We're getting married!

Karen's version: Jason's proposal was a dream come true. The picture on the Save the Date card is from that amazing day. We went to Arizona to visit my parents. Before going to my parents' winter residence, we planned to visit the Grand Canyon. This was really exciting for Jason and I because neither of us had been there before. My parents picked us up from the airport and off to the Grand Canyon we went! One of the things I really wanted to do before we left was to see a sunrise or a sunset. On the day we decided to go see the sunset, we headed out to Desert View in a car. We were chatting and admiring the gorgeous views of the park like normal. The highlight of the drive was that we saw some amazing wildlife. I had no idea what was about to happen. When we got there, we realized we had timed it incorrectly and we only had a short amount of time to get to the lookout point before the sun went down. My parents were walking really fast, my mom was practically running!! Jason and I eventually caught up and we arrived at a beautiful lookout point. We could see the canyon and the sun as it was setting in the horizon. There was a small group of other visitors enjoying the view as well. We were all taking in the amazing site. Jason walked out onto the rocks ahead of me and I called his name. He was in the perfect spot for a photo. After taking this photo, I called to my mom to get a photo of the both of us. She lined up for the picture and I went to Jason's side. I was looking at my mom, smiling, ready for the picture. Jason then leaned in to kiss me. I was confused because I thought we were getting a photo and he was looking the wrong way. Suddenly he went down on one knee! I was caught off guard- I was speechless! He expressed his love for me and asked me to marry him. My hands went to my face as he was talking and I didn't move. I said yes immediately, but it was so quiet I had to repeat myself because he didn't hear me. He put a beautiful ring on my finger and then we hugged and kissed. I was filled with joy and love. I then came back to reality and saw that many of the people who were watching the sunset had started clapping and cheering for us! We reunited with my parents and all hugged. When the proposal started, my dad had been off checking out the Watchtower, a structure at Desert View. However, he did make it back in time to see Jason ask me to marry him. My mom was able to get several photos of the proposal despite being filled with emotion herself! I love having these photos to look back on. Thanks mom!! After the proposal, I learned that Jason had asked for my parents blessing months before, so they knew he was going to pop the question at some point, but didn’t know when/ how. My mom said that keeping the secret was a big challenge for her!! I also learned that my mom had asked Jason daily during our trip if that was the day he was going to propose!! I didn't hear any of these conversations, so they did a great job of keeping it a surprise! We always knew the Grand Canyon was a beautiful place, but now it has even more special significance. Everything fell into place for an amazing proposal I will always remember!! I am excited for all the other adventures life has in store for us.