Homecoming Queen! (updated)

Providence Hall Homecoming was two weekends ago.  Graci and Taylor both went and had a great time.  Taylor went with Senah, a long-time friend.  Graci went with Bryant, a young man from our neighborhood.  While both of them had a lot of fun, Graci had the unforgettable experience of being crowned homecoming queen.  Way to go, Grace!  It was fun to have Grandma Rose and Aunt Jenny down for the weekend, so they could help with buying Graci's dress, doing her hair and just overall enjoying the experience.  Love these fun teenage years:)  Oh, and Graci's date picked her up in the COOLEST CAR EVER!!!

-Jeremy

PS.  This is Christianne.  I couldn't let Jeremy get by with such a short description of this day!  Graci being crowned Homecoming queen was an unforgettable experience.  Not because it was important to us, but because it meant so much to her.  When she found out she was one of the ten finalists earlier that week, she became a different person.  She was extra bubbly and fun and you could tell it just really boosted her self-image.  On Friday, she found out she was one of the five finalists.  I don't think she stopped smiling all day and evening.  In the meantime, Taylor was pulled aside by a teacher and told that Graci had won and that she needed to be sure to be at the dance.  So of course, Taylor told us and we got to revel in the excitement, knowing how happy her Saturday evening was going to be.  I took her shopping and she was the most giddy she has ever been.  She tried on dress after dress and we even bought FIVE to bring home and model for everyone in order to pick her final before returning the others.  She went with the most casual and fun of all of them, which is the most HER.  Aunt Jenny did her nails while I worked on her hair and she just sparkled throughout it.  It was just such a special experience to watch her, the girl who normally acts as if boys have cooties, be an excited teenage girl when it came to a dance.  She kept saying, "Mom, I only have a 20% chance of winning, so I shouldn't get my hopes up."  (;  That night when she came home, she walked in the door and very calmly said, "Guys, I didn't win.  But it was ok.  I had fun."  For just a moment, I was a little confused.  Her acting was spot on.  But then she exclaimed, "Just kidding!" and pulled her sash and crown out of her purse.  We loved getting a play-by-play of the night, and I even enjoyed more reading her journal account (she let me) of the whole experience.  She kept saying how much she loved her Heavenly Father and how it would have been ok not to win, but how He knew that she really wanted it.  I love that girl!

Also, since Jeremy blogged about homecoming, I needed to add Parker's homecoming experience!  Parker is 15.  He will be 16 in November.  In our family, we have a "don't date until you're 16" rule, which many of his friends have as well.  It's guidance given in our church and we have stuck to it.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I got a call from my close friend, Mary.  She has been our neighbor for years but moved to Lehi a few years ago.  Her darling daughter, Daisy, has always been super good friends with Parker.  They adore each other, in a good way, and have always stayed in touch.  (:  Mary had just found out that Daisy had been nominated and chosen as Homecoming Duchess for Lone Peak High.  It was a super big honor, being as how her sophomore class has almost 1,000 kids.   The problem was, Daisy is also 15 and therefore didn't have a date and hadn't planned on going to Homecoming.  Now she needed to go, and of course she didn't want to go alone when everyone else would have a date!  We saw this as an exception to our rule, and decided that it was a "spirit of the law" instance.  I must say, Parker was not at all sad to help out a friend. (;  We called it a "practice date."  Her mom drove them and they had a great time together.  I can't think of anyone else I would have liked more for Parker to "practice date."  (:  I'll include their pictures at the bottom and also add a few more of Graci.  Sorry to overtake your post, sweetheart!  (: