Well, first of all, St. Nicholas came to our home in the night. He left candy canes and golden coins in our shoes. It was so exciting! Every year that goes by I get more and more excited to celebrate the Church's feast days with my kids because they are understanding better and better the meaning of them and they are loving the awesome traditions that the feasts carry on. This was an exciting day.
The second awesome thing that happened on the Feast of St. Nicholas is that my brother got engaged! It's true. I know. Bo Zimmerman is getting married. It is incredible and such a grace to see him get to this point of maturity in his life and mostly I am just so grateful that he has chosen this path... a path to create a home, take care of someone for a lifetime and bring the possibility of having children into his life... the greatest gift God gives two people who are married next to one another.
I was so excited that he brought me with him to help him pick out a ring. We went to the same place where Patrick bought mine. It was something I will never forget. For as long as I can remember I have prayed for my brother's vocation... and here we are. To top it off, he is marrying one of my friends from high school. On the competition cheerleading squad I was her fly and she was my base. What this means is I was thrown in the air and she was the one to hold me up AND catch me. I'd say he made a pretty good choice. My butt never hit the ground... hers always did first... and it would with the goal of saving mine. So if she's as good of a wife as she was a base, I think we are set. She will always have his back.
So, to get to the good part... how did he ask her? Well, Erin works at a Catholic school, so on the feast of St. Nicholas my brother showed up. He had arranged with the principal to put the ring box in her shoe. When the time came he told me that she came out of her room, found her shoe, took the box out... and my brother, who was hiding across the hall, tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, he got on his knee and opened the box! She cried. And said yes!
Congratulations to Bo and Erin! We pray for you every night by name. We love you and can't wait to see what God has planned for your marriage and your future family.