Utah- Our new home.

Let me take you on a tour! (Pictures taken on September 18th and 25th)

Our living room- the view from just inside our front door.

The stairs leading to our bedrooms and a bathroom.

Another view of our living room from the top of the stairs.

Keaton's room!

Aisley's room!

Our bedroom.

The door in this picture leads to the bathroom.

The upstairs bathroom.

Another picture of the bathroom from the door in the hallway.

 Another view from the top of the stairs- our kitchen.

Our dining room.

The stairs next to the dining room/kitchen leading to the family room.

Our family room.

The sliding glass door leading to our nice, big, and fully fenced in backyard.

The two doors next to the stairs in the family room- the one on the left leads to the garage and the one on the right leads to the newly finished basement!

The door on the right- the basement door.

Our mostly empty basement bedroom.

The door in this picture goes into the furnace room.

The kids little playroom!

Our laundry room/second bathroom.

And back upstairs and out the door to the left- a quick view of the garage.

Keaton insisted I take a picture of him.

And, of his Olaf blanket that we got for free for signing up for the Disney Movie Club!

9 months in and 9 months out! (ANOTHER overdue post)

September 3, 2013- Just hours before Aisley joined our family!

9 months later- May 30, 2014-

(Please excuse the poor quality of these pictures! I don't have digital copies of them so I just took a picture of a picture with my phone... One day soon I hope to have Justin scan them into the computer at his work for me!)

Grandma's Mustang GT!

September 24th-

There's nothing like a few joy rides around the backyard. :)

Go Cougars!

September 19th- Before the BYU vs. Virginia game. WE LOVE BYU!

A BIG upgrade.

And, when I say big, I mean size wise (not "nice"-ness wise)! Ever since we moved back to Utah in the middle of June, I've been driving around this beast of a car- and I love it! (Picture taken on September 18th)

Our Princess Pearl's namesake (a long overdue post)

Aisley Pearl is named after her great, great, great Grandmother Pearl Mcdonald Zinie. Pearl is my Grandpa Craythorne's grandmother. She was born on October 13, 1897 and died on August 9, 1920. She was 22 years old when she died. I really don't know much about her (I wish I knew more) but, once Justin and I found out we would be having a baby girl I felt strongly that I wanted her to be named after grandma Pearl. And, from the moment Aisley was born I knew she was just that- our precious Pearl. 

When Aisley was just 6 weeks old my Grandma and Grandpa Craythorne, along with my great aunt and uncle- Ann and Jon Little (Ann is my Grandpa's sister) came out to Baltimore for a visit. (Grandma came early and spent a whole week with us!) The night Grandpa, Ann, and Jon flew in Ann brought Miss Aisley and I a very special surprise. -It is a moment that I will never forget, a memory I will always hold dear- Ann had a little gift in a bag all wrapped in tissue paper- at first I wasn't sure what it was- a little glass case with a hook, but nothing was inside... after waiting to see the puzzled look on my face Ann pulled a small pocket watch out of her own pocket... once I began to realize the significance of her gift, and she began explaining, I broke into tears, and so did she. I was so completely touched by her thoughtfulness and love.

Ann gave Aisley and I this antique pocket watch, beautifully engraved with her name, that belonged to Grandma Pearl. She told me that they found it amidst her things many years ago and that since then she had kept it displayed in her home. I could tell that it was very special to her and while trying to talk through my emotions I thanked her again and again and tried to let her know how much I loved it and how I would always, always take very good care of it.

Truly, no words can express how much this small gift means to me and will always mean to me. It is a reminder of not only our Princess Pearl's namesake, but also it is a wonderful reminder of Ann's love for us, and in the larger scheme of things- the love we can feel both from our family we share our lives with here on the earth today, and those who have passed before us.

A couple of months later, while we were in Utah for Christmas, Ann gave me an envelope with pictures and such of Grandma Pearl. I was again so grateful! Like I said before, I don't know much about Grandma Pearl, but it is through little things like this that I am able to feel closer to her, and hopefully one day Aisley will feel the same.

It really is true, although Pearl is gone she is surely not forgotten.

12 months with Miss Aisley.

(Months 2 and 12 are probably my most favorite.)