Nate and Amy Tenney Family

Jack Palmer Tenney

2011-07-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I took a break from blogging...a 9 month break, and no, it was not coincidental. The last 9 months have been rough (to put it mildly). Due to complications in addition to being sick (to put it mildly) our family went into survival mode. We had family come stay with us/ we stayed with other family members for 19 out of the 39 weeks I was pregnant. We were also blessed to have wonderful friends and a wonderful ward in Arizona who came to the rescue. Every time I start to think about all the sacrifices others have made for us I tear up with gratitude. I literally could not have done it without you. Thank you for coming over at a phone call's notice to get Ivy in and out of her crib for me when I couldn't lift her. Thank you for taking my children out for playdates and adventures. Thank you for the meals, for the prayers, for the empathy. Thank you for sending your older children over after school to play with and entertain my girls while I lay on the couch. I will never forget your service to me. I will always be grateful. It's really humbling to not be able to care for your family the way you'd like to. To pray for energy and strength and not feel any better. I know that the Lord was strengthening me though. During this process He taught me about love, compassion, sacrifice, humility, relying on the Savior and feeling his love through others. You were answers to my prayers, thank you. I will always remember the difficulties of being pregnant, but I can say that without a doubt it was worth it. I have a son. His name is Jack.

PS- I feel awesome now! It's good to be me again.

October

2010-11-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! The girls were skeletons (obviously) and Nate and I joined in their fun. Ivy totally got into trick or treating at Nate's school's party. She lunged out of her stroller at every stop to try to grab more candy. She'd pant and get super excited. Then she'd try to shove it all in her mouth, wrapper and all.

We went to our ward campout in October. Everything went well until bedtime. Ivy initially fell asleep in the tent, but woke up around 9pm and cried for 3+ hours! She was cold, confused and who knows what else. Nate walked her around for an hour, got her asleep, but as soon as he got back to the tent she was up crying. He did this twice and I did it once. Finally Nate wanted to put her in the truck and drive home. He put her in her carseat but the truck got stuck in the mud. We tried for awhile (12:30am) to get it out, but no luck. By this time Ivy had fallen fast asleep in her carseat, a nice familiar place. I spent the night in the truck with her and Nate and Lucy were in the tent. Longest night EVER. It was a lot of work for one night, but Lucy had a blast outdoors with the other kids.

Mt. Whitney

2010-10-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Back in August Nate and I took a 3 day backpacking trip with Mark and Cindy. We hiked Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. It was amazing. Thanks to Nate's parent's who took great care of our girls and for Mark and Cindy making the trip to California. We braved the bears, wag bags (if you don't know what this is, don't ask), 126 switchbacks in one section, crazy climbs in elevation, not showering for 3 days. spectacular views, great talks and a lot of fun.

Ivy's 1st Birthday

2010-09-22T18:33:00.001-07:00

Well Ivy is 1. Some say she's a toddler now, but she still feels pretty little to me. Maybe she'll officially transition to toddlerhood when she can walk. Ivy is a joy. She is wild and crazy and I'm not really sure what to do with her. (Sound of Music - How do you solve a problem like Maria - comes to mind). I've never seen a messier eater - she's like a tornado at every meal. Herself, her seat, the floor, the curtains, the ceiling, us.... And she's always on the move, trying to climb up things, down things, out of things, eat things - dirt, sand, rocks etc. But everywhere she goes she flashes this infectious smile that is so vivacious and fun it lights up the room. The sparkle in her eye melts me. And her 3 second cuddles are the best. She crawls over, rests her head on my chest and gives me just enough time to happily sigh. I start to savor the moment but then she's leaping out of my arms off on a new adventure. Ivy we LOVE YOU!

Locked Out!

2010-09-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I finished bathing the girls and put Ivy down for her morning nap. Lucy went in her room to dry off and I went out front to water the plants. Next thing I know Lucy decided to join me outside and she was buck naked. When I saw her in the buff we headed to the front door only to discover on Lucy's way out she locked the door. So here we were, locked out of the house, Ivy locked in the house. No hide-a-key, no cell phone. I found myself on our street corner, holding my naked 3 year old trying to flag down a car to borrow their cell phone. Fortunately Nate got the text and ran out of class and saved us!

McCall, ID

2010-07-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

While Nate was slaving away working hard, I took the girls up to McCall, ID and stayed at my good friend Elizabeth's cabin. We had such a great time! They are fixing it up and Lucy's favorite thing was to help hammer the nails into the deck. We also enjoyed boating, swimming in the lake, Ice Cream Alley, playing on the shore, sea kayaking, beautiful trees, stars, fire pit, wholesome food and great company! Thanks Elizabeth!!!!!

Double Date Twins

2010-07-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

We wanted to dress up like princesses, but made due with what we had - Hawaiian Pirate Princesses.
When we drove up from AZ we stopped in Utah to see cousins. James, Lucy and Haley had fun in the sand. It felt SOOO good to feel grass between our toes and see the mountains!
The girls love spending time with my dad, Papa.

