Day Trips and Weekend Get Aways

Our April Relief Society Meeting focused on favorite local day trips and weekend get aways. The success of the event was truly due to the efforts of many sisters. We began our meeting with a devotional by Roz Hawk who encouraged us to find uplifting, joyful ways to spend our time. After a short New England travel video, Julie Marriott shared with us her experience enjoying adventures with her children throughout New England. She even gave us the top ten reasons why we are lucky to live in and explore New England. In addition, she shared her favorite places to visit and explore in our area. Jenny Zwick then shared with us top things to do in Boston, based on her many years of living in the city. We learned of favorite restaurants, parks and shopping. Whitney Fink highlighted the Cape Ann area, which included castles, beaches and farm stands and Jamie Larsen shared with us her favorite adventures on Cape Cod, based on her summer spent there with her family last year. Debbie Marcantano spotlighted Rhode Island with an emphasis on Block Island and Newport. Elisha Rotar finished off our presentations with ideas for exploring Maine. Each presentation was accompanied with a slide show of local spots. We then enjoyed a lunch of favorite local dishes, including blueberry bisque, clam chowder, crab rounds, cranberry bread, apple cake and Boston cream pie. With light houses and shells decorating the lunch tables, our sisters enjoyed a morning completely dedicated to our beloved home in New England!

Relief Society Birthday Celebration

When the Weston Relief Society presidency was asked what they would like our birthday celebration to focus on, their response was that they hoped for an activity where the sisters really could get to know one another. We took this request and ran with it! We began our Relief Society Birthday Dinner with appetizers, during which our sisters laughed and talked over bruschetta, roasted onion dip, skewered tomatoes with mozzarella and white ginger punch. We then broke into small groups for our "ice breaker" activity.

Each group was given a list of "surprising" things that our sisters have done. They were challenged to figure out which sister had done what. We learned that Walter Dolan proposed to Rosalie on their first date, Diane Zenger used to milk cows barefoot, Roz Hawk fell into her garbage can just as her new neighbor walked on to her porch to witness it and that Michelle Ainge has a history breaking into unoccupied homes! At the end of the activity, Shann Wood commented that the ice was definitely broken! We then watched a short video spotlighting the sisterhood of our Relief Society.

(Click on the arrow below to view!)

We then ended our activity in small groups again, in a speed round of question answering.

Each group was given a question , such as what is one moment in your life that helped define your character, where did you grow up and what is a favorite childhood memory, or what is your most embarrassing moment. After the women in the group answered the questions, they were split into different groups, giving each sister the opportunity to bond with many different women during a short amount of time. The room was full of intense listening, quick sharing of our lives most memorable moments and a lot of loud laughter!

We ended our evening in the scout room for a lasagna dinner followed by a variety of cakes baked by our sisters. We all left full of great laughs, bonded friendships and good food!

Thank You, Thank You

Relief Society Additional Meeting Committee

Roz Hawk (RS counselor)

Sherlyn Jenkins

Mischell Shapiro

Ana Silva

Shannon Blakerby

Kelly Gay

Appetizers

Roz Hawk

Jenny Zwick

Birthday Cake Contributors

Shawnnee miranda

Lindsey Larsen

Julia Blake

Julie Keenan

Game Prizes

Janelle Holt

Photographer

Heather Kearns

Video Participants

Michelle Ainge

Lenore Wardle

Beth Van Duzer

Adrene Gorman

Whitney Fink

Debbie Rollins

Jane Murphy

Ginnie Woodworth

Sweets and Treats Workshop

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, our February "Sweets and Treats Workshop" turned out to be the perfect preparation for the big holiday! We began the morning making individual pavlovas to take home. Each sister formed their dough into hearts and circles and then sent their creation off to be baked.

We were then inspired by Roz Hawk's devotional, during which she encouraged us strive for a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" during this season of love.

Afterward, we divided into groups and met with our workshop instructors, Julia Blake, Shannon Blackerby and Mischell Shapiro.

