I Said Yes!!

On Tuesday, August 9th, 2011, Andrew Christiansen asked me to marry him. And I said yes!

The ring!

Here's how he asked:
We frequently go on hikes together (Dry Canyon, Battle Creek Canyon, Provo Canyon, The Y, Stewart Falls...), so him asking me if I wanted to go on a hike with him was nothing out of the ordinary. We took a longer route getting to the canyon than normal, but started off the hike as normal. See, when we hike, we try to find the colors of the rainbow along the trail. It can't be something you brought with you or that you are wearing. And the sky does not count, because it's not exactly ON the trail. There were a trillion (definition: a large undetermined number) caterpillars in silky webs on the way up, and yellow was definitely well represented that day.

We finally made it to the top of the waterfall. For a second I thought we were going to cross and go across the ledge we had gone across on our first date, but since the water was unusually high it's probably a good thing we didn't cross to the other side so we could go on to the lookout area. However, there at the bank of the water was a vase of flowers and a small cooler that had a note attached to it with heart stickers that said, "For a couple of great people!"

The vase of flowers at the top of the waterfall.
Pictures taken by Andrew's brother, Tom, who had brought them up beforehand.

Andrew got down to where they were laying, then turned to me and knelt on one knee. "Elizabeth (he used my full name), will you marry me?"
I'm not sure if my yes was actually audible, but apparently it worked, because he put the ring on my finger and then kissed me. I then picked up the vase of flowers and carefully made my way back down to the bottom of the falls, Andrew carrying the small cooler beside me. We had lunch at the bottom of the falls, with mist spraying lightly on us. It was amazing :)

Halfway through eating, a lady approached us. "Hey!" she greeted us warmly. " So, what are you two up to?"
"He asked me to marry him," I told her, smiling, and showed her my ring.
"Oh my goodness, that is gorgeous!" she said, smiling widely. "We were kind of guessing that's what happened. Well, congratulations!"
"Thank you!" we both said as she left, the group of children that had been with her leaving as well.

My gorgeous ring ;)

After we finished, we sat and enjoyed the breeze and each others company for a while before heading back to the car slowly. Along the way, another group, with a bunch of scouts, two women, and two little girls stopped us. "We just saw you walking down with the flowers and everything, and my daughter just said that it was romantic," the woman told us, smiling. "Is there any special occasion?"
"Actually..." I paused, then held out my hand for her to see, leaving the meaning clear.
"Oh my goodness!! That's fantastic! (Her daughter's name), come look at this!! He just asked her to marry him!"
The little girl looked at my ring shyly, then went back to the group.
"I should have figured. You two are just glowing! Well, congratulations!!! Have a great day!!"
We thanked them, then finished hiking back.

The rest of the day was spent driving all around town telling people the good news.

We're getting married December 17th, and I'm leaning heavily towards the Draper temple.

Side view of the ring

Lilies and a rose from the bouquet