engaged!!!

YES!!

Indeed it is true. Here is how it all happened:

It was a beautiful Saturday= the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze in the air.
Bas and I were in Maartensdijk at his parent's house for the weekend. That day, we visited an elderly couple who are friends of his. After our lovely chat and coffee break together, Bas disappeared for awhile. I wondered where he had gone, but sat talking with the wife (she could understand my English and I could understand her Dutch so we had a bi-lingual conversation since neither of us could speak the other's language!). After some time, she stood up and walked toward the street. I followed her.

When I got to the street I could see Bas across the street in the canal on a boat. It was a rowboat!

I was so excited and exclaimed over how cute the boat was as I stepped in.
Bas rowed us out into a more open area (not canals like in Amsterdam but more open areas...not sure what they are called in English). We passed through some lovely, Dutch countryside going by windmills and farm animals. Occasionally he would row to the land where tall plants were lining the water and pick some flowers for me. I was thinking how much like a story the whole experience was and told him what a good idea it was to do this. He just smiled a huge smile.

We found a spot to land. It was exactly out of a story-book. There was a lovely, massive tree providing shade over soft, thick grass. We laid out a blanket and got out our picnic lunch. We had just begun to eat when Bas pulled out two pieces of Dutch apple pie (one of my favorite desserts) as a surprise for me. I was telling him how thoughtful that was to bring those when Bas began to eat his already. I was surprised and amused that he already wanted to have his dessert. And I could see that the thoughts in his head were moving quickly. I took my time to finish my sandwich and pie, unsuspecting of anything.

Bas stood up and held out his hand asking me to dance with him. After a few minutes he stopped and looked looked intently at me. He began to share with me from his heart. I suddenly realized what was happening and became shaky and emotional...
then he got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife.

I wholeheartedly said "yes!" and shared with him from my heart then we hugged and cried and put our rings on each other (the guys here also wear their ring during engagement).

It was an absolutely perfect day in every way possible.

So the day is 9 April 2008 in Amsterdam.
We also will plan a blessing ceremony/reception in Kansas sometime in early May.

I am still floating from the whole experience and am in complete thankfulness and awe of how God has orchestrated our entire relationship...beautiful.