The Mortensen's

Daddy Daughter Camping

2011-05-18T08:25:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Ty loaded up all the girly camping items
he could handle and ventured out for the Father and Sons
ward campout, but in his case it was daddy daughter. A few
dad's in the ward don't have boys and bring their girls and
since camping with Crew could be a complete nightmare he
decided he would bring Grace instead. Sorry Crew, maybe
next year. So after a weekend up in the mountains Grace
came back telling stories about all the fun she had sleeping
in a tent, playing with her friends and being in the forest.
She told Ty she didn't want to come back and that she
wanted to stay this long (holding her arms out as wide as
she could). Here are some pics from her weekend camping
with dad!

Anthem Softball League Champions!

2011-05-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons we love Anthem is because of everything it offers.
One of the reasons Tyler loves it is because of its Softball Leagues.
So, it was no surprise after moving to Anthem that he decided to try
and put together a team and join the league. He has wanted to play
competitive softball since college but hasn't had the time or had the
opportunity to join a team. So for the last year it's been his "guys
night" and he's been like a kid every Tuesday night going out and
playing. For those of you that know him well you know what I'm talking
about, he can get a little anxious and excited about the funniest things.
Well after a few seasons, new matching jersey's, some team bats and
a lot of good times, Sky High Energy can call themselves the champs.
It's been great watching him play and Crew is already completely
obsessed with "ballball". The kids love going to his games and watching
dad. The group of guys he plays with and their wives are seriously
awesome. I'm glad he's able to do something he enjoys and with such
great company. Congrats guys, here's to next season!

Rockies and D-backs

2011-05-04T21:47:00.001-07:00

Fun night with the fam! Go Rockies

Welcome Home Elder Sharpe

2011-05-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

I know this is cliche but has it really been 2 years? Yea,
that's what I was telling myself as I frantically packed
and got ready to begin the long 2 day trip to welcome
home my little brother Austin from his 2 years in the
California, Bakersfield Mission. So Tuesday afternoon,
after our pretrip preperations and waiting for Ty to get
off work we settled in for the comfy 9 hour drive to
Spanish Fork, UT. Amazingly we made it their without
complications, car sick kids, or any horrible stories to tell.
Which is a good thing because after the 9 hours of driving, we
got to my sisters at 2 am, dropped Ty and the kids off
and jumped right back in the car and headed to
the American Fork Hospital where my sister happened
to be going into labor. 15 minutes after making it into
her room she gave birth to sweet little Whitney Lynn
Caldwell. Talk about good timing, I haven't been
around for any of my sisters deliveries and to be there
for her last one was really special! The next morning
we hung out, helped my sis with her kids and then
drove the remaining3 1/2 hours to Star Valley, WY.
We got their, did a little unpacking, dropped off our
kids at my Aunts (thanks April) and jumped in the
truck on our way to the Jackson Hole Airport. If
little Austy had any hopes of returning to a changed,
fully punctual family his hopes were crushed as he
got off the plane to find an empty waiting area,
except for the occasional husband or pregnant wife that
happened to make it there ontime. But much to his
shegrin (and a lot like Lloyd Christmas) my mother
came sprinting through the airport to welcome him home.
We spent the rest of the week catching up, playing
games (I hate Green Thumb) and trying not to think
about how soon we would have to head back home.
All in all it was a great week, especially when you
forget that it snowed 3 out of the 5 days we were
there. Were proud of you Elder Sharpe! Welcome home!

(Here are some pics from our time there)

Our horse whisperer spending working on her trade...look close and you can see her
Me, Grandpa and Grace on the first ride of the ......SPRING?????
Crew enjoying his Dairy Queen Main Street Afton doing a little shopping
Ok, she's not a horse whisperer, she's an animal whisperer. Torture is just part of the art form.

The amazing 10 second Easter Egg hunt. How 1,000 eggs dissapear in 10 seconds I'll never understand

Our Tiny New Friends!

2011-05-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

Our new little friends started their journey in Wyoming, see
above for details on our Wyoming Trip. Grace fell immediately
in love with these furry things, which means dad can't really
resist. So we decided to write it off as food storage if nothing
else and packed em up for their adventure to warmer weather.

First Class Travel Accomodations!

Excellent Views

And a new home! After settling in we named our little

ladies (hopefully ladies) Finneas and Ferb! One is a standard chicken the

other is a Bahntam (banni) Brahma chicken. We'll keep you updated

as we try educate ourselves all things chicken via

www.backyardchickens.com!

