Josie is 3 !!

It has been three years since my little girl was born. In some ways it seems like yesterday and in others it feels like a lifetime has passed. I still remember all the excitement and happiness of her arrival like it was yesterday, but when I think of all the amazing things that she has accomplished it seems like that was all so long ago.


We celebrated Josie's birthday at home, in Minnesota. Now that she's three it is more fun she is more involved in picking things out, like the biggest Abby Cadabby balloon I have ever seen! I wish I had a picture.

This is Josie's Abby cake, if you are not familiar with Abby she is a fairy-in-training, her mom is Cinderella's fairy godmother, and they live on Sesame Street. Josie loves Abby, she is all pink and purple and very cute.

Josie did a great job blowing out her candle, with countdown help from Grandma Nini, I think if we would have waited for her to blow it out on her own we could have been there all day!

Josie loved all of her gifts, and had lots of fun with all of her friends who came to celebrate with her. Above is (L to R) Anya, Josie, Taylor, Daddy and Wyatt.

Josie was a little shy getting her picture taken after her nap, but Daddy finally got her out of her shell, now the problem is getting her back in!! This is Josie's beautiful party dress that she picked out for her special day.


Josie has had a lot of fun this year. She has become a big sister, started swimming lessons, and learned so many things I couldn't even begin to list them all. I am so proud of my beautiful little girl I can't wait to see what this next year brings!!

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!