Julia Blake taught us how to make candy, focusing her demonstration on sugar candy. She taught us to always heat on low until the sugar is completely dissolved, stir constantly and brush the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to wash all the sugar crystals into the solution, to make sure the sugar is dissolved by rubbing some between your finger and thumb and to never boil until all the sugar is dissolved. It is also a good idea to transfer the candy mixture to a clean pan before boiling and to not scrape the pan when done cooking, just in case there is a stray sugar crystal. The caramels that she demonstrated turned out fabulous!

In Shannon Blakerby's workshop, we had the opportunity to dip homemade biscoti, macaroons, strawberries and shortbread in chocolate. She taught us to temper the chocolate, how to pipe chocolate and the correct methods for dipping. We all left with great ideas on how and what to dip, as well as a beautiful plate of dipped sweets to enjoy!

Mischell Shapiro brought her frosting tips and bags and taught us how to make decorative frosting and then how to turn that frosting into beautiful stars, flowers, swirls and twirls. Her take away advice in cake decorating was, "Words to remember when cake decorating are icing consistency, pressure applied, and angle. Get well practiced at these 3 things and you'll be awesome. They are simple skills that everyone continues to improve at." With dozens of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, we each had the opportunity to try these skills and decorate several treats to take home.

We ended our morning with a lunch of appetizers brought by several sisters, salads, breads and punch. For one last sweet, we were able to try a pavlova that Roz Hawk made, demonstrating how to serve our individual pavlova's that were ready to take home. The morning turned out to be educational, inspirational, nourishing and completely full of fun!

Behind the Scenes

The Weston First Ward Relief Society is full of talented women. In January, we were blessed to have had Roz Hawk share with us her experience working in the film industry. As a talented actress and casting director, Roz spent many years working on our church's advertisements, short films and scripture based full length films, such as The Testaments and The Lamb of God. We began our morning visiting with our sisters over a breakfast of crepes, breads and coffee cakes, yogurt parfaits, orange juice and hot chocolate. We then joined Roz for a lecture on the influence of the media in our lives and a behind the scenes peek into our church's media productions. She shared with us the symbolism in the films, the exactness that goes into choosing characters for productions, the impact of the media on the mission of our church and the future plans for church films. Perhaps the highlight of our time with Roz were the stories that she shared of true miracles taking place so that these films could be completed and made available for God's children. Roz's message was both informational and inspirational. We were grateful for Roz's willingness to share her experiences and talents.

Service, Love and Christmas Cheer!

In December we gathered at Julie Keenan's home for a night of service, socializing and feasting on holiday fare. When Debbie Marcantano suggested that our Christmas activity should be service oriented, she was definitely inspired! On December 14th, our sisters turned out in huge numbers, ready to put their hearts and hands to work. In just over an hour, we were able to make 76 scarves to provide warmth to women in Boston without homes and 6 warm blankets, sewed, stuffed and tied, in which these women can wrap their babies.

In addition, Becky Cyr organized missionary boxes to send to the sisters and elders from our ward. During our service hour a group of women put these boxes together, using gifts that many of our sisters contributed. While working we enjoyed hot chocolate, a selection of delicious appetizers and scrumptious holiday desserts.

Following our service projects, Camille Ebert gave a short Christmas devotional and then sisters lingered in Julie's beautiful home, enjoying each other's company.

Terri Tardiff, having returned earlier in the day from the Spokane Washington Mission, stopped by. This was a wonderful opportunity to welcome her home to Boston and back to our Weston Relief Society.

Thank You

Julie Keenan for welcoming us into your home

Mischell Shapiro for the appetizers and leading the scarf group

Kelly Gay for the appetizers and Chocolate Trifle

Christen Harding for the Chocolate Layered Mouse Cake

Shannon Blackerby for the Coconut Key Lime Cake

Becky Cyr for organizing the missionary boxes

Becky Lloyd for leading the baby blanket group

Michelle Ainge for contributing the fabric for the baby blankets

Heather Kearns for being our photographer

RS Sisters for contributing fabric, gifts for the missionary boxes and precious time to make our service night a success

Celebrate! Building Relationships through Holidays and Traditions

As sisters in the gospel, our lives are full of loving and serving those around us. Often times we accomplish this by opening our homes, celebrating with family, friends and neighbors and creating traditions, both spiritual and temporal. Our November Relief Society meeting was designed to help us strengthen our relationships with others through these celebrations. Lessons were taught, ideas were shared and our favorite holiday dishes were served.

