Ward Christmas Party Bethlethem

• mtseamonsfamHelena 3rd Ward Christmas Party! Yummy dinner. Musical numbers from all auxiliaries. Justice sang "Do you want to build a ⛄️ ?" with the YM. Liberty sang a song with the YW. Victoria played "The First Noel" on her violin. They also had a 'Build a snowman' table set up for the kids. Fun times!

• demerryMy girls said Victoria did a beautiful job on her violin! Sorry we missed it all 😞

Here's a clip of Victoria playing. She was super nervous and actually skipped her turn 3 times before she gained enough composer to perform. The whole room went quiet when she started playing. It was really beautiful and then the audience roared with applause after. Way proud of her!

mtseamonsfamTo end the evening – the primary participated in a live nativity. Cooper Lynch read some scripture and the kids sang some songs. Then we had a special visit from the wisemen that brought gifts to share. What a fun way to end the night!

mtseamonsfamCute Victoria came home from our Ward Party & set up her own Nativity in her room. So cute!!! Come, Let us adore Him!

Changes to our Ward Family

At Stake Conference, President Bingham announced the organization of a new Ward in our area. They are creating a Helena 6th Ward & reorganizing the boundaries. I'm excited for the opportunity that The Church has to grow in this area. But for today, I have a sadness in my heart for the loss of some of my best friends. I'm excited for their opportunity to embark on a new adventure. They will be such a benefit to their new Ward. I know that we can still do things and get together but there is something about seeing & serving with each other each Sunday. I will miss them dearly! Love you ladies!!

On top of these 2 dear friends I will miss--- our Ward also lost 7 of our 14 Primary Workers. Also of whom will be missed dearly!  Serving as the current Primary President, it has been a bit overwhelming. I have had my share of tears this week. I do know the Lord is in charge. It will all work out. But in the meantime- extra prayers & a little faith will be required. ;) Thank heavens Brett is my unofficial sub! He's pretty awesome like that. He can teach 5 classes & play the piano, right? LOL

Fanciest Ward Party You've EVER Seen!

It was our

  Ward Christmas Party 

this evening. Can I just say- I've never been to a fancy Church Party ever!!! My cute friend was in charge and she has no capability of doing anything half-heartedly. She had a few of us on her committee but for the most part- this baby was magnificent soley because of her! The invites were darling! (I helped create it while she told me what to do) The decorations were amazing! Like beyond amazing!!! A big round of applause for her hubby that makes her dreams a reality.Way to go, Nick! And she pretty much did the entire meal herself. She rocks like that!

Here's some of the crew helping hoist the 6 foot wreath chandelier in the middle of the gym. Can Nick make dreams come true or what???  Hailey put together all these gorgeous centerpieces beforehand. We cut out vinyl for the wall and made 3D holly on both sides of the gym. So cute! We needed a 3D star that hung from the chandelier so we covered 2 large metal stars with tin foil. It turned out pretty good if you ask me!

Here's what the main centerpiece looked like. 

The two wreaths were suspended from the ceiling and had lights. 

It had over 100 balls tied with ribbon.

IMPRESSIVE!:

Here's our dinner & guests. SOOOO many people came! It was crazy!

For the Program, the Primary children sang. One of the young men played the guitar. Someone played the Piano. 

Then, Anna & Marcus Strange had put together a video made by the Primary children. (Hence our theme of "Out of the Mouth of Babes") It was super sweet hearing all their little voices and their thoughts on Christmas! I caught a picture of Glory & Victoria on the big screen. They are stars!! LOL

After the Program, we had a surprise guest come. I somehow became Santa's little Elf and directed the craziness of a Santa line. Let me tell you- I almost lost my life. LOL (Just Kidding but their were several people that kept trying to tell me & Santa how to do it "correctly". But Santa told me & I quote- "Well, Put them on the naughty list then!" I about died laughing. Too funny!) The kids loved it!!!

Here's the cute group of ladies that pulled tonight off. They are such beautiful women. Love them!

 Merry Christmas everyone!

Missing my Friends

I was missing my old Ward friends so when they invited me to join them for their RS Christmas Party- I jumped at the chance to be with them. At first, I felt a little hesitant about crashing their party. But I told myself to be brave. It was funny because it actually took quite a bit of time for a few people to connect that I was actually supposed to be at the party. ;) It was good food, an uplifting message and amazing friends. Man! I miss them! Here's just a few that stayed at the end. Love you ladies!

Trunk-or-Treat & Chili Cookoff

This year our Ward joined the 1st Ward for their Trunk-or-Treat and Chili Cookoff. It's fun to see everyone in one place and get candy while you're at it!

Dinner was good! Brett got a prize for his Chili. Way to go, Capt!

Couple Valentine Dance

The 5th Ward threw their annual Valentine Social/Dance tonight. We love an excuse to get together with our last ward friends. Plus, they asked if I would come do the Photo booth again. We had a fantastic time! And have I mentioned how much I adore pictures???? LOVE it!!

Here's all the brave souls that got their pictures taken. We are stinkin' adorable, don't you think?:

Here's ones that Brett & I did:

And here's a fun group shot we got to be involved in. I love these people! Fun times!!!

P.S. At the tables, they had games set up for people to play. 

Look at the Valentine that Ross made for Janet. How cute is that?? 

Elders Quorum Sledding Party

The Elders Quorum threw a Sledding Party today on a hill behind the Church. It was freezin' cold but we had a blast! The only bummer was that the little creek at the bottom of the hill is NOT completely frozen over so it made for a muddy adventure! But it definitely gave a challenge to have fun but try and avoid it. Not everyone made it out unscathed. LOL Despite the cold day- they had a awesome turnout!