A couple weekends ago Nate and I went on a double date with T & Phil. It was super awesome pulling up at Fancy Freeze and realizing Tara and I were wearing the SAME shirt!!!!! In junior high we meant to match, in high school we did everything we could to be set apart and now it is just too funny to be embarrassing!

Butterflies, Fencing and hiking

2010-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

-Lucy loved her butterfly farm. We watched them inch around as caterpillars, form cocoons and emerge as butterflies. We were out of town for the actual emergence....but Lucy let them go in the wild (my mom's backyard) and thought it was magical.
-Our Boise "trip" has been great. Nate is working out of town building a fence for the antelope in the middle of nowhere Idaho. He loads 17 wooden fence stays on his back in a backpacker frame, then hikes them up a mountain because there is no vehicle access, drops them off, hikes back down the mountain....repeated all day. It's tough, grueling work. Good thing he's so buff and willing to do a lot of grungy work to support our family. We are definitely grateful for all he does for us.

-While Nate's gone all week we are staying busy running, going to the park, hiking, going to the zoo and watching the Disney movies that Grandma has that we don't. Ivy's favorite new thing is grass. We don't have any grass in Arizona and she is loving it. Of course she wants to eat it as well as crawl on it. She attempts to eat anything food or non-food that she can get her hands on, is also an avid climber and doesn't know how to sit still. She's wild and fun and it's an adventure trying to keep her safe. Lucy loves playing "go fish" with Grandma and eating breakfast every morning with Papa. Who wouldn't? - the other day I discovered crumbled up brownie on her cheerios. No wonder she'd rather eat with him than me. Spinach eggs vs. brownie cheerios? I can't compete. :)

She's growing up fast....

2010-06-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Lucy Jae born June 2, 2007
1st Birthday
2nd Birthday
3rd Birthday

Thank you for my birthday!

2010-06-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

"Thank you for my birthday!" - That's what Lucy kept saying all day today. I'm pretty sure today was her best day ever. She woke up and ichatted with Grandma and Grandpa Hatch while she opened presents. We went running with Ali, then headed over to her friend's house who also turned 3 today and decorated cup cakes. We had a tea party all afternoon with Ali. She was very proper and even put her pinky up with her new tea cup. We went bowling this afternoon and she had a blast. All she said she wanted for her birthday was a brown cake so she was super easy to please. It was fun to see her really excited about her birthday and have so much fun. Thanks everyone who made it special for her!

Recap

2010-06-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Where have we been? I was temporarily out of a camera and a computer, but now that I have both I feel like I can rejoin the blogging ranks and recap our family happenings.

April:

-We celebrated our 4th Anniversary. Nate planned a fun Italian themed evening with a fancy cheese sampling plate at dinner and a boat ride with a gondolier singing Italian love ballads. We ended up at a magical place called the Sugar Bowl where you guessed it - the biggest most amazing brownie sundae's one could ask for. Caramel marshmallow syrup anyone?

-Our house was burglarized. That explains the loss of camera and computer. Fortunately our family was not home and everyone was safe. We feel really grateful that we were protected and they just got away with "stuff." My friend was a lifesaver and let me borrow her computer until we were able to get some replacement things. THANKS!!!!!

May:

-I competed in my 2nd Triathlon - SheRox Sprint Triathlon in Tempe, AZ. It was such a blast and I improved my times from my last tri and was really happy. Nate and the girls were my road crew cheering me on all the way. A couple of my girlfriends down here did it too and it was a blast.

-Nate finished his first year of dental school!!!!!!!!!! It was a grueling year but a great one. He hasn't truly celebrated the end of the year yet though because he's 2 weeks away from taking his national board exam. He's still in the library all day 6 days a week preparing. Come June 14th though he'll be ready to breathe again!

-I turned 27 this month. Nate got me a 'gourmet cooking class' and I went to Scottsdale and learned fancy and delicious ways to cook salmon. It was an awesome class....he's so thoughtful.

-Ivy started crawling! She's much happier now that she can move around and believe it or not she's thinning out a bit. She and Lucy love to wrestle and play together.

-Lucy took swimming lessons. I was the teacher. She's okay as long as she doesn't have to put her head under water. Hmmm, isn't that the point of swimming?

-Memorial Day: We visited my great grandma's grave. We are having a family reunion this summer and I'm in charge of "Family History Jeopardy" and it's been really neat to read my ancestor's histories and connect with their stories. We also had a fun BBQ with friends that night.

June:

-Ali came to visit! We are having a lot of fun with her already. She's a huge lifesaver and is going to watch the girls for 3 afternoons while I got to Day Camp for Cub Scouts. Thanks Ali! The girls love having her around and so do we! So far we've been swimming, running, walking, cooking and having tea parties.

-Lucy turned 3! She gets her own post about that though.

Dental Ball

2010-04-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Nate had a Dental Ball last month where we go to dress up fancy and go our for dinner and dancing. It was fun.

