Wyoming Snow, Returned Missionary and Family Fun

So this is a little late but on the 14th of December we got back from our trip to Star Valley, Wyoming for my brothers return from his mission. It was so fun to see my family and spend the whole week and a half with them. I can't believe my little bro is already home after two years, it doesn't seem possible. We went up to Jackson hole and meet him at the airport with a bunch of our family and friends. The rest of the week we spent time eating out, talking and playing games and playing in the snow. The boy's had their fun snowmobiling, the girls loved their nap time together and Grace had tons of fun with her cousins, granparents and all the farm animals. She is in love with horses and wanted to go with "pa" everytime he fed them. It was such a good time, I'm so grateful to have such a fun and loving family and to have safely seen my brother come home!

Our Little Thanksgiving Weekend

This Thanksgiving was our first one together at our house. We have always gone to either Ty's parents or mine. But this upcoming weekend we are heading to Wyoming because my brother's coming home from his mission in Macon, GA. Since we will be up there in a week we decided to stay here and have our own little Thanksgiving. Tyler went and played in a Turkey bowl that morning and came back uninjured(luckily), feeling his age, and sad he doesn't have 4.4 forty speed anymore (which he never had). Instead of cooking a huge meal for two and dealing with all the mess and hassle, we decided we would try the unconventional eating out method for Thanksgiving dinner. It actually was great and we had a wonderful meal. That night we took Grace to the movie theater and watched Bolt. While Grace was slightly more interested in yelling hi at everyone and climbing up and down the theater stairs and playing with all the trim lights, she watched about half of the movie and we had alot of fun. Itwas a fun night and a great end to our first "solo" Thanksgiving.

We just wanted to post these really quick. We took Grace to Kiddie Kandids and got her pictures done last week. She was alot of fun and did really well. Here are some of our favorites.

Weekend Barbeque and the Duck Pond

This weekend we went to Spencer (Ty's brother) and his wife Carly's house over in Glendale for a great little barbeque. Dj and Megan Meis came over with their kids and we all had a lot of fun just hanging out with great food and company. After eating we walked down the street to a little pond so the kids could feed the ducks. Grace loved it but didn't like that they would run away from her. Ty snapped a couple cute pictures of Grace and the "quack quacks" and one of her and her little buddy Trey Trey!

A week in Review!

So this last week has been a really fun and busy one. Since we didn't post anything I thought I'd do a week in review. Here we go.

MONDAY the 27th was my 24th Birthday, we had our good friend Kevin stay home with Grace and we went to dinner at an underground restaurant called The Salt Cellar, a delicious steak and seafood place. Oh my goodness, it was the best steak and seafood I have EVER had! YUM! Thanks babe for a great time and some great food!

I got some really nice things from my family as well. My sister sent me some absolutely beautiful flowers!!!! They were perfect fall colors and I LOVED them I was sad to see them start to die :(

Thanks Lore for the flowers your the best older sister I could ever have! Your always so thoughtful of others and I appreciate everything you do for us! I wish we could be closer so we could spend more time together!
My cute mom sent me some money so I could get a few things that I wanted and she sent a package too! Thanks mommy! I feel so lucky to have such wonderful family! Not to mention my mother in law sent me a few shirts with some really cute home decor! Oh and a few halloween things for Gracelyn! Thanks Debbie for being so sweet!! I couldn't ask for a better mother in law! Thanks again Tyler, Mom, Debbie, Kevin (for the chocolates and cooking utensils) and everyone who called and wished me a happy birthday!

THURSDAY~ On thursday we were able to go to the doctor and get an Ultra sound of the baby.... We decided to find out what we were having this time just to mix it up a little from my last pregnancy! And as far as the doctor could tell we have a healthy Baby BOY!! Tyler started pumping his arms and laughing! And saying things like "Oh man the pressures off" and "Wahoo were having a boy"!! We were so excited it will be fun to have one of each now! I would love to put a picture up of the ultrasound but the doctor didn't give a CD of the ultrasound pictures ( you have to buy a package and it costs like 300$) So we decided to pass!

FRIDAY~ HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We decided to have a little get together at our casa.. We made home made chili, cinnamon, rolls, carmel apples, and let the kids go wild together! After the kids ran them self silly we layed them down and we played cards and stayed up late talking! We all got so tired that we just had DJ, Meg, Trey, and Pace have a little sleep over! It was a lot of fun! Thanks for the good company guys and spending the night! We had a blast!

SATURDAY~ We spent the morning just laying around, and recovering from the night before! We went over to Spencer and Carly's for the afternoon and Tyler made one of his favorites Pulled Pork... While it was cooking we went to the mall and just wondered around and people watched a bit.. oh and went in the "Coach" store and dreamed of the purses and bags that we think we will have when we are Rich!! (were gonna be rich right honey??). After grace went up and down the escalator about ten times and threw a tantrum because we wouldn't let her hold this strangers dog we decided it was time to go!! We spent the rest of the night eating, talking, playing cards, and just relaxing. It got late so spencer and Car let us stay the night.... we had some Yummy french toast the next morning! Thanks spencer! and Then headed home to take naps!

It was a great week.. It was packed with a lot of fun and some great memories!

Our Halloween Boing Boing!

Monsters Under the Bed

Thought I'd post this real quick. We recently found two little monsters playing under our bed. I guess she's not claustraphobic like her mom.

Funny Kids

So first Grace loves music, we've made a few posts of her dancing to her favorite songs. So the other morning Tyler tried putting these head phones on her just to see if she would listen to music with them on. Well she was the funniest little thing running around the house dancing to her little jams on the ipod. We won't be making this a habbit but it was really cute. Kids really are funny.

