Our meeting is all thanks to a special friend of ours, Susana. Susana is a coworker of Jenny's at Urban Ventures and she and her husband Warren and children Abi and Benji met Pierre at their church Emmanuel Christian Center. As Susana and her family got to know Pierre, they decided that we should meet one another. Pierre arranged for a dinner at Olive Garden. Our adventure began with figuring out what each other looked like in the parking lot. Dinner lasted over 4 hours and the rest is history!

Weeks prior to the proposal, Pierre met with Jenny's friends, roommates and sister Megan to coordinate all of the details and moving pieces. The day of the proposal we had planned a dinner with our friends and mentors Rosa and Richard. On the way to their home, they called us and said they were at the zoo with their daughter Natalia, and suggested we met them there for a little while before going to their house for dinner. Jenny loves the zoo and was happy to make a change in plans. Despite Pierre being dressed fancier than normal, a last-minute change in plans, and a semi-concerned comment about Jenny changing her outfit into a more casual option, Jenny did not suspect anything at all. When we arrived at the zoo, Pierre went to "use the restroom" which turned out to be code for "make sure everyone is in place." Things were not quite ready so Pierre had to create a diversion. Upon exiting the restroom area, he confidently told Jenny that Rosa, Richard and Natalia were by the monkeys. During our visits to the zoo, it is often Jenny who is strolling slowing. However, this time Pierre was taking his sweet time. By the time we got to the end of the monkeys, our sweet friends were nowhere to be found, so Jenny suggested that Pierre contact Richard to see where they were. Looking up from his phone, he said they were now by the flowers. Jenny thought to herself "wow, the flowers are very far away, they move fast!" but still had no suspicion something was happening. As we entered the conservatory, Pierre's brother was within sight. Luckly he was able to duck out of view and Jenny did not see him. As we entered the Sunken Garden (Jenny's favorite... the seasonal floral exhibit), Pierre starting sharing sweet and thoughtful words with Jenny. This was the first moment she became slightly suspicious. Pierre leaned in to hug Jenny, and as she heard his heart beating quickly she wondered if this could possibly be the moment. However, Jenny quickly thought to herself "no, this isn't the moment. Don't get your hopes up or you will be sad if it doesn't happen." As we rounded the fountain feature at the end of the long floral filled corridors, Pierre knelt down on his knee and sweetly and tenderly asked Jenny to marry him! Jenny jumped up and down with joy! As Jenny and Pierre were celebrating this special moment, Pierre's friend emerged with a camera and his brother was capturing the moment on video. The fun doesn't stop there... Pierre announced to Jenny that he had another surprise waiting. We exited the building and walked to a nearby pond where there was a lovely picnic blanket with flowers and pictures awaiting us. As we sat down and began taking photos, a host of Jenny's friends and family emerged from behind a tree. We all spent time celebrating and taking pictures. As we finished up pictures, Jenny's parents announced that we would be heading to their house for a party to celebrate. As Jenny's friends cleaned up the picnic materials, we got to take some time to facetime Pierre's mom in Costa Rica who was with some of Pierre's aunts and uncles. We all got to share our love and excitement together from afar! We then went to Jenny's parents' house and spent the evening with even more friends and family celebrating this special step of becoming prometidos (fiancés). We spent time in prayer and treasuring up the moments and significance of this special day!