When I woke up on December 12th, I did not feel well at all. I had been extremely sick with a bad sinus infection, but I knew we had many events to attend throughout the day and evening, so I prayed my way through the morning and asked God to give me strength and healing. The day began with us participating in a large Christmas Parade with the awesome Baker Hornets Football Team to which Danny is the head coach of. One of our favorite things to do together is love on our community in many different ways with our kids and the team.
It was also my daughters nineteenth birthday and she was coming home after spending a week in Disney World with friends. All she wanted to do for her birthday was be with her family and all go to Bellingrath Gardens to see the Magical Christmas Lights together. It was a warm day for December on the Gulf Coast, and we were outside pretty much all day. I remember looking around me at one point and feeling so much love, like my heavenly father was pouring sunshine, laughter, peace, and a lot of love all in one day. I will never forget that feeling. God was giving me the strength and healing I needed in more than one way.
I have to be honest, I was so confused as to why my daughter would want to go to Bellingrath gardens immediately coming in from seeing magical lights at Disney world all week… I mean come on..lol. I even tried to convince the family that we shouldn’t go that night, but it was what she wanted to do for her birthday. I am always the one who plans everything for our family. I was getting so frustrated on this day because my daughter had planned it and nobody else was making the definite plans very clear. Things kept changing and Danny and my mom were acting so weird.. Nobody’s plans added up or made any sense and still not feeling the best in the world, I just wanted to know what the plan was; little did I know that the plan was much greater than I could have imagined and it would turn out to be the best night of my life!
When we arrived at Bellingrath Gardens, they started telling me who all was there and I just thought, “Aw that’s awesome” “they all came out to celebrate for Savanna’s Birthday”. Even though I still didn’t feel well, the night was turning into a great time. We took a beautiful walk through the gardens looking at all of the amazing Christmas lights and I was surrounded by my amazing family celebrating my beautiful daughters birthday. What I did not know at the time was that my family all knew and had code words and were all giggly and nervous awaiting the exact moment of walking up to the “hand-picked spot” that Danny and Savanna had decided on the week before. (You see Danny and Savanna, my daughter, had taken off of work and went down to Bellingrath Gardens the week before she went out-of-town to mark a spot and make definite plans. They did not arrive at the gardens until ten minutes before they were about to close for the night, the lady up front did not want to let them in because she knew it would take them much longer than ten minutes to go through and get back out. So without her permission, they took off running through the entire gardens until they found the “perfect” spot for his sweet proposal. Once they agreed that under the Igloo lights watching the Coca Cola Bears was the magical spot for our family, they snuck out of the gardens as fast as they had snuck in!) They had been using code words all night right in front of me and I did not know. Yes, I was still clueless, maybe because I felt bad but never the less, I was truly clueless as to what was taking place.
It was such a beautiful night and everyone was having such a great time. We stopped for a brief moment in the Igloo still looking at Christmas Lights and all of a sudden Danny got his “Coaching” voice on and yelled “May I have everyone’s attention?” I remember looking up at him and thinking what are you doing? Why are you getting so loud? Are you about to singing Happy Birthday to Savanna? I looked around and people were all coming in to listen and all of my family had stepped back away from the two of us. They were all videoing and taking pictures. My mind started spinning so fast trying to put it all together. Then I realized he was talking to me, not Savanna, and as soon as he said “I love you more than Baker Football, and more than Alabama Football” I KNEW something serious was going on! He got down on one knee and asked me to be his “teammate” for life :))Michelelaneproposal
It was such a gorgeous and unforgettable December night and all of our kids and family were able to be there and share such a special time with us. They had all worked so hard to plan such a surprise and make it a special event for the whole family, not just me- I absolutely love that! And while I tried really hard to cancel the whole Bellingrath event because I was so sick and did not feel well after such a busy day with the Football team, I am so glad I pressed through with God’s help. Everyone agrees that everything was perfect and turned out better than they had all planned. It was beautiful!
In my opinion, my very creative mind that never stops spinning could not have come up with a more perfect proposal for me that would include our kids and family. Danny did a great job. The ring is gorgeous, the weather was pleasant, the Christmas lights were definitely magical and now unforgettable for life. Seeing the smiles on our kids faces and tears of happiness is priceless. Danny had even gone to all of my family to get their blessing before asking me. From my point of view, the night was perfect. I got to celebrate my daughter’s birthday and be extremely surprised at the same time. It was the perfect combination of family time and fun memories. Actually, I have lived in Mobile almost all of my life and had never been to Bellingrath Gardens before until we started dating. So it was already a special place to us. Danny took me there on one of our first dates and now back to begin the journey of us becoming husband and wife. Looking back on the whole day, the only thing I would change, if I could, is to not have been on sinus medication and feel like I was in a tunnel. But like I said earlier, it was perfect night and a huge success. We will have beautiful memories with our family for a lifetime.
Danny told me later that he was so nervous, but I can tell you the “coach” kept his game face on and brought home the win. We now use those “code words” randomly just to get a laugh. I am still amazed that they were able to pull this all together and surprise me. God has richly blessed us, and I am excited to see what the next play in the playbook will bring.
I have found the one whom my soul loves. Song of Solomon 3:4
Photography Provided By Robin Miller with TR Arts Photography