It's happening!

For our two year anniversary, Cody wanted to take all of us on a family date. I wanted a date with just the two of us. Spoiler alert: I kind of knew why he wanted it to be a family date. Cody had planned a full day of adventure and fun. We started our day off with mini golf and arcade games. For our next stop, he took us to see The Secret Life of Pets 2, which all of us were excited to see. We were wrapping up our day with dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the waterway in the Woodlands. At this point, I still felt confident a proposal was coming. After dinner, we listened to the live band that was playing and then decided to stroll around the waterway. The kids loved it! We got to see ducklings and play on a giant xylophone. Because we had been following the path for so long and it was getting pretty late, I was starting to waiver in my confidence of a proposal. I truly believed the moment was not going to happen. But, without even realizing it, he took us off the path and we started to head toward a statue there in the park. Ryder noticed the spot first, “Umm, guys, why are there pictures of us?" Then I heard it, one of our songs playing- Yours by Russell Dickerson. I stopped in my tracks... I could not believe it! He actually managed to surprise me! In front of the statue was a wooden pallet that his brother, Troy, and best friend, Josh, set up with tons of pictures of all four of us and flowers intertwined. It was such a wonderful surprise. I was impressed with how thoughtful and special this display was. Cody dropped to one knee. “I had so much I wanted to say..." he said through tears, "Mikayla, will you marry me?" I don't even think I said yes, I just flew into his arms! It was so magical. And the best part- He then dropped to one knee in front of Ryder and Eisley. He asked them the most important question, "Can I be y'all's daddy?" They answered with big smiles, “Yes!" So. Many. Happy. Happy. Tears.

I planned a whole day out for Mikayla and the kids. They thought it was going to be a day at the beach in Galveston. I had to lie to them and her family so nothing would be ruined. I took them mini golfing, to an arcade for games, and to see a movie we were all dying to see. After the movie, we went to dinner and then on a walk around the Woodlands Waterway. Mikayla tried to ruin it because she was so nervous. Pointing to the area by the Cheesecake Factory, she said, "If you're still planning on doing what I think you're doing... please don't do it there." I led her on to believe that was the plan and she had just ruined it. During our walk, we came up to a little statue that Troy and Josh had set up with music and pictures of all four of us. All we heard was Ryder asking, “Why are there pictures of us?” We get closer and Mikayla starts running away... so she tried ruining it twice! This is the part where she chimes in with, "I was putting my purse down!" I grabbed her hand and I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. After we hugged and she said yes, I got down and asked Ryder and Eisley if I could be their daddy.

We are so excited to begin this next chapter of our lives. We cannot wait to celebrate and dance the night away with you at our wedding!