D.O.T.S. - Young Women In Excellence Style

***This file is no longer available! It died when my old laptop did.

We had a wonderful evening with the Young Women of our ward tonight! The theme for our Young Women In Excellence Program this year was Depend On The Savior. We had a DOT on the front door that simply told them where to go. They followed about 200 DOTS that we had sprinkled down the hallway for them to follow. This cute little table greeted them at the door.

Whether they had earned their Personal Progress award or not tonight, each girl had her very own DOT  that she shared with the group. If they were receiving their award, they shared with us what they had learned or loved about their Personal Progress journey. If they are still in the process of earning their award, they shared a project that they have completed and what they enjoyed/learned while completing it. We have some AMAZING Young Women in our ward. They NEVER cease to AMAZE me.

 After they read their DOT to the group, they placed it up on the chalkboard with the other DOTS.

WE had 3 Young Women earn their Personal Progress awards this evening. Bishop Brown spoke and likened the Young Women Personal Progress award to that of an Eagle Scout. These girls spend many hours working on Projects/learning new skills, bettering their lives and the lives of others. I am so very proud of Kylie, Hannah and Taylor(each one is one of my Laurels) for working so hard and earning their award this evening!

Each of the Young Women went home with their own picture of the Savior and a reminder of what we talked about this evening and what the D.OT.S. stood for.

Of course we can't have an activity without yummy treats. My friend, Amy made these darling, yummy (Dots if you will), mini bundt cakes with a cream cheese frosting! YUM!!!

Again, I am so proud of each one of these girls. They have strong testimonies. They know who they are. They have good standards that they uphold on a daily basis as they head out the door and  into the world each day! I am thankful for their sweet examples and kindness. I am so lucky for the simple fact that I get to rub shoulders with them on a weekly basis.

p.s. a HUGE shout out to my friend, Amanda who put a HUGE of time and energy to this wonderful evening! You ROCK, Amanda!

Tradition

One of our favorite, yearly traditions with the Young Women is to head over to the Sacramento Temple for pictures. Our friend, Angela is so wonderful about sharing her photography skills/talent with us. She makes the girls feel like a million bucks! We spent about an hour, getting the perfect shots of the girls. We totally had their undivided attention until they learned that Jimmer Fredette was on the Temple grounds, preparing to give an fireside -LOL!  Here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening!

I am so thankful for these wonderful ladies. I get to work/serve along side of them in the Young Women's Program. They are amazing, talented, kind, strong, selfless and beautiful...inside and out!

Arise and Shine Forth

Each year, the Young Women in our ward get to enjoy a program called New Beginnings. It is a night where the theme for the year is highlighted and all of the happenings of the Young Women are highlighted. The theme this year is "Arise and Shine Forth...that thy light may be a standard to all the nations -D&C115:5." My friend Patti came up with a fun idea. She thought a morning talk show theme would go well with the Arise and Shine Forth theme. She and my other friend, Jan were the talk show hosts. They interviewed two of our super busy, talented, athletic, musically gifted Laurels(16-18 yr. old age group). They asked the girls how they were able to do it all(school, seminary, sports, time with friends, church, band, family activities) and still be able to find the time to work/complete their Personal Progress goals.


They also interviewed Amanda to talk about Personal Progress Boot Camp and all that the girls have achieved this year. They interviewed the Stake YW's President to talk about upcoming activities. There was a special musical number by the YW. They sang Arise and Shine Forth, a beautiful song by Jenny Phillips. One of our Beehives(12-13 yr. old age group), Sydnie put together a slide show(that counted as one of her Personal Progress goals), set to music. It was all of our activities over the last year. It was fun to look back on all of our Wednesday night activities and other outings.


There was an awesome audience give away. All of the girls received a music CD and their very own Arise and Shine, hot chocolate mug.

It just wouldn't be an activity/fabulous morning show without treats. My friend, Sheri made homemade cinnamon rolls and I made the homemade hot chocolate that we served to the girls in their new Arise and Shine mugs. My friend, Amanda created all of the graphics/fun fonts for the mugs/banner/treat sticks.


