Baby Rachel's wild ride

A couple of months ago Rachel got her wisdom teeth out...

Carly was pretty quiet when she came out of the anesthesia.  She was a little worried about her puffy cheeks but was overall pretty quiet and sensible.

Not this girl.......

 She was VERY emotional when it was over.  She alternated between Laughing and crying all the way home. As we started up the car to leave she pointed to a girl running down the street and started crying hysterically.  I asked what was wrong "that girl, that girl" what's wrong with that girl?  "sob… her pink shorts"  is there something wrong with her shorts???   "I WANT SOME!!!!!!" 

Then we drove a couple minutes down the road. She looks at the wadded up tissue in her hand and asks hysterically in a frightened sobbing voice "what is that??? what is that??" i answered it's just a tissue baby to which she cried "BUT how did it get there????"  

As we drove down the road, she sobbed until she caught sight of herself in the outside mirror and started laughing loudly exclaiming "I look funny" and then more crying as she saw a boy riding a bike on a bike path next to the road exclaiming "that's scary".  

She is taking sign language at school this year and she kept signing things to me.  I asked her if she wanted a jamba juice and she said yes but NO BANANAS and then started making the sign for bananas and then spelling it out alphabetically in sign.  Then  she pointed to a truck and proclaimed in a disgusted voice " THat is stupid"  what" "THAT! factory parts express (she read off the truck) that's stupid!", then more crying as she touched her face and said it was fat and she didn't want to be fat. I told her it was just numb and she said no, she could feel it, and it was fat.  

Then more laughing as she saw a liscence plate "LANALE" saying Lana, Lana, Lana Lee  over and over and laughing. THen it was pointing at the spinning golden arches at Center street stoplight saying "that's cool! can you see it spinning mom? I want to ride on that thing and go around and around and …… that's stupid" what? (pointing across the street at the burger king sign) "BURGER KING!!! it's stupid" why? "Cause it's just sitting there"   Then more sign language spelling out jamba juice as we turned in to get her a smoothie.  

There was more crying at the pharmacy when she couldn't get the mirror to open, more crying and screaming when we pulled out onto the street and she was sure that a car almost hit us that was not anywhere close to hitting us and she cried and said "it was that (pinching her fingers) close, we're gonna die, I don't want to die"  I don't want to die either Rachel, your eyes are just playing tricks on you, I'm driving carefully.  I have lots of things I still want to do.  

More crying  and "I don't want to die, I have stuff I want to do too like go to dances and stuff!"  

Finally we were home. Phew! 

Her fears were alleviated later that night when she was 

asked to Prom by a very tall, handsome runner....

Her friend McKay came over and knelt in front of her on one knee holding out a jamba juice and said 

"now that you've lost a little wisdom... will you go to prom with me?"

She said YES and if she coulda smiled bigger.... 

she woulda!

Rachel Preference & Prom Spring 2013

Preference is a girl ask boy dance held in the winter.  I believe it was in late February.

She took a friend from the cross country team.  

She borrowed this dress from a girl on the cross country team.

Her Dad & brothers thought she looked awfully pretty.

So did her momma..

                                         

Prom came around in the spring and she was VERY excited.  The boy who asked her is a good friend (on the cross country team of course) and she's been hoping very much he would  ask her to a dance all year.  He was actually her very first date on her 16th bday as well. . .

She'd gone straight for Preference and decided to go extra curly for Prom.  She borrowed the dress form her cousin Kei.  It had very thin straps so we went on the search at the mall for shoes, a bolero jacket and jewelry.  We tried on every black bolero in the University Townecenter I am sure.  Funny thing is we bought the very fist one we tried on.  It was perfect. 

She wanted a color to perk up the black and white so we looked and looked for green shoes.  I finally found some at TJ Max.  There was one pair of green shoes on all the racks and they were her size and they weren't those crazy platform heels.  She could actually walk in them.

It was a prom miracle!

We bought some material that matched the shoes for her to make hair flowers with to keep the green accents going.  

Her date's mom sewed a green vest so they looked quite dashing all put together!

She decided she didn't want a rose boutiniere this time around and I thought this one looked really nice with their colors.

Rachel's date was pretty smooth... he must have heard a thing or two about Mark from his uncle (our stake president). 

He asked "what time do you want her home?"

Mark answered "11:30" 

and then he slid a 100 grand candy bar out of his pocket and held it out as an offering...

 Mark grabbed it and said "on second thought... Midnight!"

Well played... well played!

Rachel had a great time and came home smiling!

Homecoming 2012

At the end of September Rachel crossed another milestone...

Her first Date Dance.

She was asked even before school started! 

At 10:30 at night in late August the doorbell rang and I answered it to find 2 boys from her cross country team at our door, dressed as missionaries in suits and ties.  They very formally requested an audience with Rachel.  

