Mountain Flying!

Last weekend we went on our first mountain fight!  The ceiling of our plane is about 14,000 feet so we only went up to about 13,000 feet through the passes.  Needless to say, we were not flying over the snow-capped mountains you can see in the background.  It's so much fun looking at our mountains from a different angle.  They look so much smaller!

The view as we were heading out of Denver towards the mountains.

Wellington Lake (in the background), where my XTERRA Triathlon will be in June, and where our Young Women's Camp is going to be in July which I'm the assistant director of our ward for.

This was extremely exciting!  This is 11 Mile Reservoir, where Chris proposed on July 21, 2004.   It's hard to believe it's been almost four years!  The story:  We wanted to go on a little trip for our one year anniversary of our first kiss, which is when Chris thinks we started dating however, I thought we were just "hanging out as friends" until about September.  But we still celebrate on this date.  (Okay, I know we're a little lame about dates and mesaversaries and stuff.  But we love it!)  I was so excited to be going canoeing for the first time- something I had always wanted to do.  Chris kept saying that he had a surprise for me, but I had no idea what was coming!  We paddled into a beautiful little cove and he read an incredibly sweet note.  After hearing it I almost expected a proposal.  But there wasn't one.  He handed me a gift.  I unwrapped it to find a buoyant whistle.  I looked at him puzzled and he was smiling from ear to ear.   I looked back at the whistle and saw a beautiful ring attached.  And that's when he popped the question.

The Happily Engaged Couple!

The Ring's History:  I think a proposal was one of the last things I had expected for many reasons.  Chris never mentioned anything about.  We never went ring shopping, he never dropped any hints or tried to determine what I would like.  I also knew that he didn't have the money to buy an engagement ring.  So I was almost in shock when I saw it.  But this ring was super special.  It was the ring Chris' father had given his mother.  AND Chris' grandmother, whom I absolutely adore, helped Chris' dad pick it out.  The ring couldn't be more perfect for me.  It fits perfectly, and with the wedding band and additional two diamonds, it is my dream ring come true!  It's simple and elegant and totally different from the rings now-a-days.  We were able to have the band made to match perfectly with a diamond on either side of the center stone.  I love my ring!  You know how a lot of women want upgrades?  I'm not saying I wouldn't turn it down, but I would always wear this one too.

I'm not the only one who was super excited about our engagement!  (Please excuse the hat.)  :-)

My very studly, handsome, and muscular husband paddling.  The previous picture of 11 Mile from the air doesn't do it justice.  It was beautiful!

A beautiful sunset to end our glorious engagement day!

And now back to our flight... We flew to Alamosa, CO and it was a great flight despite some turbulence over the passes and the windy landings.  Won't the wind here ever stop?!  Not to mention, April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, not May showers bring June flowers.  That's the way it's looking though.  We're still waiting for Green Mountain to turn green for a few weeks before it turns into brown mountain.  During our flight back to Denver we fueled up in Salida which is a great town for white water rafting!  What an fun day and what awesome memories it brought back!  :o)