the engagement. part 1.

it's not a story of love at first sight. no, zac has been around now for quite some time - as my brother's best friend. i still remember the first time i met him, years ago. i thought he was the smiliest guy i had ever seen. really. and he happened to be hobbling around with both legs in braces from a serious car accident at the time. i remember praying for his recovery. little did i know....

fast forward to last summer. my little sis had grown up, and zac had fallen hard. he followed her around like a little puppy dog, with all of us behind him holding our breath and crossing our fingers. lacey was the only one who didn't see it. "i just don't see him that way" she would say.

heh. heh.

my how things have changed. i watched her heart flip, jump, and turn inside out in just a few months. by the fall marriage was in the air.

i'll never forget her giddy voice when she called just to tell me she was pretty sure she would have a ring by the first of the year.

but then i got a call from zac.....

we knew it would be really hard to surprise lacey since she and zac were together all the time. and he knew that if he did anything out of the ordinary she would be on to him. though i thought it would be perfectly "them" to get engaged in a tree stand, we came up with a plan that she wouldn't expect, but love.

our family was planning a trip to TN, and zac thought cade's cove would be the perfect place. so them. and a place they could always go back to. lacey had already been talking to me about doing their engagement pictures. she had tons of ideas, and was really looking forward to it. she also asked if i would take photos of them at cades cove to give to parents as christmas gifts. we laughed about photoshoping a ring in the picture.

it was possibly the hardest secret i've ever kept. my insides where doing cartwheels for weeks.

the day finally came, and we headed out. i snapped this photo as zac whispered "is it your left knee or right?". most genuine. guy. ever (besides my b, of course).

because the whole caravan (my brother and his wife, as well as lacey, zac, and i) was into hunting, we kept having to stop to look at deer. i kept thinking don't you guys know what is happening today???? as i fumbled with my camera and watched as the sun raced to high noon (the worst time for pictures...).

but it was good times with these folk. i like them.

my brother - clark griswald, the hunter version. southern vacation it was. look guys, big deer!...movement, buck!

we stopped at the cabin that my grandfather painted....

but it didn't happen there. i kept looking at lacey thinking she totally knows. but she didn't. she was clueless. and ringless.

then finally, this little church stood like a beacon on a hill and we knew without saying a word this was it! i trailed behind as this happened.

and then this.....

but then i couldn't help myself and ran up the hill, shaking and laughing with them.

and then a "for real" engagement shoot began....