Can we reappear and act like we never dissapeared?

2011-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

I know we dissapeared for awhile, no excuses, just busy. Here is a quick recap of some of the things we've been up to. We celebrated Crew's 2nd birthday with friends and fam. Our little monkey is getting big.....and wild! We also were able to spend an entire week with my family down here playing tennis, hanging out, sunning tanning (crazy Wyoming folk) and just enjoying our time together.

2011-04-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

I took a fun little all girls trip to Palm Springs with some great friends.

2011-04-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

We finally remodeled our backyard. I wish I had the picture to show you what it looked like when we started. Finally a kid for the kids to play and get out of my hair : )

2011-04-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

We ran the Ragnar Del Sol in Arizona with Kristy and Brett, our good friend Preston and our sister in law Carly. We had an awesome time despite going into the race being sick for the last 2 weeks.

2011-04-10T08:32:00.001-07:00

We worked on our finger painting! Not quite Picasso, but entertaining none the less.

2011-04-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to California and saw the beach for the first time. Despite it being freezing and hardly beach weather, the kids couldn't help trying out the ocean.

First Day of Preschool

2011-04-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

Grace started Preschool and couldn't have been more excited. For the longest time she's told us she wanted to go to school every time she saw a school bus. This was her very first day, excited to say the least!

Freeman Farms Pumpkin Festival!

2010-10-11T07:04:00.001-07:00

Fall, fall, fall. Our favorite time of year. Except for here in Arizona
that is. Why? Well we don't really have one. And while the rest of
our family and friends ring in the season with coats, sweaters and
crisp cool air at football games.....we are stuck sweating and waiting
for the temperatures to break like a bad fever. Every year we start
to get a "little" impatient with the summer heat and start
praying for the cool, beautiful winter weather that justifies our
living here. So what do we do in the meantime? While it's still too
hot to feel like fall? We get the heck out of Dodge, and we get out
as often as we can! This weekend we decided on a last minute trip
to Freeman Farms just outside of Prescott, AZ to take the kids
to the Pumpkin Festival. It was exactly what we needed; great
weather, good company, a lot of pumpkins, animals, tractors, hay
rides, face painting, kettle corn, a corn maze and a train ride
that included an old fashioned train robbery by the Old West Acting
group. Here are a few pics from the weekend, thanks for the
invite Harbecks, we had a great time! Now to figure out where
we will escape to this weekend.....hmmmm?

Yikes, It's been Awhile!

2010-09-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been forever since our last post. Sorry everyone
(all 2 of you who read this). We've been super busy and just haven't
been good bloggers. Everything has been going well in the Mortensen
fam. We just got back from a week in Colorado with Tyler's
family. We were there for his brother Justin's farewell. He's been
called to serve in the Oakland/San Fransisco Spanish Speaking
Mission and entered the MTC yesterday. It was a great break
from the AZ heat and as always great to spend time with family.
Other than that we've had some birthday parties, lots of pool
days, Tyler's softball on Tuesday nights, and training for the
Ragnar coming up this October in Las Vegas. Tyler signed up for
this one, surprise, and has been training with me. So we have a lot
coming up and will definitely try and do better with the blogging!
Until next time, here are some recent pics from our trip to
Alamosa and a few randoms!

Birthday party cupcakes!

I'd say that is Smurf blue? How bout you?

Just hangin out.
The new sleeping bag Grandma Debbie got Grace! She was so excited

to sleep in it.
Crew WOULD NOT stop playing on this thing. He absolutely loved it!

Ty and his "little" brother Justin when we were leaving and saying bye.

Grace outside of "The Malt Shoppe" in Pagosa Springs. This is the neatest

little town and this place has the best shakes. She doesn't like to pose....

at all!

A Little Update

2010-04-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

VISITORs FROM THE FAR NORTH

The last week of March we were lucky enough to have my parents
come out and visit us in AZ for a full week. They loaded up the truck
and drove all the way from Star Valley, Wy with Bailey, the monster
truck (what Grace calls a 4 wheeler), a dirt bike, roller blades, a sewing
machine, Bill's dog Tanner and a soon to be pawned off, adorable black
puppy named Ashes. Here are some pics from their week here..............

