JULY 1, 2006
Here are some pictures from our first Hash run on 7-1-6. We went from Wing beach to Banzai Cliff. It took 1:55 to walk it with a couple of
detours to check out some caves. The last part of the hash required crawling through some small caves on the side of Banzai cliff before
getting to an extension ladder tied to the cliff. After the ladder you used a rope to climb up the rest of the way to the finish. This is not a
walk you bring small children on!
JUNE 8, 2006
Greetings all, Tammy here.............I know, I know.........I have been horrible at keeping up lately!
Hey I am working full time now, and have been a little busy!
Let's see, I am employed at Hardt Eye clinic, and am studying to get my certification for Optician!
It has been very, very exciting to say the least. I absolutely love all the people that I am working with each day, and am trying hard to learn
the optical business so that I can have a long and fun career with the Hardt Brothers!
I am loving the Island so much, I have to pinch myself almost daily, to make sure I am not dreaming....yes, we really do live in a tropical
paradise!
Mark is doing as well as can be expected, most of you know we were in Spokane in April to see his Mom, Grace.
She passed away on May 18th, which happened to be my father's birthday.
We will miss her so much, so thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, we really needed them.
We had a small ceremony here on the island for her, we took a Mwar, Mwar headdress out to the Philippine Sea, and set it afloat, lit a candle
and had a toast to her with Dennis, Judy, Ray, Sandie, Becky and Jamie.
It was a very nice evening, we sat at Oleai's beach bar and grill, and drank a margarita (or two) to her.
As we left to go home, the lei was floating along slowly, on it's way to Bali..........Goodbye Grace, we love and miss you dearly!
Mark is busy at work, getting to really know his way around this place, I know, how hard can it be right? The island is only 5 miles by about
13......
Well, let me tell you, there are a lot of secret little roads on the island, and it amazes me everyday to see how much I have yet to explore!!
Mark and I are looking at property to have a home built, it may be a long drawn out process, but we are both excited and have been working
on home plans for months now!
Or little kitten Piper, is all grown up.....physically anyway! She is so funny and amuses us each day with her antics. She reminds me of April,
the cat we got from Grace, when we moved to Cheney, WA.
She is not afraid of anything, she will get into boxes, bags, suitcases....she charges the dogs in the village that come to our door without
hesitation!
Little stinker!
Speaking of Dogs.....Dude is doing great, he will not let us go diving now without him, and will swim as long as he can following our bubbles
out to sea, until he gets tired and has to go back to shore and rest.
The Japanese tourists love to take pictures of him, especially in his new Hawaiian shirt his "Dad" got him at the Petco, in Spokane while we
were there a few months ago!
He is a ham, and loves all the attention, which is pretty amazing, because when we moved into this house, he was very aggressive to
strangers.
Now he is protective of us and the house, but loves people at the beach!
He is funny!
Our Dear friends Dennis and Judy are in the states for most of the summer, and we miss them terribly!
Hurry back guys!
We have collected quite a few shells in our dive excursions, and am hoping that one day....some day, Mark can build me a cabinet to show
them off!
I love being down there, searching for the perfect little shell to add to my collection. I will add photos of them soon.
All of my family is doing well.....I miss you all very much!
My niece in Florida, Tracy, just had an adorable little guy. He was born on April 15th, his name is Rocco Giovanni.....quite the Italian name
don't you think?
He is a little doll!
I get photos of him regularly.....keep them coming Tracy!
Well, that is all for now, I will catch up more later!
Hope all of you are happy and healthy!
We miss you!
Tam and Mark
Well, all, Hello again!
Here it is July already...where does the time go?
We had a great time this weekend.
We took part in what is called a Hash, it was a trek around the island, led by some people that had previously laid out a trail for us to follow.
There were false trails along the way, and a few people took them for quite a way before realizing that they were not going the right way!
There were cliffs, and all kinds of WW ll artifacts to see.
The caves were so cool to see.
It took 2 hours to finish, and it was so hot!
The tough finish was a climb up a cliff that was at the top of Banzai Cliffs!
We all had a great time though, and are looking forward to doing it again!
We will see how sore we are tomorrow, we may change our minds about doing it again!
We dove this morning at Wing Beach, it was so beautiful!
We saw some Eels, and an Octopus, and some huge Titan Triggers!
As always, it was a beautiful dive, we had a great time, and are looking forward to doing it all again soon!
NOVEMBER ALREADY?????
Hope you all had a wonderful Turkey day.
Mark and I had some extra time off so we went diving.....you were expecting me to say something else??
We went to The Grotto on Friday with some friends, and there was a skinny little puppy there, that we thought of all the rest of the day, and
ended up going back to get on Saturday morning!
She is a purebred Boonie puppy, all skin and bones!
Hopefully she will fatten up quickly so she can learn the ropes from her big brother Dude, the Reef Hound.
He is not at all thrilled with her yet, but I think he will warm right up to her in no time.
We also adopted a kitten in the summer, so we are up to 2 dogs and 2 cats now!
The veterinarian here is going to love us!
We had a great Holiday meal with friends...lots and lots of food! Too much food!
We ate at the Hyatt, and the had a huge spread for the Brunch Buffet, from Turkey, Salmon, Crab, Ham and Prime Rib, it was all wonderful!