Later...the kids told me that they had come by earlier but Rachel and I were at Target buying Mark a birthday present.  The "missionries" had begged the kids not to say anything to give away their element of surprise and they didn't!

With true missionary spirit,  they waited and returned hoping to find a "golden" opportunity.

She was already in her PJ's in bed with her scriptures when they came the 2nd time. I went downstairs and said there are 2 very well dressed young men at the door asking for you.

She looked at me bewildered, popped out her retainers, changed back into her clothes and rushed upstairs.  

When she came into the room, they were very formal and said they had an important message to share with her if she'd care to listen.

She did!

They opened their scriptures to Mosiah and took a few liberties in paraphrasing a scripture about King Lamoni offering Ammon one of his daughters to wife but changing it to:

"The King of the land Bocanegra asking Ammon if he'd take the hand of his daughter Rachel to homecoming"

They then closed their books, very seriously, and asked her to ponder the scripture and give her answer shortly and turned and left abruptly, always maintaining an air of authority and officialness.  It was cute.

There happens to be a very nice boy on the cross country team named Ammon who Rachel is good friends with... so she was pretty sure what was happening here but was taken by surprise and wanted to make sure she was understanding correctly so she ran after them in the driveway saying 

"wait... so is Ammon asking me to homecoming???"

Well... Ammon was at the wheel of the getaway car so yeah... there was her answer!

She was very pleased but now.... how to answer!?

She decided to stick with the missionary theme and sent her 2 brothers dressed in suits and ties with Mark's old  "Elder Bocanegra"missionary name badges on their pockets.  They asked for Ammon and said they had a message for him and it would take hard work and patience but that if he persevered, he would get his answer.

He thanked  them with a grin and said "is it really going to take a lot of work?

Jacob patted his shoulder and said "yes... yes it is!"

Jacob handed him a paper written out by Rachel directing him on a scripture chase of sorts.  She had a scripture reference and then a direction to line and word 

ie. Helaman 5:12 line 3 word 2

eventually, after finding a scripture reference for each word,  he would make out a message:

After pondering for a night and a day she sayeth

1 Corinthians 9:24

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Then it ends with "See you at practice!  I'd bring your scriptures if I were you"

At cross country practice that day she ran past him with this scripture reference written on the back of her shirt:

D&C 130:5

The first 3 words in the scripture are 

"I answer Yes"

Carly was able to come home the first weekend in September as a friend from SUU needed to attend a wedding in SLC.  She was able to come with Rachel and I to shop for a dress.  Carly and I have had good luck at Macy's department store so we started there.  They had hardly any dresses.  I was so disappointed.  I wondered if we were too early or too late!  

But after scouring the racks we found this dress on clearance from $170 to $70.  When she put it on it was so flattering to her shape but she had wanted something with a little more color.  It was comfortable though, not itchy or tight and modest.  She really liked it.  Carly and I really liked it.  We decided we could buy it and then return it if we found something we liked better.  

When we got to the register it had been marked down even further than the tag said and we got it for $40!

She wanted to dress it up with Yellow shoes and jewelry.

We searched all over the entire mall for yellow shoes and jewelry and found nothing suitable.  It was very discouraging.  I told her there was still time to look for another dress but maybe we could dress it up in other ways so we kept looking at shopko, target, kmart, etc.  One yellow necklace was okay so we bought it.  Then my niece said she had yellow heels and a yellow tank we could borrow.  We picked those up and the yellow tank was a hit but the shoes didnt' work out... 

Rachel and I went to the fabric store and bought yellow ribbon for a possible bow at the waist, yellow tulle to attach to the hem maybe and yellow satin to make hair flowers.

I wasn't quite sure how to proceed but ended up cutting the tulle into 8 inch wide lengths and then cutting the 8 inch wide long pieces into 12 inch pieces.  I would fold them over accordion style 3-4 times and pin them onto a cotton slip we had and sew them on.  We liked how it turned out.

We weren't sure about the ribbon at first but after adding the underskirt, we loved the effect.  after adding so much yellow to the dress itself, we decided black heels and jewelry would be just right.

Rachel made the flowers and came up with her hairstyle although I did help her recreate it the night of.  

We bought some fresh baby's breath when we bought her boutonniere to tuck into her hair.

I thought it turned out so pretty and she was very happy with it.

She doesn't have pierced ears so she wore a lovely black and silver ring and a black and silver rhinestone necklace I actually wore in high school. 

Carly caught a ride home that afternoon with my brother and sister in law who were coming up to SLC to attend a special dinner.  She arrived about 30 min. before Rachel was picked up so that was a fun surprise.