San Diego - Sea World

2010-04-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

I took the girls down to San Diego for a week. Nate stayed home and worked hard in school while we played on the beach, went to Sea World with Grandma and Grandpa Tolley, went to Tenney family birthday parties and had a good time. We stayed a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa Tolley who were staying at Mission Beach and then a few days with Nate's parents and siblings in El Cajon and Temecula. I went on a few road bike rides with Nate's dad (who is a great cyclist), played lots of games, buried Lucy in the sand, and the girls had a blast with their cousins. Thanks to all our family who were so great to us while we were down there.

Mexico

2010-04-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome Easter weekend in Mexico. It was so relaxing and fun. We played in the Sea of Cortez, went 4 wheeling, ate way too much good food, sea kayaked (with dolphins - they even swam under Nate's kayak!) and had a good family getaway.

Happenings

2010-04-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

I love it in AZ. There's so much to do outside in the beautiful weather. It's only the middle of April, but we spent Saturday at the water park! The girls spend a good portion of every day in the biking/jogging stroller, and are good sports about it. They like to look at the birds, horses, jack rabbits and flowers on our adventures. We haven't run into Ivy's new tricks are clapping, giggling, babbling, sitting unsupported and the pre-crawling scooting around. She's so curious, so I'd better watch out when she figures out how to crawl. Lucy likes to get her hair done "like a princess." It doesn't matter how we do it, just as long as I tell her she looks like Princess Lucy afterwards. Then she gallops around the house shout/singing, "I am a PRINCESS!" Lucy's FINALLY sleeping in a big girl bed (goodbye little pack and play!) and she's potty trained (thanks to Nate).

Tenney Family Photos

2010-03-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

We love our girls

2010-03-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks Amanda for taking these pictures!!!!

Lucy Jae and Ivy Pearl

2010-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Sodium + Water = BOOM!

2010-02-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

Nate finished his 2nd quarter finals and needed to let off a little steam. LITERALLY. We went out with some dental school friends for a great day of repelling, shooting guns and blowing up sodium. That's right. Check out the first picture. In the upper left corner there is a a metal stand suspending 2 water balloons above a bucket of sodium. Nate in the lower right side shot the balloons with a rifle (yes on his first shot), which drop down, react with the sodium and BOOM! It explodes. This picture was one of the smaller reactions, it was a CRAZY day!

Happy Girls

2010-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

Lucy and Ivy LOVE each other. It's great to hear Ivy giggle when Lucy talks to her. Lucy always gets Ivy toys and blankies to hold, and even showed Ivy how to suck her thumb ("Here Ivy, your thumb goes here! That's nice"

Small Spaces

2010-02-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

Our girls apparently like small spaces. Yes, Ivy rolled over and scooted herself backwards until she wedged herself underneath the couch. Lucy decided to play Noah's Ark and saved herself and all her favorite blankies/animals inside a toy bin.

Going Native

2010-02-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

So my mom and I took the girls to the Heard Museum, a Native American Museum Downtown Phoenix. As we were leaving the building we walked by a large sculpture of a group of Native Americans, all shirtless. This apparently inspired Lucy to go native as well. I looked down and she was stripping down! She had taken off her shirt in the course of 3 seconds in the middle of the museum!!!!!

The Radical 80's

2010-02-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

My friend Amanda turned 30 and we had a fun surprise 80's theme party for her. It was a lot of fun to see everyone in their knotted shirts, big hair, neon colors, scrunchies...you name it! My favorite part was the dance party when Nate brought back the "old school" forehead-touch dancing.

Mom's visit

2010-02-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

My mom came to AZ for a week and we LOVED having her here. We went to the Science Center, Heard Museum (more details about that adventure later), went running, hiking, played at the park, ate great food, played in piles of animals and read lots of stories! If you are wondering what Lucy and I are doing with our hands in the picture above....we are bending them like the narly (sp?) cacti on our hike.

Here's a run down of what's been going on:

Ivy is sleeping through the night (woohoo!) and smiling and grabbing anything in sight. This includes unsightly flabby skin and Nate's arm hair. New this week: she tries to suck on our chins.

Lucy said to me the other day, "Mama, I chose you. I chose you to be my mama." It was so sweet. She also has referred to me lately as, "babe, honey and Sister Tenney."

Amy: My mom taught me how to hand quilt. It's so hard, I feel really inadequate. My Grandma Pearl gave us a quilt top for our wedding and told me, "Now you have to finish it." She passed away right before Lucy was born, and I've decided it's time to start "finishing it." When she told us that she started something that we had to finish, it made me think of our great heritage. Our ancestors have given us so much, laid a great foundation, and we have to build on it.

Nate: Nate is 2/3 done with his first year of dental school!!!!! He is 100 days in (only counting class days) and had a, "I survived the first 100 days" party today with his classmates.

Ribbons, Mahi Mahi and a little thigh...

2010-01-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ribbon+Tongue Compressor+Rainy Day=DANCE PARTY!!!!! The girls and I have had fun this crazy rainy week. Yes, it rained all week in our AZ desert and the flash flood ditches are now running like rivers. Lucy's fav was making "ribbon sticks" and rockin' out to Disney songs sung by the likes of Smash Mouth, Hillary Duff and Aaron Carter.
Ivy showing some thigh. Her pediatrician said, "Well, she's not missing any nutritional opportunities." Nate's sister Karen made her outfit. Cute, huh.

