Combined YW Christmas Activity 2015

 For Activity Days today the girls made cookies in a jar. While Autumn was busy doing that I went and made copies in the library. Then I cleaned out the Young Women's closet and took an inventory of what we have and what I need to order for the incoming Beehives who turn 12 next year.

 We stopped at the store to get some things for the activity tonight. I think Autumn is really enjoying having new books, b/c she couldn't put her book down while we were shopping. HAPPY DAY!!! I finally have a WILLING reader on my hands.

We hurried home, ate some dinner, and then I finished getting a few things ready. For our first activity I had everyone get a paper plate and put it on their head. Then I read some directions to them of things they had to draw. It was soooooooo funny, and I turned my phone on silent and sneaked a few pictures. I got the idea & list of things to draw from HERE.

 After I had finished the instructions, everyone got to see what they had drawn. This one made me laugh the most b/c it's so small and smooshed together. I then read off how they were able to earn points (for example they earned 2 points if their Christmas tree wasn't touching their fireplace, b/c that would be a fire hazard). Whoever had the most points won a candy bar.

 After the game, everyone went and got some treats and hot chocolate. This scene of my kitchen and living room full of Young Women makes me so happy! Once everyone had settled back into their seats, I figured we'd better have something spiritual since it is a CHRIST-mas party after all. I showed them this touching song & video called "Do You Have Room?". Then I handed everyone a piece of paper with this on it:

C
H
R
I
S
T
M
A
S

I told them to come up with something for each letter that has to do with Christmas or the Savior. I told them to be thoughtful about it and take their time. After I gave them about 5 minutes to do that, I had them share what they had written, and went through each letter one at a time. That way if someone else thought of something good for the letter, they could add it to their list. For example let's use the letter H. I put down humble. Someone else said healer. Someone else said hope.

 After that, it was time for everyone's favorite part of the evening ... the white elephant fit exchange. I read the poem, "T'was The Night Before Christmas," and every time I said the word "and" they passed their gift to the left. Every time I said the word "the" they passed their gift to the right. Then we went around and each person opened their gift. I told them they could exchange gifts after we were done if they wanted to. The funniest gift of the night was a can of Pillsbury biscuits! LOL.

Just as we were finishing, we heard a knock on the door. The Teachers class (14-15 year old boys) sang us a Christmas song and gave us some brownies they had made. The girls loved it and thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

We had about 5 - 10 minutes before parents started showing up to pick up their girls. The girls just talked, ate, laughed, and a few even did each other's hair. Once they had finally all left, Autumn & I jumped in the car and hurried over to pick Nick up at 9:00. It's been a pain having his car in the shop since Autumn doesn't get to bed until an hour past her bedtime. But, I'm thankful we have each other and can help each other out.