Snow

It was November when the first snow fell my freshman year of college. For Provo this was actually kinda late. My first thought was "hurray, no school". My roommates, which were from Utah, almost laughed at me. This little bit of snow wasn't going to cancel school.  Where I grew up, in the foothills of the Sierras, even a little snow falling ment that everything shut down and I didn't understand why it wasn't the same in Utah.  I would quickly learn that this didn't work the same in Utah. Snow lasted a lot longer than it did where I grew up and you would miss a lot of school if every time it snowed they canceled everything. I soon figured out how to slip and slide my way to class and bundle up to make it to my courses on time and not frozen. But I am a wimp and don't really like snow.

We came up to my hometown on Friday night through quite a downpour. This of course means snow a little farther up the hill. We came for a memorial service for a girl I knew growing up. It certainly wasn't ideal weather to travel but many came for the funeral and luckily the weather cooperated and the sun shone on Saturday morning. It was nice to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in years or  I only see on Facebook or through blogs.  If only it wasn't under such circumstances that these get-togethers happen.

The storm picked back up that afternoon and everything was pretty wet and cold. My kids still had a great time playing with cousins. We woke up Sunday morning to rain at my parents house. But there were all sorts of calls from others that live a little farther up the hill telling us that they had a few inches of snow. Finally the Bishop of the Ward decided that there was too much snow and canceled church for the day. This didn't stop my Dad. Since we were all dressed and ready we piled into the cars and made the drive up the hill to church. My Dad wanted to be there to hold services for those that showed up and since it was two men from the high council, which come from an hour away, that were supposed to speak that day he knew there should be at least a few show up to hear what they had to say.  So my family, my parents, my brother's family and a few other people that showed up at the church building for church. There was snow on the walkways and everything was wet and slushy. More snow was falling but it was very lite. But we were there and had the Sacrament, sang some hymns, and heard the two speakers.

After the one meeting, since we weren't going to do Sunday school or Primary, my boys ran outside and threw snowballs at each other and had a great time getting very wet in all that slushy snow. Snow is not something these city slicker, California kids have seen a whole lot of so we let them play for awhile until they decided they were cold. We hadn't packed, or even own, snow gear so the drive back down the hill to Grandma's house was miserable as each of the kids complained about how cold their hands and feet were.  We tried singing songs but they wouldn't stop the whining. We just needed to get out of those wet shoes and warm up.

As we drove back down the hill, out of the snow, I couldn't help but remember how many times I had wished they would call a snow day during those years I spent in Utah. I am sure those that read this post who deal with snow on a regular basis will chuckle at me just like those roommates did when I thought snow meant more than just another obstacle to get through on the way to class. Snow is beautiful as long as you get to stay inside your nice warm house and watch it fall from the comforts of a fluffy couch and a cup of hot chocolate.