Heading to Utah

And then, before I knew it, it was time to take Bentley to school!  Now it would have made sense for Craig to have flown out to Utah with him.  Craig is very calm and good at getting stuff done.  But unfortunately, it being the beginning of the school year, Craig couldn't really take time off of work.  So Bentley was stuck with me.  I was very worried that we'd both be emotional wrecks and take it out on each other by fighting the whole time.  So I was very relieved when my Mom announced that she would like to go to her *cousin's open house in Utah the same weekend, and would it be okay if she joined us for our trip?  That seemed like an excellent idea!

So!  We got up Friday morning and as everyone headed off to school, they had to give Bentley their final hugs goodbye!  It was awful and sweet all at the same time.  (I should note here that Bentley has sort of made himself infamous in our family (and ward!) for only giving very awkward side hugs.  The week before he was leaving, he told us that he would finally be giving us real hugs.  Unless we made a big deal of it, in which case, he'd go right back to the side hugs.  So we complied by trying very hard to pretend we weren't noticing the change.)

And then once everyone had left, I finally started packing!  And Bentley finished emptying and cleaning his room, stripping off sheets, dusting everything.  We taped up the boxes of stuff he was leaving behind.  He actually still had space (and weight!) left in his luggage, so I made him take a few things he wasn't going to bother with, like his tennis racket and winter coat.  We'd already bought a ton of stuff and shipped it all to my cousin who we'd be staying with-- bedding, towels, hangers, stuff like that-- and she had graciously washed everything that needed it.  I was also puttering around doing laundry and other things as we got ready.  We weren't leaving the house until 1:30, which felt like way too much time.  Bentley kept asking, "Can we just go already?"

Finally it was time.  We loaded his huge suitcases into the truck and headed for Richmond!

Here we are at the airport!

We had a long flight to Denver, and it wasn't too full so we got to have the middle seat between us empty!  That was awesome.  The next flight we had crying babies in front AND behind us, so we were happy that it was a pretty short flight!  Then when we made our way through the Salt Lake airport, my Mom was waiting and had already picked up the rental car!  The only thing we had to do was take a few minutes to add my name to the contract so I could drive it, too.  And then it was off to my cousin Jenna's house in Sandy!

It was late by now-- I think we landed around 10pm?-- so it was dark, and also cloudy, although there was a nice half moon trying to poke its way out of the clouds.  As we drove, Bentley suddenly asked, "What is that?  Are those the mountains???"  It was really hard to even tell, but as the moon sank lower, we figured out that yes, that darker shape in a dark sky looming above us were just the really huge, close-by Utah mountains.  They really can't compare to our Carter Mountain here!  (Which Bentley has assured me he will definitely be referring to as Carter Hill when he comes back at Christmas time!)

So that was fun!  We arrived at Jenna's house, she got us settled in the guest rooms in her basement, and we went to bed.  It had been a long day!

*My Mom's cousin who, at the age of 69, just got married for the first time!  I seriously could not be happier for a person to finally find true love!