A Trip to the Phoenix Zoo!

This weekend we went to the Phoenix Zoo with
our good friends Megan and DJ Meis. The trip
was great except for the end when Grace fell off
the zoo stroller thing DJ and Megan rented for Trey
and Pace. She fell off while standing on the edge
looking at the elephants. She landed right on her
back and hit her head on the asphalt which give her
a little puncture wound thing that started bleeding.
She was tough and cried a little and bleeding stopped
pretty quick. We always knew she'd cut her head open
sometime, somehow, it was just a matter of time.
Luckily it wasn't a big deal and she was ok. She is just
a wild lady that can't stay still, she gets that from
her dad. Anyway the whole day was a blast and we
ended it with her PASSING OUT on the ride home
because she was so tired. It was a really fun day
with the family.

A favorite toy

These are just a few funny pictures of Grace.
We bought her a mini stroller because everywhere
we go she wants to push her stroller, or the cart,
or something. She has just loved it. She's wants
to take it everywhere.

Hand, Foot, Mouth Virus!! YUCK!

Grace got hand,foot,mouth Virus this past week... and it was a NIGHTMARE!! Luckily she didn't get it on her hands or feet but her mouth was horrible! She didn't eat for 4-5days and cried and whined non-stop! I hope no ones kids get this, can I say it again it was a complete NIGHTMARE!!

A weekend away keeps the doctor away!

We spent the past weekend in Cedar City with some good friends from college! It was a much needed gettaway.... Well mostly for me I think!! I don't know what the deal is with the pregnancy, but im a super moody! I think I will be lucky to still have a husband by the time this baby comes if this hormonal crap keeps up! I told Ty that if we dont go somewhere I was gonna lose my mind so we went back to Cedar for some good friends, food, and memories (oh ya and some COOL weather FINALLY!!) Thanks to Em and J for letting us crash their house and their cabin! We had a great time and Im pretty sure it saved our marriage:) hehehe jk!

Blog Blockers!!

Hey for my friends that have made there blogs private, I am not sure if it is on purpose but I have not been added.... ( Tami and Colton) and (Janice and Cole)! I have not been able to see whats new with you guys for a long time so add us... We would love to stay in touch!

Our Doodle that Can't be UnDID

THIS EGGO IS PREGO!!

Mr and Mrs. Mortensen 1988!!!!

We found this website through a friend and though we'd embarass

ourselves. It's called yearbookyourself.com. I can't believe how

terrible we both look, but too funny to pass up!

OH YES, IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!!!!!

Friday night we went to the Bronco's vs. Cardinal's game! We had great seats and we are all pumped up for another great season! Thanks to Tim and Christine for watching our little monkey so we could have a night out!

GO BRONCOS!!!

Camping in Arizona

Despite the beliefs of many, Arizona has some beautiful mountains that aren't full of cactus and lizards. This last weekend we decided to get out of the Scottsdale heat and head up for some fresh mountain air. We ended up camping at Woods Canyon Lake about 1 hour and 1/2 from our house with one of our friends and his dog. Grace was a champ and didn't wake up once on her first outdoor sleeping experience. Our child has never been dirtier in her life but our trip was it was exactly what we needed. Here are some of the pics from the weekend!!!

New York or Hawaii??

So we have a little dilemma.... We are trying to plan a trip for October but we are not sure on where to go?! We have free round trip tickets that we can use to go to New York but then of course we have to pay for the Hotels and entertainment.... Then Tyler found some deals to Hawaii that would prob. end up costing the same as going to New York! AHHHH what do we do? Does anyone have any input? Where should we go? These are my thoughts. New York in the fall beautiful colors and some relief for this AZ heat! But on the other hand sandy beaches, beautiful scenery and some R&R in Hawaii! HELP!!

Dancing Girl

This is another video of Grace dancing, she has

learned a fewmoves since the last dancing post.

Our Family Update

Just a quick update on what our familyhas been
up to lately. DJ and Megan Meis moved to town
a couple weeks ago, Trey and Grace are already
little buddies! Grace discovered how to open
everything with her mouth and teeth, including
desitin, I guess it tastes like mint, at least that's
what poison control said!!! She is getting funnier
and funnier everyday. Her newest thing is trying
to do forward rolls(which is a head stand into
rolling over, she might be her mom's baby after all!

Rest in Peace Sarge!

This was a sad week for our fam. We lost one of
our good buddies. Hopefully somewhere down the
road we'll be able to find another dog like sarge.
Rest in peace buddy, we will miss you!

July 4th Weekend

For the 4th of July weekend we traveled to Alamosa, Colorado where Tyler grew up. We had a great weekend spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Mortensen , Kristy and Brett, and Justin. The family, the food, and the fun were awesome. While we were there we went to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, played in grandma's kiddie pool, went to the 4th of July parade, a family barbecue, the 4th of July fireworks show, played 18 holes of golf (my first official golf outing), slept under the stars, and ate more food than anyone should be allowed! We just want to thank Grandma and Grandpa for such an awesome time, you go out of your way to make all our visits a blast. We love you guys!!!

Happy Birthday Gracelyn

On July 3 Gracelyn had her first birthday and Tyler had his 27th. We had a ton of fun and Grace loved all her new presents. And for Kristy and Brett, Grace is finally playing with her scary animal noise book!

Birthday Cake

There's not much we can say about this one. It took her a minute to get started, but she loved it once she did.