Book of Mormon Party

Last night, we had our "Book of Mormon Party" in celebration of the fact that we finished reading the Book of Mormon together as a family for the first time!

October is a month of celebration, especially in our family, and I thought of all the things we celebrate, reading the Book of Mormon is one of the best reasons to do so!

Turns out, this was one of our favorite parties that we've thrown (and Steve and I have thrown many!) It was low-key, but meaningful, and we were joined by some good friends.  

Here is what we did.

First of all, the kids dressed up in their best renditions of Book of Mormon-style.  They either dressed up as their favorite character or just as someone from Book of Mormon times.  Autumn (pictured above) was Abish.  

We also had a Nephi and "Nephi's wife."

We ate Book of Mormon-themed food, prepared simply of course!  When everyone arrived, we let the kids create "Secret Combination Pizzas" and paired it with "Tree of Life Fruit Salad" (made by my friend Dawn...a walnut salad with pears...yummy!)  We finished it off with the "Golden Plate" cupcakes pictured above and a tangy party drink provided by my friend Cammie.  Delicious!

While the pizzas were in the oven, we made pencil and rubber band bow & arrows and the kids shot them at a target outside.  (Thanks Cammie, for showing me how to make these things at Book of Mormon Camp last summer!)

The kids played and played and ate...then it was time to make some Book of Mormon crafts.

Steve talked to the kids about the Brother of Jared and how he solved his dilemma of crossing the ocean in small boats without light.

He brought 16 stones to the Lord and asked him to touch them so that they would glow.  When the Lord did so, the Brother of Jared saw the finger of God and many great things were revealed to him.

To create our "glowing stones", we modified this idea for a glowing ghost craft.  First we activated the glow sticks, rolled them into a loop and wrapped them in clear packing tape to keep them compact.  Then we placed them inside translucent plastic cups and sealed them up with tape.  We cut slits in our cups so we could fold down the sides and make them more compacts and "stone-like."

To wrap up the evening, we surprised the kids with a re-enactment of Lehi's Dream.

I'm not good at taking night photos with my camera yet, but the tree looked awesome!  

Steve threw some Christmas lights on one of our trees and rigged up an "iron rod" for the kids to follow.  (We pretended that our trampoline was the "Great & Spacious Building!)  

Once, they reached the tree, they picked the "fruit" which consisted of more fun glowing items.  I can imagine that this is an image that will be burned into the kids' memories for a long time.

 As I put Scarlett to bed last night, I asked her what her favorite part of the party was.  She said "these" and held up the glow-stick that she picked from the tree.  I said, "Oh, you liked all of the glowy things?" She said, "No, I liked following the iron rod and picking the fruit from the tree of life!"

For anyone reading this who might wonder what this dream is about...It is symbolic of our earthly lives.  The tree symbolizes the Love of God which is manifest in the fact that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die for us.  The "iron rod" is the word of God.  If we follow it, it will lead us back to the Savior to live with God again forever.  (You can read more about how Lehi's Dream relates to our lives in this talk called "Finding Ourselves in Lehi's Dream.")

These are some of the basic things that we can teach our children.  It was fun to play together and to celebrate these basic truths that guide our lives and bring us such happiness.

By the way, the parties are only just beginning...TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!  Autumn's is next week...and soon, we'll have a baby to celebrate!!  Too much fun!