Ivy is now 4 months old and we let her "cry it out" to get to sleep a couple nights ago. She hasn't gone to bed before midnight since birth and I was ready for a change! So at 10pm I put her in her crib and she cried/wailed really hard. I almost had to hang out in the garage with our washer and dryer going so I would "stay strong." Every 10 minutes we'd go in and pat her, but wouldn't pick her up. Heard that was the key. Anyway, it worked. She cried for 30 minutes, but was asleep at 10:30pm! Next night she went right to bed at 10:30pm without crying. Only time will tell, but I hope this is the beginning of a new era for us! Ivy has such a sweet disposition and loves to SMILE whenever we talk to her. Love her.

-Other highlights of the week include finding a DELICIOUS Mahi Mahi Recipe on the food network website. I modified it a bit, but if you like fish, you should try this. We got the Mahi Mahi in the frozen section of Costco.

Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

Ingredients

5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) coarsely ground, roasted macadamia nuts

1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

Olive oil, for brushing foil

4 (6 to 8-ounce) mahi mahi fillets

Kosher salt and pepper

2 tablespoons light coconut milk

4 T. grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, stir together the nuts, panko, flour, and butter. Set aside.

Place a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and brush it liberally with olive oil. Place the mahi mahi on the foil and sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper on both sides. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush each fillet with the coconut milk. Divide the nut mixture among the tops of the 4 fillets, patting the mixture to spread and adhere to the fillets. Return to the oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Fiesta Bowl

2010-01-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well Boise State has done it again! We had a blast this past Fiesta Bowl Weekend. Danny and Shar and girls came in town for the game and our friends Blake and Meaghan came down from Boise and stayed with us too. We had a full and fun house! We also got to see our friends Drew and Kacey who came down to see Boise win. Nate went to the game and said it was awesome! Go Broncos!

Rocking to sleep and yummy treats

2010-01-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

All Lucy wanted for Christmas was a candy cane! Sweet, right? Santa left her a candy cane trail up to her stocking. She thought they'd make an excellent Christmas breakfast, and wasn't disappointed. Ivy LOVED cuddling with Grandma Tenney. She had the perfect soothing touch and rocked Ivy to sleep. I think it's the sweetest picture of them.

Christmas morning T Ball

2010-01-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas in San Diego with Nate's parents. My family has a tradition of eating clam chowder on Christmas Eve, and so I made it in California. I kept calling my Grandpa for tips on making it, since he's the expert! It wasn't quite as good as his, but it was nice to continue such a fun tradition. Christmas was a lot of fun and we loved spending it with family.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for Christmas here! Our real tree smells SO good right now. I think it's dying and letting out extra pine scent. That's okay, we just need it for a few more days. Nate has class Monday and Tuesday, then we're headed off to San Diego to spend Christmas with Nate's parents and siblings who live out there. We are grateful for this Christmas season, to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Merry Christmas!

Father's are like Dads.

2009-12-16T07:02:00.001-08:00

Lucy has always referred to Nate as Daddy, but this week she started calling him, "my father." The other day we were taking Nate dinner at the library (another long day for him) Lucy said, "Are we going to see my father? My father is at school. My father is my best friend. He's my best friend. See, Fathers, are like Dad's." It was so funny. When we pulled up at the school and Lucy saw Nate approach the car she started shouting, "Hello my father! Hello my father!" Funny girl.

Is ther an app for that?

2009-12-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

The other day Lucy and I were looking at the Gospel Art Picture Book. We were looking at a scripture story of Lehi holding the Liahona. I pointed to the Liahona and asked Lucy if she knew what it was. She paused and said, "um....maybe it's his ipod."

Christmas ish post

2009-12-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We were excited to have a house to hang lights on. Nate did a great job I think. I made the wreath out of left over pine boughs at the tree farm. The picture of the stroller is how I've been able to go running - putting Ivy in the back storage compartment. Fortunately, she doesn't seem to mind and usually falls right to sleep. She's a really sweet baby - and once again....looks a lot like Nate!

Triathlon Baby!

2009-12-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

I competed in my first triathlon today and loved it! Swim 400 meters, Bike 12.4 miles, run 3.2 miles. It was tough but awesome. I got 5th in my age group (but there were only 14 in my age group) I did the whole thing in 1:28:47 (swim 7:58, bike 55:05, run 25:44). The swimming part was great. I'm new to cycling, as in 3 weeks of training new, but was pleased with my pace. I DO wish I had trained for incline though, because going uphill is a lot harder than riding flat, which I spent most of my time on! The running part was crazy. I felt like Frankenstein clobbering down the road. My legs were so stiff from biking - it was such a weird feeling. I will definitely have to train more for better bike-run transitions in further triathlons. I had the best road crew though - Nate, Lucy and Ivy were along the side cheering me the whole way! It was a major boost to hear Lucy call out, "Go Mommy Go!" Nate was so awesome, carrying Ivy in the ergo pack and Lu on his shoulders. He was really supportive and helped me find time to train this past month to get ready for today. I am DEFINITELY HOOKED.

