A few pictures I had to share!

As I said before, my camera had a tragic accident (or two) and we were camera-less for about a week, but thanks to a very generous and early arriving Santa (my mom) we are back in the photography business! I have had lots of fun learning and playing with my new toy and here are a few pictures I had to share!

Here is our sparkle house! Josie is very into lights this year and was so happy when Daddy made her house sparkle. We are very excited to show her Papa's house! The plans are in the works for it to bigger and better next year in true Grant family style!

Here's Daddy and his girls all ready to watch the gophers take on Colorado College last weekend!

Josie snuggling with her Daddy.

Christmas Craziness!

It's that time of year again where everything gets busy and Christmas is here before you know it. We have had so much going on that I haven't updated this in way too long, so bear with me this is going to be a long one! Some of the most exciting news in our house is that Ellie got her first tooth last week! After a couple of hard weeks working on pushing that little bugger through, we finally have a tooth! Josie is getting very excited for her trip to Minnesota, and thanks to a advent calendar sent by Grandma and Papa Grant she has a visual reminder of how many days until we leave. Josie can't wait and Mom and Dad are planning how they are going to get all their Christmas shopping done after they get to Minnesota.


Earlier this month Mortenson had their annual Christmas party. We went to Brunzwick Zone and had dinner and bowling. Even though many of the Mortenson crew thought that this may be a step down from our fancy party last year, I think is is safe to say good times were had by all. The picture to the left is at the party. There's Brian in all his Movember glory(I'll get to that later). The guy to the right of Brian, not paying any attention to me is Lee, a co-worker of Brian's and part of our Arizona family. The goofy guy between the two is RV, Brian's boss. I should take a minute to stop and thank the two reasons we were able to go out for a fun-filled night, our excellent baby-sitters, Johnny and Heather! They were so sweet to come down and hang out with the girls for the night. Josie had lots of fun with them and re-capped the whole evening for us the next day. I think we may have to have them come more often, my kids (Josie, really) went to bed well and on-time for the first time in weeks! Johnny and Heather got some parenting practice, which will come in handy in the near future!


We are attempting to get in the Christmas spirit, even with the lack of snow and any kind of visual reminders that it is indeed December. It's difficult to remember sometime when it's 75 degrees outside that all of our family is being dumped on with the white stuff we long for and they dread! It do find it interesting that as much as we would love to be back in Minnesota with our families a large number of them would rather be here in the desert. I guess the grass is always greener, or the snow is always whiter, whatever you prefer. Josie has some specific requests this holiday season. She had to put the star on the top of the tree, which as you can see she did an excellent job! Her other request was that Daddy make her house sparkle. I have to say given the obstacles that we encountered ( It's hard to hang lights on stucco) he did and excellent job that would make the Grant family proud. We are by far the best decorated house in our neighborhood. I will try to get a picture, but currently we are camera-less due to a unfortunate accident. Hopefully Santa comes early with a present for Mom!


And finally, Movember! Some of you may have heard of this crazy fundraiser because evidently it has been done since 2004. It is a Australian based charity that raises money and awareness for men's health, in particular prostate cancer. Mortenson Phoenix participated this year with the goal of raising $1,000 for it first year, which they crushed and raised more than double the goal. Part of the fundraiser includes the guys to grow moustaches for the month of November with prizes given out at the end of the month for the best Mo's. Some of the categories included, manliest Mo, Trashiest Mo, and best all around Mo and the A for effort Mo. This year Brian did not walk away a winner, but after seeing what we are up against, next year I think we have it in the bag! Josie insisted that I point out that you can still see Daddy's owie, from when he got hit in the face with a puck a couple of months ago. She keeps a very close eye on his owie!








I am happy to report that my husband has returned from Movember and I am glad. Although after living with that horrible thing for over a month I do have to say that he looked weird when he shaved it off and it took a couple of days for both of us to get used to his old face. Josie never even noticed that he shaved it off!
We are all looking forward to our trip home, one week from today! We are excited to see everyone and have some fun in the snow!

Trick-or-Treat

This year was Josie's first "real" trick-or-treating experience. In the past we have always gone to see family and friends, but never gone door to door around the neighborhood. Josie was so excited she talked about it for about a week. She was so excited that all she has to do was ring a doorbell, say trick or treat and they would give her CANDY!!! She decided months ago that she wawnted to be a cowboy for Halloween, we tried to tell her that girls are cowgirls but she wasn't having any of it. Grandma Grant made her the most adorable skirt and vest and a quick trip to the local western wear store completed her costume, what cowgirl is complete woithout pink boots that light up? Mom chalked it up to safety, you could see her feet a mile away even in the dark. Josie made it around the block and then was ready to come home and show mom all her goodies, she was so proud!

Best Birthday Gift EVER!

For my birthday this year I bought myself tickets to see New Kids on the Block. I was a die hard fan years ago and when I heard that they were coming back I knew that I had to go. My very first concert ever was New Kids and this was a great way to relive the good old days. Thank you so much to Julie who went with me, I am sure she thinks I am a little crazier now than she did before last night. I want to go again anybody up for a show in Cali. in November?

Josie's first skate!

If there is an ice arena in the desert, the Grant's will find it! Lucky for us they opened a brand new arena about 2 miles from our house about a month ago. On my trip to Minnesota I brought Josie her favorite gift of all, her first pair of hockey skates. No daughter of Brian's would be caught dead on figure skates! She was so excited that she had to try them on the minute that we got home from the airport.