My dad meet a friend out at the Canyons Motocross Track and
competed in a Grand Prix race. It was a combination of motocross
track and desert trail. We had a blast watching him and he did
awesome taking first place in his division. Who cares that the only
other racer in his division was 70, had training wheels on his bike
and had to stop 3 times during the race to use the bathroom!
He still won! : )

We also had time to catch a spring training game. It was a great day

to sit in the sun, watch a little baseball and let the kids run around the

grass behind left field.

Bailey celebrated her birthday with us while she was here too. I'm

so happy we got to see you turn 11 and celebrate your big day Bailey,

you are growing up so fast. JK, Happy Thirteenth.

And this is the little furry creature my parents brought down. They had

every intention of this being a one way trip for this gal. She is super

cute, really smart and of course now a part of our family. Grace and

Crew are loving their new little friend.

And since my husband didn't make the blog, here's a pic for him! : )

Crew's Birthday Party

2010-04-10T07:25:00.001-07:00

Our little man has grown up so fast. On the 27th of March he turned 1 and we had friends and family over for a great birthday party that included great food, a bounce house and a really big cupcake! It really is scary how fast time seems to be flying by. Here are some pictures from the party and a few pics of Crew growing up.

Crew's First Year

Gretchen Wilson Baby!!

2010-03-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

So tuesday night Me, Spring, and Brandy went to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill for a FREE Gretchen Wilson Concert!! She was awesome live and put on a great show.. It was a ton of fun! and its always good to get out for a night with just the girls! We might have been the youngest and only sober ones there but that was half the entertainment... Right girls??

Photo Tag :)

2010-02-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

My friend Chana tagged me to do a photo tag -
Here are the rules:

1. Open your 1st Photo folder.
2. Scroll to the 10th photo.
3. Post the photo and the story behind it.
4. Tag 5 or more people.

This is Crew enjoying his first whole apple.... He LOVES them :) He has been such a little sweet heart!! We love our little man!! :)

I tag- Loreli Caldwell, Kristy Denney, Jess Mortensen, Meg Meis, Andrea Jardon :)

Landscaping

2010-01-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Tyler and his younger brother Justin worked on
our landscaping and took our ever evolving yard a step closer to
being a front yard we like. We still have to plant flowers and "HOA"
approved plants and then we'll fill in some areas with bark or mulch
to finish it off. Thanks for the help Justin. Here are pics of the first
3 stages, stage 4 to come soon...............hopefully!

Christmas... Random...

2010-01-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

Kissey kissey

Pappa and toad muggling aka snuggling :)

Pappa and Crew

Gingerbread houses.... What we thought would be a fun family activity, well it wasn't not for our family anyway.... lets just say kids eating all the candy, frosting EVERYWHERE, and perfectionist parents not a great mix!

I love both of these pictures with grandpas hat on the kids... They are both pulling kind of cute funny faces!

Grace was so helpful feeding the dog..... Cat food :)

Crew was busy eating the dirt out of any plant he could find!

Slackers of the Blog....What we've been up to.

2009-12-13T09:01:00.001-08:00

Well once again it's been too long since we've updated our blog so here
it goes.

We had our good friends Adam and Andrea and their little cutie
pie Amelia up for a weekend just before Thanksgiving. We went
to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Anthem Outlets.
They had a concert with Dueling Pianos, Choo Choo Soul (Grace's Favorite)
and a new, amazing singer Savannah Outen. It was a great weekend
with the Jardon's and we can't wait til we have another one.

For Thanksgiving Tyler's whole family came out and spent the week
at our place. Spencer and Carly came up and Grandma Sally even made
the trip with Ty's parents. We had so much fun and of course ate way
too much food. We played lots of games, watched alot of movies and
just enjoyed hanging out with everyone. And we'll excuse Kristy and Brett
since he had business to take care of putting the Utes in their place that
Saturday.

After Thanksgiving we went and found this beauty of a Christmas tree
at a local lot. We brought it home and got it all decorated, kids under 2
provide unbelievably good help puttingup ornaments. It finally brought
the Christmas spirit to our home in snowless Arizona. We also put lights
up on our house and have really enjoyed that. Our neighborhood has
more houses decorated than any neighborhood we've ever lived in. It
must be the warmer weather that gets everyone out and willing to put
lights up. It has really made this season fun driving home at night with
the kids and slowly winding through Anthem looking at all of the lights.

http://allijphotography.com/blog/?p=84

Last we went and had our family Christmas pictures taken so we can
send out our Christmas cards this year. Alli does such an amazing job.
so that's what we've been up to. Next week I head out to Wyoming to
spend two weeks with my family for Christmas. Ty will fly out the
following week to join us. Grace has loved Christmas this year and is
hooked on Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and Santa Clause is coming
to town. It has been so much fun seeing her excitement and we can't
wait til Christmas morning when she gets to see what Santa brought her.

