BYU vs. Notre Dame

Jason was packing a few days before the game, he was so excited. The main reason for my mom's visit was for us to attend the BYU/ Notre Dame game. We left Friday afternoon to make the 3 hour drive to South Bend so we could attend the BYU fireside the night before. A little dinner out as a couple was a nice addition too!

The Stake Center was almost twice as big as ours, which was good since it was full with all the BYU supporters. It was awesome to hear the musical talents of some of the players as well as the testimonies of Taysom Hill and Bronco Mendenhall in their talks. I think it's a great way to start off game weekend. The best part, was the next day during the game, Jason was telling me which player on the field played his guitar and which one said the prayer... it put everything in a different light.

We were sitting in the right place, so at the end of the fireside we were able to get out into the foyer quickly so we could rub shoulders with most of the players and wish them good luck. It would have gone by more quickly, except for the fact that Rudy (the real Rudy, as people were saying) was there and the football players wanted to get his autograph and shake his hand. I only got a glimpse of Taysom and Bronco as they ran off at the end.

We started off the day of the game with a huge breakfast at our hotel, knowing we would need to consume many calories to help keep us warm throughout our visit to campus and at the game. It was snowy, windy, and cold!!

Here's some of the things we saw:

"Touchdown Jesus"

Gold helmets

The cathedral

Inside the dome

Outside the dome

Inside the cathedral

 In the dome we listened to the bagpipes, saw the trumpets play, and followed the band out to walk to the stadium. At Notre Dame, it's all about tradition and the band.

We ate a huge lunch with the BYU Alumni and I was the first to run into Cosmo! The cheerleaders led us in a few cheers.

The original stadium.

Our very cold seats at the game. (You can see "Touchdown Jesus and the dome in the background.)

I have to rank this day as one of our top cold activity days. Up there with the ski jump in a blizzard at the Salt Lake Olympics, the ice hockey game at Michigan in December, and walking around Quebec at Christmastime. With a wind chill factor of 9, we felt quite cold. I was very glad I ate a big breakfast and lunch, b/c I was too cold to eat at the game! Even though we lost, it was a memorable game for sure!