Our meeting began with Shawnee Miranda and Debbie Marcantano sharing with us the importance of creating righteous traditions. These spiritual traditions can be family scripture study, personal prayer, temple attendance, journal writing and Sunday worship. They reminded us that these are the most important traditions we will establish, personally and as a family.

Mary Alice Hatch, Julia Blake and Roxanne Becker then each taught a mini lesson that focused on celebrating within our homes. Mary Alice taught us how to make our homes festive throughout the year. She encouraged us to choose several focal points to decorate, such as the entry way, the mantle and the dining room table. Focusing on these spots will create more impact than trying to decorate each spot in our home. Some ideas that she presented were planting year round box woods in planters on the porch and then adding seasonal plants through out the year, such as bright flowers and ivy in the spring and pumpkins and gourds in the fall. She encouraged us to have many interesting glass containers, which are versatile. In the fall they can be wrapped in burlap with fall flowers and ribbon can be tied around them to bring out different colors and add a new look. Colored candles are also a great way to give our homes a festive feel. Mary Alice's beautiful table decorations illustrated the ideas she shared with us.

Julia Blake then taught us how to present our food gracefully and professionally. She began her presentation with her belief that food tastes better if it looks good, which is hard to disagree with! While hosting a party, she encouraged us to spread the food around. With dishes in different rooms, the guests will naturally spread out and the space of the home will feel more comfortable. Julia uses small frames to label each food item at her parties. She suggested that we make recipes that can be made ahead of time, to avoid last minute stress and to be able to accomplish more. Often times she plans a party around a piece of fabric that she uses on the table, favorite napkins that she has found, or a set of plates. Some of the kitchen tools that she just can't live without are scoops, which make cookies and muffins uniform, spatulas that enable her to cut food cleaner, piping bags which can be used with anything from frosting to mashed potatoes, small containers such as individual trifle bowls, and even cans which can be used to shape different types of food. She encouraged us to wipe off splatters and spills with a cloth before presenting a dish, a simple but effective and professional thing to remember. With Julia's suggestions, our food will indeed taste better!

Roxanne finished our presentations by teaching us how to create table decorations that will transform any meal into a celebration. She brought several examples which gave us new ideas that we could try in our own homes. Roxanne showed us how different glass containers could be used, including placing one smaller square glass vase into a larger glass vase and slipping sliced lemons and limes into the crack. For a dinner table, she encouraged us to use decorations that are either low and can be seen over or high and can be seen through or under. We can use a long table runner and place multiple, corresponding centerpieces down the runner, she suggested. Often times Roxanne uses square tiles under the decoration to add interest and she groups items together, such as candles and vases. Roxanne elevates parts of her centerpieces and adds texture and light, to create an interesting decoration. She is always on the look out at Dollar Tree, Christmas Tree Shop, Savers and even yard sales for new items to have on hand. Roxanne provides many of the decorations for our Relief Society activities and ward events, so we appreciated the expertise that she shared at our Relief Society meeting.

We all listened and learned as these talented sisters shared their insights and knowledge with us!

We ended our morning with a Holiday lunch provided by several of our Relief Society sisters. Each table was decorated for a different holiday and the women we were encouraged to sit at the table that represented the holiday closest to their birthday.

We then enjoyed holiday dishes that were traditional in the families of many of our sisters. Each sister who brought a dish explained why the food was significant in their family. We enjoyed a lunch of Pomegranate Punch, turkey and gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, stuffed pumpkin, orange rolls, yams, green beans, butternut squash soup, a green salad, and chocolate coconut cheesecake. Mischell Shapiro then cut open and shared her Fourth of July fondant cake that she creates each year and uses as a centerpiece for her backyard Independence Day celebration.

We appreciated both the wonderful food as well as the opportunity to connect with one another.

As each sister left, they received a booklet that included traditions and celebrations that our sisters enjoy in their homes and were willing to share with each other. (This booklet is now on our blog. Click on the side bar to access it.)

We left full of new ideas, inspired by examples and knowledge presented to us, nourished spiritually and physically and, most importantly, strengthened by the bonds of love and friendship which we share as a sisterhood.