Secret's Out-- My Big Bro is Engaged, Part 1

It's high time that I end my blogging hiatus, and I couldn't think of a better way to bounce back than with a post about something that makes my heart so incredibly happy--the story of my brother's engagement from this past weekend!

First, let me take a second to introduce the stars of this engagement story--

Meet my big brother, Bryan, and my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Hanna!

They started officially dating on April 1st of last year (2013), and my family knew the second we met her that we did not want B to let her go! Both of them had just come out of serious relationships, so we were all so nervous for him, but they just clicked right away, and I could see such a huge difference in my brother! Hanna brings such joy and fun to any situation, so it's easy to see why B was smitten with her!

Hanna joined our family on vacation this past summer to Disney World, and she handled our quirky family like a pro! She got my dad's stamp of approval right away (which is near impossible!), so we knew she was something special!

Fast forward to this past February-- B told us that he had gone shopping with Hanna's best friend for an engagement ring and had found the perfect bling! He knew he wanted to do something really special for the proposal, and I was so proud of what he came up with! Hanna had told him that she'd always wanted to take a shag dance lesson, so B booked them a private lesson! He talked with the instructor and shared his plan, which was that on their last dance, he'd like to spin Hanna and when she turned around he'd be down on one knee. He asked Hanna's dad, who is really into music, to help him pick out the perfect song--"With This Ring"! He even arranged for the instructor to tape the whole thing. He also knew that he wanted to have a little gathering of all of the special people in their life to celebrate their engagement with!

It worked out perfectly that a lot of our family was already planning to gather in Wilmington for Kyle and my cousin-in-law, Eric, to run a half-marathon, so he decided that it was the "right" weekend to pop the question!

He asked Hanna's parents' for their blessing, and I thought it was so cute that he had typed out everything he wanted to say to them and had looked at it all day long leading up to their "talk" so he wouldn't forget anything---how presh!? They were thrilled, and Hanna's dad even played "Going to the Chapel" as B walked out of their house!

So, the plan was in place, and all systems were go--

3:00 pm- Shag Lesson
3:50ish pm- Proposal
4:30ish pm- Off to Hanna's parents' house to show them the ring
5:30 pm- Off to our house for surprise post-engagement party!

B, my parents, and I were on the phone so much this past week leading up to the big proposal! I know that B was also coordinating things with her parents and her friends! It was SO much fun (and so hard at the same time!) keeping this big secret and planning the post-engagement gathering!

The only potential hiccup was that since our cousin's sweet little family and Kyle/me were all coming into town for the "race" and we always love to get together to play games, Hanna and B planned to spend Friday night (night before the engagement) at my parents' house--which meant that we had to HIDE lots and lots of stuff, like all of the decorations and mass amounts of food bought! And, we had to keep our lips ZIPPED and not spill the beans!

I knew that when Kyle pulled me aside to say that Hanna had seen all of the fruit in the fridge and asked if my parents were hosting a party that it was going to be no easy task to pull this off!

Stay tuned for Part Two!