Engagement and Birthday

There have been some very exciting things happening at our home the past few days.  First off, and most exciting, is JESSICA & BRAD got engaged Saturday night!!!  It was so fun to be a part of the planning and surprise.  Since they met at a Halloween party a year ago at our house, Brad wanted to propose at a Halloween Party at our house this year.  So even though this means they'll only be engaged for exactly TWO MONTHS, I think it's so fun that he waited and did it the way he did.  He had her convinced that the ring wouldn't be ready for another 3-4 days, so she was totally surprised.  (This picture is a re-enactment since I was downstairs at that special moment)

 I love that they're in their Halloween costumes!  They were so cute and happy for the rest of the night.  It happened while their friends were out on a picture scavenger hunt, so they had fun showing and telling when they all got back.

Jake celebrated his 17th birthday on the 29th.  Can it be?  We had a nice family dinner along with Grandma Freda and Aunt Stacie, Jaxon and Sidnie.  We excused Grandpa Tom since he had the really great excuse of being gone to the WORLD SERIES game in San Francisco!  How fun for him!  Most of Jake's gifts were candy and gift cards.  He also got a PS3 game.

 Jessica and Brad gave Jake this picture frame full of funny pictures he has taken on Jessica's Mac computer.  That boy can entertain himself for a long time on that thing.  If you know Jake very well, you know he loves to make funny faces.  We've all had some great laughs over what he comes up with.

I am so thrilled to have Brad as a member of our family.  Even though it won't be "official" until December 31st, it's felt like he's been one of us for awhile now.  I love how he treats Jessica, how he's easy and fun to talk to and be around, how well he gets along (and tolerates) the boys, how he enjoys doing what we enjoy doing, what a hard worker he is, how even tempered he is, and how polite, kind and funny he is.  Good job Jess with finding such a wonderful guy!