Hurry Up May

I remember one day a few years ago Todd and I were having lunch at a Mexican Restaurant with Mark and Mickey I think.  During lunch Mark asked us for suggestions as to where he could go for supper that evening.  I found that a bit humorous since we were in the middle of eating Quesadillas and such at the moment.  Turns out he was trying to figure out somewhere nice to take a date for the evening.  He said he was going out to dinner with Paige Staggs.  I said "Who?"with this crazy eye look on my face.  He repeated himself to which I replied "You're lying."  LOL  That still cracks me up.

I had known (and loved) Paige for a while and so had Mark actually.  (Well not the loved part) He had never mentioned her to me before, ever once.

This is she and I a LONG time ago, when she was sick.

Mark wasn't lying and basically they have been inseparable ever since that first dinner date.  Except for that time he had to move to Birmingham and then Shreveport.  Can you say "Face Time?" Or "texting?"

Several months ago Mark let us in on the little secret that he planned to ask Paige to marry him!  We were so excited.   He showed us the ring that he'd had designed and made for her.  IT.IS.AMAZING!

He decided though that he wanted to put it away in a safe place until he was ready to ask her.  He wanted to be settled back in our home town and working before he popped the question.  So we waited.  Everyone kept asking us when...   we waited.

After we got back from our wonderful and blessed trip to Peru, one day Mark called me and asked me what I was doing on the following Thursday.  He invited me to be in on the shenanigans!  He wanted me to bring my camera to catch her reaction.  He had gotten a job here in town and was moving back home.  He was going to surprise Paige with that news and then propose.  We went to her house to wait on her to get home from work.  We parked across the street in my car so she wouldn't notice we were there.  Once she came in the door, Mark walked into the living room from our hiding spot down the hall.  She was so surprised to see him and said "What are you doing here?"

 Thats when he told her that he was home for good!  She burst into tears immediately.

 He told me she would.  I was a bit skeptical, but he was right.

After they hugged a bit, he told her he brought her a "happy".  (I'LL SAY!)  He did bring her "happies" from time to time so there was no reason for her to think anything of it being more than a bag of chocolate, or you know, some bullets... hehehe  He told her to close her eyes, no peeking.  He grabbed the ROCK ahem,  I mean ring and got down on one knee.  Then he told her to open her eyes.  Thats when he asked her if she would marry him.  We were all in tears.

She said YES!

They are such a cute couple, if I do say so myself!

Paige said they needed a "Family Portrait"  She told Bella she had a real daddy now!  :)

After things calmed down a bit we headed over to our house to show Todd!

We are so blessed to have sweet Paige to be a part of our family and are equally thankful to have her sweet family accept Mark into theirs.

May cant come soon enough.  I say that a lot actually, but this time it will be for wedding purposes and not end of school purposes!

May 16th, here we come!