**Real Madrid***

All 30 of us went to a Real Madrid soccer game. It was a lot of fun! They played against another Spanish team and beat them 4-3 but were later disqualified for letting the same player make every goal...bummer.

Toledo!!

We spent a day in Toledo and it turned out to be one of my favorite trips.

Christie and I on a bridge in front of the gate.



This is called a Cluster. When there is an opening in the church with gardens and an outside hall surrounding it- very romantic!

Fairytale

Christie, Kimber and me with the city in the background, the cathedral is on the top left of the center.

"The Boys" Colton, Guillermo and William. Guillermo is in the Alcala ward and got back from a mission he served in California in August.

Me, Alarie, Guillermo and Madison with the Rio Tajo in the background. Alarie and Madison are both from Colorado and great- no- AMAZING girls.

Raven and me. Raven is from the one and only Provo (having gone to school for 3 years in Provo and served my mission in the Provo mission, there is a very VERY special place in my heart for Provo. Raven is convincing me to join the Siesta and Luau dance club this winter, I think I might do it.

The lovely group, man how I'll miss them.

Here's a group of us taking a break from all the walking and filling in the work book we have with questions for every place we visit. Some don't like the work book, sometimes I don't like it, but all the time it takes to fill it out brings us together in the chanllenge. :)

These girls have become my family! This is in a Gazebo in the forests that surround the palace you can hardly see in the background.

Roman Merida

The temple of Diana in Merida, Spain. People say that Merida is the "Rome" of Spain. Romans built this around the time of Christ.

Portugal!

One of my most favorite places was a city called Sintra where we visited a palace on the top of one of its mountains. Breathtaking...

A taste of home...

We were in Madrid on a rainy day and decided to get some yummy hot chocolate at Starbuck's. This is Dana Nelson. She's from Idaho and has just turned in her mission pictures. Two fun facts.... Dana worked at a Lake called "Jacob Lake" in southern Utah a couple summers ago and visited the Visitor's Center in St. George a few times. She says she remembers a few sisters bearing their testimonies each time she went, we've decided that I was one of those sisters :). ALSO, Dana's father served a mission in Spain 30 years ago and baptized a young man who's married in the temple with a son on a mission. Dana gets to live with them here in Spain!

Elder and Sister Maxfield were in Spain renewing their Visas to live in Russia. They've been serving as full-time missionaries for over a year. It was a very special surprise to be able to see them!

One of the beautiful streets of Madrid...

The Gardens in Sevilla

We got to spend time walking through these gardens... is smelled as pretty as it looked! This was one of my favorite places out of the whole trip!

Spain = Beautiful!

Lucy and me in a town called Consuegra... beautiful isn't it!

Madrid MTC

I've known Elder Jordan Rands (left) and Elder Alex Woods forever and they are basically like brothers to me! They are serving in Spain and I got to see them at the MTC while I was volunteering there! It was easy to see they love being missionaries. You all know my mission means so much to me, so it makes me SO happy to see them embarking on one of the greatest adventures they'll ever have!

It's been fun getting used to taking the metro when we're traveling around differnt parts of Madrid. We don't lost hardly ever now! :)

Madrid... full of surprises!

There's Grafitti everywhere, but this grafitti was especially pretty :) And I matched it!

Crepe Party with the group! We have a lot of fun together... :)

Una Noche afuera con Pilar (A Night out with Pilar)

We decided to treat Pilar to a night out, we had so much fun together! She knew everyone we saw and every time she saw someone she knew she'd tell us "Son majisimas!" Tha means "They are such good people!" She loves everyone and is so fun! We let her choose where we'd eat and we went to one of her favorite places where we order what we want to drink and they bring you sandwiches for free- we ate one with cream cheese and salmon. Then you can order dinner if you want. The plate in the picture looks like an American kebob, it's pork and was very good!

Spanish Food!

This is just one example of the DELICIOUS food Pilar (the Lady Kimber and I live with) makes for us. She loves to cook and we get to reap the benefits! She cooks meals like this everyday.
We do most our talking and getting to know eachother during and after meals. I feel so blessed!

Madrid Temple

The Temple is a short train ride away and the MTC and stake center are on the same property as the temple! We get to go to the MTC and help the missionaries there, it's sooo much fun!

This is a Brazilian family (the husband wasn't there for the pic) I met on the bus and saw them multiple time afterwards, they're so sweet and have the cutest kids!

The "Boyfriend Bell"

I rang the "Boyfriend Bell", which our tour guide explianed would guarantee a boyfriend if rung twice, sillies ;).

Becoming a Spaniard

While we were in Northern Spain we got to try out Spain's "best" tapas. There are thousands of little "bars" (they're different than American bars) all over Spain where everyone includng families go to order drinks and get Tapas along with it. There were tons of people outside the bar at the small round tables talking and eating. Two little girls kept running over to our table and would dance for us. I see more every day how family oriente Spain is.

Our plate of Tapas had about 12 different tapas with clams, tuna, mayonaise, eggs, crab, pork, meatballs and more unidentifiable but yummy food. Here's a picture of what Tapas look like!

Corral de Comedias

This is at the Corral de Comedias or a place where plays would take place in the 16oo's. The orignal stone floor is underneath the new wooden floor. There is a part of the floor in front of the stage (behind me) that is glass and you can see the original ground. People of all classes would come to watch, and if they weren't satisfied they'd throw lettuce, tomatoes, rocks and cucumbers!

Northern Spain

I just returned from a 6 day trip around Northern Spain. We spent time in Leon, Covadonga, Ribadesella, Santander, Santillana, Peninsula de la Magdalena, Bilbao, Burgos and Lerma. We were busy but it was one of the best weeks of my life! Here are pictures from the excursion.

Segovia

The famous Spanish Acueduct!

La Primera Semana . The first week

Our first day at church in Alcala de Henares.
Our first day in Madrid I got interviewed by Onda 6, a small Spanish news channel. They asked me how I thought the basketball game between Spain and the U.S. would go and I told them I thought we would win. Then they asked who my favorite player was and I couldn't name any of them, it was really funny.A beautiful flower in Madrid!
Our whole group on our trip to Segovia.
Kimber and me at a cathedral.