A trip to NY

This last week, Bennett and I had the chance to trek up to NY to surprise Melissa Maughan as she returned from her mission. The trip had been in the works for months & I did have to tell her some flat-out lies so she wouldn't suspect my trip. Poor Sharon (Melissa's mom) and Eric (Melissa's brother) and I spent a few months stressing about not ruining my surprise, or Eric's surprise (he flew out to Cleveland from BYU during finals to surprise Melissa when her family picked her up.). I'm sad my trip is over, but so glad I don't have to keep that trip to myself anymore! It was almost impossible!

Anyway, I didn't take many pictures of Melissa and Eric and I, but I did get a couple. For those of you who don't know, I grew up with these two & I consider them siblings. My family moved to NY when I was two (and Eric was two) and our families have been best friends ever since. I've known Melissa since she was born (even though I was too young to remember her actually being born, of course). Love these two. Welcome home Melissa!



So besides seeing Melissa, I also got to spend time with my wonderful parents and sister! I had such a good time with them, and Bennett was in absolute heaven, of course. We got home on Wednesday night, and all day Thursday, he kept asking me to "see Grandma and Grandpa a minute" and "drive a car downstairs." It broke my heart. He sure did love the time we spent there.

The "drive a car downstairs" is a reference to my parents basement which is basically a mecca of toys. One specific toy won Bennett's heart completely. In fact, I can't believe I didn't take a picture of him driving it. But I DO have a movie of him parting with it.


Granted, this only shows about 2 seconds of crying, but the crying part usually lasted much longer. Every meal time, every errand that had to be run, every person we had to visit, (not to mention when we actually had to *gasp* leave and go back to our house) brought on the big-time waterworks. He was heartbroken every minute he spent away from the Cozy Coupe. And it was the first thing he would ask for every morning and after every nap. The only thing we could come up with that made the parting more bearable was for Bennett to give the car a hug and a kiss.

My dad took some pictures of Bennett driving the Cozy Coupe one night and printed one of them out for Bennett to keep. Bennett kept it on the desk right by his crib, and every time he woke up, he would tell me, "Look! Grandpa gave a present to Bennett! Drive a car!" The picture alone was a heavenly reminder of the best toy ever made. (psst. Mom or Dad. Want to send me those pictures?).

Anyway, I really didn't take enough pictures. I don't have any of me or Bennett with my sister or my mom. Sad. But I do have one of my dad with Bennett.


I was really grateful to be able to take this trip up to NY. I'm so glad to have my family close enough to get to them in an hour on a plane (with $35 tickets, even!). We'll be spending Christmas in Utah this year, but it was fun to be able to have a little Christmas fun with my family, too! We decorated the tree and made Worthen Peanut Butter Fudge--a Christmas tradition. I get Christmas fun with both families this year. Lucky me!

Love you Mom & Dad & Lauren!

Oh yeah... one more thing! Bennett dancing along to the "Just Dance" video for the Wii. We had some good times playing this game. Of course, this movie culminates with him getting back in the Cozy Coupe. Can't stay away too long!