So now that the skates had been burning a whole in our closet for a whole week we decided that it was time to take Josie for her first skate. I was a little nervous as any mother would be, but Josie was confident and so excited. We got Josie all bundled up and tied up her skates and off she went. I was figuring that we might get 20 - 30 mins before She told us she was too cold or her feet hurt and she was ready to go home. Honestly, I thought that might be optimistic. Brian took her around and around the rink and after 10-15 mins they stopped to say Hi and let me get a few good pictures but all Josie would say is "I'm not done yet!" Anytime Brian would stop or slow down she would say again, I am not done yet! After an hour Brian's back was so sore from bending over to help her that he had to stop. I never thought Josie would last longer than Brian! Josie had so much fun that all she has talked about this morning is going back skating. Brian is going to have to teach her quickly to stand on her own or work on his back muscles!

Enjoy the pictures!

Ellie is eating!

Ellie has started easting solid food. She has liked everything we have given her! Joise loves to help feed her!

4 years ago today...

The Art of Marriage

The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue all through the years.
It is having a sense of mutual values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting your husband to wear a halo or your wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.


Four years ago today I married my best friend. Over the last four years we have seen a lot of changes. Our family has grown, our location changed, we have lost loved ones, and welcomed new loves into our lives. And while I can't say that I have always abided by the wisdom in the words so lovingly read by Aunt Donna at our wedding 4 years ago, I can say that I am still married to my best friend, there have been more good days than bad (a lot more good days), and I wouldn't change a minute of it for anything in the world. I am so lucky to have an amazing husband, two beautiful, smart, and fun little girls, and while we are by no means rich (according to our bank account) we are not starving either. The last four years have been a journey and one that I have been glad to take. I am excited to see where our journey will continue (hopefully back to MN soon!). So thank you to all of you who gathered with us four years ago to begin this amazing adventure and thank you even more for sticking by us, supporting us, and sculpting us into the people we are today.

Ellie is 4 months old!

Ellie a few days old




Ellie 4 months old

Ellie is growing fast and getting to be such a big girl. It's hard to believe that she joined our family only four months ago, and at the same time it's hard to remember our family without her. She is such a great baby, she's almost always happy, unless she's hungry! Her personality is shining through more every day. Ellie made some big accomplishments this month, she started rolling over a few weeks ago and now is trying to go places. We put her down in one place and turn around she's gone! You know when she has hit a dead end because she will start to whimper for us to come and save her!

Another thing that has been very exciting is that we have all gotten a few nights of uninterrupted sleep! I am not too excited though because I think another growth spurt is on it's way so this may be short lived! Ellie goes to the Dr. on the 2nd and I am very interested to see how big she has gotten. As many of you know Ellie is a much bigger girl than Josie was, so it is different to have a big girl. At 2 months Ellie was the same size that Josie was at 4 months, so we will see how they compare at Ellie's 4 month appointment.

Josie starts swimming lessons

Josie had her first swimming lesson this past Saturday. She goes to a swim school called Aqua-tots. She is in a level 2 class, which is a parent/child toddler class. Daddy took her in the water her first class and Mommy and Ellie watched, OK Mommy watched and Ellie napped. Josie learned how to "monkey walk", walk along the side of the pool with her hands...




She has also learned to climb out of the pool all by herself...



Josie had a blast and can't wait to go back for her lesson this week. She is very happy in the pool, but needs to be a little more relaxed when she is on her back so that she can learn to float. Brian did say that is was difficult to make Josie let him hold her. She is so used to her water wings and being independent that she forgets that she won't stay above water on her own, luckily Daddy has quick reflexes!

The Nuky Fairy came!!

Josie woke up very excited to see what the nuky fairy had brought her, this is what she found...

My little girl is growing up!

Tonight was a big night at the Grant house, the nuky fairy came and took all of Josie's nukys to the babies that need them. I have been talking to Josie about the nuky fairy at bed time and telling her that soon the nuky fairy would come to our house and take all Josie's nukys to give to other babies that didn't have any. The first few times I mentioned this she quickly decided that she was not a big girl and that she still needed her nukys. Then tonight as I was putting her to bed we were done reading her bedtime story and Josie turned to me and said "Mommy, I ready for the nuky fairy to come today." I was shocked, if you know Josie you know she loves her nukys. She has only had them at nap time and bedtime for a while now, but as soon as it's time to go to bed it is the first thing that she asks for. I was hoping to wait until the weekend because I was expecting tears and sleepless nights, but she insisted that she was ready tonight. So we gathered up all of Josie's nukys, there were a lot of them, put them in a box and left them in the kitchen for the nuky fairy to come and take them away.

She did get out of bed twice, once I put her back to bed and reminded her about the nuky fairy leaving her a present after she fell asleep and she asked a lot of questions and when she was satisfied I left her with her hockey Goldy and said goodnight. The next time she got out of bed she went to Daddy, she knows he's the softy! He took her back to bed and she told him "I just need one nuky." Daddy was tough and told her that she has to give them all to the nuky fairy. I was almost as proud of Brian as I was of Josie at this point. That was the last that we heard from Josie tonight. I went to check on her at 9:3o and she was fast asleep laying across her pillows.

I was very proud of Josie for deciding on her own that she was ready to give up her nukys, but at the same time I am a little sad to see my little girl grow up.