Little pumpkins

2009-11-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

My parents got their grandgirls these shirts. They had fun making Halloween crafts with Nate's mom and mine. Nate's school had trick or treating for the kids on Friday.

Ivy's blessing

2009-11-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend. My parents, Nate's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Tolley, Danny & Shar, Alicia and Alan and Ali all came down to be here for Ivy's blessing. We had so much fun playing games, hanging out and catching up. Nate's mom made this incredible blessing dress for Ivy Pearl. I don't know how many hours went into the detailed smocking on the dress, but Ivy looked like a little angel. Thanks Mom Tenney! I am so grateful for my family. I'm grateful for the blessings of the temple in our lives that give us hope that we can be with our families forever.

Halloween

2009-11-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

My family came to AZ for Ivy's blessing and we had fun on Halloween together. Lucy loved playing with her cousins, and they all adored Ivy. No one slept much, but it was tons of fun!

Tinkerbell

2009-11-03T15:20:00.001-08:00

Our friend Steve Watson in our ward took some Halloween pictures for us.

Hiking etc

2009-10-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

We went on a little "hike" today. Nate said we had a call it a "nature walk" since it's Sunday. Lucy loved walking/running/falling over on the trail, and picking up rocks. Ivy loves being in the carrying pack and slept the whole time. I love the giant saguaro cacti here. Ivy's doing great. She's a sweet little baby. She even slept through the night once this week!!!!! I couldn't believe it. We are blessing her in church this Sunday and I'm really excited to have family come in town.

White Coat Ceremony

2009-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Nate had his official "White Coat Ceremony" on Friday. The first year health care "student-doctors" at Midwestern (Dental, Medical, Podiatry, Optometry, etc) are awarded their white professional lab coats. The Dean and assistant dean of his college are putting Nate's coat on him and congratulating him. Nate took an oath to be a caring health care provider and was welcomed into the professional world! Nate's calculated he's 1/32 done with Dental School, but his school treats them and expects them to all be professional now. I think he looks hot in his white coat.

Sisters

2009-10-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Lucy loves to hold her "Ivy Baby" and she says, "I just need to check on her" any time Ivy makes the tiniest peep. Lucy gets a high girly voice and says, "Look at her, she's so cute! She's so tiny! Look at her!" Lucy heard Ivy mess her diaper yesterday and said, "Oh my GOODNESS!!!!"

More pictures of Ivy

2009-10-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

When I lived in Boise, my cousin Brooke took REALLY cute baby pictures of Lucy for us. Unfortunately, she wasn't here to take Ivy's pics for us, so I tried my hand at photography. They are not professional, but I like how some of them turned out. I wasn't too worried, because it's hard to not have a cute picture of a baby, right?

Ivy Pearl

2009-09-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Ivy Pearl Tenney is here! She was born Sunday September 20th at 11:50pm. 7 pounds 3 ounces. More details to follow....here are some pictures. She's such a sweet baby and we're so happy to have her in our family.

Grammy and Grandpa Tenney

2009-09-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Lucy LOVES having Grammy and Grandpa Tenney here. She loves all the attention and utilizes it fully. Every waking minute she wants to "play animals" with grammy. She's branching out a bit and also likes reading stories with grammy and playing pirates. She's having fun going on walks and also helps Grandpa with the dishes. Speaking of dishes.....Grandpa does our dishes every night! We are so lucky and I really appreciate all the help.

Staying Busy....

2009-09-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

I thought my next post would be all about our new baby girl. My doctor scheduled me to be induced on the 15th, but the hospital has been so full, they haven't allowed any non medical emergencies in. Fortunately my mother and father in law are in town with us this week. They came in on Sunday to help me with the baby. Now they are helping me NOT have the baby. I'm SOOOOOO glad they are here because they are helping me keep busy and focused on other things, instead of wallow in self pity. My mother in law is really creative and we've been having tons of fun with little projects. We spray painted some craft pumpkins metallic silver, then rusted them with some bronze paint. We got the idea from my sister in law Karen's cute craft blog. We also made Lucy a fairy wand and she's likes to wave it and say, "ting!" Yesterday we canned delicious fresh peaches.

Pizza Bear wore a TuTu????????????

2009-09-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Nate had a big brown bear as a kid that he named, "Pizza Pepperoni Olive Tenney." Lucy really likes to play with Pizza Bear these days. This week I made Lucy and Ivy little Tinker Bell tutu's for Halloween. Lucy wanted to dress up in her tutu and thought her bears should wear the other two. When I showed him this picture, he said, "Pizza Bear wore a tutu????? He's a boy!!!!!!"

Nate took this picture of the sunset from our backyard. We have such pretty sunsets here in Arizona and our backyard has a great view of them.

We also went to the Diamond Backs game last week with our friends Scott and Kiana. It was nice because the stadium is all indoors! We had a lot of fun.

