The Proposal

Jen: We both knew Ry had planned to go home for Christmas on December 20. He told me he wanted to search in California for more rings, so I kinda thought he would propose around New Year’s, but I was wrong.

On December 19, we played soccer, went shopping to buy Ry a coat, and ate lunch together. Ry had asked me a week ahead on a final date before he left for California. I had a few suspicions when he had asked me then, but like I mentioned earlier, the ring thing threw me for a loop. Also, in addition Ryan’s best friend, Brian sent misleading texts as we drove down to Sundance for our date.

He texted Ryan and I was in charge of replying while he was driving. Brian asked us if we were back down in Provo and if we were interested in going out to eat with Rachel and Marcus. Ry told me to respond that we were on a date. Little did I know that my responses were code they had previously arranged. I fell for it.

We parked at the upper lot, took a shuttle down to the lodge, and we ordered hot chocolates. We wanted to walk around, while it was still light, but it was pretty much dark at this time. It was gorgeous, and very cold. (Thank goodness we had just bought Ry a coat). We strolled around and came to a long porch with wooden columns encircled in lights which overlooked a beautiful pond.

He set down his hot chocolate on a random post and kept walking. I thought it was a little strange, but we were talking so I didn’t really question it. He told me that he really likes us together, and then asked me what my favorite thing is about us. I said, “everything.” Then we got talking about each other’s families and how we enjoy spending time with them.

He continued and stated that he was excited to start a new family. Just then he got down on both knees and then lifted one up, pulled out the ring, and proposed! I repeated the word yes several times, and then my family, Brian, Marcus, and Rachel came out and we took pictures.

It was so fun! I am so happy!!! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. We plan on getting married in May in the Bountiful Temple! :)

Ry: It was time to propose. I would be leaving over the winter break but I figured it would be very wise to have some vacation time to get a head start on wedding plans. I talked to Jen’s family about being involved in a cute proposal plan. I coordinated with my friends and my sister, Rachel. Brian and I went up to sundance the week of, and checked out a few potential proposal sites and made plans for how it would go down. There was this very nice pondside patio that looked amazing; perfect for a proposal.

I tried to mask the importance of going all the way up to sundance by asking Jen on a special date a week or so in advance. I kept hinting at different date ideas to try to hide the fact that I would be proposing. She invited me up to her house a few days before I would leave. It changed some things, but the plan was still in place. We had a normal day playing soccer and shopping and then made our way out to sundance. We went on a walk and got some hot cocoa (it was probably 2 degrees) after walking and talking for a bit, we got to the spot. I started to get more serious and we talked about our families. I finished by saying how I was excited to start our own lives and family. I knelt down (accidently on both knees at first - probably praying that she would say yes) and pulled out the ring and asked her if she would marry me. she said yes and her family and my friends and sister started clapping from across the pond where they had been hiding, then they came over and congratulated us. We both are so happy and excited for the next step in our relationship.

Lots of proposal photos ahead... :)

It was dark and beautiful. THANK YOU BRIAN BRASSAW FOR THE AWESOME PICTURES!!!!

Hot chocolates BEFORE the proposal

Gorgeous Sundance! :)

:) :) :) <3 <3 <3

LOVE THIS BOY!

Hugging Mommy!

I don't remember doing this...

Emie! 

Gorgeous diamond! Real ring is on the way! I will update it with the ring soon!

SISTAS! :)

BRIAN!!! OUR AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHER AND BESTEST FRIEND!!! Marcus was here too, I promise.

Exact same spot that my parents proposed. And Ry didn't know. Cray. 

TWINS! 

Where we got hot chocolate right before the proposal

RACH!!! So cute! :) Love her!

   

Fall Semester: Missionary Announcement and Ring Shopping

Jen: Fall Semester was hard, but rewarding. Balancing school, work, boyfriend, church calling, and exercise was a little cray. And then came missionary announcement at General Conference. My very first initial thought was that I wasn’t supposed to go, but then I complicated things. Many people know that I have always wanted to serve a mission, and I thought I would go. I took mission prep in my ward, I took Spanish, and read through Preach My Gospel. I rode the emotional rollercoaster like many other girls did, trying to decide what to do with the shocking announcement.

I prayed and read through my patriarchal blessing, and Heavenly Father gave me the answer that I was supposed to stick around.

Ry was up in Idaho watching conference, but from his text and talking to him on the phone I got the vibe that he wanted me to leave and serve a mission when what I really wanted was for him to tell me to stay. It was a mess. After he got home, we talked and came to the conclusion that we wanted to get married, but not until Spring.

We continued dating, and worked hard in our classes. It wasn’t until finals week that we went ring shopping. It was fun! We went to two jewelers, and then Ry went on his own to about ten more places. I found a fat stack of packets and brochures in his glove compartment. Haha! It was cute. If you have any questions about diamonds, Ryan Richey is your man.