A Little Update

2009-11-18T18:15:00.001-08:00

Well it's been awhile since we've posted anything so here is a
quick update on what we've been up to. We're still doing little
projects around the house but we've settled in. We have great
neighbors and love our neighborhood. This weekend my sister
and I had a girls weekend with both of our youngest kids, Crew
and Lor's baby girl Bella. Tyler took Grace to Albuquerque, NM
with his brother Spencer to have a weekend with his family and
watch the BYU UNM game. About a week ago Tyler and I started
our biggest project, antiquing our kitchen cabinets. Lor and I
worked all weekend trying to get things finished. We didn't quite
make it but we are VERY close. Thanks for ALL your hard work
Lor, you are AWESOME! Anyway here are some pics from the weekend.

The cabinets before we started. We'll post pics when were done.

Gracie and grandpa watching the game.

Gracie loved watching the cheerleaders and all the action from right up front.

Grace, dad, and Cosmo the cougar. And yes Tyler has a

moustache. He's doing the Movember thing and growing

a moustache to raise awareness about men's prostate

and testicular cancer. I guess it's some big thing, if you

haven't heard about it check out http://www.movember.com/.

Goodthing it's for a good cause!!

Finally Moved In.

2009-10-24T07:47:00.001-07:00

Well we are finally in our house, we've been here for a week now and loving our new place. Even though we went through a nightmare of a lender things worked out in the end and we are just grateful to have our own home. Thanks to all of our good friends who helped us move (Tyler S., Kyle, Troy, Kevin) couldn't have done it without you. And a HUGE thanks to Tyler's mom Debbie, sorry your visit was such a laborious trip but we seriously appreciate everything you did to help. Our first weekend here was spent unpacking boxes, getting organized and landscaping. Tyler had to go to town on the front yard because everything was overgrown. Above is the before and after pictures. And don't worry the pretty red flower bush (bogainvillea) it will be back shortly. I know my mom will be shocked we cut "that pretty thing" down. Anyway, things are going good and we are still working on little projects here and there and will have more pictures soon. Bye for now.

Recent photos of my favorites :) I love my kiddos :)

2009-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here a few pics of the kids... Dont mind the mess in all the pics. We have been in the process of moving now for the past..... I dont know month ;) Anyway Enjoy our kids they are the best!!!

Pack your stuff your mov...you're mo... you're... not going anywhere!

2009-10-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend we were supposed to be moving into our brand new house. Exciting times right? Not so much, not in the circus land we live in. Here's the events of the last week and why we are not moving into our lovely little casa bonita this weekend as planned. After being conditionally approved for our loan a week and a half ago, we turned in all of the final conditional paperwork the bank required for final approval and closing. We were told once that was done we would be off to sign final documents, close the loan, get our keys and move into our house early the next week. So we finish that Friday and are told everything good to go and start our planning that weekend for next week's move. Monday I get a phone call saying the bank is 3 to 4 days behind and won't get to us until Thursday or Friday. Great, awesome, couldn't be better. So after waiting all week Thursday rolls around and I get a phone call saying the bank won't accept our most recent bank statments that show we have the money to close this loan. Supposedly we printed them online. Little do they know I went into Wells Fargo had them printed out and faxed directly to my mortgage broker. So now I'm told I have to get these same statements printed out again but this time notarized by the bank. SERIOUSLY? Since you can't argue withe the bank lending you your money I go and get a notarized printout of the exact same account snapshot and fax it over to my broker. All this with two kids while my wife is at work, not a good task for dads to try, very easy for a mother, I know. Good thing for banks and their jar of freaking dum dum suckers. So the bank faxes over the new "notarrized" statements, I call our broker, she says she got em and everything should be done tomorrow, this was the only thing the bank needed. So today rolls around and were hopeful that we will be able to sign. What fools we are. I get a call about 11:30am from my realtor this time. He is saying that the bank now wants us to sign a new contract dated 5 days later than the original contract. Realtor sends us new contracts, we both sign those, send them back. They say they will send them to the seller have him sign them and send them to our broker who will send them to the bank and then "we are good to go." it's 9:21pm right now and after two unreturned, unasnswered calls to my realtor 3 unanswered, unreturned calls to our mortgage broker we don't have a clue what is going on or where things stand with the bank and our house. I swear buying a house is fun and worth the effort, really I do???????????????????????? If something doesn't happen next week you might be reading about alot more than two angry "hoping to be" homeowners. So there you go, my happy little update for the week!

