Monday October 22, 2001 was Stephen's 48th birthday, but we chose to celebrate Saturday, October 20, since we both have classes on Monday night. Here's what I planned for his birthday. Stephen has long been fascinated with helicopters. He wanted to be a helicopter pilot and built remote-control helicopters as a young man, but was prevented from following this dream for minor medical reasons and had never been up in a helicopter. I told him we were going somewhere for a surprise on Oct 20, but didn't tell him where until we were turning into the Canmore Municipal Heliport for a helicopter tour over the mountains by Alpine Helicopters. Around 11:15AM we went up in a Bell 206 Jetranger, which holds four passengers plus the pilot, Monica. The 25 minute tour through the mountains around Banff was great, and around noon, just as we were about to re-enter the building after our flight, Stephen pulled me aside and proposed! I accepted, of course, so we are now engaged! Afterwards we went over to Beaner's, a nearby coffee bar, to ponder the step we had taken. We both knew this was coming, but I think he was taking advantage of an opportune moment without specific prior planning. We don't have a date or even a ring yet, but we both felt very good about finally making this official. So far all we know is that we want to have a small, informal ceremony, probably in our backyard, with just family and a handful of friends. We will probably do it sometime next summer (2002).

 Here's Stephen sitting up front with the pilot holding my Nikon camera--these shots were all done with my little Olympus Stylus 35mm autofocus camera, though. Isn't he cute?!

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