Ry: Conference weekend, my roommates and I headed up to one of our houses in Idaho. We were watching conference and the announcement was made about the age change for missionary service for sisters. Both Brian and Marcus looked at me and said “you’re toast.” It was generally understood that Jen had always wanted to serve a mission and we all figured she would be considering going. Anyways, Jen and I had a long, (not fun) complex talk on the phone. (She tried to break up with me, and make it seem like I was breaking up with her.... it was awful.)
When we drove home, Jen and I got to have a talk in person and fixed things to quite the opposite extreme. instead of thinking of breaking up, we talked about marriage. we set a goal and started working towards it.

Those commercials that say “He went to insert jewelry store here” definitely miss the fact that he probably has gone to and will go to every other jeweler in town. Seriously, in my attempt to get acquainted with the diamond and jewelry world, I went to as many jewelers as possible. I quickly learned the importance of the four “C”s and eventually went with a referred jeweler friend of Jen’s family.


Here are some pics throughout the semester!

Halloween. 

BYU football 

Ryan as Brigham? Idk...

Elder Bane

Ry with niece Brielle

On the way to Kurt Bestor! 

Studying for Finals :P

Our engagement photo... NOT!

Putting nephew Carson to bed! 

At the Salem Pond lights! :)

At the Layton Lights! 

Ry's Surprise

Jen: I went on an awesome summer girl trip to St. George, and Ry was texting me on the way home. He said he wasn’t feeling too well, I wanted to drop by in Provo to see him, but there were six other girls that needed to get home, and I wasn’t driving. I was dropped off at my house, when I started talking to my parents about the fun weekend. Suddenly, Ry jumped out of the laundry room and surprised me! It was awesome! It was so thoughtful of him to drive up and so good to see him! Unfortunately, when he said he was sick, he wasn’t kidding. He had a HORRIBLE migraine. I felt so bad for him! However, I was glad that he was with us, and not alone at his apartment!!! My mom and I tried our best to take care of him. Poor little RyRy. :(

Ry: Jen had been gone a few days and I wanted to do something nice for her when she got back. I thought it would be nice to surprise her. Unfortunately, I got a really bad migraine just before heading up to her house. I took some medication and thought I would be fine, but by the time I arrived, the migraine had gotten way worse. I hung in there and still managed to surprise her, but soon became a sick, dependant fool. I ended up pretty much dying in her living room and had to stay the night after taking some pills that were comparable to gold bullion in price.  Anyways, It sure was a nice surprise for both of us.

“I Love You”

Jen: So Ryan had been saying for a really long time that he REEEAAAALLLLYYY liked me, but saying “I love you” was a big deal to him. Although I got frustrated and impatient at times, I realized that I wanted him to mean it, so I waited. One night we were up at my house and he decided it would be funny to smear cake all over my face. It turned into an epic cake battle. We both had to dump our entire heads in the sink before we left to return to Provo. With dripping wet hair, we went out to his car, he gave me some Honduran money from his mission and then he turned all serious and told me that he loved me! :)

Ry: Basically since our first interaction, Jen was keen to saying “I love you.” Sometimes she would try to cover it up by saying it really quickly or condensed; “Love ya” or “k, love you, bye” became common lingo for her. I wanted it to be special when I said I loved her, so I held off until I was sure that it wasn’t just saying it to copy Jen. I really wanted to mean it. So after a fun day being together, I had been thinking about it, and felt a confirmation that I loved her, so I told her so.

Summertime with The Richeys

As told by Jen...

Feeding the Ducks: The first people I met in his family were Grandma Linebarger, his oldest sister Megan, and her adorable son Cal who were in town visiting from California. We fed the ducks and then his older sister, Meredith, her husband, Scott, and her adorable little boy, Carson joined us. So fun!

Richey Family Reunion: Later in the summer, the time had arrived for the famous Richey family reunion. This is when I first met Ryan’s dad. Ryan and I joined him, Uncle Joe, and more family on a sailing trip on Utah Lake. So fun! Later that evening, I finally met his mom and Rachel. Ry’s parents, Rachel, Scott, Meredith, Carson and I went to Tucano’s for dinner. Yum! It was fun to meet the family! After dinner, we headed up to the Richey Family reunion in Heber.

He has an enormous family! I loved the reunion, and I love his family. They sure know how to have a good time! I remember we went bowling and I accidentally bowled backwards and the ball narrowly missed Ry’s cousin, Adam’s foot. I also came up the next day of the reunion. We had lunch, went to a car show, got shakes, and went out and watched sailboats coming in off the lake. Afterwards, they took an extended family group picture in matching 4th of July t-shirts, and they even bought me one and had me wear it for the photo. Sadly, I had to return home before the talent show, but I had a blast. His family rocks, both immediate and extended! However, I was bummed that I still hadn’t met Hannah or Marky who were not able to make the trip up. 

