Mallerie was invited to go to Prom quite in advance if you ask me. Prom was scheduled for April 18th and she was asked in the middle of February. I didn't think this was however, any excuse for Mallerie to drag her feet when it came to answering her date back. She went out of town for a track meet right after he asked her but as the week went on I got a bit nervous, well more like angry. The Saturday night following she was once again unable to answer her date. Matt and I decided we needed to take matters into our own hands. We grabbed some cheesy snacks (her date used a cheese theme when he asked her) and made a sign:
The next obstacle was finding out WHERE this kid lives. The night was SO dark but we were pretty sure we were at the right house. Matt took the stuff up to the front porch, knocked, ran, and hopped in the get-a-way mini-van that I was driving. You might think this involved giggling and good times. It didn't. We were bugged that we were doing it instead of her. And wouldn't this kid rather have Mallerie answering him back than some guy on the high council?
The next day I was teaching in the ward conference that this kid's family is in.
Sure enough, the FIRST person I see is this kid's dad. I had confidence as I said, "Mallerie is excited to with Austin to Prom." He said, "Yeah, I told him she would go fast so he better get on it." I was relieved that Matt had answered the night before. I saw the mom as well but we weren't close enough in the hall to chat. But then as the evening went on I started to doubt we had delivered to the right house….Mallerie was pretty sure they have a Wasatch "W" in front of their door (which this house did not) SOOOO before heading to Presidency meeting the next day I drove by and sure enough we had the WRONG HOUSE.Oh boy. So Mallerie rounded up some glow sticks the next night and made a NEW poster, "YES! I will GLOW to the Prom with you!" and dropped it by the correct house.
Good grief. You might wonder what the other house did with the cheese products? Probably mack'ed on them with their eyes crossed in confusion. Which is kinda funny!
With the date answered, we could focus on a dress. Sadie sent an idea she was rolling around for Raegan to wear a skirt and top to Prom instead of the traditional dress. I let Mallerie think about it (hey, we had time!)
We even went to Shabby Apple at the mall for her to try on similar skirts.
Mallerie's not all the way grown up. She did choose a kids meal at the food court.
She decided that yes, she wanted to go with the skirt look. She decided on the yellow one, which matches her sunny personality. The problem with going with a skirt is that then you have to find a shirt. This task took as much running around as the skirt but we had a good time picking each thing out together. The Tuesday before Prom we were at the outlets in Park City shopping during a torrential rainstorm. The bonus was that we had the place to ourselves! We got laughing how drenched we were getting though.
The top is an Anthropology blouse that we agreed looked best when worn backwards! I did have to take it in to fit her small frame, but it was perfect on her.
She had her hair done at a ward members house and I helped her with her make-up. It all came together beautifully as you can see!
We never did find that perfect pair of shoes but we did find a pair that was good enough. I texted Katrina the week before: "Do you have any shoes that would work for Mallerie for prom by chance? If it's a heel she likes chunky. She can't wear open toe because of her funky toenails. She doesn't like a pointy toe (too much like a witch), or toe cleavage. Oh and she prefers straps on her shoes. Do you have anything?"
She wrote back, "No. Nobody does."
She wrote back, "No. Nobody does."
She was right.
She had enjoyed a date with the other couples the night before.
I loved being there when her date picked her up and seeing them off.
We left soon after to the High School to watch the Promenade. We couldn't see Mallerie anywhere in the crowd with other Jr.'s. I asked her later and she explained, "I didn't want anyone to see me before I came out Mom!" I loved that she was excited.
Prom is a night you should truly feel like the belle of the ball.
This time Ava was on camcorder duty. She pulled a Mallerie and didn't hit record ;)
Mallerie and Austin were in one of the first groups of dancers. Each group consists of 15 couples or so. They all do the same dance to the same song. This year it was Ed Sheeran's, "Thinking Out Loud." On the way home Matt said, "I'll tell ya what, I'm tired of listening to that song". I said, "I'm not. I could listen to it right now." Binnie concurred, "Me too!"
Mallerie simply sparkled that night! She definitely stood out among the crowd. There were so many comments from other parents. Sincere sweet comments such as, "She's the most beautiful girl here!" Mostly people were impressed with her choice to be modest. I liked listening to her and Ava as they browsed the internet looking at dresses the months leading up to the prom. One dress seemed modest to me other than the back was a tad low. I heard Ava say, "His hand would be right on your back!" Mallerie agreed she wouldn't like that.
My favorite thing was looking at her smile.
(if you are wondering what the back, I mean the front of the shirt looked like...)
Love them both so.
Future Promenaders
Okay, and maybe we prom stocked at the Zermatt later that night ;)...
Mallerie was also nominated from for Prom Queen. She is Queen to us!