Nate survived his first week of dental school. It is going to be intense, but he really enjoys it. He started riding his bike, but even at 8am it's 100 degrees outside. Fortunately our friend Spencer is going to pick him up now so he doesn't have to be the 'sweaty guy' in school. I am surviving the LAST week of being pregnant. I am seriously looking forward to next Tuesday!!!! We'll keep you posted on our growing family.....

Don't Count the Days...Make the Days Count

2009-08-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Lucy was coloring at the kitchen counter when we discovered she was drawing all over her face and had the blue marker shoved up her nose. It was so hard NOT to laugh. The other picture is Nate on his first day of Dental School. Isn't he handsome? Lucy and I both think so. She says, "Daddy, is soooo handsome. Mommy's cute. Lucy's boo-tiful." I went in her room the other morning and said, "Good morning Lucy Jae!" She informed me, "I'm not Lucy Jae, I'm Lucy Peanut." Later I asked her how she was and she responded matter of factly, "I'm a cutie."

Everyone says these are grueling times in school, and I'm sure it will be a lot of hard work. We are excited for the opportunity of these school years though. We're happy to be here, going through it, not just excited for it to be done. Nate is really excited about school. We're trying not to "count the days" but "make the days count." (quote by Muhammad Ali).

Chocolate Chips and Phoenix Children's Museum

2009-08-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

This museum was the bomb! Lucy got to touch everything in it and play around. While I was there I wanted to build all these kinds of things in our house for Lucy. Nate just wants to bring her back here. I think his idea is better.

I was telling Lucy the other day when the baby comes she can be helpful and bring me blankets and diapers, but the baby only drinks milk. All day long she went around saying, "Only milk! No sandwiches! No chocolate chips!" We've also been working on potty training her. We bribe her with chocolate chips and it seems to be going pretty well. She understands the concept too. The other day she wanted Nate to come play with her and she said, "You coming? I'll give you chocolate chip!"

We finished all our home improvement projects and are enjoying a couple days off before Nate starts school on Wednesday. Good luck Nate!

Lions etc

2009-08-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Swimming and Playing around

2009-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas with Danny and Shar

2009-08-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas! We met Danny and Shar and their girls in Las Vegas for a couple fun days of swimming, eating and running around. Lucy and Katelyn had SO much fun together. As soon as they saw each other they'd grab hands and start running around together. "Let's go fast!" Lucy would say, then they'd giggle and run around. They ran around everywhere loving every minute of it.

Splash Pads and Pennies

2009-08-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Every day we try to go on a family adventure and find a new place to visit in Arizona. Usually it's a splash pad, pool or a library because it's so hot here. And just in case you were wondering....Lucky pennies are NOT lucky in Arizona. If you find one on the ground, leave it there. Otherwise you get a penny sized burn mark in your hand.

Great Grandma

2009-08-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

My Great Grandma Anderson Coy (my Grandma Tolley's mother) is buried in Glendale. While my sister Ali was here helping us move in, we went to visit her grave.

Snacks, Reading Nooks and my Dishwasher

2009-08-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

We're having fun and getting settled. I saw this idea in a magazine and it was a hit for our family. I put together this little snack tray in a muffin tin while I was making dinner. Everyone could snack and wait a little more patiently for dinner to be ready. Lucy is all about helping these days, which is great. She likes to help me walk by holding my hand and lately she likes to help with the dishes. She practically pushes me out of the way and says, "my turn for dishes." I hope the attitude stays! She also found a great little reading nook in our ottoman.

Nate wrestling with nephews & nieces in the Pool

2009-08-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Palm Springs

2009-08-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

We took a break from all our house fixing and went to Palm Springs for a week for a Tenney Family Reunion. It was just as hot there, but the AC worked better and we were surrounded by family, fun and food! We swam every day, played lots of games, the kids had a big scavenger hunt (they are spelling Tenney/10-E in the grass), had a tennis tourney with a huge handicap so even I could play, and we had a great time. Thanks to Jon and Liz for organizing everything and everyone who came and made it fun!

Fixing up the place

2009-08-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

We are busy cleaning, painting and repairing. It is so hot here! The highs are 117, the lows are 99 degrees, and our house didn't feel much cooler. Nate discovered a huge hole in our AC duct in the attic. After that was replaced he headed back up there and installed insulation in our attic to help keep the cold air in. It was hot work and I'm so grateful for him!!!!!

Moving Day

2009-08-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

Moving day finally arrived July 13th. We already miss all our family and good friends in Boise. Lucy will especially miss Grandma and Papa. My sister Ali helped us move down to Arizona. She was such a huge help unpacking, organizing, painting, assembling IKEA furniture, playing with Lucy etc. THANKS ALI!!!!! We like our new house....but it needs a lot of work! Nate has been such a handy man fixing it up.

Camping in the Owyhees

2009-07-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hiking in the Owyhees

2009-07-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

We explored our campground a little and hiked around. My mom was superwoman and started running up the hills. The rest of us walked up. We saw a baby rattlesnake on our hike, but we left each other alone. My dad took all these pictures from the weekend.