Our house... covered in plants and trees!

2009-09-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

Well its official we are buying this house :) It's perfect for our little family! We cant wait to move in and have a little a space! There will be more pictures to come.......sorry the pics are blocked, we know the front of the house needs a little yard work!!!

Random picture updates!

2009-09-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some really out of order and random updated pictures! Crew is almost 6 months old and growing like a weed... Grace is 2 and hilarious she always keeps us guessing! Tyler and I made a temple trip saturday night... it was so nice to go and have a date night with out the kids! Thats pretty much all the excitement we have had these days! Enjoy the pics :)

Crew... Grace... Tank... Ralphie

2009-08-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

I layed Crew on a sheet on the floor and when I turned around a few minutes later this is what I found.... funny little guy! Grace wanted in on some of the camera action so that was her little bit and as for the dogs I figured I couldn't leave them out either!

Utah, Wyoming and Back Home

2009-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago we headed out to Utah to attend my sisters baby blessing and have a good weekend with the fam. We had a great time hangin out, loving the cool weather, taking Grace to her first rodeo (can't believe we don't have a picture), heading out on the lake, and being there for little Bella's blessing. It was a great weekend but just the first leg of my trip, Tyler headed back home for work and I headed up to Star Valley, Wyoming to spend the next week with my family. We went horseback riding, boating again, riding four wheelers, up to Jackson Hole, and more time just hanging out. It was so fun being home during the summer and enjoying all that their is to do.

More Swim Action!

2009-07-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our little fish!

Swimming Lessons

2009-07-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

This was the last day of swimming lessons and it was a blast to watch her get better everyday! It started with all out kicking and screaming and ended like this! I was going to video her the first day but you would just see a whole bunch of torture and screaming! (Not fun).... The second day was worse than the first it included all the screaming plus a nice dose of throw up down the teachers suit! (Sorry Kati) Grace did so good though, Kati (the swim teacher) said that it was pretty normal to hate swimming lessons for the first little while!

For the last few days I was so happy to come and see this! She LOVED it! She was so excited to go underwater.... and dive for the rings! I recommend everyone do this with their kids!

PS- Sorry there is so much video.... Im just a proud momma! :)

Potty Training = No More Diapers = HAPPY MOMMY!!

2009-07-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago when Gracelyn got up I decided to put her pony undies on, not with the full intent of potty training, but maybe to see what could happen! Well as the day continued so did the potty training and it was completely successful!! Long story short and only once accident later (my fault) she is doing awesome! She wakes up dry from naps and woke up dry this morning :) Needless to say I'm a happy momma! Its funny the things that excites you when your a mom!! Seriously everytime she goes I do a little dance and get so excited :) WAHOO GRACE!

Crew... 3 months already!!

2009-06-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well its been a short and fast three months! I can't believe it! Crew is such a good baby! We feel so lucky and blessed to have a healthy and happy little guy! He is so so so smiley! We love you Crew!

Pictures

2009-05-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

We recently went down to Gilbert and had Crew's pictures taken, along with a few of the whole family. We just got them back and are really excited about how well our photographer did. Her name is Allison Johnson, you can visit her at allijphotography.com. She does awesome work. Here is the link to our pics. Thanks Alli for doing such a good job.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifehappensnow/sets/72157618171930018/

This is Hilarious!

2009-05-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

I had to share this with everyone! I died laughing the first time I saw it. I love YouTube.

Falling out of the stroller = OUCH!

2009-05-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we went to Kierland to let grace play on the splash pad... Well it was about time to go and she wanted in the stroller which had crews car seat on it so we let her in it while we talked to some friends she turned around in the stroller and leaned on it just right..... and over she went! Head first! Needless to say she has a pretty awesome shiner! Poor girl we felt so bad!

2009-04-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few more of the little man!! What a handsome little hunk... We love having him around he is such a sweet baby!!