I feel so lucky to be able to serve in the Young Women's program. The girls that we work with are amazing young women who are kind, thoughtful, creative, talented, beautiful(on the inside and out), and so very sweet.

Just as equally beautiful and talented are the leaders that I get to serve with! What an AMAZING group of ladies. I love each and every ONE of them. They are very generous with their time and talents. It makes the YW's program in our ward over the top FUN!

Daddy/Daughter Activity

Say what???? I know. I know. We still don't have any daughters! This is exactly why I love my calling(another name for our jobs at church). I am currently serving in the Young Woman's program and love doing so. I get to spend time with the amazing Young Women of our ward( another name for the boundaries in which we live in). We put on a Daddy/ Daughter activity and it was so much fun! It was Western themed and the girls and their Dads were asked to come in their best cowgirl/boy attire.



























We called it Brinner. The girls wanted breakfast for dinner. Their wishes are our command :-). We served a breakfast casserole, waffles(with whip cream) bacon and fruit. The girls and their Dad's each had to fill out a questionnaire about how they thought the other would answer the question. There were some very funny answers. We had a pie eating contest. There was a pie tin with a ton of whip cream. Each Dad had to find a candy corn in his pile of whip cream. There were relays and a doughnut eating contest.


















{My cute Laurels, another name for the 16-18 yr. old age groups}.
















{the pie eating contest...so funny!}















{The doughnut eating contest. We did not skimp on the dessert. Those bad boys were Krispy Kreme doughnuts.}

We had the details of this activity in the works before we enjoyed/listened to General Conference(a weekend where we get to hear from our prophet and other leaders of our church). A woman by the name of Elaine S. Dalton gave a talk titled LOVE HER MOTHER. You can read the entire thing here. She asked the question "How can a father raise a happy, well adjusted daughter in today's increasingly toxic world"? Part of her answer is as follows, "The most important thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother. By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion and devotion." Tonight's activity was just another way those fathers showed their daughters tenderness, respect and devotion. I know the girls had a wonderful time, as did their fathers. Carving out time to spend the evening with their daughters/fathers...what a treat. I am so thankful to be part of a church that places so much value on family and our relationships.

box dinners

The young men and young women in our ward had a super fun activity last week. The boys had to provide some sort of table for the girls, out of cardboard. The girls brought dinner. The boys set up their tables without the girls knowing which table was theirs. While the boys waited in one room, the girls went to check out the tables and then picked where they wanted to sit for the evening. Tanner and his friend Dallin were paired up for this event. After talking to them, we decided that I would help them create an all pink table because girls love pink, right??? Tanner and Dallin met at our house and we worked on cutting out the flowers, wrapping water bottles, wrapping the utensils and even wrapping See's chocolate bars for the girls. Other tables were decked out as Hawaiian, Under the Sea, camping and even a fun Monopoly table. They were all very creative.






















Tanner and Dallin got to eat with these cute girls(S&A). These girls went all out for dinner. While the other boys were eating LC pizza, KFC and McDonald's, these girls brought tri-tip, potatoes, fruit salad and rolls. YUM!!!





















Everyone agreed that it was such a fun evening. It was fun to see what the boys came up with and created. It was fun to watch them interact with different friends. They ended the evening with some hilarious games and ice cream Sunday's.

for a flippin' good cause

We had a fun activity with the Young Women this week. We decorated about 15 pairs of flip flops with strips of fabric for young girls and women in Africa. Many of the women in Africa go with out shoes. These flip flops will not only provide protection for their feet, they will help keep their homes cleaner and lets not forget to mention that they are kind of cute :-).



These young women always impress me.





















They are super busy girls and yet, are always willing to serve and go the extra mile for those who are less fortunate. As we tied flip flops, it was fun to chat with them about their first day of school. Keep up the good work, girls.