Young Women's

We've had some fun activities recently in Young Women's that I wanted to share.  The first one was Broom Hockey.  This was a combined activity with the Young Men.  It was super easy and the kids had a blast.  All they needed was a ball and a bunch of brooms.

Gavin had to get in the mix.  Even though most the kids were twice as big as him he was quick and helped his team out a ton!  

He was in it to win it.

Then Tim joined in too!  I wanted to join in, but being pregnant and totally nauseous I thought it better to just watch from the sidelines so I didn't get hurt or puke on anyone.

Some moments got pretty heated.  In the end they all had a great time and learned a new sport.

The second event was the biggest event to kick of the new year and that was New Beginnings.  After looking on the internet and Pinterest for ideas for this special night I found a theme I really liked. We went with "Taste the Rainbow, Savor the Blessings." As with many things on Pinterest the examples of this theme were a little over the top for me, so I took the idea and simplified it a little bit.  The theme was perfect since the skittles motto "Taste the Rainbow" helped us incorporate the colors of the young women's values.

I set everything up in the Relief Society room.  I used portable chalkboards as the backdrop and I just covered them with white tablecloths.  Then I used crepe paper to make the main backdrop below.

I just taped it to the backdrop and made a sign that said "Taste the Rainbow".

I used disposable tablecloths in every color to decorate the tables on each side of the podium.  I found artificial flowers at the dollar store in every color!  I was so excited about this find because it was super cheap and perfect for the table setting.  Inside the vase we put skittles to hold the flowers in place. I made table tents with each value to place in front of each vase of flowers.  Simple and pretty.

In the hallway right next to the entrance of the Relief Society room I made a values pennant banner and put a picture of Mary praying with the little boy Jesus and a printable with this year's scripture and theme on it.  These years theme is Ask of God and the scripture is James 1:5-6

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

This is such a great theme for the youth to internalize at such a critical time in their lives when they are faced with a lot of peer pressure, a lot of decisions to make about their future, and when many find their testimonies.  I'm really excited to focus on this in what we do this year with the youth.

Finally I sprinkled some colorful confetti on top of the table and filled a vase with some huge rainbow swirled lollipops.

Ta-da!  This is the final reveal of the main decorations.  I was happy with how all of this turned out.  It set the perfect ambiance for our evening.  But the best part was the program that the Young Women organized.  Sister Haisley spoke about the young women program, we all recited the Young Woman's theme as well as doing it in sign language, I spoke about the theme and motto and welcomed the incoming beehives,  each young woman spoke about a couple of the values (what it meant to them and an experience they had with the value they spoke on), and we had a special musical number.  The spirit was amazing that night and I loved being able to help in making it special for these young women.  I'm so grateful the youth have such inspired programs to help them build a strong foundation on the gospel of Jesus Christ and if I have a girl I know it will be a blessing in her life!  Who knows, maybe I was called to Young Women's at this time in my life to prepare me to be a mother to a daughter of God.  In March I have my ultrasound and just maybe we'll add a princess to our little family.