2009-04-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our two little monkeys are growing way too fast. It seems like
just the other day it was just the 3 of us and we were anxiously
awaiting Crew's arrival. Now he's more than a month old and
changing everyday. Grace is being the best big sister possible,
she is always looking out for her little bro and worries about him
everytime he cries. We're starting to realize that Grace isn't our
little baby anymore. She is getting so big, especially since bringing
Crew home. She is so funny and learning so fast. We couldn't
have a sweeter little girl. We are so happy to have both of them
with us and feel so blessed. We spend most of our free time
relaxing and putting our apartment back together so we haven't
gotten our here very much. But we will try and do better.
Until next time....

Toady in Grandpa & Grandmas Gear!!!

2009-04-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

Sorry we have been so slow with our blogging but here is a little glimpse of what Toad was up to while " Ma" and "papa" Sharpe were in town! She couldn't get enough of "Ma's" glasses... It was hilarious she walked a little goofy with them on and looked funny too because of the prescription ;) Then it was on to "papa's" helmet... can we say top heavy! She really had to be careful not to fall over and knock her head into everything! She is so full of life and energy.... we are constantly laughing and wondering where she comes up with some of the things she says and does! We love this little one!

Crew McKay Mortensen

2009-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

So we've been home for a few days now and things are going well, with exception to not getting nearly as much sleep. We are way happy to be home and are slowly figuring out the 2 kid bit. Here are some more pics for those who have requested them. Oh, and we decided on the middle name McKay. which is Tylers middle name too.

He's Finally Here!

2009-03-28T13:33:00.001-07:00

We will tell you more later but our little man has arrived. It was a pretty long induction process that almost lead to us going back home. But everything worked out and our "nameless" baby was born at 5:05 pm March 27. He was 8 lbs 4 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Ash is doing awesome and the baby is too. Thanks for everyone's calls, texts and concerns. We will try and get more pics up soon.

COUNTING DOWN!

2009-03-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well we are getting pretty excited for the baby boy to come along! We have about 7-ish days left! It just depends on when they can get me in! (could be later then thursday because its an elective induction)!! But hopefully they are able to get my in thursday sometime! Im mostly just trying to enjoy my time with Gracelyn and Ty before our whole routine gets thrown for a loop! I know once he comes our whole world will change! Its just crazy to think that we will have two children! I dont think I will understand that until he gets here! If anyone has any advice on how to handle the jump from One to Two let me know! Cause im sure im gonna need it!

Our life lately

2009-02-22T21:04:00.000-08:00

So we've been pretty busy lately but here's the breakdown

of what we've been up to since our last post. We are both

anxiously counting down til our little guy gets here. We are

so busy with Grace and life this pregnancy has been flying

by. Grace and I usally go the park a couple days a week while

Ty is at work. He is working 7-3 now so sometimes we wait

for him to get home. On saturday's we usually go the park and

watch Ty play flag football. Him, his brother, and a couple

buddies he grew up with play in a 4 0n 4 league. Their team

is in first place right now with 3 or 4 games to go. It's so

beatiful this time of year. I totally see why so many people

move here, we are loving it. We'll try and keep you updated

on the baby and the latest developments. Since everyone

asks, we have a couple favorite names, we probably won't

decide until we see him but you'll have to wait and see what

we go with. Oh and I have an induction date of March 26th!

The Little Man

2009-01-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

This is our latest ultrasound picture of our little boy. In
typical Mortensen fashion his head is measuring big. We
can't wait til he arrives but will have to be patient for
the last 8 weeks.

Wyoming Snow, Returned Missionary and Family Fun

2008-12-20T16:36:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-01T15:16:00.001-08:00

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.

2008-11-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T20:20:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-03T15:20:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-10-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Monsters Under the Bed

2008-10-20T22:14:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-04T20:51:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-09-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

THIS EGGO IS PREGO!!

Mr and Mrs. Mortensen 1988!!!!

2008-08-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

2008-08-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

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??

2008-08-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is another video of Grace dancing, she has

learned a fewmoves since the last dancing post.

Our Family Update

2008-08-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-07T18:20:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Some bittersweet news!

2008-07-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well for the good news... I got a job at Scottsdale Health Care! Im working nights on the Med-Surg floor! I'm excited to get some experience and most of all make a little money... (to help out the process of getting into a house and also get rid of school debt a.k.a student loans!) This is a huge blessing for our family and we are excited for the new opportunities this will bring!! The down side I would have to say is that I am going to have to be away from my family three nights a week, and I don't have as much freedom to just take off as I please... but hopefully not too far down the road I can return back home and just stick to being a mom!

