Many of you already know that Sam's life revolves around her own child (now children) as well as being a professional toddler tamer, teaching at Early Head Start. Most of you also know that I (Bobby) have always considered myself a family person, specializing in being the biggest kid at the party. My cousin (and best man) moved out to his country home with his wife and children and we spent some time together moving and just doing outdoor things. I asked about the neighbor, because I saw a basketball hoop and thought...I bet we could beat them two on two. His response was, "I couldn't tell ya anything about them, They're never home". Years later, Hailey went to school and the mysterious neighbor was finally introduced as the children were dropped off. Luckily for me, Mattyson and Hailey became the best of friends immediately. Then Hailey's birthday came. I laid on eyes on Sam, who was there with the small sweet version of Matty. I (still Bobby lol) jumped into chivalry mode when Sam was helping clean up and put things away. None of the help I was offering was wanted but at least Sam was polite! Unbeknownst to me, that was the start. We both attended an outdoor fire a few weeks later where I learned about Sam's laugh and dedication as a mother. That's when our relationship started to take shape. I tried to find out about her while she was asking about me until finally we had a first date, that included 5 hours of appetizers at Applebees. Luckily we survived that and after the second date, there was no looking back.

The proposal itself was obviously important, but my lord the buildup. I (Bobby) had ordered the ring, and shipped it to my parents house. The only problem was, it was coming in the middle of the day and needed to be signed for...OH! and I was leaving for Ireland the DAY AFTER IT WAS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE. So, I devised a plan to take a long lunch and wait in my parents driveway to get the ring, THEN, I would hide the ring in a super obvious place so Sam wouldn't find the ring while snooping around for it. I left work on the arrival day and pulled into my parents driveway right as the UPS truck was pulling onto the street. I got the ring and got back to work within my half hour lunch period. Then, I hid the ring, in the nightstand on Sam's side of the bed. She never found it so my plan was working perfectly. I had asked Matty months in advance if it was okay for me to marry her Mama, and she said "duh, how long do we have to keep the secret" but when the day for family pictures came, neither of them had a clue, Sam's ring has an infinity (Twisted) band and I bought Matty a diamond necklace to match. It was very hard to pack the jewelry and drive 2 hours with the girls not finding out, especially when I put the boxes in my jeans pocket and tried to stand so they couldn't see. I walked to Matty who was mid photo shoot but by herself, pulled out the necklace box, gave it to her and said "Remember how I'm going to marry Mom, well today's the day to ask." She said, "uh-oh not today" with a grin that meant she was super nervous. She loved the necklace. I turned to Sam who was now walking over but completely oblivious, did the one knee thing and "popped the question" If I quoted her directly it would read like this.."oh F***"" followed by "Uhhh Yeah". It was easy to capture the moment during family pictures!