YW Christmas Party

I recently got called as 1st counselor in the YW's presidency. The really cool thing is that my sister in law Kristina is the 2nd counselor and our President is her mother MaryAnn. We are keeping it all in the family to say the least. Our advisers are Betsy Baugh who works with Kristina, Laura Kaiser who works with me, and Rachael Shumway who works with MaryAnn and we have Nicole Wood as our secretary. I am really excited about this new calling. I love being with the youth. We decided to have a Christmas party with all the girls for our joint activity for December. We all got together at my house and had some yummy food and then we had a White elephant gift exchange. It was fun, the girls brought some silly things. I ended the night off by reading a poem called The White Stocking. I put the words to the poem on a scroll and rolled it up and placed it in a white stocking and gave one to each of the girls. I think that the night went pretty well.

The White Stocking
`Twas the night before Christmas as I walked through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The presents had been wrapped and placed under the tree,
I paused, tired, excited, and then giggled with glee.
The stockings were hanging and were beautifully filled,
No one had been forgotten, though the credit card was billed.
As I looked at the scene with the stockings on the ledge,
I noticed one empty, the one on the edge.
Where's the Spirit of Christmas – What have I done?
The children's stockings are full, except for this one.
It was the stocking intended for the child of Bethlehem.
The white stocking for Jesus that was hung up by them.
Of all the people at Christmas, that might be forgotten
How could I not remember the Fathers Only Begotten?
Only He had been left out of the festivities,
As we planned and prepared all, for our families.
As I pondered, I realized this just was not right!
It was His birth that was being celebrated, after this night.
I resolved then and there to remember The Lord,
And quickly made changes that were easy to afford.
I hung the white stocking in a special place in our home,
And corrected the atmosphere to provide a more spiritual tone.
On Christmas morning I gathered the family together,
And each of us wrote on a special piece of paper.
We gave Jesus a gift which we placed in the stocking,
A sincere change of heart, not there for the mocking.
The white stocking hung in our home as a symbol for us,
Of the true meaning of Christmas – the Savior, The Lord Jesus.
So take your white stocking and hang it with pride,
Remember the Savior, put his gift inside.

Tavaci at The Bridge Assisted Living Center

Each year the girls get to go to The Bridge Assisted Living Center for a performance. It is always so fun to go and see all the elderly get so excited about the kids singing. We have been going for several years now so it is cool to see familiar faces when we go. The girls always enjoy this performance.

Here comes the tooth fairy!

Alexis finally lost her very first tooth. She was so excited. She thought this day would never come.

Alexis 7th Birthday

This year for Alexis Birthday she wanted to have a slumber party. We borrowed the Cano's projector and big projection screen and put it up in the loft. We bought a bunch of snacks and let all the girls just pig out. They had a really fun time eating and watching movies. Her friends that came were Cierra Moore, Ellie Cano, Megan Dollar, Savannah Baugh, Emily Cano, Alyssa Baugh, and Natalia Andrade.

Tavaci Performance at Harbins Elementary

Today the girls had a performance at Harbins Elementary to prepare for their upcoming concert. They always look so cute in their costumes. They love performing and being in Tavaci.

Afro Hair

I braided the girls hair while we were at Disney World so that it would stay out of their face. This is what they looked like when I took all the braids out.

Locate the Bishopric

It has been a tradition since I was a youth that the YM/YW have a Locate the Bishopric at the mall activity. The bishopric try to disguise themselves and walk around the mall and the youth have to try to find them all. Since Andy is the executive secretary he got to participate this year. We turned him into a poly with tattoos. We had a fun time getting him ready. He looked pretty scary and even scared a few of the youth. There was also a group of ladies clinging onto their purses in fear that he was going to mug them. It was pretty funny.