As Mike Thelemann ate dinner with Laurin Lowery on Thursday, Oct. 9, he knew something really important was taking place back home.

His brother was on the roof, setting up a yes-or-no question with Christmas lights that Thelemann really wanted to ask his girlfriend of more than two years.

Everything was on schedule until his brother called and said he ran out of lights.

Thelemann did what many men would do in that situation and decided to visit a home improvement store to stall. He even resorted to looking at the store’s Christmas-related items for a bit, he said.

His brother got everything working, though, and the couple arrived home when it was dark.

Thelemann plugged in the lights stretched across his roof without her knowing and then told her he wanted to show her something in the neighborhood.

Soon she noticed the bright message: “Will u marry me?”

“She read it and turned around and I was on my knee,” said Thelemann, who lives at 483 Graafschap Road in Holland. “I asked her to marry me and she said yes.”

Lowery said she was speechless when it happened.

“I was just shocked at first,” she said as she stood in the home’s driveway less than 24 hours after the proposal. “Got a little teary-eyed. Gave him a great big hug.”

Thelemann said he wanted to do it earlier in the week, but couldn’t get her away long enough to get it set up.