Farewell to Utah

Although we were pretty excited to move home to Washington, saying goodbye to Utah was not the easiest thing. Yes, there were some things we weren't very fond of, namely unbearably hot days in the summer and eight month long winters, we' d been there a long time and had really grown to like it. We knew where everything was, it was easy to get around, everything you could need was within walking distance, and it really was pretty, especially when the trees had leaves. But the thing that really made us enjoy Utah were the amazing friends we made.
The majority of our friends are friends we made when we first moved to Utah six to seven years ago, and even though all of our lives have changed, we've managed to stay good friends through it all. We've gone to eachothers' weddings, been on multiple roadtrips together, and just genuinely enjoyed spending time together. These friendships made leaving bittersweet. Even as I type this, it still makes me sad to know it could be a while before we see them again.
We spent our last weeks in Utah hanging out with the people we love, enjoying the beautiful weather, and squeezing in a few outings that we hadn't done the entire time we'd lived there.
I spent as much time as possible with my best friend Bec and her kids. She had a baby three weeks before me and we've created a master plan for our daughters to be roommates at BYU 18 years from now so that they can become as great of friends as we are. We spent a lot of time out at the pool (the only way to actually enjoy the heat.) I think Steve went swimming everyday for our last two weeks there. I said my goodbyes at work and will truly miss the great friends I made there as well. Some things we squeezed in that we hadn't done before were a trip to Utah Lake, only about ten minutes away and we'd never been, and we rode the ski lift up at Sundance, relaxing and beautiful. Utah, we will miss you.As we prepared to leave, our niece, Brittany, flew down from WA just to help us move. She was a life-saver. She watched and held Aliyah non-stop so that Steve and I could finish the last minute packing and clean the apartment. She also made the car ride much easier, giving Aliyah bottles and keeping her entertained. We were definitely glad to have her!