A sailor called on Santa for a festive favor after returning from deployment and proposing to his girlfriend and stepdaughter during their Christmas mall photo shoot.
Mom Stephanie and her daughter Skylar had no idea what Jesse Larson had planned when they headed to a local mall in Ames, Iowa, to have their photos taken with Santa.
In Stephanie’s mind, boyfriend Jesse Larson was still on active duty as a fire control technician with the U.S. Navy, having just finished up his stint on the USS Pennsylvania in Washington State.
Secretly, though, Jesse had liaised with Stephanie’s sister and headed home for a big surprise, which required him to stay in a local hotel the night before.
The morning of Stephanie and Skylar’s visit to Santa, he got to the mall early, spoke to Santa and the photographer who was present to lay out his plan.
Then, during the mom and daughter’s shoot, Jesse suddenly appeared, focusing his proposal on Skylar as he asked if it would be okay to take her mom’s hand in marriage.
Santa then handed Jesse the ring, which saw him get down on one knee.
Stephanie, replying through happy tears, let out an emotional, “Yes!”
Jesse made sure the moment took place on December 11, as he knew that was a significant day for Stephanie, since her best friend had passed away years ago on that date.
The surprise took place in 2017, and each year the video is reshared amongst friends and family, Jesse, who uploaded the video to TikTok for the first time in 2023, said.
RELATED: Girl Surprised With Christmas Adoption By Family Who Took Her In During Hour Of Need
Jesse, who was medically separated from the military in 2019, said: “The whole family loves seeing the video pop up each year.
“Stephanie’s post on TikTok got quite the response she wasn’t expecting as well.
“So, it’s always nice to see the love from even those outside the family.”
