Prairie Wetlands Engagement Session

An inch of fresh snow covered the ground and the temperature dipped into low twenties. Cold for Minnesota? No. But cold all the same 🙂
We met Aaron and Mary at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, a place full of meaning for the two them. It was here that they would walk the trails and get to know one another.
And it was here that Aaron would get down on one knee and ask Mary to spend the rest of her life with him.
Prairie Wetlands is “their place”.

We tromped through the light snow and followed a path back into a beautiful, wooded area.

It’s so interesting to be in nature in each changing season. The trees were all stripped bare of their leaves, the dark trunks stood in stark contrast to the white snow. Light filtered down between every bare branch…it was so beautiful.
If we came back in the summer it would seem like an entirely different woods. The trees would be fully dressed in shades of green with their leaves moving in the breeze and you’d hear all kinds of wildlife. It would be beautiful as well, but in a totally different way.
Each season has its upside and its downside but without one of those seasons things wouldn’t seem whole.

Our lives are much the same way.

We move in and out of different seasons, some seem better than others, but if we didn’t have each season we would feel something missing in our lives. Embrace each season fully, even if it’s difficult, and then be willing to let it go and step into the next with joy.

Aaron and Mary

Aaron and Mary met in a Bible study and their love was one of slow and steady growth.

They started out as friends, getting to know each other at Bible study and not thinking much beyond that. Their group spent a fair amount of time together and one of the things they liked to do was go hiking.

Aaron and Mary kept finding themselves walking next to each other on these hikes, enjoying this “friendship” a lot more than they had realized at first. Their creative talents drew them to one another and they discovered they had a shared interest in movies. To top it off, they both have a major love for the Olympics!

It didn’t take long for them to both admit that there were definitely feelings flying and they decided to move this friendship to the next level and start dating.

They started dating on the 4th of July, continuing those long walks that had brought them together. Prairie Wetlands is one of their favorite places to walk and they traversed miles of trail as they fell in love with one another.

So, when Aaron knew he was going to propose it only seemed right that it happen in “their place”.

They walked hand in hand over the trails and out to their special spot.

Can you imagine how nervous Aaron felt as they made that long walk along the path? It would be all we could do to not just let the question come tumbling out in nervousness.
But, not only did Aaron keep it together, he read a poem that he had for Mary. His sweet thoughts were strung together in lyrical form and when he asked if she’d spend all of her days with him….