Follow the Sun

We decided to take a less formal {I say less formal because less spiritual just sounds bad} approach to our Young Women in Excellence program.

Which I am very grateful for because I am just plain worn out between work, motherhood, wife, trying to figure out how to get my dog to stop pissing off the Alpha male and eating his backyard, and all the responsibilities I seem to take on. 

We went with the "Follow the Sun" theme and had a beach party! Liz, our YW President, had this cool buzz system that she set up. The girls and their parents played a getting to you know you game and we also had a YW trivia game. I was impressed with how much the girls new about the YW program. Stuff I didn't even know like what colors are for which values. 

I set up a photo booth with everything beachy I could find laying around the house. I even hooked up my pink flamingo lights! The girls were told they needed to wear beach/summer attire but I think everyone was a little unsure if this was actually OK or not. So we had some props to help them beach-ify their outfits. 

After games and pictures, we had a smoothie bar. {Thanks to the Our Best Bites girls for all the tips} It was delicious! And super fun. The Stake Presidency loved the smoothies. I went all out and got every kind of frozen fruit I could find. I even bought three kinds of juices, yogurt, pineapple sherbert, and this cream of coconut stuff that made them oh so tropical! Yum! Best {and messiest} treat idea I've ever had!

Young Women's is a lot of work and time away from my own family. But I love those girls! They keep me young and help me remember who I am. It made my heart sing when I had a couple of the older girls tell me that this was the most fun they've ever had at a Young Women in Excellence! That simple thank you makes all the exhaustion and stress worth it.