Christmas surprise...take notes boys this is how it's done

This year I decided to try and really surprise my sweetie. I found out that a car she test drove (and loved) in June was still on the same lot due to the poor economy. I schemed for over a month, negotiated the price only to have the car sold right out from under my nose 1 week before Christmas. This called for some serious scrambling and rethinking on how to make this Christmas a special one and I think I came up with a pretty good result.

Kenna's wedding ring was lost a few years into our marriage and I couldn't afford to buy her a new diamond, but she didn't want her ring setting to be out of production. We have been waiting to replace her diamond for quite a while and this year we did. Rather than just giving her that I came up with a 9 gift scavenger hunt that represented key moments when were dating and culminated with her new diamond. It was fun and she pretty much cried before she even got to the 2nd gift!!

Here is a quick summary of how the gifts went down:

Gift #1- children's book (by Max Lucado) & a willow tree doll,- We met at my brothers house while she was babysitting his kids for their anniversary.

Gift #2-Pint of Ice Cream - Our first date ending with us getting Ice cream and talking for about an hour. I was able to find the same flavor as what she ordered that night!

Gift #3-Toy Boat and Movie tickets- One of our first few dates we know remember as the "marathon date" as it lasted about 14 hours. We went boating, to lunch/dinner, a wedding reception and watched a movie

Gift #4-Rod Iron clock/wrist watch...Some would say that our dating relationship didn't go all that fast. I didn't hold her hand for about...uh...well, about 5 months. So the clock represented the 'time' that I took. :]

Gift #5-Stuffed Animal (Moose). It may have taken longer than 5 months if it had not been for divine intervention. We were on a group date up Little Cottonwood canyon on hike. I wanted to hold her hand, but she was being a bit of a stinker, putting her hands in her pockets, etc (because I was taking so long she decided that I needed to work for it now). A huge MOOSE came barreling down the mountain and scared our group half to death. I took her hand and led her behind a large group of trees and never let go. Thank goodness for that moose!!

Gift #6-Carabiner/Restaurant gift card-Shortly before my birthday my mom informed Kenna that she could be in charge of my birthday. She hadn't 'officially' achieved girlfriend status, or at least we hadn't had the "define the relationship' talk, so it was a bit awkward for her. She did a great job and took me rock climbing and to my favorite restaurant.

Gift #7-Customized ring tone of our song-- Just before Christmas the missionary called her indirectly and said he would call her on Christmas. You can imagine how well this went over with yours truly. This DID spark the 'define the relationship' discussion, which obviously moved things forward.

Gift #8-Walter Rane Art "He is not here" This was the gift she though would finish the hunt as it represented our engagement and my promise to bring her to the house of the Lord. She has been telling me about this piece of artwork for years!!

Gift #9-Her new diamond- I didn't actually bring the diamond home, just a letter from Wilson Diamonds inviting her to come get her new diamond. She was speechless and it was fun!!

P.S. a week after Christmas she found the best deal I've ever seen on the car she wanted and got that too!!