I Said “Yes!”

My baby brother, Matthew, came home on leave this past week.  He serves in the US Army and I hadn’t seen him in one whole year. Of course, we were all beyond excited for Matthew’s homecoming.  We’re a close family and occasions like this one mean a lot of celebrating and quality time together!  My mom has a second home in Payson, AZ so this weekend Matt and I headed up there with Matthew and my mom. Payson got about six inches of snow, and we wanted to have some fun!  Little did I know, it’d be the most memorable Payson trip EVER!

Matt and Matthew (yes, my boyfriend and brother are both Matthews!) really enjoy each other’s company.  Actually, they are closer than that. Matt really treats Matthew like his brother, and he was just as excited for Matthew’s homecoming as we all were. It was pretty special that we all got to go on a weekend excursion together.  We gathered the three dogs and headed up North yesterday morning.

My mom’s house is just about a block away from a small lake so yesterday afternoon after eating lunch and playing some board games, we decided to take a walk to enjoy the snow and beautiful scenery.  It truly is breathtaking – snowy, pine tree-filled mountain views every way you look.  When we got to the lake, my mom and I chatted as we watched Matt and Matthew partake in an epic snowball fight.  It was heartwarming to see my two Matts having so much fun together again!

After a brief snowball war, Matthew and Matt plopped down to the ground and proceeded to make snow angels.  The snow was rather deep in that area so the angels were of wintry perfection. As Matt got up from the ground to survey his art, I walked toward him because he was just kind of standing there.  I thought it was odd.  Then as I walked to Matt by his angel, he said “Hey mom, will you take a picture?”  She agreed and walked over to us.  Matt handed his phone to mom when all of a sudden he began to dig in his pocket.  Panic attack incoming?

Then it happened. As I stood in front of Matt, still as stone, he got on one knee and pulled out an extraordinary diamond ring.  I immediately burst into tears.  He looked up at me with the biggest smile ever and said “Will you be my snow angel?  Will you marry me?”  My hand shook as I replied with a big “YES” and accepted the dazzling stones to my finger.

All the while, my brother is standing by and my mom is playing master photographer. It was a perfect moment.  It was a perfect proposal.  The scenery of a winter wonderland in the company of Matthew and my mom.  I’m not sure it could have been any more special.  My mom caught some gorgeous shots of the act and was elated to welcome her future son-in-law to our family.

The fact that Matt thought to wait for my brother to come home on leave to ask me the ultimate question, means the world to me.  Family is a huge part of our lives and this really proved how much my family and our relationships mean to Matt.  He’s always been like part of our family, but now he’s going to be my HUSBAND!

That’s it, folks.  I’m going to be a wife – the future Mrs. Genovese!  Wynston will be our ring bearer and McKenzie Rae and Khloee will be our flower girls.  Our wedding is tentatively planned for late December 2016 when Matthew is home on leave again!

My mom took this video immediately after Matt proposed to me. Forgive my hair and crying LOL! I was not prepared!  And what my brother says at the end to make us laugh is “OMG he went to Jared!!!!!!!!”

I’ll be sharing details of our wedding journey as time goes on. A HUGE thanks to all of you for your love and support!