Life with an almost 16 year old daughter ...

Oh, the joys of having teenage daughters! A few weeks ago Sarah and Analisa (much to their Dad's dismay) were asked to go to the big homecoming dance. They didn't even ask us if they could go. They just assumed we'd say no because of the 16 rule and hence broke a few hearts. Sarah was asked by her summer boyfriend Blake and Lisey was asked by a junior she recently met named KC. I didn't like the idea of either girl going out one on one. Since all of their activities thus far have involved a big group of kids and parents checking in every so often it felt good and right to say no. A few days later Sarah's Bo dumped her. She was so disappointed. She also found out that same week that she didn't get the part she wanted in the school play. Another devastation. School, friends, BOYS all sucked (as she would say)! Life was sad, sad, sad.

Later that week, I got a call from one of her best friends Matt who asked if he could take Sarah to the dance with a group of friends who all served as SBO's together. Nothing romantic. Just some friends going as a group. After agonizing back and forth with the pros and cons on whether or not to let Sarah go to homecoming, we finally decided that yes, she could go with her group of friends. Since she and most of her friends are either not quite 16 or just barely driving, we thought parent chauffeurs were the best option. Knowing how sad she had been, Matt decided to cheer her up by asking her to the dance in a true, creative Utah way. He wrote in chalk on our front porch, "Follow the yellow brick road". He drew a path that went all the way down our drive way, across the street and down to the school. There were little saying like, "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Did you remember to bring little Toto along?" She did. Topher was skipping right along side her. The path ended at the school marquee where he had a big poster that said, " There's no place like Home-Coming. Will you go with me?" On the other side of the marquee it said his name along with a pair of new ruby slippers. She was ecstatic. Jumping, giggling. Lots of, "Oh my gosh, that's so cute!" He was hiding out in some bush watching the whole thing. We went from sad to happy in a matter of seconds. Thank you Matt!

Since this is getting a little long, I'll spare you the details of finding the dress, altering the dress, getting ready in 25 minutes and freaking out cause he showed up while she was still wrapped in a towel. Thank you Tia Crystal for keeping me from killing her. Because I attended The High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Texas, we had no such thing as football . . . we had no homecoming anything. I don't ever remember going to a dance unless I was performing in one. Except for my senior prom. The process of asking, responding, and day long activities was all foreign to me. I don't even want to think about how much mula he spent on her. Does the same thing apply to girls choice dances? Ugh.



There is a constant wave of emotions at the Nielson home. Late last night Brett and I smiled at each other as our 3 girls laughed hysterically in the kitchen about who knows what. The younger girls love hearing Sarah tell about her adventures. Her funny stories and her heart-aches. As they departed to go get ready for bed, I heard Sarah holler down the hall:

"You guys are my best friends!"

"You, mine!" they replied.

And their all mine!