She was very nervous, waiting for Ammon to arrive, especially when we went outside to take pictures. She was just sure I was subjecting her to mortification of the worst kind to be outside posing as he drove up but I WOULD have my pictures and he was late so dignity was saved.

He arrived, looking handsome and nervous.  Apparently, this was his first date ever. Mark enjoyed drilling and teasing the poor boy as usual....

Threatening to carve out his heart with   dull spoon should he hurt little Rachel...

He was a good sport.

The flowers were beautiful and exchanged w/o too much difficulty.

Once again, I must have my pictures and then they were off...

He was a gentleman and they had a good time.  

Rachel reported that they listened to the BYU UTAH game in the car on the way home....

Cringing with all the other fans at the protracted ending

Once again, so grateful to live in an area with righteous young men available to date my lovely girl.

Dreamy

It's her last High School Formal Dance.....

*sniff*

She was asked by this adorable boy...

He wrote a song for her to a Taylor Swift Tune that he played on the guitar

and serenaded her in their choir class.

She thought it was pretty awesome.

She thinks he's pretty awesome.

She found "the dress" months ago when we were shopping for her Aunt Maury's wedding dress.  We stopped at Nordstrom's rack in SLC somewhere to look for mother of the bride apparel and didn't find anything for my mom but Carly found this gorgeous dress.  

It was everything she always wanted!

Gotta love when the Universe gives you gifts like that...

We tried it on and it fit perfectly and was 1/3 of it's normal price.  

I liked that part!

She wanted to avoid the wedding dress comments by going with a contrasting color for her bolero.  We looked a couple months ago and actually saw this purple one among many others and she decided to think about it.  We also tried on a silver one that looked pretty gorgeous with the silver beading around the waist.  She was so busy with school, work, choir concerts, hanging out with friends,  DATING and a trip to SUU to tour the campus that we had a difficult time finding a time we could both go looking again.  We finally made time the week before prom.  She decided that she wanted to go back to Macy's to look "at that purple one".

When we topped the escalator and looked around in the formal department we found ourselves in a bit of despair...

All the prom apparel was on clearance and there were NO boleros in sight.  We started scouring the clearance racks and found ONE small purple and one Extra small gray one.  We were a little discouraged as she usually is a medium girl.

We headed to the dressing room and- miracle of miracles- the purple fit perfectly. We liked the way the size small fit snugly against the dress. She could raise her arms and move with no fear of ripping the seams and also important- no gaping as she practiced her dance moves. yea!

Then we looked at the price tag and it was %65 off! Double yea!

Then when we got to the register they had another coupon they scanned to help her out.  She ended up getting it for less than $10

Then we went looking for the perfect jewelry.  I convinced her to take a look at Dress Barn, even though it was NOT a place she would normally look at... 

We found a necklace there that she loved.  It was smoky grey crystals and kind of chunky and she felt like it really downplayed the contrast of the white and purple and pulled it all together.  It was more than she had wanted to spend but she got such a great deal on the bolero that she decided to go ahead and get it.  When we got the the register it was only $12.99, about 60% off the normal price.  

She smiled at me and said "Temple blessings!"

(She goes to the temple every wednesday at 5 in the morning)

We looked a little for earrings but gave up quickly, it was a hard color bead to match.  She decided to just take off a couple of the crystals and make her own earrings.

We had a little trouble with her hair on prom night.  It just wouldn't do the same thing it had done when she had practiced with it a week ago.  

Her hair difficulty ended up putting her a bit behind schedule.  She's gone out with him several times and he's almost always late but of course, Prom night, when he was scheduled to come at 6pm, he called at 5:30 and said "I'm on my way!"...

She said... "Ummm... I'm sorry but I won't be ready til 6"  

He was there right at 6 and we were STILL doing her hair.  She felt so stupid because she's usually not late. On school mornings, its usually her tapping her foot waiting for Rachel.

She yelled out "I'm sorry! I'll hurry!" and while we finished those last 3 curls and ran downstairs to get her zipped and accessorized Mark sat him down at the computer to watch this video-

When she came upstairs, she was apologizing before she could see him for being late and I dont' know if he planned this or it was completely genuine but it was perfect-  

When she came into view, he kind of took a half step back, a little staggery, his eyes got big and he kind of stammered "Oh no, it's fine, you're beautiful!"  

What a gentleman. 

Big points!

Of course-

Mark had to have a little fun but they played along.

(pleasing the dad... more points)

I loved the red flowers with the purple, although I didn't' expect to.   My grandma Lucy would have loved it.  She liked bold contrast.  Carly loved it too and extra points for the boy...it was all his idea. 

(This kid can't do anything wrong-)

They were in a date group with 3 other couples.  They had dinner at one of the boys' houses with the moms serving from a mystery menu.  They chose their appetizer, main course and dessert but the food items had mystery names so they didn't know what they were getting when they ordered.

