The Ball Date

So, Shelisa has been freaking out about getting a date for Senior Ball. (I know your shocked that I used Shelisa and freaking out in the same sentence) She wouldn't be stressing so much, but she's been afraid this kid Jake was going to ask her to ball. Jake's not a bad kid, just a little strange and he tried to kiss her at Senior Circus and this made her uncomfortable. Well, she officially has a date with her friend Zach. The best part, other than their great friends, is Zach is 6'4". This mean Shelisa can buy a great pair of black heels to go along with her dress. She's very excited and relieved!

Pray for the Car

So we've been trying to get Shelisa car to pass the smog test so we can get it licensed. It passed the smog test just fine, but the check engine light was on and so it didn't pass. All the car needed was a new gas cap, but now we have to drive the car around for the computer to reset so the car will pass emissions. Shelisa has driven the car over 1000 miles and it still hasn't reset. I think we need a little bit of divine intervention. Tonight when you say your prayers, throw in a little something about Shelisa and her car. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Thanks for trying.

I realized I don't put much about Kayla in our blog. Kayla is a very private person and really doesn't like to have people talk about her or notice her. Kayla hasn't been having very many good days lately. I've decided that part of it is Kayla and part of it is hormonal. I was really hoping for Kayla to be an angelic teenager since she wasn't always so angelic as a child, but I have a feeling that is not going to happen. But I'll enjoy all her good days and plow through the bad ones with her. Even when I can't stand being around her mood swings anymore. I remind myself all the time, I got myself into this before I left heaven. Now I just need to do the best I can. We love you Kayla. On your good days and your bad!

*Picture is at a young women activity. Thanks for being a great big sister Shelisa!

Road Trip

Shelisa called yesterday and ask if her and a couple of friends could go to Santa Barbara today. (For those of you who don't know, Santa Barbara is about 5-6 hours away.) I asked why and she said they want to go to the beach. The real reason is she's trying to get the computer on her car to reset so it will pass emissions testing and the only way to do that is to drive it. I told her there are closer beaches, but she really wanted to go on a road trip. We talked to Ken about it when he got home and Shelisa is currently on her way to Santa Barbara with a couple of friends. They're supposed to be home before 10pm tonight.

She got mad, she cried and then she was fine.

Last week was Senior Circus or formally Senior Banquet. However, several day's before the event Shelisa hated everyone in her class and really could have cared less if the event even took place. Then she cried because "everyone is a looser and not coming" and lastly she pulled it all together and the event and Shelisa turned out great! At this event MANY (about 110) awards are given out to different kids in the Senior class. They also had dinner and a dance. This year Shelisa and the other class officers decided to not rent out a venue for this event and do it in the gym at the high school. It was a catered event with the awards ceremony, a dance and a hypnotist. The hypnotist was the very best part of the evening. Yes, Ken and I were there as the dessert and drink parents. Several of Shelisa's friends took part in being hypnotized and they were absolutely hysterical. I laughed until I cried.

21,000 Pounds of Food

About 1100 youth from the bay area participated in youth conference at the Interstake Center in Oakland this weekend. Each year they do some kind of service project. This year, they collected food for a local charity, The Second Harvest Food Bank. The youth in our ward collected about 400 cans of food to donate. If we had been notified of the project a bit sooner, I'm sure we could have collected a lot more. In all, the youth from the bay area collected 21,000 pounds of food. Great job to everyone who willing helped out!

Shelisa said she had a great time at youth conference. She had some very spiritual and uplifting experiences and she got to spend the day with a lot of cute boys and some assume friends from our ward.

To see the news report about the donation that was made to The Second Harvest Food Bank, click on the link below.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/18933047/index.html

Happy Birthday Barbie!

Barbie is 50 today! On March 9, 1959 Barbie hit store shelves. You could buy her for $3. Today, that same Barbie in good condition would cost about $27,450. Every second, three Barbies are sold somewhere all over the world. The best selling Barbie hit the stores in 1992, Totally Hair Barbie. Barbie has had 108 careers over the last 50 years and she has represented 50 nationalities. Ninety percent of little girls in the U.S. have owned at least one Barbie. However, if you lived at the Parkin's you currently have over 100 Barbies still in the box and 20-25 currently open that have been played with at one time or another. You would also find two Barbie Jeeps, a Volkswagen Van, a motor home, a huge box of clothes, about 100 pairs of shoes and more accessories than anyone should have. Not to mention the mountain of furniture.

Mormon Prom

Shelisa went on her first blind date to Mormon Prom. (A prom put on at the interstake center for LDS kids in the area. There were seven stakes involved.) Needless to say, Shelisa was very nervous but her date ended up great. Her young women's leader has family in Napa and she contacted some guys from Napa to go to the dance with Shelisa and one other girl from our ward. Sheisa's dates name was Zach. He's cute and very nice. He's going to BYU in the fall so she's excited to have another friend going to school there. She said she needs all the guy friends she can get so they can hook her up with their roommates and have a date every night!

Do you have your copy?

Okay all you U2 fans. Do you have your copy of their new album, No Line on the Horizon? Well, I do and so far I really like Magnificant and Breathe. They played Breathe on David Letterman last night. What will they play tonight?

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Alyssa was Molly Brown for her first person report. She had to memorize her speech (about 4 1/2 minutes) and dress the part. She practiced for weeks and all her hard work paid off. She got an "A"! GREAT JOB!

Facts about Molly Brown: Her husband was 13 years older than her. She learned to speak five languages. She learned how to yodel and play classical guitar. She was traveling alone on the Titanic when it sank. She had one son and one daughter. Molly died of a brain tumor.