An engagement story which I will attempt to tell in 6 lines, because Eldest does not want gushing.
Amanda and Ben have know each other for years – our families are friends. After years of barely saying ‘hi’, this summer something clicked and they began to fall in love. All fall they chatted. Skyped. Burned thru tracfone minutes. He surprised her in September by inviting her to Taiwan for Christmas. He asked John at Thanksgiving for permission to propose.
On Christmas Eve on a riverbank in Taipei Ben asked Amanda to marry him. She said yes.
I have been praying for this young man since Amanda was born. He was a toddler then, and I of course had no idea who he was at the time. Now I know. He is a joy, and they are beautiful together. Praise God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Including this one given at Christmas time.
Click on the pictures for larger versions and captions.
(OK, you two, this was longer than I wanted it to be, but this much joy could not be contained in 6 lines! May God bless and keep you both.)
Congrats!! How exciting!!
We figured she’d be engaged over Christmas …… [:-)
Love, Rachel
How exciting for your entire family! Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!
Oooh! How exciting! So happy for your joy!
Awww! They just look like they go together.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! How exciting!
Congratulations to them–how incredibly exciting for all of you, and especially Amanda and Ben! They are adorable together.
Congratulations to your sweet eldest daughter and to her fiancé for scoring a future wife who is the eldest of ten (able to handle anything, I’m willing to bet!)
Congratulations! That’s just lovely.
I’m so thankful for Amanda and Ben, Mary. Your dad proposed to me at Christmas – let’s see, it was 43 Christmases ago….
Aww! Wonderful! Congratulations to you all.
YEAH!!! Congratulations! now, you will be a mom of FIVE boys! =)
I can tell just by these few pictures that they will be GREAT to photograph (sorry, I am a photographer…I think about these types of things! haha)
Ohhhhh! Such a brief post and yet able to bring tears to my eyes…. Congratulations and may they be blessed with a beautiful marriage that will bless others.
How wonderful! Congratulations to Amanda and Ben and best wishes for a long and happy life together…
Oh wow! How very sweet and wonderful! Congratulations!
Oh, that’s absolutely wonderful news! Congrats!
[...] Owlhaven The other evening we were talking about Ben joining our family, and how the kids were going to have a new big brother. Our 13 year old daughter was sighing over [...]
SQUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!!!! That’s what I get for not keeping up with my blog reading. OH how excited you must be.
That’s great news. They look really sweet together. Hooray.
They are absolutely adorable together!!
(Have you stopped grinning yet?)
I see now where all the breaking news hits most informatively! I’ll have to check back more to keep up on my family.
(Yay!!!!)
Congratulations to them!
WOW!!!!! Congrats!!! : )