( PEOPLE.com ) -- Four years ago , Matthew McConaughey 's relationship with Brazilian model Camila Alves was revealed to PEOPLE in a 2007 cover story . `` She likes roughing it , '' a source said at the time . `` She does n't complain when they go hiking for 10 days without clean clothes or a shower . '' On Christmas Day , McConaughey 's longtime love -- and mother of his two children , Levi , 3 , and Vida , who turns 2 in January -- became his fiancÃ© . `` just asked camila to marry me , '' the actor , 42 , wrote on his WhoSay account . `` merry Christmas . '' Their road to engagement took nearly five years -- the couple met in 2006 -- but now that the question has been popped , PEOPLE takes a look at their show-stopping , not to mention sexy , romance . 'The Right Woman ' When he was crowned PEOPLE 's Sexiest Man Alive in 2005 , McConaughey said he 'd get married one day -- when `` I 'm with the right woman and it 's the right time . '' A year later , he was facing engagement rumors . `` Everyone is convinced he 'll be with her for a long time , if not forever , '' a source close to the actor told PEOPLE in October 2007 about the actor 's relationship with the down-to-earth beauty , now 29 . A month before , they had moved into a $ 1.1 million modular home in Malibu . They already had mystery matching rings . The couple continued to step out together . `` They were laughing the entire time , '' said an onlooker who glimpsed McConaughey and Alves at a Japanese restaurant in November 2007 . `` What a great couple . '' Baby on the Way . Their relationship quickly went from sexy to serious : In early 2008 , McConaughey told his fans that he was starting a family with Alves . That summer , they welcomed their first son , Levi . `` He 's a man -- he 's my man -- and we 're a family , '' Alves gushed months later . `` He 's the best dad he can be -- 100 percent hands-on . '' McConaughey called his leading lady `` the love of my life . '' However , marriage was n't on McConaughey 's mind . `` It 's just not something I plan on doing right now , and that I feel like I need to do right now , '' he told reporters in April 2009 while promoting his romantic comedy , `` Ghosts of Girlfriends Past . '' `` It 's not an institution I 'm against at all . I 'm actually for it , believe in it and have seen it actually be very , very healthy for many relationships . '' Kissing and Telling . The couple rung in the New Year with a new baby in 2010 : daughter Vida . And with an acting career and a family life to balance , the actor was taking his romance with Alves to new heights . `` We went up to 3,000 feet and I had on hiking shoes and I was all set up and ready to go , '' he said in February 2011 about a trip with his ladylove to French Polynesia . `` [ Alves ] was wearing Havaianas sandals and a white skirt . I came down to the bottom of that hill afterward and had blood on me , [ all ] muddy ... and that girl did n't have a speck of dust on her . '' The bachelor-turned-family man told PEOPLE in March 2011 that he was learning Portuguese , Alves 's native language that she grew up speaking in Brazil . And perhaps his favorite word in Portuguese sheds some light on the romance between him and his now-fiancÃ© . `` Beijos , '' is his favorite expression , he said , which translates to `` kisses '' in English . See the full article at PEOPLE.com . © 2011 People and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves met in 2006 . In early 2008 , McConaughey told fans he was starting a family with Alves . TL;DR The couple wed on July 4 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.