Lake Owyhee

2009-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

We went camping in the Owyhee Reservoir for 4th of July Weekend. It was such a blast! We went up Friday morning with my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Tolley and my sister Ali. It was less than 2 hours from Boise, over in Oregon, and so beautiful. We had fun on the lake all day. Lucy loved swimming in the lake and we explored the reservoir.

Splish Splash

2009-07-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Friends Lunch

2009-07-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

We had a fun "no kids allowed" lunch with all our good friends from the apartments. We usually all get together in our tiny 750 square apartments with 8 adults and 9 kids. While we had fun...it was crazy town. We decided to get out without any kids and we headed to Primo's for all you can eat pizza! We will miss you guys!

Playing Dress up with the big girls

2009-07-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Lucy's friend's Valette and Jenny came over to play. They were in all the dress up clothes that I used to play with as a kid with my sisters and cousins. Lucy had fun being a big girl.

Watch out Michael Phelps!

2009-07-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

Lucy found my old Capitol Classic medals along with my swim goggles. She LOVES to put them all on.

Nate Cliff Jumping in McCall

2009-07-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

Nate went wakeboarding and cliff jumping in McCall with his friend Craig Hickman. Check out the 2nd the last picture, I knew my husband was amazing....but didn't know he could walk on water!!!!

We love Boise

2009-07-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

We are trying to enjoy Idaho as much as we can before we move to Arizona on July 13th. Nate has been mountain biking in the foothills quite a bit lately, and loving it. Lucy "rides" her bike to the park most days too and loves to swing. She's just starting to branch out to other playground equipment. Our friends, Matt and Faroe, came up a couple weeks ago and we went to the hotsprings near Banks, mountain biking, and to the farmer's market with them. I just went regular biking and then hiked around the trails that they biked on. Pregnant lady + mountain bike trails = nothing good. Anyway, we had a blast. We forgot to take pictures with them, but they did bring up Lucy a really fun toy piggy bank for her birthday, so at least we got a picture of the pig.

Last week we took Lucy hiking near Hull's Gulch/Camel's Back. She rode in the pack part way, then wanted to "hike fast" herself. We had a great time. We stopped to take a picture and I realized I stopped right in a red ant's nest. Oops. I had little bites on my feet and legs. We will miss Idaho

Lucy's Puppy Cake

2009-06-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Lucy turned 2!

2009-06-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Lucy turned 2! We had a fun birthday party for her and she loved being around her friends. She loves puppies, so this was my first real mom attempt at a kid's birthday cake. She knew what it was, so I think it was a success. We also took her to the pet store to play with puppies. No, we didn't buy one. That teeny tiny teacup yorkie Lucy is playing with in the picture costs $2200!!!! We did get Lucy a little bike which she is thrilled about. She loves sitting on it and riding to the park. It's great for us, because we can just push her from behind without leaning over.

The last 2 years have been so great. I can't believe how much joy Lucy brings to our family. She is curious, sweet and makes us laugh all the time. She recently developed a "villainous laugh" - "mwaaa haa haa haa" that she bursts out with randomly. Her favorite phrases are, "what happened?" and "BYU - COUGARS!" A couple weeks ago in church we were quietly listening to the speaker when she shouted, "BYU Cougars!" Everyone around us turned and asked if she really said what they thought she just said.

San Diego - Sea Port Village

2009-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Lucy has wonderful Grandmas who read her stories!

2009-06-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Nate Graduated from BSU!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Teeter Tottering

2009-05-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

We had a going away party for our friend Phil before he left for Basic Training. Jed and Brenda hosted a party for Phil at Brenda's parents. They had an awesome teeter totter that Lucy loved to play on. Jed took some cute pictures of Lucy.

Potty Training...Oh no!

2009-05-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is how Lucy feels about potty training. So far she'd rather use the potty as a necklace. Maybe next month we'll see if she's more interested.

Pine Wood Derby Car

2009-05-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Fat Kids make their pine wood derby cars look like ice cream sandwiches! Our ward had a pine wood derby and anyone could make a car, so I made my first pine wood derby car. Nate of course helped. A beauty like this required teamwork. The Ice Cream Sandwich car was not exactly fast. It did win one race though - one car didn't make it all the way to the finish, and the other car flipped off the race track.

Happy Easter

2009-05-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

We're having a.......GIRL!

2009-04-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

We're so excited for another cute baby girl! Today we had our ultrasound. I was shocked!!!! I thought it would be a boy this time, but Nate was right....a GIRL! She looks healthy and strong and we are thrilled. Lucy is excited about the baby and tried to share her sippy cup with the baby this morning through my belly. Lucy will be a great sister and a huge help! The ultrasound took a long time because the baby was twisting and moving all over the place. We got a cute picture of her sucking her thumb though.

Pregnancy has once again been a very rough journey for me, but I am so grateful for my growing family. I never anticipated how difficult it would be to be pregnant. I throw up all the time and have recently had a lot of problems with my back that are preggo related. I'm used to feeling in control and full of energy....and it's hard for me to feel neither, ever. I keep thinking I am supposed to be learning something from this, and I'm starting to see some of the blessings and lessons. I know for sure that Heavenly Father loves us and He has a plan for us. I know the children coming into this world are precious and eternal. I am so blessed to be a mother. I'm especially grateful for Nate, who has been my rock and strength. He pulls me along and helps me so much! He helps out so much with Lucy and is so kind and encouraging. After I fall asleep at night he gets out of bed to do the dishes and straiten the house. Today is our 3rd Anniversary and every day gets better and better!

