First Snow!

Thursday morning I woke up to a thin layer of powder on the ground. Then when I was walking between classes it started snowing again! Snow is so magical. I love it! Maybe it comes from years of sleeping with my PJs inside out and hiding spoons under my pillows in anticipation of a snow day but snow makes me so excited. The snow down here has since melted but Mount Timpanogas will stay snow capped until spring which means I'll be able to see snow out my window everyday. I also can't wait for skiing season. I've heard that a few people have already gone up to Alta and Snowbird for backcountry skiing. They're probably crazy but I'm still slightly jealous.

Saturday is a special day

Last Saturday morning we all went to Hayley's grandparents house to make breakfast together. It actually turned out pretty good. We had pancakes (from scratch), egg sandwiches, hashbrowns and toast. It was much better than breakfast at the Cannon. 

After breakfast we went to the mall together. 

Look what they sell in the Build-A-Bear here... only in Utah.

Kim had to take a funny portrait for her photography class so Brooke and I were her models. I was a terrible model because I could not stop laughing the whole time I was wearing that outfit, but it's a  funny picture right?

my ward loves me?

Last weekend a group of kids from my ward all went to the soccer game together. The boys all made a sign to hold up for the goalie, Erica Owens. They were cheering her name the whole time so I felt super special. She is an amazing goalie and she's also super pretty so its no wonder the boys all love her so much but it was still cool to hear them all cheering my name. After the game I tried to get them to give me their sign but they wouldn't. 

 They did at least let me take a picture with them. 

P.S. the girls soccer team is wicked good. They're heading into the playoffs ranked #5!

Homecoming week!

Last week was homecoming at BYU. There are all kinds of crazy, fun traditions here! My favorite was True Blue Football. There were huge slip and slides and a big pit full of blue foam on Helaman field. 

our before photo!

 We had blue hands and feet for days afterwards.

 After!

Saturday morning we went to the homecoming parade and got free blue pancakes for breakfast and Saturday afternoon was the big homecoming game. Hayley and Angel were both in the parade!

Unfortunately the Cougars lost :( but we still had a good time. 

 

We also celebrated a lot of birthdays in our hall last week! We had a slumber party in the basement for Kim's birthday and then Saturday we went to Lisa's family's cabin to celebrate her birthday. These girls are amazing and I hope they had lots of fun on their birthdays!

Lisa's mom made her this beautiful cake! It was delicious too :)

 We love playing games!

Mom comes to visit!

Last weekend my mom came to visit! It was so great to have her here. We had tons of fun together!

When she got off the plane this is what she was holding :) It's proof that she really does love me. I miss the North End A LOT (if anyone knows of a place to get good Italian food in Provo let me know; I don't think there are any).

Friday morning mom and I went to Temple Square. It is so beautiful, and I had never been there before. While we were there we got to do baptisms together. It was such a great experience to be able to share with my mom. I'm so glad we got to go together while she was here! Friday afternoon we hung out on the BYU campus. Hayley's mom and sister were also visiting for the weekend so we all ate lunch together, and I showed mom around campus. It was nice for her to be able to meet some of my friends and see where I live.  Hayley and I actually managed to keep our room clean for a whole three days while our moms were here. You should all be impressed.. that will probably never happen again. 

 Friday night we went to the football game together. We managed to steal someone's seats in the 5th row in the end zone! It was awesome. BYU football has been having a little bit of a rough season but they won this game and it was super fun. My mom has recently become a  huge football fan! I hope she had as much fun rooting for the Cougars as she does for the Patriots, although if I had to choose between Riley Nelson and Tom Brady I would probably choose Tom Brady too. It's funny how everyone in Utah loves college sports so much because they are lacking professional sports teams. 

inside the conference center

 This weekend was also General Conference weekend. Twice a year the prophet and apostles address all of the members of the church in general conference. This year's conference was really exciting! Saturday morning President Monson made an announcement changing the age requirements for missionaries. I was a huge surprise for everyone. It's been so amazing to be a BYU student and to see everyone's excitement as a result of the announcement. It is incredible to be in a place where I am surrounded by people who, like me, love missionary work and were so glad to hear the prophet's announcement.   My mom and I got to attend the sunday morning session in person at the conference center. It was so cool! I especially loved Elder Holland's talk. Another one of my favorite parts of attending conference was when we all stood and sang Called to Serve. I'm so grateful for general conference. I know that the apostles and prophet are truly called by God and that the messages that they choose to share with us during conference are exactly what Heavenly Father wants us to hear. All of the conference talks are posted online where you can read or watch them so if you have a chance I would recommend taking a look at a few!

 Hayley with her mom and sister, Mara

Roomies!

 Outside the conference center after the morning session. 

Monday was our girls day out. We got manicures, pedicures and facials, and then we went back to temple square. We walked around, explored the visitor's centers and took a tour with some of the Sister Missionaries there. 

 This is a photo of the famous  Christus statue in the visitor's center at Temple Square.

I took tons of pictures of the temple, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use my camera!

I'm so glad my mom came to visit. We had so much fun and shared a lot of uplifting experiences too! I hope that both of my sisters and maybe even some of my friends (hint hint Corey) will be able to come and visit me at some point while I'm at BYU so they can share these kinds of experiences with me too.