Young Women Christmas Program

Some of you may know that I've had the privilege to be working with the Young Women in our ward this past year and I really have enjoyed it. Well on the Sunday before Christmas, we as leaders decided to do a special Christmas Program on the "True meaning of Christmas." The outcome was better than I could have hoped for. One of the sisters found a really great idea on sugardoodle.net and we adapted it to fit our needs.


To begin, we had the YW room divided into 3 separate areas. The first room we did our opening exercises and announcements. Then we had the girls move into our "fun" christmas room where we had Jingle Bell Rocks jamming in the background, colorful presents, stockings, garland, and Christmas decor. The girls had the look on their faces like this was going to be the best lesson ever; so fun!

So after the girls sat down we got started. Erica, our first leader was all excited about Christmas, all the fun traditions, and gift; she really hyped up the "fun" part of Christmas. Our next leader, Amy, talked about all the fun things we get to get at Christmas and had everyone tell what their favorite gift was that they had received over the years. Jami, our third leader handed out ads from the newspapers and let the girls look through and point out some of the things that they wanted for Christmas.

Meanwhile I was in the next room preparing for the girls to come into our third room. We told the girls that we were going to go next door and write out our Christmas lists. Next door we had paper and pencils on each chair with a different goal in mind. As they walked into the room we had a beautiful Mary, with a baby Jesus kneeling on the ground with some beautiful soft music in the background and the lights turned down. Not a word was spoken by any of our girls. The spirit was so strong. We had soft music playing in the background as Debbie read a beautiful passage, a narration of Mary's thoughts as she carried and bore the Savior of the World; it was truly beautiful. Following that I shared some thoughts from President Monson's first presidency message and they we showed the Nativity with Breath of Heaven in the background. I shared my testimony of the Savior and then each of the leaders bore their testimonies. In closing we had the girls take their pencils and paper and write down their testimonies of their Savior and a way that they could share in the true spirit of Christmas this year. What a wonderful and meaningful lesson that was for me. It was a testimony to me of why we are here and who has made that possible for us. I feel so blessed in my life and I owe it to my Savior Jesus Christ.


After our lesson was over we gave each girl a special goodie plate with a CD of church music centered around the upcoming theme for 2009. What a great day!

Santa Claus is here!!

So Saturday we decided we would venture out and let the kids go ask Santa what they wanted for Christmas. It is an interesting thing to stand in line for over an hour and people watch. All with the goal of sitting on the old man's lap for litterally 20 seconds, snapping a few photos and getting a chocolate coin--well . . . I think I'd say it is worth it cause they looked so cute up there. Anyway, everywhere I looked I saw mom's brushing their kids hair, fluffing their dresses (not literally, but lots of kids dressed to the kilt), and a lot of parents faces looked like they would have rather been anywhere else but there. The boys did a good job standing in line as they held hands to wait for their turn; which was soooo cute. We tried to pass the time by eating yucky mall pizza . . . ugh! And taking some fun photos. At the Easton mall they have all sorts of gigantic stockings and reindeer suspended from the ceiling and the boys enjoyed looking at all of the christmas decor. We rehearsed with them before we got there as to what they would ask Santa for; of course we directed them towards something we already got them; you can do that at this age and it's great! Briggs ended up asking for a transformer, and ethan was going to ask for a football helmet but got gun-shy when it was his turn to sit on Santa's lap. If it wasn't for Cory telling him that he'd get a gold coin I don't think he would have done it. Anyway, chalk it up to a fun memory. Merry Christmas!!










I apologize for putting this in there . . . we'll not really. Santa had to "go feed his reindeer" and so for those 10 minutes or so this was our view. Nice . . . . I kind of got a kick out of santa's helper and Cory thought I shouldn't have taken a photo; but it's all for the memories right! Gotta love this time of year when the pants don't fit just right!

Christmas Pictures

These are the photos I took of the kids yesterday for Christmas. So Grandparents, if you see some that you really want let me know and I will send them with your christmas card. Briggs and Brooklyn were the most willing to work with me. Ethan; we lets just say he was motivated by bribery for only a few minutes and that was about it. Anyway, I did manage to get some cute ones of him as well.

I think this photo (below) shows the boys personalities. Briggs is more just chill, Ethan is the center of attention and Brooklyn just hangs out (for now anyway). They are so fun!

These next ones I thought would be fun for her bedroom to frame.

Rid yourself of vanities . . .

So the other day I was listening to some music, contemplating whether I really wanted to start my diet to loose those 15 pounds of left-over baby weight or not. I have already put it off for the past 4 months, so what is another few right? Anyway, as I was having this mental conversation with myself the Jason Mraz song, "I'm yours" came on and as I listened I heard these words, "I've been spending way too long checking my tummy in the mirror (it may say tongue, but tummy is fitting, I mean who isn't checking it out in the mirror) . . . I guess what I be sayin' is there aint no better reason to rid yourselves of vanities and just go with the seasons. . ." Yes! That's my answer. After all what's an extra few pounds when the food tastes just oh so good. I mean, when is there ever a better time to stuff your face with a dozen cookies, or eat 7 or 8 Rhodes rolls with some butter in one sitting, or a 1/2 pan of brownies with ice cream and hot fudge and not feel too bad because you are writing it off to holiday cheer. So, with that in mind, I may not be the most fit during the next few months, but I think I will join the other millions of americans who start their diet on January 1st and just truly indulge in all the goodness that this holiday season has to offer! Carpe Diem right?!?!?! I hope so! Happy Holidays!