Logan and Giggers in Chico, CA

Harley Barley Warley

Wow! Time sure flies!

It's Mother's Day and my heart is full. My sweet Tony got me flowers and has done all the work today - cooking, cleaning, etc. Logan is continuing to keep himself in the Armour of God. He has made major changes in his life and is happier than he's been in a long time. I am so proud of him! Nick and Tiffany and McKenzie and Mark are making our life fun and exciting. A lot has happened in the past year. Bella had 4 puppies by C-section. Mark got one - Zoe, Logan got one - Axel, we kept one - Harley, and a man in West Jordan got one - Chevy. Since then Bella has done wonderfully. Harley is now bigger than she is, and very exuberant! In January I finished my Administration degree. I still need to take the Praxis, and then I'll have my certificate. In February, I got a Shih Tzu and names her Giselle, better known as Gigi. She is a bundle of love and fun. Seriously, I love this dog. Shortly after getting the dog, McKenzie came up to me and said, "Nana. Gigi has a bad word in her name . . . Shit zu." I tried to explain the nuances of Shih Tzu vs. the other . . . don't know if I made a difference. Yesterday we took McK and Mark to the Living Aquarium. It was a lot of fun. I'll post some pix. Marky did touch the Stingray, but McKenzie, although she really wanted to, didn't quite do it. A little unnerving, I suppose.

Time to Start Posting

Okay, I just read an email from a friend and then went to her blog and it was beautiful. I wanted to use this blog to keep some memories alive, and I haven't done that . . . so it's TIME TO START POSTING! The grandbabies are growing up so fast, and I don't want to forget all the funny things they do . . . so here goes . . . (I do like the ellipse)!

McKenzie is currently in preschool and preparing for kindergarten. Her favorite thing to do lately is to sound out words. This is awesome because she is so close to reading. She is a very bright and active girl. When she gets bored, she figures out something to do. When I got home yesterday, she was in her room with her door locked (not a good sign). I knocked and she let me in. She was in the process of boxing up her babies (her two pinkish teddy bears she's had from birth) and putting stamps all over the box. Not stickers or 'fake' stamps, but the good ole U.S. of A. postage stamps that Tony had stored downstairs for 'REAL' letter use. Uh oh! Then she told me she had a surprise for me. I followed her down the hallway to my bedroom door which was now adorned with stickers. They were there to "make your door pretty for Easter tomorrow". She hasn't quite figured out the days-thing yet. She is adorable and we love her!

Marky is growing big and a funny kid. He just got a haircut with his dad and now looks like Nick Jr. He loves to show us things he does all the time. He'll say, "Nana, watch." And then he'll run with his funny little steps down the hall, stop, put his hands on the floor and push his feet up, turn around, maybe army-crawl a little, and Ta-dah! He's done! He also loves to play video games and is getting quite good at hitting us. He kicks and hits and karate chops us, not understanding that he packs quite a punch for a little guy! :) He thinks he's just playing. He talks a lot and has definitely gotten a mind of his own. He's all boy, but when big tears fall out of his big blue eyes, you just want to forget that, and cuddle him like a baby. We love our Marky!

I HAVE A NEW FRIEND NAMED PINKY!

I have Pinky!

Harley Mama

I have always loved motorcycles . . . bought my first one when I was in 8th grade. Well, I recently got a hawg . . . my first one. It's a beautiful blue Sportster 883 XL (the L is for Low which enables me to touch the ground). Logan and I are sharing it right now, until he gets his old '73 Ford running. He recently got a great job so plans on buying his own Harley this spring. Fun! Now I just have to get my honey Tony hooked!

Bentley the Chiwienie dog?

Logan brought home a puppy that was a mini dauschund. . . or so we thought . . . then his ears popped up and he looked like a Chihuahua . . . now we think he might be a mix . . . we don't care what he is, because we love him anyway! He currently weighs in at a whopping 2 lbs 8 oz . . . compared to Bella's 55 lbs. It's pretty fun!

Fun at the Circus!

The Circus came to town, so we went to it. It was a lot of fun. McKenzie rode a pony (that looked as if it'd seen better days!) and Mark took it all in.

Spring Break Cruise

For Spring Break in April, Tony and I took a Southern Caribbean Cruise. We left from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and went to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, BonAire, and Aruba. It was amazing! We went Princess, and the ship was beautiful. After the cruise, we stayed an extra day in Puerto Rico and went to the Junge Rain Forest. Gorgeous!

Bella's Ears

Bella has a quirky ear. Consequently, I had to try to 'set' them by taping them. Fun! Hopefully it will work. Her weird ear gave her personality, but she is such a beautiful dog, that I want her to look her best! We finished our second puppy class, and she is doing great! She is one smart puppy!

TAG

This comes from my daughter-in-law. If you read it, you've got to post it!

10 years ago -- I was living in Seattle and loving it! I taught high school Biology & AP Biology. I was working on my PhD at the University of Washington. I was pulling my hair out trying to raise two teenage boys!

9 Daily Uses: bathtub, Bath and Body bath gel, lotion, foundation, mascara, blush, cell phone, car, teacher voice

8 things on my to do list -- clean the house, clean out my car, wash my car, clean up the basement, clean out my office at school, organize the office for Tiff and I to start scrapbooking,train my puppy, write some books.

7 places I have lived -- San Jose, CA; Moscow, ID; Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Paradise, CA; Springville, UT; Provo, UT; Kirkland, WA.

6 things I enjoy -- Travel with Tony; playing with McKenzie and Mark; hanging out with our kids; reading books; watching movies; going to Curves with my Mom

5 facts you don't know about me -- I love to cook, I love Sour Jelly Bellys and eat some almost every day; I love to ride roller coasters or anything that makes me dizzy, spins me upside down, or goes fast; I like almost any kind of music; I wish I had a dirt bike

4 jobs I've had -- Customer Service at Alberstons, Operations Officer at Savings & Loan, Anatomy & Physiology instructor at Shoreline Community College in Seattle, WA; Secondary Science Teacher

3 bad habits -- Procrastinating to grade homework; chewing ice (although now getting iron shots weekly to fix my anemia, so am not doing it much anymore :) Saying I'm going to clean the basement and then not doing it!

2 books I last finished -- The Hunt Club & Copy Cat

1 favorite -- Juno & August Rush (tie)

Your turn!!!

Calgon! Take me away!

Let me just say that I need a vacation! :) And unfortunately, I won't get one until April 12th! The good news, is that Tony and I are going on a Southern Caribbean cruise . . . yeah! I can handle that! We'll be flying to San Juan, Puerto Rico, then board the Crown Princess and take a lovely cruise to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, and back to San Juan. I am very excited. We have never been on a cruise, and so are wondering how we'll like it. We think it will be a great way to see the Caribbean.

Bella is Growing

Bella is growing up! Her first vet visit went well with her weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs! She loves to chase her toys and is very good at bringing them back to me. She is learning the term "aus" which is German for 'drop it'. She is being crate-trained and doing quite well. We love her and are so happy to have her in our family.

Kenzie's 'Pover (Sleepover)

McKenzie has spent the night a few times at NanaPapa's house. We have a sofa at the end of our bed where she shares the space with SpongeBob and Patrick. She settles in with her Dora yogurt and watches her favorite shows: SpongeBob, of course, Dora, WonderPets (will that theme song ever get out of my head?) and the Backyardigans so she can watch the antics of 'Pabalo'.

Isabella Vedette

Fun, more fun! We have a new member of our family - Isabella Vedette - our new Rottweiler pup. Isabella refers to her beauty and Vedette is Italian meaning 'guardian'. She is 9.5 weeks old and very cute. She is snuggly and friendly. McKenzie came with Tony and me to pick her out. McKenzie will look at the puppy, bend at her waist and say to Bella, "Chase me!" (This is similar to what McKenzie does when she wants us to chase her, although at that time she says, "Tickle me!") Bella will be starting Puppy Kindergarten on January 22nd.

Memorial to Neeka

On December 17th, 2007, my beautiful Rottie, Dominique vom Claussen, was put to sleep. She was a wonderful dog, and will be greatly missed.

Birthday Boy!

Marky turned 1 today! His Grandma made him a Cars cake and he ended up with red frosting on him inside and out. Mark is walking and talking and is the cutest boy. His great uncle and aunt, Chris and Marie of the Crazy Caras Clan, brought him a telephone which he immediately picked up and began talking into the receiver. McKenzie tried to help, although she was more interested in eating about 5 cupcakes throughout the evening.

New Year Motto - 2008 is Gonna be Great!

I talked to my sister Shauna on New Year's Day, and was informed that we have a motto this year . . . and I'm all for it! And since last year was pretty good, I'm excited for this even 'great'(er) year . . .

December 2006 - Trip to Europe

2007 Highlights:

*January 5th - Mark Anthony Tenney was born to Nick and Tiffany

Big sister McKenzie was pretty excited!

*April Spring Break - Went to Orlando with Tony's sister Cathy, husband Kelly, and their daughter Eliza; rode rollercoasters from Universal to Epcot to DisneyWorld!

*June - Went to Cancun, Mexico for 9 days. Had a blast!

Beautiful, amazing, and wonderful!

This was the view from our hotel room

We went to Chichen Itza, Xel-Ha, Cozumel, and Isla Mujeres. We will definitely be back!

We did end up going home with a virus, but after a few days with fevers in bed, we recovered!