They're Engaged!

 Ryan and Chiara met their first week at Snow College, near Manti in Utah.  Both of them were freshmen, and both were music majors.  She is a gifted violinist, and he plays piano and several band instruments.  Within a month they were an item.  Chiara and Ryan started learning the Russian alphabet as a hobby together.

 After dating for 10 months, Ryan went on his mission to Ukraine.  While Ryan was on his mission, Chiara majored in Russian, then became a college Russian exchange student for 6 weeks.

After two years and a month of waiting for her sweetheart and praying that he would still love her, (Aug 21) Chiara met Ryan at the airport and delivered the long awaited ..... handshake!  Two months later, Oct 20, they were engaged!

Across the street from the Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah there is a park of grass and trees.  Just down the hill from the park is an amphitheater.  The night Ryan asked Chiara to marry, there was a Reggae band performing at the amphitheater, which provided for the perfect background music.  (Chiara's really into ethnic music from around the world.)

In that park of grass and trees were several large pine trees that went to the ground and provided a very nice private hideout.  The one chosen had a window between branches which gave a view of the temple.  24 battery-operated tea lights and 4 solar-generated night lawn lights provided ambiance and gave light to the complete darkness that 9:45 p.m. provided.  The blue feather Chiara's holding is a symbol of Eternal Love, according to the Legend of the Blue Feather.

 
In the center of Chiara's engagement ring is a large brilliant-cut diamond, with a smaller diamond on each side, and 4 even smaller diamonds on either side along the white gold band.  This will also serve as her wedding ring when they get married.

They are going "European", in that she also got him a band for their relationship, brushed tungsten with a polished strip in the center.  For the engagement he wears his on his right hand, then it'll be transferred to the left hand when they get married.

Ryan and Chiara will be married in the Utah Logan Temple on Saturday, December 15, and their reception will be held Tuesday, December 18.