CENSORED!

2008-06-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

This is Ralphie during movie time! These pictures were taken two different nights... He is just a funny little dog! Like Grace his personality is coming out too!

Like mother like daughter!

2008-06-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Grace disappeared into my room and this is what I found! She is so funny and is getting quite the little personality! I could not help but take some pictures of our little monkey! She must see me do this or something ;)

Gracelyn's latest face!

2008-06-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

I thought this picture was hilarious! She does this face when she doesn't like something. And Tyler captured it perfectly.

Going to Church!!

2008-06-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

She sure is cute... But turns into a wild women
when it comes to church.

So you think you can Dance!

2008-05-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Honey Baby

2008-05-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

Golf at Grayhawk

2008-05-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Justin, Spencer and I all played golf here on
May 27th. This is where they hold the Fry's Open
a PGA Tour event every year. It was awesome!

Our Funny little girl!

2008-05-30T11:56:00.001-07:00

I either hate swings or I'm pooping. You decide!

Gracie's first watermelon, no she didn't eat the
whole thing.

Grace love's the movie Over the Hedge. One
morning she layed there on here makeshift bed
that dad made for her and watched about 30
minutes without moving.

First, we did not put her in the kennel, she crawls
in there all the time. She loves it. We just opened
top so she could pop her head out and Ralph did
the same thing.

The Big Loud Monster!!

2008-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

The other night I went to vacuum the living room and found out Grace is scared of this big loud grey thing. As soon as I would turn it on she would run as fast as she could and hide behind the couch or run to her mommy! After two or three times of playing that game she decided that it wasn't scary anymore and she loved it. She's a funny kid.

Not so bad

2008-05-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday in Scottsdale

2008-05-12T10:15:00.001-07:00

Back Together for Good

2008-05-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

For some reason Gracie kept trying to put Ashley's
tank top over her head but couldn't quite get it on.
So I helped her out and she ran around all night
in this little number. It was quite hilarious.

This is Ralphie with his new hair cut. We decided
to give him a Schnauzer type cut for the hot summer.

The Trip Back Home

2008-05-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to get something off my chest. Tyler is always telling me that he doesn't think we're going to be able to fit all our stuff into the cars when we go on trips and once again he was telling me this for our trip back home from Cedar. I usually just tell him to quit it and that we'll have plenty of room. This could be a really long story but I'll just tell you that on this one I was maybe, possibly, if you look at it the right way, wrong! Ok, I was way wrong. We were stuffed to the hilt, and that's after taking things apart and stuffing them in all the nooks and cranny's. Grace loved the ride home in her little cave though and we both laughed looking at how cute she looked packed in like a sardine.

Sense we've been living apart we have made the drive back and forth from Cedar to Scottsdale more times than we can count. This time we finally stopped along to way to see all the cool places like Lee's Ferry and Cliff Dwellers.

FINALLY GRADUATED!!!!!

2008-05-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

For those who don't know Tyler and I have been living apart. After moving to Scottsdale we decided to send me and Grace back to Cedar City to finish my Nursing degree at SUU. It took alot of praying and planning but we feel it was the best option for our family. And now, to say the least we are extremely happy to be back together full time. The past 7 months were tough but really flew by and we are soo happy to both be done with school.

June 21, 2006

2008-04-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Gracelyn's first Ice Cream Cone

2008-04-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Aftermath

2008-04-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hangin' out in Cedar City

2008-04-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

9 Months old and walking like a CHAMP!

2008-04-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

Take a Look

2008-04-09T15:17:00.001-07:00

Rockband at Kristy and Brett's House

2008-04-07T09:28:00.001-07:00

Gracelyn's New Puppy!!! Ralphie

2008-03-31T16:25:00.001-07:00

Back in Scottsdale for the last visit!

2008-03-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

Gracelyn at Grandma's

2008-01-31T07:46:00.000-08:00

What a little learner

2008-01-31T07:42:00.000-08:00

Cole just hamin' it up!

2008-01-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

Cousin Cole and Gracelyn

2008-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Cole giving Gracelyn some kisses

Gracelyn Smashing her dad! Silly Girl:)

2008-01-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

2008-01-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

New Years 2007

2008-01-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Grace just after a bath.. She sure does love playing in the tub!

2008-01-12T19:06:00.000-08:00