I am engaged to Heath Higby! Here is my side of our engagement story...
It was normal, cool fall day after Thanksgiving. Heath asked if I wanted to go on a hike since he was off work and I had had a short day at the hospital. I was anxious to spend some time outside so of course I said yes. We agreed to go up to the Bronco Trailhead in the Tonto National Forest towards Seven Springs. On the way there, I convinced poor Heath that there was a cool canyon that we should try hiking only to find that it was choked with plants and was awful to hike in. It was a bad detour. After about 20 minutes of not going anywhere fast, we aborted the mission and headed back to the car and our original plan.
We got to Bronco Trailhead and started our hike in at about 2:30. We had loved hiking this trail before since it was nice, but not too pristine. It was just a plain and simple trail with lovely views and scenery. There are a couple of places where you can see the city way off to the south, some little desert meadows, and some valleys there that you would have never imaged being there. It is a beautiful hike.
The last time we hiked out here, we had come to a ridge that had been burned in the big fire a few years ago now and found an old burned up tree with a brach laying off to the side. We made ourselves a makeshift bench out of it and watched the sunset. We had returned here to enjoy another sunset and watch the cold front blow in.
Heath had his jet boil with him and made us some hot chocolate with the cute little marshmallows in it. I so appreciated it since it was starting to get coooler. It began to get darker and so I said that we should start hiking back soon since I didn't want dad to start worrying. He worrries more than mom. Heath looked a little disappointed, so I said that we could stay for a few more minutes but he considered me before himself and said that we really should go anyway.
On our way in and also on the way out, we had talked on and off about getting married. Heath had asked me about what I thought would be a cool way to be proposed to. I told him that I didn't really care ho he did it so long as it was a surprise. And I told him that he'd better have his camera! As it grew darker, the light of the moon grew brighter and added to the light that we shed on the trail with our headlamps.
As we got closer to the trailhead, we stopped to look at the city lights briefly and then continued on down the trail. All of a sudden, Heath stopped and pointed my attention to the sky. "Wow. Look at the moon," He said. I looked up and there was a giant ring around the moon. I didn't remember ever seeing anything like it before. I was amazed and stared at it for a couple of minutes before I looked back at Heath to see what he thought.
When I looked back to where he had been standing, I had to look down to find him. He had kneeled in the middle of the trail next to me and had a ring, glittering in the moonlight in his hand. I was so shocked. He asked me if I would marry him and through both tears of joy and laughter, I said yes. For the next twenty minutes I cried and then laughed and then cried and then laughed again. It had definitely been a surprise. And he remembered the camera. :^)
We took a picture of the two of us with the ring around us and the moon behind. Then we prayed together. We thanked God for bringing us together and for all that we have been blessed to learn and grow with each other in. We prayed for each other. We prayed for our kids and for our future. It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful moment in my life so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment