How He Asked

Alex and Holly frequently visit a large local park.  This park has a fenced dog park and endless views of pine trees. It just also happens to be beautifully set directly in front of the front range of the Southern Rocky Mountains, a beautiful pond stocked with fish and to top it off; a gazebo and fountain. Alex and Holly go to this park almost every weekend in the summer with their two dogs, Snickers and Maggie. Alex came up with the idea to propose at the park. The was to drop on one knee in the middle of the gazebo, using the fountain and mountain background setting, which would be perfect for pictures. Alex thought he had it all figured out and since they were at the park so often, Holly wouldn’t expect proposal….

The Big Day

The big day rolled around, but before leaving Alex had to find a way to stealthily hide the ring in a pants pocket. Alex, Holly, and the dogs went about their normal routine as they entered the park. They took a lap around the dog park; so the dogs could play off-leash. Then they all explored the pond. This is where they both hoped Maggie would learn how to swim. As they got to the pond, they took Maggie off-leash and allowed her to jump around in the water. Meanwhile, some other folks and their golden retriever were also at the pond and playing fetch with a ball.  Maggie saw the ball and quickly became enamored. It was now her life’s goal to retrieve that ball. Alex and Holly expected Maggie, who is half-retriever,  to become an above average or even strong swimmer like most retrievers are. Little did they know Maggie about to almost spoil the big moment for Alex….

Oh no, Maggie

Just then the random dog owners threw the ball for their pup into the pond. Maggie tore into the water with reckless abandonment in an attempt to retrieve it. There were two problems with this. Maggie had never so gone deep. She always stayed where her feet could touch the bottom. She also rarely retrieves anything unless it’s food. As soon as Maggie got into “the deep end”, she quickly scrambled on top of a large rock in the pond. She sat, looking terrified and unsure what to do. Then, she fell in. It was a head first plunge into the water, as her back legs and butt stayed on the rock. Alex and Holly were literally watching their puppy drown. At that moment, Alex began to empty his pockets, including the ring, in an attempt to save the hapless canine. Luckily for everyone, Maggie fell completely in and got her head and frightened eyes above water. She was able to make her way back to the safety of land. The proposal was nearly ruined by a retriever mix that is awful at retrieving and even worse at swimming.

Wait For It…

As Alex and Holly walked their wet and terrified puppy, Alex observed the Gazebo was full of random people doing random things. Not wanting this family of randoms to ruin the moment, Alex found a secluded park bench where he convinced Holly she should sit with the dog for a picture. As Holly posed with her pup, Alex dropped to one knee and presented the ring. Holly was (not so) surprised and immediately said yes!

They loaded up the dogs and headed to their favorite local brewery, where Alex had a group of friends ready to surprise Holly. Holly was convinced their friends just happened to be out at the brewery, but as more showed up, she realized it was all part of the plan. It was a great ending to a perfect morning, one which was almost spoiled by a 50-pound Labradoodle-mix.