a month's (ish) worth of pictures

The last time I posted, my sister had just gotten engaged. Obviously a lot has happened since then, since that was over a month ago. And now with my trip to Washington Family Ranch fast approaching (as in I leave day after tomorrow!) I figured I should get caught up on posting pictures before I have 5 million from camp. So here is a (sorta-but-not-really in order) batch of pictures that sorta show what I have been up to. 

 Okay, I seriously miss this dude. (And I love this picture that our friend Hannah took.) He is gone at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA. for six weeks of training. Keep him in your prayers, will ya? 

I have been watching these kiddos (and their cat, apparently) off and on. They are such sweeties, and I love all the random stuff we do together (bouncing on the trampoline, spur-of-the-moment tea parties in the sunshine, water fights, bike rides, etc., etc.)

A random selfie with my cousin and my brother's girl on our coffee-and-pedicure girl's day. (Although when this picture was taken, they weren't dating yet...so you can imagine the conversations that took place that day.)

 Wedding dress shopping with my big sister (and my mama).

My little cousin was part of the color guard at the SAR graduation this year. 

St. Paul rodeo/fair with my big brother and some friends a couple days before he left for OCS.

 As much as bucking hay is hot/sweaty/itchy work, I really do love it. I love the beauty of it, the manual labor of it, the quality time spent with the people you are working with, and the conversations you can have. (Especially when it is just you and your brother working together.) 

I would really, really appreciate prayer for these people. My grandpa has been having a lot of health issues and is currently in the hospital with more stuff (hopefully headed back to the Mennonite Home today). And grandma is tirelessly by his side, taking care of him. Please be praying for strength and health from grandma, for wisdom for the doctors, and for grandpa's body to respond and heal. Thanks, guys.

I took my sister and future brother-in-law's engagement photos. (See more here.)

 My baby just keeps growing up!

 Oh yeah. I am now a certified barista at Starbucks! (If you come and visit me at work, you will be my favorite person ever. Well...at least for the moment.)

 Seriously though, how did I get so blessed to live in this beautiful place??

Coast trip with my big sister and my un-officially adopted big sister.

 One should never leave the coast without a pocket full of shells.

 Keeping Grandpa's birds happy so they are here for him when he comes home.

 Home.

I miss that dude.

 That black blob is the newest addition to the family. (She refused to hold still for a picture, so this was the best I could do for the moment.)

 Aaaaand one more picture that just proves the theory that I live in the most beautiful place ever.

I'm off to pack for Washington Family Ranch. Have a wonderful day, everybody!

the one where my sister gets engaged

It was the moment he said "I have something to tell you guys, but I want to wait till Matt gets here." That was the moment I knew my sister was going to get married. 

That moment led into figuring out the where and how. (Side note: I am really thankful my sister found a guy who is so inclusive of our whole family.) We decided the where should be the gravel bar down on our property...the place where many a bonfire had taken place over the time they were getting to know each other. But we didn't know exactly where. The evening after he told his of his plan, Dad and I walked down there to scope out some possible locations. I hid in about 500 different cramped areas before I found the one that made me proclaim "ah ha!" 

I sent the above photo to Tyler, and he agreed that it looked like a really good spot (especially since there was a pile of brush on the actual gravel bar where I could hide). A couple days later, my dog and I spent around 2 hours making the spot perfect for hiding in. (I am pretty sure my knees will never recover from squeezing between that log and those rocks.) 

A couple evenings later, and a few days before my sister was scheduled to come home, Tyler came down and we worked more on figuring out where they would stand, and how they would get there. It ended up being somewhat like a obstacle course...he was to walk on the left side of a stick, and on the right side of a small pile of brush (see above photo) before straightening out and heading straight toward where the ring was hidden. 

Speaking of rings, figuring out how to get the ring down there was one of the hardest parts of this whole scheme. Many ideas where thrown around, such as a helicopter dropping it out of the sky or a dog trotting up with the ring tied to his collar. We ended up deciding to just bury the ring. Yes, you heard me right. Between a large, white rock and a large, buried, gray rock, we dug out a spot for the ring, lined it with rocks, and then placed a flat rock on top of the box. My job (other than coming up with crazy ideas, bothering Tyler way too much with wondering about the exact timeline for the night of, and then actually photographing the proposal) was to collect the ring box from his coat and then place the box in the designated hole. 

Let me tell you, I was ner.vous. Like, really nervous. (Just ask my mom if you don't believe me.)

But everything came off without a hitch. Even though I almost got caught by Jen while I was hiding my camera bag, and even though I couldn't look at Tyler all night for fear of starting to grin, and even though I almost forgot my lens filter that I had cleaned up earlier in the day. At the end of the night, my sister was engaged and that was all that mattered!

And now, for the pictures you have all been waiting for!

He done good.

I have no idea what Tyler said, but my sister said "of course!!!"

Uh oh. I have been spotted. This is probably an indicator that I should never be an undercover FBI agent.

Oh you know, just one of my favorite photos in like the history of ever.

My sister has literally not stopped saying "wow!!! I'm engaged!!!!!" since that night. 

And that's it! He asked, and she said yes. (Actually, technically she said "of course", but a "yes" was implied.) This event was my favorite to photograph, and I am pretty sure it will stay that way for quite awhile. 

Congratulations once again to my sister and future brother-in-law!!