She had NO idea!
It all went down in Helen, GA... A cute little alpine German town in the middle of the mountains. Trey had been planning for a year! Jon and I, his family and her family were all in on it. He always knew he wanted to propose in a hot air balloon. Conveniently, Shelby had always wanted to go up in one. It was her birthday the next day, so she thought that Trey had something planned for that. Little did she know that by that evening she would be engaged to be wed to the man she loved!
The journey began with what seemed like a surprise adventure double date. We ate lunch at one of their favorite Japanese places, Osaka Japanese Grill. ( Which also happens to be my parent's place--if you are in Maryville, you should check it out :) ) I was tasked the responsibility of playing dumb. To throw her off, I kept asking, "what are we doing?," "where are we going?" all day. And Shelby would chime in too. We were told we were going on an adventure and were told to bring our bathing suit, closed-toed shoes, and various other things to throw us off.
On our way there, the guys joked we will be stopping every 20 minutes. That being said, we stopped for gas, a scenic pull-off, and then "20 minutes later," we stopped by this little shop in the middle of no where. We were enticed by the signs for homemade ice cream and honey. What we should have done was read the shop name before entering... Seven Sisters... should have given us a hint that we were about to meet some witches... yeah... needless to say, we got out of there!
After that, we were on our way up to Helen. We arrived in the late afternoon and began exploring the town. Shelby and I were really confused... we were both asking, "is this our final stop?, is this a joke?" As I was looking around, I saw so many truck trailers, t shirts, hats, and other things with hot air balloons and "balloon race" all over the place. But somehow, Shelby missed them all... Also, Trey did something or said something a little strange and she leaned over to me and whispered, "he's been acting weird all day." I couldn't help but laugh a bit.
We went and walked through the shops, looking around. There was an interesting mix of things for sale...ranging from German metal mugs to redneck bumper stickers. We also went and explored the small river under the bridge, where tourists would be river tubing and what not. At one point, Shelby and Trey ventured off near the river, and two kind of larger women floated by and Shelby said that Helen was the least romantic place ever! And Trey replied, "well don't worry, I will never do anything romantic here, ever." :) While they were off by themselves, Jon was on the phone orchestrating their parents across the bridge (there was basically only one way into town). And then we continued to explore the town. We walked through a glass-blowing shop, a candy cottage, and a very strange crafts store.
Finally, 6:30 came around! And Jon and Trey went to go find the hot air balloon captain. Jon gathered Shelby and I into the parking lot where all the balloon racers were meeting and told us not to move. As I looked around, it was pretty obvious what was about to happen, but Shelby was still wondering what we were doing. She may have had an idea in the back of her mind... Then, we got the call to meet Trey and the captain and it all became clear... when Shelby found out they were going up in a hot air balloon, it almost brought tears to her eyes. On the way to the launch site, Jon was in contact with the parents... keeping them updated.. and hidden. At the launch site, the balloon crew members were getting things ready, inflating the massive hot air balloon, and what not. I could tell that Shelby was excited and that Trey was a little nervous. Then, they finally got to board the beautiful multicolored hot air balloon. It was absolutely gorgeous, the prettiest one there! Such a cool experience getting to watch this giant balloon lift off into the blue sky. Trey is a pretty darn good photographer, and so while they were ascending, he began to take a few pictures here and there and then set the camera down and began to video secretly. Trey's mom had given Shelby a Pandora bracelet for Christmas, so while they were up in the air Trey got the charm out of his bag, which happened to be in a little white box. When he opened it up, Shelby seemed surprised, and said, "thanks..."
Then he got down on one knee...
Trey asked Shelby to be his wife.
She was in such shock that all she could do was nod her head, "YES!"
It was a special, memorable moment. And best yet, it is all on video!
When they descended, Shelby saw her parents, her sister, and his parents, and she was just overwhelmed with excitement, and still in shock. She couldn't stop smiling. We celebrated!
I cannot express how awesome this day was! Shelby is just the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know and I'm so happy we could be involved in their engagement! Trey is a lucky man indeed :)
CONGRATULATIONS TREY AND SHELBY! WE LOVE YOU BOTH VERY MUCH!
And we can't wait until September! :)
On our way there, the guys joked we will be stopping every 20 minutes. That being said, we stopped for gas, a scenic pull-off, and then "20 minutes later," we stopped by this little shop in the middle of no where. We were enticed by the signs for homemade ice cream and honey. What we should have done was read the shop name before entering... Seven Sisters... should have given us a hint that we were about to meet some witches... yeah... needless to say, we got out of there!
We went and walked through the shops, looking around. There was an interesting mix of things for sale...ranging from German metal mugs to redneck bumper stickers. We also went and explored the small river under the bridge, where tourists would be river tubing and what not. At one point, Shelby and Trey ventured off near the river, and two kind of larger women floated by and Shelby said that Helen was the least romantic place ever! And Trey replied, "well don't worry, I will never do anything romantic here, ever." :) While they were off by themselves, Jon was on the phone orchestrating their parents across the bridge (there was basically only one way into town). And then we continued to explore the town. We walked through a glass-blowing shop, a candy cottage, and a very strange crafts store.
Then he got down on one knee...
Trey asked Shelby to be his wife.
She was in such shock that all she could do was nod her head, "YES!"
It was a special, memorable moment. And best yet, it is all on video!
When they descended, Shelby saw her parents, her sister, and his parents, and she was just overwhelmed with excitement, and still in shock. She couldn't stop smiling. We celebrated!
I cannot express how awesome this day was! Shelby is just the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know and I'm so happy we could be involved in their engagement! Trey is a lucky man indeed :)
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