02/09/2026 by Shannon Day

Buddhism, Tea and Love

Greetings: Westside had an exciting weekend including a Winter Con for high schoolers, our annual Auction Saturday, and special guest speaker Marcus Green Sunday. Thank you to all those who have worked behind the scenes with Westside’s auction and to all those who attended, participated, and donated. Your donations and pledges make it possible for us to do all the wonderful programming and events at Westside and have our amazing staff. In RE, one of the ways we embrace our UU pluralism and multicultural values is by engaging in a variety of spiritual grounding practices, and connecting the children to

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01/29/2026 by Shannon Day

Ground Hog Day

Greetings: Have you ever seen a ground hog? Once when I was hiking in the mountains I saw and heard marmots but they’re different than the one groundhog I spotted while visiting my spouse’s family in Illinois. On social media, I follow a famous groundhog named Chunk. If you do a search in your favorite search engine or on YouTube for Chunk the Groundhog, you can learn about him, his family, and their adventures. Chunk had been helping himself to Jeff Permar’s garden, and instead of trying to get rid of Chunk, Jeff decided to lean into co-existence. What might

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01/26/2026 by Shannon Day

Messages of care and solidarity with Minnesota UUs

Greetings: How is your heart? This last Sunday in RE, our special activity was making cards with messages of care, love, support, and encouragement to Minnesota UUs. These kinds of handwritten notes are so appreciated. We encouraged children to collaborate as writers, scribes, and artists. We will also had our other RE activity stations available. All of Westside was invited to make cards and handwritten messages. Blank cards were provided on the activity table in the back of the sanctuary and more card-making supplies in the Social Hall after services on Sunday. This week, we will send the package of

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01/15/2026 by Shannon Day

MLK Day of Action

How are you and your family doing in these times? What is nourishing you? One thing that helps sustain my hope is doing what might feel like small acts of kindness and generosity in my communities. At a time when world events are so overwhelming, we often feel confused and uncertain about what to do. The social change ecosystem framework has been an anchor and guide for many people and groups to organize our roles and strengthen our connections. This Sunday, January 18,10:30 am – noon at our All Congregation Event: MLK Sunday Day of Action, I will be sharing

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01/12/2026 by Shannon Day

Recentering

Greetings:How is your center? I have daily gentle yoga and gratitude practice that feels so important these days to help me ground. I also return to a couple of resources that Reverend Peg introduced me to years ago. She told me about the webpage, Good News Network, which helps reinforce my hope. She also shared about the Insight Timer app, where I continue to enjoy wonderful guided auditory meditations, calming ocean sounds and cello music, and spiritual poetry. In RE, we offer mindful and embodied practices for children and youth to learn to quiet their minds and let go of

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01/06/2026 by Shannon Day

Storytelling

When my family first visited Westside 14 years ago, there were so many things that stood out to us: welcoming vibes, excellent programming for children, Westside’s inclusivity for our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and wonderful stories!Do you love telling stories? If you do, or you’re curious abut it, we hope you will come to our annual Storytellers Guild Annual Meeting and Workshop on Sunday, January 25th at 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm. In our UU tradition, we create a space during Sunday Service for a really cool liturgical element we call the Time for All Ages (TFAA). Mostly, this is a time

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12/23/2025 by Shannon Day

New Year Traditions

Do you have any New Year’s Eve or New Year Traditions?My family has made New Year resolutions, jumped into Lake Washington with thousands of others for Seattle’s New Year Polar Plunge at Mathews Beach, toasted sparkling cider, and watched the ball drop in New York on a laptop so we could get our son to bed early when he was little. Now, we have a noise-sensitive dog and we usually have a movie marathon going while we offer Willow snuggles, reassurances, and prescribed veterinary medication to help soothe her through the neighborhood fireworks of New Year’s Eve.For the last several

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12/22/2025 by Shannon Day

Happy Holidays

We hope you and your family will join us for one or both of our upcoming multi-generational services for the winter holidays. Multi-generational Sundays and holiday services are different in that the children stay in the pews in the sanctuary for the service with their adults.These services generally have more movement, musical breaks and singing, and shorter times for adult speakers. They are wonderful for inviting your friends, extended family and chosen family to join in. We will be featuring an optional RE activity table in the back of the sanctuary with a couple of types of crafts: clothespin dolls,

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12/11/2025 by Shannon Day

Our Whole Lives

Greetings: Our Whole Lives (OWL) is more than sex ed—it’s a program that helps kids and teens build confidence, explore values, understand relationships, and navigate life’s changes in a safe, supportive space led by trained staff and volunteers. OWL welcomes families of all backgrounds. To learn more about the OWL program in general, click (link) on the Unitarian Universalist Association website. This church year, Westside Families have two opportunities to register for OWL for a couple of age groups at two of our neighboring UU congregations. University Unitarian ChurchOffering OWL grades 7-8 (ages 12-14). Info session on December 14 with

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12/08/2025 by Shannon Day

Child Dedications

Greetings: We would like to have a child dedication as part of our service on Christmas Eve.  In the UU tradition, one of the things we celebrate on Christmas is the love and hope born into the world with every child, and the importance of offering gifts of blessing to the children of our community.  A child dedication is a short ceremony where parents and other caregivers stand with their child at the front of the sanctuary, and the community offers a blessing of care.  Child dedications are often done with infants or toddlers, but are not

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