Lucy did her own hair today

2009-04-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Lucy has the best daddy and I'm such a lucky mom to have Lucy and Nate!

2009-04-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

We love sunny days and Ellie and Ty

2009-04-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dyeing Easter Eggs

2009-04-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Tara, Phil, Sophie and Becca came over to dye easter eggs. We had lots of fun. Sophie and Lucy got bored and this is what we found them doing.

Our brother and sister in law's lawn - the green one!

2009-04-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

They use underground irrigation, hooked to the weather station, rather than sprinklers. This is their lawn in the winter!

Hazyl's Blessing

2009-04-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago our good friends, Blake and Meaghan blessed their cute baby Hazyl. We are so grateful for our awesome neighbors and friends. We are really going to miss them when we move.

Looking for puppies

2009-04-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

Ready to roll....If only her feet could reach the pedals

2009-03-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

Grandpa and his girls

2009-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

Uncle Alan reading stories and Lucy taking a power nap

2009-03-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

The Joys of Apartment Living

2009-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

So in our tiny apartment our laundry room is also our storage room, garage, food storage room, coat closet, cleaning closet...etc. Anyway, apparently when I wasn't looking and didn't notice, a box of pasta fell into my washing machine. Not realizing it, I started a load. When it was done I discovered cardboard flakes all over what should have been clean clothes, and now a box of cooked noodles!

Kitchen and Crafts

2009-03-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

I love Lucy's faces. She is so animated. Lucy's friends Valette and Jenny gave her their play kitchen and she LOVES it. She just says "kitchen" over and over and pretends to eat the carrot and corn. She will only let the corn and carrot in the frying pan and has specific uses for each item. For example, the cheese slicer is only to be used to roll across your arms. When Nate went to Texas He brought Lucy back a cowgirl hat and whistle. She loves to play with it, but not as much as she loves wrestling with her daddy. The last picture is of a project we made for Activity Days. The girls decorated hand sanitizers with stickers and gave them to their mom's for Valentines.

Updates...

2009-03-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my blog for awhile, and Lucy's napping so now's a good time. We've been great! A couple weeks ago Lucy was pretty sick with a double ear infection, sore throat and what my friend Meaghan called a "flesh eating virus" consisting of sores all over her mouth and swollen gums. Poor Lucy! She wouldn't eat for a week and all she wanted to do was watch Nemo. So now I've seen Nemo about 85 times. At least Nemo is funny. It reminded me of when my little sister Ali used to watch Adre the Seal or Beethoven, finish it, rewind it and watch it again. :) Lucy is all better now and back to her funny self. She's still really wary of strangers and will scowl at anyone new who tries to talk to her. She perks up when they leave though, and will smile and shout, "BYE!"

While getting through that the Army sent Nate to Ft. Sam Houston in Texas where he toured the Army Medical Facilities and had a physical. He is applying for an Army Scholarship which will help pay for Dental School. We should hear back by the end of this month if he is accepted. He was really impressed with the facilities down there.

Nate also officially accepted an offer from Midwestern Dental School in Arizona. I am SO excited for the warm weather and looking forward to the new adventure.

I'm doing great. I went down to Utah a couple weeks ago for the Modbe Fashion show and had fun seeing the new swim line. I'm also trying to make a video slideshow of all our videos of Lucy. It takes a lot longer than I thought it would.

What we've been up to lately....

2009-03-06T12:20:00.001-08:00

Can we get these camera's out of my face?

2009-01-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Put me in the ZOO

2009-01-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

Playing around

2009-01-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas fun

2009-01-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

BFF's

2009-01-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

Elf Yourself

2008-12-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

We love Christmas!

2008-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Nate got into Dental School!!!!!

2008-12-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Nate was accepted to Dental School! We are so excited. After years of planning, long hours at the library, traveling all over the country, and praying a LOT, we are finally headed to dental school!!!! Nate has been accepted to Midwestern University in Arizona, which has some of the countries leading technology equipment available. He is also accepted at Nova Southeastern in Florida, and on the waiting list at Louisville and Case Western. We are still waiting to hear from more schools. We are really excited about Midwestern and it looks like we'll be heading to Arizona after Nate graduates in May.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in San Diego for Thanksgiving. Nate interviewed at UNLV on the way down and at Loma Linda while we were there. We loved spending time with all our family down there and Lucy loved playing with her cousins. We also enjoyed the live in babysitting thanks to mom and Logan. Nate and I went on a run everyday (even in the pouring rain) and on a date to James Bond and outlet shopping. Thanks Mom and Dad Tenney for the great time! We have so much to be grateful for. I'm grateful for my happy family and the blessing of the gospel.

Playing With Cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Tenney's

2008-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00