Sailing at the Richey Reunion! :)

Car show! 

Richey Family Reunion

Family Vacation: The Richeys were kind enough to invite me to join them on their family vacation that summer. Ry and I drove down to St. George with Rachel following behind in her car. We met up with his parents and went to see Aladdin at the Tuacahn theater. We had AWESOME seats, it was fabulous. Afterwards, we went back to our hotel and Rachel and I shared a room. Haha! We didn’t know each other too well back then, so it was kind of awkward at first for both of us, but it ended up being really fun. We talked for a long time that night. I love Rachel!

The next day, Ry and I drove up to pick up Hannah and Marky from EFY at SUU, while Rachel, and his parents went down to Powell to ready the boat. I remember I was nervous to meet them, then again, I was nervous to meet all his family members... however, I had no need to fret, they too, are wonderful people! They were pretty high off of EFY, it was fun to hear their stories, and then they crashed and fell asleep. We drove down to Powell, and went wakeboarding. It was so fun! Later in the afternoon, the boat broke down, it had to be repaired, and unfortunately, we were not able to boat for the rest of the trip. However, we pressed on and had a wonderful vacation!

Angel's Landing

On Sunday, we went to church, and then we drove to the Grand Canyon. I watched “Singing in the Rain” for the first time on our drive up. Of course, it was beautiful! So fun!

On Monday, we drove to Zion’s National Park. It turns out that even though we could not boat, it was a blessing in disguise. The weather turned horrific after we left Powell. The Richeys even had some family friends whose boat capsized! We too experienced some rain that day on our hike up to Angel’s Landing. We were about halfway up the hike, when it began to pour. It was little bit scary, but exhilarating at the same time! It wasn’t until the next day that we hiked up with the chains and all to the top of Angel’s Landing. I highly recommend it, it was an awesome hike!

We chilled at Zion’s for another day or so, and then gave our goodbyes! It was such a fun trip! Thank you again Richeys for letting me join in! :) Little did I know, I would see them soon, this time in their hometown of Redlands, California!

Angel's Landing! Ry's mom hiked it twice in one week! Impressive!

On the top of Angel's Landing

Our second enormous ice creams.... :)

Lake Powell!!! 

Lake Powell

Grand Canyon

On our way to the Grand Canyon

Redlands: Ry had a two week break between summer and fall semester and he planned to go home, and his parents yet again were kind enough to invite me! Redlands is beautiful! I can see why he wanted to go home. We went four-wheeling, drove around town, and ran through his neighborhood where I almost stepped on a 5 foot snake. That was crazy. I ran back to get a camera, and while I was gone it coiled up and tried to bite Ry, and then it slithered into the bushes. No photo. Dang. It was unusually hot in Redlands, so one day we decided to drive out to Newport Beach. LOVE. Ry’s mama came with us. We rented bikes and rode along the beach, took the ferry to Balboa Island, and of course we got the famous Balboa bars. Afterwards, we played around on the beach. Ry lost his shirt on the beach, and earlier on our bike ride his flip flop broke. We hopped back in the car, and headed back to Ry’s house. While we were driving back, we were in the carpool lane when suddenly a big truck on the other side of the freeway smashed into the cement barrier and flipped up over into our lane. Ry swerved the car and we narrowly missed getting hit. It was frightening. All the cars behind us had stopped. Ry jumped out of the car, shirtless and shoeless, and tried to go help. The whole thing was crazy. We felt very blessed and protected that day. (Ry: THAT WAS SO INSANE! Rocks and debris hit our windshield and my side window. I thought we were toast! And of all ways I could die, it had to be shirtless and shoeless....)  We also took another trip out to Big Bear. It’s kind of like Park City in California. We went kayaking, rode the alpine slide, went to a chocolate shop, and went to a creepy doll store. So fun! 

Biking at Balboa! Tandem with Ry's mama!

Taking the ferry over to Balboa Island

Newport Pier

 

Alpine Slide at Big Bear 

Kayaking. So gorgeous!

Creepy doll store.

Some more paroozing at Big Bear. Ry loves his planes. I love my mini coopers. :)

We also got to celebrate Ry’s 22nd birthday! He got some cool shirts (I bought him a pink one), a nice new suit from his fam, and an awesome cake made by his sister Hannah. Hannah should be on Ace of Cakes. She rocks. She can do fondant, chocolate shavings, and everything. I was very impressed! 

On a walk with Sammy! :)

Hannah's Awesome Birthday Cake for Ry

Pretty in Pink :)

We chilled with Marky too. The Richey boys are avid lego builders. I don’t understand how boys are good at that kind of thing. Anyways! It was fun to visit and be with his fam! I wish we could visit more often! What a fun trip! :)