Kyle and Ashley

July 4th is an enjoyable holiday to begin with. We received awesome news that made our 4th of July better! Kyle, Troy's brother, proposed to his girlfriend and my friend, Ashley!!!! Yay!! Kyle out did himself with the proposal. It sounded so cute and intimate!

Kyle and Ashley were planning on going to northern Michigan where Nanny and Papa (Troy and Kyle's grandparents) have a lake house on Black Lake for the holiday weekend. There are many family memories on this lake and it has always been a sentimental place for the Kossick family. Here is a view of the lake
The day after they arrived on Black Lake, Kyle suggested that they, Ashley, Nanny, and Papa, all go out on a cruise around the lake on the pontoon boat. Little did Ashley know but Kyle had a little surprise for her on that ride. They start driving around the lake and after being out for a little while Kyle turns the boat around to head back to the dock. He points out what looks like a balloon up ahead of them. As they get closer to it he is like Ash fish it out so we can see what it is. So after a couple of attempts at scooping it up with a fish net she snags it and brings it out of the water. It is a glass bottle and she notices all these rose petals in it. To prove that she is completely clueless to his proposal she makes a joke about how there is probably anthrax in there and they are all going to die when she opens it. So she opens the bottle after Kyle prodding her to open it. Inside she finds a piece of paper rolled up and as she starts to unroll it she sees "me?" and as she continues to unroll she reads "marry me?". Meanwhile Kyle has been tapping her on the shoulder trying to get her attention. As she turns to ask him what he is there with a ring on his knee!! What makes this even better is we can all see it because Nanny sneakily had Ashley's camera on the video setting so the whole thing was recorded.

This is a very exciting time in their lives and Troy and I are so priviliged to be a part of it all. They are getting married on May 9, 2010 in Berrien Springs! They like us have been through a lot and have come out on the other end stronger then ever. Here is a picture of Troy, Kyle and Garrett at Troy's graduation this last May

These two pictures are of Ashley and I up north at the Labor Day family reunion. :) We pretty much were awesome at the little hot dog thing....not really.


And might I add that the combined efforts of Natalie, Troy and I brought these two love birds together. They were a couple of shy youngsters (ok not that young :) ) that we were able to introduce and strategically place on couches next to each other...I know everyone that was present remembered feeling the awkwardness. Once they were over that bridge of getting to know each other they took over from there. I look back and laugh at those times because this couple has come a long way and are so cute together. I mean come on look at them!?