A Birthday Party!

January 5th- We were able to see some more friends that we met in Baltimore last night- The Sorenson's! Kolby and Ally's little boy is turning 1 this month and since they were in town this week they decided to put together a little party for him while they were here. We had lots of fun catching up with them and seeing Camden DEVOUR his cake. Happy Birthday Camden!

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.

Our friends- the Yates!

July 30th- Keaton and Lily hanging out together at the mall after me, Erin, and the kids did a little bit of shopping at H&M!

August 1st- The Yates- Erin, Barrett, and Lily- our friends that we met in Baltimore (who are also from Utah, like us!) are moving to Norway in just 1 week and so we just had to get together with them one last time before they left! (I'm sooo sad to say goodbye! The Yates have been great friends to us and Erin and I have grown especially close and I'm not sure what I'll do without her to hang out with, talk girl and mom talk to, and do fun things together like shopping or taking our kids to the park etc. Thanks for being such a great friend Erin! We are all going to miss you guys!!!) 

We had dinner at Bonsai and Keaton LOVED it! He even ate his food with his chopsticks! It was a fun dinner!

So, Keaton loved almost everything about our dinner- the fire was not one of those parts. Lily wasn't a big fan of the fire either!

After dinner we headed over to a park nearby so that we could still hang out for a little while longer while the kids played.

Lily giving Aisley sweet kisses and loves goodbye!

Lily wanted to give Keaton tons of hugs when we were saying our goodbyes, and Keaton did give her one really cute, big hug but then he was done. (And, of course, our cameras weren't ready!) Keaton acted like he didn't care too much about telling Lily goodbye, but as soon as we got in the car and waved goodbye for the last time Keaton started crying and saying how much he was going to miss his friend Lily!

This boy is more tenderhearted than he lets on...

Best of luck to the Yates family and your next adventure! (We wish we were joining you!!) 

Bringing Maryland to Utah!

June 25th- Our good friends the Yates moved back to Utah from Maryland one week before we did (and at the beginning of August they begin their next chapter in their lives in Norway!) and then during the middle of June the amazing Moss family came to Utah for a visit and we all got together and went boating at Willard Bay. It was sooo much fun hanging out with our friends (and kinda made me miss Baltimore all over again for the first time since we made it back to Utah...) and we are so glad that we were all able to make it work to get together!

Tyler, Mary, and Maya.

Maya and Lily.

 Mary and Maya, me and Aisley, and Erin and Lily.

This cute boy had a fabulous time out on the boat for the first time since we moved away from Utah. He loved swimming, going on long rides, and watching dad wake board.

We love our Maryland friends!

Road Trip back to Utah- LAST DAY!

June 13th-

I just had to document our sweet boy with seemingly his most favorite part of our road trip- hotel breakfast! He was sooo excited every morning to go down and get breakfast. He was in heaven picking all of his owns foods, helping carry his own plate, and having as much as he wanted of all the options! He ate HUGE breakfasts during our road trip to Utah! YUM! So, here is Keaton enjoying his last morning of breakfast at a hotel (at least for a while!).

 Final presents from Sister Walk!

 This last present says- "Yeah, grandma's house!"

Upset. Hard moments like this happened daily while stuck in the car for such long periods of time!

The Mountains! Keaton knew as soon as we started seeing mountains that we were getting closer to our new home in Utah and to grandma's house!

As soon as we got into town we drove over to our new house to take a quick peek at it before heading to see our family's. It felt so weird to be back in Utah and knowing that we weren't just here for a visit- but we are also so excited to be so close to our family's!