Get your Shiny on!

This past Wednesday we had our YW in Excellence program. We wanted to end the year thinking about the 2012 theme Arise and Shine Forth, so we decided to do an Oscar-type awards show. What better way to shine than to be stars, right?

I was the host, Chichi Stumpenmeyer (a name Ethan made up when he was 2).

You may have seen me in the fabulous film, Chichi loves to Chacha?

It was a classic.

My hair that night was sponsored by Bump-it.

My prom dress seems to have shrunk since HS, so I wore it like an apron, on top of my clothes.

It made me look as good as when I was in the marvelous movie, Chichi eats a Churro.

I'm sure you've seen me in that one.

 One of my amazing counselors made these vases for the girls.

 She and one of the young women also made the cake.

 We had a little "bubbly" to celebrate the stars.

 We also had our own walk of fame, with sparkling names and a glittery red carpet.

My secretary decorated the room, keeping it simple and elegant, and she made these glittering headbands for us to give to the girls instead of trophies.

I made a video of the girls as part of the awards show. We borrowed the church projector and showed it on The Big Screen. The girls were good sports and answered silly get-to-know-you questions with quick humor. My favorite part was that they each bore sincere testimonies about personal progress and the Book of Mormon on the video. It was beautiful.

After the "awards" part of the show, I read parts of Elaine Dalton's talk, Now is the Time to Arise and Shine, and also Elder Holland's talk, To the Young Women, where he talks about true beauty and the challenges girls face in the world today.

Our YW group is small, but they are amazing people. They already know how to arise, shine and sparkle, and I'm so happy I get to watch them grow into even more amazing women.