Prom In Idaho!!!

Well it all started one quiet evening when I got a phone call from a good friend in the ward.  She informed me that her brother who lived in Idaho needed a date for the Junior Prom.  He apparently lives in a very small town where girls are few and goods ones are hard to find.  She wondered if Valorie would be interested in going to Idaho to go to the Junior Prom with her brother.  Wow!!! That was not an everyday phone call.  I approached Valorie with the idea and she was very excited.  A few days later my dear friend's husband delivered this to Valorie.

This is what was inside!

He said she may need to dig through it and he would be back later!

I can't figure out how to download the video of Valorie digging through the butter, but it was very funny.  After she and all her siblings helped her dig through the butter and found NOTHING, Christopher decided not to let all that butter go to waste, so he made himself some buttered toast.  

A little while later this card was delivered to our door!

Awwwwwwww!!!

Valorie took forever coming up with some cute way to answer him, but she finally came up with this. She took a picture of herself that made it look like she was holding something and also very disgusted about her messy hand. 

The next part you will have to imagine because she sent it to him before I could get a picture, but she cut a hole in the picture above and below her hand and treaded a Butterfinger candybar through it so it looked like she was handing it to him in person.  Then she put a note saying, now that you buttered me up, I thought you might like some butter fingers too.  She put it in a box filled with Butterfingers.  

Our next surprise was actually meeting this mysterious boy who would be taking my daughter to Prom.  With the wonders of electronics these days, Valorie quickly found DION on facebook and requested him as a friend.  This is what we found.

"No" you are not color blind and "No" I am not prejudice.  However, my dear friend is not black.  So we were just a little confused.  We called her up and asked, "Do we for sure have the right person here because I thought you said he was your brother!"

"OOPS!!"  She said,  "I forgot to tell you he was adopted!"

Well this did not affect Valorie at all.  She was very excited to be going out with a black man.  When she told all of her friends about it, they were also very excited for her.  I love the fact that now days color just doesn't matter.

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The plan for the Prom was for me to drive Valorie out to Idaho so that I would be able to see my daughter off on her first Prom.  It was so much fun.  We decided to leave the rest of the family home since Richard had the weekend off.  We hadn't realized at the time that it was on General Conference weekend and so that messed up our traditional waffle breakfast that we usually have, but the family survived without us and Valorie and I had a very fun vacation together alone.  

Prom in a small town in Idaho is a little different than what you normally see.  They started off their date by going shooting.  When they got back from that, they went on a little scavenger hunt.  They were suppose to go on 4 wheelers but it was a very cold windy day so they ended up taking a car.  Here is the poem they were given to tell them what to find.

Let’s start by putting in your bag a little white rock,

And a clipping of black fur from the dog of Dion’s nephew Brock.

You must go into the coop of Terri Perron’s chickens.

Gather there an egg, but do hurry.  Time is tickin’.

Bring a bobby pin that girls put in their hair,

An old used sock that a man would wear.

Find a feather from any kind of a bird.

And from the ground a dried up old cow pie turd.

A long hair from the tail of a horse.

And Yes!  A pine cone of course.

Next ask for a string exactly 3 feet long.

And together you must sing them a nice little song.

Have them sign a note that you actually did,

And at the next stop pick up a lid.

Then to end all the frantic frivolous fun,

Have a child under 8 draw you an orange or yellow sun.

With these wonderful treasures packed in your sack,

Carefully and safely ya’ll come on back.

Now remember the first to find the items on the list up above,

Will win a prize you both really will love.

The other two?  Oh you never can tell,

There may be something for you as well!

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My favorite part is the dried up cow pie turd.  I bet Valorie never expected to be doing that for Prom!!!   At the place where they were suppose to get the chicken egg, the owner had planned a little trick on them.  He set up some speakers in the barn and as soon as the kids opened up the door he played some sound effects  of a bobcat screaming.  It scared them to death and they all ran out of the barn faster than lightning.  The other couple had managed to grab their egg and left Valorie and Dion behind to fend for themselves.  Every time they opened the door, the bobcat would scream.  It took them forever to finally give up the nerve to go in and get the egg.  It was a great practical joke and made the event even more memorable. 

After the scavenger hunt they went home to get dressed up.  Here is the beautiful couple.

They went out do dinner and then the dance.  In small towns it is tradition to invite the parents to come to the dance.  So I got to go.  When we arrived, it was at this beautiful building and the only ones there were parents.  None of the kids had arrived yet.  Most of the parents were in jeans and cowboy boots.  They didn't start until everyone was there.  There were only 19 couples total who attended.  There were more parents than there were high school kids.  It was so much fun.  As soon as all the couples had arrived,  (Valorie and Dion were the last because they had gotten pulled over by a policeman right as they were pulling into the parking lot.  The parking lot was on a one way street and they hadn't known it.  Luckily the policeman did not give them a ticket) they started the Promenade.  Each couple entered the room while there names were announced and the parents all took pictures.  After the Promenade, they had the Father and daughter dance.  I really wished that Richard could have been there to dance with his daughter.  She was so beautiful.  Then they had the mother and son dance.  When the dances were over they quickly informed all the parents that we were no longer welcome and literally kicked us out of the door.  

The next morning Valorie and I left Idaho and returned home.  We really felt like we were leaving family as we drove away.  They had made us feel so welcome and we both had so much fun.  It was a very fun and memorable experience.

I have one last picture to show because I think it turned out so good.  Valorie has always been amazing with hair.  She has done her own hair since she was 3.  She had planned for weeks to do a fabulous updo for her hair but when the time came to do it, she realized that since we were at someone else's house, she did not have the same set up as she did at our house.  They had no mirror for her to see the back of her head with.  So she panicked and the tears almost came, then she begged me to help her.  Then I panicked and the tears almost came, but I pulled both of us together and figured that some of her talent must reside in me somewhere.  This is what we came up with.

I think it was a success.  If only I could get my hair to look that good!