The hill was perfect for all ages. You can see it in the background here.

The other side was way steep:

Sledding Fun:

Snowboarders:

Crashes:

They also provided donuts & hot chocolate! Perfect to warm us up a bit!

Caldwell Christmas Eve

For the last several years, our friends, the Caldwells, have thrown a Christmas Eve Party for those without families close by. We were lucky enough to be invited this year. It was super fun to spend time with friends. They had tons of people come. {I was whimpy and didn't take a whole lot of pictures. I always kick myself when I do that but oh well... next year, right?}They had lots to eat and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy ourselves. Their home is beautiful. 

We'd never been up there before so the adventure beforehand was a bit scary! LOL It decided to be a WHITE Christmas which made us very happy! It dumped several inches of snow on us within hours of the party starting. Driving up a Montana mountain in the dark (no street lights) in a minivan was literally putting our lives on the line to make it there! ;) So worth it though! 

We all ate and visited with some friends. The kids got to play cards and ping pong downstairs. Brett & I joined Allie & Brian in a few carols at the piano before we left. What a great night!!!

Ward Christmas Dinner

We had a couple things planned tonight but wanted to support our new ward in the Christmas Party. So we went for the dinner part. It was  super yummy! The Jensens did a fabulous job. The youth all dressed up in white and black (with some red) to serve the dinner. It would have been fabulous if we hadn't been dealing with a teenage tantrum all evening. (I thought they grew out of  tantrums when they were 2?) Even if I wanted to pull my hair out or put "her" in timeout- I am glad we went to support the Ward & celebrate the season with them.

2014 Trunk-or-Treat

The three wards that go to Church in our building decided to do the annual Trunk-or-Treat together this year. I love this safe way to gather candy. Plus showing off & seeing the costumes of those you care about is a huge bonus. I love it!!!

After the trunk-or-treat candy was gone- a large group of us walked up to the Governor's House for a full-sized candy bar. What a cute group of friends. Luv them!

Ward Fall Fest & Dance

Tonight our Ward Family got together for a Fall Fest Party. It was a chili dinner with an activity. Last week, the ward counsel asked me if I would be in charge of the "fun" for the evening. Lucky me! ;)

I decided to do a Family Photo Booth during dinner. Lots of kids participated-- Not so many adults. Guess not everyone loves to preserve memories as much as I do. ;) Those that did it though- looked awesome!

Here's a few closer up:

After dinner was cleaned up, I (with the help of Brett) had planned group dances, games and prizes all put to music. It was hit & miss if adults got out on the dance floor but the kids had a blast! Pretty much every single one of them (even the teenagers for a couple songs) busted a move the whole night.
Switching it up between dancing and games made it so we got different people involved the whole night. I think it worked out well. I was super super nervous how everyone would take the "new" girl's party ideas. LOL
I had lots of compliments afterwards about how much fun it was. Even from those that sat on the sidelines all night. So guess it was a success! Fun times!

Here's some pictures of the Mummy Game. They had one song to dress one of their teammates up like a "mummy". Then we had the Bishop judge the best one. The group of little girls won a big bag of candy to share!

New Ward Picnic

We had the chance to spend time with our new Ward Family tonight for their annual Ward Picnic. We're being brave and meeting new people. They've been super welcoming. It was a fun night at the Fairgrounds.

Stake Pioneer Day

We attended our Stake Pioneer Day Picnic tonight. Fun times!

4th of July Breakfast- Shay Style

Our Ward usually does a big 4th of July breakfast. BUT somehow this year- it fell through the cracks. 

Shay C. and I were talking Wednesday at the Lake and chatting about how sad it was to not have a celebration with our Ward Family. So... we decided to throw one ourselves. Neither of us have been to one (in Helena) before but we just decided to do it- Shay Style. ;) [Some of the older members kept telling people- "That's not the way we usually do that". Shay and I had a good laugh because it wouldn't have happened at all if we hadn't done it. Take it or leave it, people! LOL]

We talked to the Bishop and the RS Pres to let them know our plan. (Neither came anyways but it was out of courtesy) We made assignments and sent out an email. Only one person  RSVPed so we weren't sure who would come. However the turnout was amazing!!! I believe about 75 people attended. Wowzers!

We had everyone bring breakfast casseroles, bagels, donuts or muffins and fruit. The RS provided the drinks. We could have used a couple more breakfast casseroles but other than that- it was a pretty perfect 4th of July breakfast! So glad we got people together.

Here's our cute Ward Family (plus the Brotherson Family who we luv as well) that attended. Only a couple of them threw a fit about me taking their picture. ;):

Jen Listerud offered to sing the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner. She did an amazing job! Then we all said the Pledge of Allegiance together.

Funny side note:
We have a bunch of patriotic songs on Brett's iPod. We brought it to play in the background. One of the songs happened to be The Star Spangled Banner. When it came on a few people stood and put their hand over their heart. We didn't have the big flag out at the time so everyone just faced Brett (He looked like a flag anyways). Then everyone stood and followed suit. When it finished everyone clapped and thought we were starting our Program. ;) Jen thought we had forgot that she was singing and asked if she should sing something else. Oops! We explained the situation and we all got a good chuckle.

Brett did some Flag Trivia with the kids. They earned candy for all their right answers.

We made a poster of a big flag that said, "We Love the U.S.A.!" We had everyone sign it or write something that they loved about the U.S.A. Then we hung it up in the hallway of the Church.

P.S. Unfortunately, the poster fell down overnight, I guess, because it was no where to be found when we showed up for Church. Bummer! Wish someone would have at least rolled it up and left it there. ;(