We ALL had fun FALLin' the yellow brick road -- Craft Night

We had a blast at our craft night RS meeting.

To kick off the night, we heard a message "Create" from President Uchtdorf




We provided the option of 4 crafts and had sisters sign up two weeks before the big night.

It was hard to choose, because they were all so cute!

Pumpkin Trio--tutorial here

Coffee Filter Wreath--tutorial here

Picture Frame--tutorial here

Magnet Board--tutorial here


So we had quite a few sisters sign up, and some even brought friends. It was fun to see so many visitors there!!

We were set up for success!

 It was nice to have all the supplies laid out so all they had to do was put the craft together!

 We provided a piggy bank for "donations" to off-set the costs of some of the crafts.

 We made picture frames...

 And pumpkins...

And of course had some "Ding Dongs" in honor of Dorthy and the famous "Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead" song...

Lots of happy crafters...

And lots of time to talk and visit

 And most everyone finished in time to take their new creation home!

Way to go sisters!!

Conference is Approaching!

Can you believe it's already that time of year?

Conference is upon us!

This Saturday, September 28th is the General RS Broadcast.

You're welcome to participate it in a number of ways:

• Come to the Stake Center for a dinner at 5:30, and watch the broadcast together 
• Come to the Temple building at 7:00 for the broadcast
• Watch it at your home through live video streaming and click on this link 

We hope you'll take time out of your busy lives to hear the inspired words from our leaders!

Also, the following weekend, October 5th and 6th is General Conference.

The 183rd Semiannual General Conference of the Church, to which all members are invited, will convene in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6, 2013, with general sessions each day at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. mountain daylight time.

This means the sessions are at 11am and 3pm TEXAS TIME! 

The general priesthood meeting will be held in the Conference Center on Saturday, October 5, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. MDT. (7pm Texas Time!)

Members of the Church are encouraged to participate via radio, television, satellite, or Internet transmission on LDS.org. 

Our usual Sunday meetings need not be held on October 6.

Hope you're able to participate sisters, 

as it's always a great time to be inspired, motivated and see the right perspective!

And for those with small kids, check out these ways to keep them engaged! 

A Few of Our Favorite Things

We had a great time at our favorite things exchange!

When they arrived, we had them write their name on slips of paper, and put them in the right jars, for their chance to be drawn.

There was a category for early years, middle years, and later years of FHE, where they could win "FHE in a jar," a night all ready to go!

Then, of course, they wrote their name down TWICE for the exchange.

And then everyone entered their name in for a chance to win the FHE grand prize!

We had a great time going around in the circle and each person taking a minute to talk about their favorite FHE memory, activity, or way to make it work!

Some fun FHE ideas were:

• Family talent show
• FHE is in the bag!
• Animal sounds game
• Peter, James, and John circle game
• Iron Rod throughout the house with string
• Short and sweet, 5 mins or less
• Using the nursery manual and coloring activities
• Articles of Faith with images for memorization
• Taking turns being "in charge" 
• Having a "child of the week"
• Watching a movie together
• Having a picnic on the floor
• Using the Gospel Art Book for a lesson
• Using the Church FHE Charts
• Stand in the Light lesson with flash lights
• Having a testimony meeting, or a chance to bear testimonies
• Simply holding one is a SUCCESS!

Next, they introduced their favorite thing, explained why, and drew the two lucky winners!

We had some fun "favorite things"

• Lots of chocolate
• Nail polish
• Cute items from the dollar bin at Michaels
• Hand sewn scarves
• White cheddar popcorn
• Melano cookies 
• Roses 
• Fudge
• Nutrition bars/drinks
• Soda
• Our Best Bites cookies/reciepe
• Handmade soft baby blankets
• Freezer jam
• Movies
• and more!!!

 

We had lovely desserts to enjoy

 

We also had a handout for them to take home, a list of FHE ideas to make FHE one of their new favorite things!

Lots of happy faces!

And time to chat!

We had brown paper packages tied up with strings, with a treat for each sister to take home.

Thanks for joining us! See you next month!!

Favorite Things and FHE Ideas for September RS Mtg!

November RS Meeting: Garden CommuniTEA Party!

Oct Activity- Some Royal Fun!

Well this is my first calling in the church outside of Primary/ Nursery. And can I just say: This is so fun and exciting!

I thought October sounded like a great month for crafts. And it turns out, a lot of you sisters felt the same way :). We had 56 crafts signed up for!!! Unfortunately we didn't have near that many sisters show up to do their crafts. Next time for sure though!, Right sisters?

Before the activity night there was lots of sanding and staining to be done for the Wooden Family Growth charts. Big thanks to my heaven-sent helpers; Sisters Mandy Ashton and Rebecca Bell.

We started the craft night activity off with two WONDERFUL lessons from Sisters Patricia Leonard and Michelle Vann...

Then the crafting began...

  

  

  

   

  

When crafts were finished and drying we ATE! Yay for yummy desserts! Sister Shaunie Frost made some DELICIOUS pumpkin pies for us and I brought an Apple Crisp. For those wanting Shaunie's recipe: Ask her!, I'm sure she'll share :). For those who asked for the Apple Crisp Recipe: Never! Just Kidding!!!, It's at the end of this post.

Thank you to all who came and supported this fun Relief Society activity! To those who couldn't come, I am sending HUGS your way, because I know you are so sad to have missed it.  I hope you are all SOOOO EXCITED for next month's activity because I can promise you this: It will be a WONDERFUL night! Put it on your calendar's now: The second Thursday in November! :)

Juli Purcell's Apple Crisp

4 Granny Smith Apples (Peeled, cored and sliced)

1/2 cup Butter (One cube. Butter, NOT margarine!)

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Oats

1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

Preheat Oven to 350F. Cover bottom of a greased/non-stick sprayed casserole dish with the apple slices. In mixer, combine Sugar and Butter and whip until well mixed, then slowly add oats and flour. Sprinkle/ Spoon oat mixture on top of your sliced apples.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. EAT! It tastes GREAT with vanilla ice cream on top.
(Also, if you're a big fan of the Crisp part, like I am, Double all the ingredients except the apples)