!!! I laugh out loud just thinking about that. And the funniest part about all of this was that I found this out FROM HIS MOTHER! I honestly didn't think that MARRIAGE was something in our future, much less our immediate future!!! Anyway, it kind of freaked me out. I was only 21 at the time, and I have never thought I would even consider getting married until at least after college. But, now with this news, I had to think......do I really want to marry Hugh? I mean, the 7 year chase was fun and all, but now things are serious. Was this what I really wanted? Uh....duh! It took me about 2 seconds on my knees to figure that one out. YES!!! So, I went about my days trying not to think about when he might propose, and just relax with the thought that Hugh was finally my dream boyfriend!!! Love letters, beautiful flowers, grand gestures of romanticism....he really poured it on. And I took in every drop of it. It was awesome!!! I finished school for the semester and came home. We spent every waking moment together. I knew that Hugh didn't have the money to buy me a ring at the time, so I was pretty sure a proposal was a little far off. But, then, Hugh was not a very patient man. On December 22, 1991, while slow dancing in my living room in front of my Christmas tree, he asked THE QUESTION. "Toni, will you marry me?" I made him ask me again. "Toni, will you marry me???" AAAAHHHHHHHH!! Of course I said YES! I ran upstairs and awoke my mom. She was a little freaked out, to say the least. But happy for us. We set the date....November 6, 1992. This was a long time to wait. Especially when you are trying to "abstain"....if you catch my drift. But, we wanted to marry in the Temple and we had to wait until I had been a member of the church for an entire year, which would be on November 3, 1992. We started planning. (I've learned so much about wedding planning, I would give anything to do it all again!!) Our colors were hunter green and gold. Totally 1992. Oh, and about the ring.....he didn't give me one when he proposed. Didn't have the money, like I said. But, on Valentine's Day, he took me out....to the Temple, in fact, to walk around the beautiful grounds there. He sat me down and gave me this box. Not a small box, but a larger one. About the size of a big envelope. In it was a small bag his mom made for me. All white. Something for my wedding day. I started inspecting it, and inside of it I found a small, white heart shaped pillow. Small, like a Christmas ornament. I pulled it out, and flipped it over. And there it was. My ring. A beautiful 1/2 carat diamond solitaire on a gold band. Perfect. I couldn't believe it. It was official. I was engaged to Hugh. That November 6, we were married for Time and All Eternity in the Mesa Arizona Temple. And the rest is history......except....what made him change his mind about me? What led him to the Arizona Center that night to find me? Hmmmmm, that's another post.

Our first family function as a couple.

The Nutcracker. I was sooooo skinny!

The night after he gave me my ring. This was at his Grandparent's house. They had been heart attacked by their grown daughters. Love it.

One of our engagement pictures.

Another engagement shot.

Our wedding day.

On our way to Happily Ever After.