On a typical afternoon after Sunday School at church, Rance stopped Sydney before she could leave and asked, "Are you Sydney?" Sydney of course said, "Yes." Rance then informed Sydney that he was her home teacher. Thinking nothing of it, Sydney smiled, shook his hand and walked off. A few hours later, Rance texted Sydney. As the days passed, the texting continued. Since football season was right around the corner, a favorite season for both, Rance demanded that whoever's home team lost would have to plan the first date. Without any option to back out, Sydney obliged. Lo and behold, the Chargers lost. Sydney was left to plan the first date. She picked Mini Golf in Del Mar, and Rance then decided to go to Jose's in La Jolla Cove (now a favorite Mexican restaurant for the couple.) Since that first date we have been inseparable and the rest is history. (Got enough crackers for that cheese?)

Rance had planned a surprise trip to the Grand Canyon prior to our typical Thanksgiving weekend in Phoenix. Monday morning, pre-proposal, Rance planned for us to hike down into the Grand Canyon. Sydney was thrilled! As we began hiking down in, all was well and we were both taken aback by the beauty of the canyon. However, half way down into the canyon, we noticed our hands had swollen to almost double their size! Rance, frantic, made sure that as soon as we got back to the hotel Sydney would have to take an entire bottle of ibuprofen and run her hands under cold water to make the swelling go down. Sydney suspiciously agreed to (a few) ibuprophens and a hand soak. (Odd.....he'd never been so concerned before). After we were done with the hike rehabilitation and were getting ready for dinner, the swelling had gone down. Before our dinner reservations we decided to sightsee around the canyon and take some pictures. While taking pictures, Rance asked Sydney to sit on a ledge of the canyon so he could take a picture. While her back was turned, he got down on one knee, tapped her on the shoulder and opened the ring box. When she turned around, Rance asked, "Will you marry me?" Surprised and elated, Sydney jumped up, hugged him, and of course said, "Yes!" Once we both came back down to earth, people nearby cheered for us and Rance pulled out the ring again and put it on her finger. And... IT FIT! We ended our evening with a beautiful dinner at the El Tovar looking over the Grand Canyon during sunset. (He did alright.) All his planning and secret preparations paid off.