december 13, 2019 was the best day of our lives and here’s why

Brian told McKenzie that we were going to Los Angeles to see friends and celebrate a birthday for one of them. On the way down we would stop in Solvang, CA for the night and spend some time together as McKenzie’s “Christmas present”. Solvang is Dutch themed and all Christmas decorated through the holiday. McKenzie LOVES Christmas! He mentioned we should dress nice because we always take our holiday photo at a winery and we hadn’t taken ours for the year yet. We got ready and grabbed our camera gear (as photographers we don’t leave the house without a tripod!) and hit our first stop.

We went to a tasting room and Brian was asking customers where the best vineyard was for our Christmas photo. They directed us down the road and when we showed up it was yet another tasting room. Across the street there was an Emu & Ostrich farm and Brian immediately suggested we go in and feed them. We did indeed feed them and it was completely worth it! Brian used this time to “reset” before we ran out of light. Knowing that if he everything planned out McKenzie would know something was up he had to go with the flow of the day. When we finished at the farm we drove to Buttonwood Winery and Chad was working. He was hysterical, we enjoyed a wine flight and then Chad told us to venture into the vineyard for the best photo before dark. Brian then went to scout out an area for a photo out in the vineyard. McKenzie and Rosie followed as he set them up (as he usually does for our family photos). We took 2 photos in a beautiful setting just as golden hour hit. On the third one he hit record and went to McKenzie and Rosie as if we were taking another photo. At the last minute he grabbed McKenzie’s hands and she knew after looking at his face. McKenzie bursting with tears of joy Brian then got down on one knee and asked McKenzie to marry him. There were tears, screams, hugs and kisses in celebration of this day finally happening after our journey of 5 1/2 years together. It was the best day of our lives and we cannot wait to celebrate the next best day with all of our loved ones!