Spring Formal

Every year our stake puts on a formal dance for the youth, formerly known as the Laurels and Priests. Also, the dance was formally known as "Mormon Prom" or "Mo Pro." With the dissolution of the names of the Young Women groups, and the injunction to use the full, proper name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are left with the unoriginal name "Spring Formal." Blah. 

Now that Annie and Maddie are 16 they were excited to go, as they had seen Elizabeth do. Emma got stuck in a rough spot with Covid happening her Junior year and I don't think she ever went to the church formal dance. She did go to high school Prom though her senior year, masked as we all still were. Being the cheap er, financially responsible family that we are, we were able to reuse Emma's formal for Maddie. Meaning we only had to purchase one formal dress this year. Whew. But Emma's dress was very, very long on Maddie, and it required some hemming. Cutting and sewing fancy fabrics make me so nervous because they are so slippery and tricky to work with. I complained online.

This dress had a diagonal layer that gave me some grief at the hemline. At the dress's proper length, it is tucked into the side hem. But three inches shorter, and I had to figure out how to make it properly drape into the bottom hem. It took me several tries before it didn't look awful.

Annie and Maddie have reached 6 months of driving independently licensed, which means they can legally drive friends. (Ahem, legally. They possibly, maybe have taken a couple of friends from the church to the school after seminary so people aren't stuck walking to school in the morning.) But driving friends to this dance was going to be a big deal. They haven't driven my van (the only vehicle big enough to drive everyone) in months. The added pressure of it being full of friends, to an unknown place and driving back late and in the dark was a lot to ask. But Annie stepped up and said she could do it. The night before the dance, Annie and I made the drive to the dance location on the far-reaches of Yakima so Annie could see where she was going. I drove there, and Annie drove back. 

The day of the dance, I did a deep clean on the good ol' minivan. It was going to be holding kids in their finery and I can't remember the last time I vacuumed it. I took the van to the car wash, then brought it home and emptied all the garbage that accumulates over time. Used water bottles, used tissues, candy wrappers, baggies, socks, a sweatshirt, papers, granola bars, all of it. I even cleaned out the cubby between the driver and passenger seats because.... why not. I found disposable masks in the bottom of it. That's how long it's been since I cleaned that out.

After the kids got home from school, we began the process of curling hair. I spent at least 45 minutes, but possibly close to an hour, curling both heads of hair. They have so much! Maybe someday I will insist they learn how to curl their own hair. Annie still wanted a pony tail, so this was my first try of something just a little more fancy than her usual low pony tail. Thanks Pinterest.

The girls had a "first dinner" because the dance also had a dinner but it wasn't starting until 7 pm. Then friends began to show up and we took some pictures.

Alex, Maddie, Jaxon, Kennedy, Noah, Annie

Kennedy did not attend the dance with Jaxon (they are 2nd cousins), but they got paired up for picture taking. Both Jaxon and Kennedy met up with their dates in Yakima.

They look so grown up! Sniff.

Then the 6 of them climbed into the minivan and they took off! For some reason, it was really hard for me to watch them all drive away. I knew Annie was nervous. I stood there in front of our house and waited to watch my van take off down the freeway. And away they went.

Once at the dance, they met up with more of the Sunnyside group. Jay and Bethany competed in the district track meet in Yakima, and then got ready for the dance at the house of someone from the stake gracious enough to open their doors to sweaty teens needing a place to shower and change. 

They did less dancing, and more eating, playing games, and hanging out around the property. They did stay to the bitter end (Annie's words) before making the drive back home. They dropped off Jay and Bethany, then everyone else was able to make their own way home. It was a late night, with the girls coming up around 11:50 pm to say goodnight and they had made it home.