She ended up with sprite and a brownie for her appetizer, shrimp, rice and fruit kabobs for her main course and Ham for dessert. She had never heard of this before and thought it was so fun.  

For their "activity date" on Friday night they were very creative and fun as well.  The boys reserved a church building and set up a volleyball net.  They laced glow bracelets through the top and bottom of the net, broke open glowsticks and rubbed the glowy liquid all over the ball and gave each player glow bracelets and a glow necklace.  They turned out the lights, blasted the music from the Tron movie and played volleyball.  Then they played minigolf on a course the boys had set up.  Afterwards, they went to subzero for ice cream and Arby's for french fries.  

Their driver was afraid of our driveway... (he he)... so they had a long walk to the car!

She came home very happy.

Best. Night. Ever.

Prom 2012

Homecoming 2011

Getting ready for the big game Friday night

:( They lost. 3rd year in a row.....

Football is not THS' strong suit.

But it's still fun to get dressed up and go cheer them on even if you have no hope

This smile is even after the game so really, for my girls, it's all about the hanging out with friends. Not so much school pride and winning the game.

Saturday night!

Getting all laced up. Good Heaven's I'm glad we've done away with Corsets for every day wear!

Carly would much rather be silly than serious in pictures.

"The date" arrives.

She's getting better. No help from mom pinning it on this time.

Dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Dance Dance Dance the night away.

Home by curfew with sore feet and deflated curls.

(To use the words of another darling girl...)

I think that calls for a

"Smile, Wink and a thumbs up! "

Out at midnight.... ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!!!!!!

When she was preschool age, I was not a very structured mother. I had a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old and a husband who worked lots of hours. We had naptimes but they were not rigid. We had bedtimes but they were not rigid either.

It worked for us. We were happy.

It was not uncommon to find Carly and I up at 10pm making cookies if we felt like it.

I've always been a night owl.

We'd tuck Mark in since he had to get up early for work....

We'd tuck baby Rachel in since she had to grow and then we'd stay up late and do whatever we wanted. Not every night but plenty of nights.

Well a couple of weeks ago we were at it again.....

It's Homecoming time

Senior year. Last one.

Homecoming was less than 2 weeks away. She was worried she wouldn't be asked. Most of her friends had been asked. As far as she knew all of her guy friends either had to work or had already asked someone. She had bought a beautiful dress for $25 from her former babysitter several months ago.

She said "of course the dance I already have a dress for will be the one I don't get asked to..."

She had kind of given up hope the day it happened. She was sitting on the couch studying for a test when we heard a knock at the door.

Mark: "Who's knocking at our door at 10 o'clock at night?????"

It was a plate of berry swirled cheesecake bars with a note that said "I know it's cheesy but will you go to homecoming with me?" Inside each of the 6 bars was a piece of paper with a letter written on it laminated with tape.

It spelled out his name.

Hope was restored. He's a fun friend who shares her medical interests. She was happy to be asked by him and knew she'd have a great time.

She said "How am I going to answer him???" To which Mark popped off with "Cheez... I think I will" which got the synapses firing. It was late and she had a test to study for and we waffled about doing it that night or whether to wait... It was already 11pm and answering would involve a trip to the store. She finally decided it would be too good to pass up to answer the same night she was asked. He wouldn't expect it and so off we went to Macey's.

We bought 2 boxes of these:

3 little individually wrapped Tillamook cheddar squares:

3 little Ritz cheese and cracker packs:

3 Mozarella string cheese packages:

and a can of squeeze cheese:

We arrived in his very quiet neighborhood at 11:30pm and it started to sprinkle but we went ahead anyway. He drives a big suburban and it was parked outside. Perfect!

On the side of the suburban facing the house we did the following:

Front passenger window:

Stuck cheezit crackers all over with a squirt of squeeze cheese glue

Middle seat passenger Window:

Taped string cheese, cheese squares and cheese and cracker packets all over with a few cheezit's glued around for good measure.

Large back seat passenger window;

Wrote in squeeze Cheese "Cheez..... I think I will!" with hearts and more cheezit's glued to the window. It looked so great. I was so mad to not have thought to bring my camera. She stuck a cheezit to the center of every hubcap for good measure and tied a bow around the unopened box of cheezit crackers and hung them in a bag from the side mirror. She also tied a bow of ribbon around the half used can of squeeze cheez and set it on his front porch.

Then, giggling, we got into our minivan and drove away.

Maybe

I really should have encouraged her to study for her test and told her that running around town at midnight, in the rain, on a school night was not a good idea.......

But next year at this time when, if all goes according to plan, she'll be living on her own away from me-

I'm pretty sure

I'll be really glad

that I didn't.