We did some diving, some movie watching, and a lot of good old relaxing at home!
Work is going great for the both of us.
I am learning a lot in the optical field, it is very interesting work, and I really enjoy it.
Mark is working hard, getting used to all the different businesses here, and meeting a lot of nice people.
We are trying to get in the Holiday spirit, it is just a little hard for me, because it is 83 degrees out and Sunny!
Listening to Christmas music in the stores just makes me laugh..it is kind of tropical Christmas music that you would only hear in a place like
this!
There are Christmas lights everywhere, and people here really get into it, lighting fireworks and going crazy!
Our House hunting is still going on.....we found some property that we like, and made an offer on it.
Now we are just waiting to hear if they accept, and then we will start building a house!
We are pretty excited to be able to do this.
How lucky are we, getting to build a dream home on a tropical island?
Pretty dang lucky!
Well, this is short one....We wish all of you Happy Thanksgiving!
Love, Tammy and Mark
Well Here it is 2007 already!
Mark and I are doing great, we are in the process of having a home built and are eagerly awaiting the big move (hopefully in July!).
Mark and I designed the house, and are enjoying going to the site each week, and seeing it go up one block at a time.
We like that fact that we can go to the contractors, and make little changes here and there.
It is great to be so involved in this project because I have never had the chance to have a house built "For me" before and it is fun but
scary at the same time!
We still dive every weekend and wish it could be more often!
It is something that we absolutely love to do, and we have some wonderful friends to do it with!
The pet population in our village has increased by one dog.
We have adopted a Boonie pup that was apparently abandoned at the Grotto.
We happened to be there for a dive one morning, and she was so pitiful looking, with nearly every bone sticking out, and she had hardly any
hair on her skinny little body.
She was eating garbage and anything else that the tourists gave to her.
She even ate ants at our place when we brought her home!
I think she realizes now, that we will feed her every day and she doesn't need to eat bugs anymore!
Although Mark has given her the name of Stinky Junior, after her big Brother Dude (or Stinky Pete as he is often called), I have given her
the name of Banzai since that is the area we found her in.
She is doing well, eating and learning how to play, understanding that baths are a GOOD thing, and learning that Dude's bowl is just that,
HIS BOWL!
She stays close to home, and is learning to let us know when someone comes down the drive by barking, and then running to the back door
like a scaredy cat!
She has a wonderful personality and I am so attached to her already!
So, we are at 2 Dogs, and 2 cats and that is it! No more animals for us!
Work is going great, we are in the process of a remodel and I am awaiting the arrival of a new custom made desk to call my very own!
The clinic is a terrific place to work, and I am fortunate to have some very nice co workers and really, really nice bosses!
My only wish is that I could have more time off to dive with Mark!
Yes, living in paradise can be rough sometimes!
We have some company right now.
A friend from Spokane is here, his name is Tom and is an avid Diver.
Mark, Tom and Dennis just got back from Palau this morning.
They had a great trip, but Judy and I are glad to have our "boys" back home!
Tom will be here until Tuesday the 23RD, and it has been a pleasure having him here!
We will miss him and are hoping that he will come back some day.
We had a Tsunami warning last Saturday and luckily it turned out to be nothing here, but there was an 8.4 Earthquake in Japan.
This is the second Tsunami scare we have had since we have been here.
We are supposed to be in our dry season right now, but it sure has been rainy lately.
It is good for my orchids so I won't complain too much!
I cannot wait to have our own "yard" in the jungle to work in and baby!
I would love to have a ton of orchids to maintain and watch grow and bloom!
We are looking forward to planting some stuff of our own to harvest like Bananas, and Papaya!
One of my favorite treats is the meat of the young coconut, and the juice right from the coconut shell!
At the street market on Thursday evening, you will see lots of people walking around drinking right from a coconut shell that has had the
end chopped off, and you just stick a straw in and enjoy!
Tom had a fun time his first day here.
We took him to the market for dinner where he was interviewed by a local news station, and was on our evening news!
His first day here and he is on the evening news? Only on Saipan!
Other than diving and working......there is not too much more to report from our end of the earth!
We hope that all is well with our friends and family!
WE LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH!
Take care and until next time......ADIOS
Here are some pictures from our first Hash run on 7-1-6. We went from Wing beach to Banzai Cliff. It took 1:55 to walk it with a couple of
detours to check out some caves. The last part of the hash required crawling through some small caves on the side of Banzai cliff before
getting to an extension ladder tied to the cliff. After the ladder you used a rope to climb up the rest of the way to the finish. This is not a
walk you bring small children on!
JUNE 8, 2006
Greetings all, Tammy here.............I know, I know.........I have been horrible at keeping up lately!
Hey I am working full time now, and have been a little busy!
Let's see, I am employed at Hardt Eye clinic, and am studying to get my certification for Optician!
It has been very, very exciting to say the least. I absolutely love all the people that I am working with each day, and am trying hard to learn
the optical business so that I can have a long and fun career with the Hardt Brothers!
I am loving the Island so much, I have to pinch myself almost daily, to make sure I am not dreaming....yes, we really do live in a tropical
paradise!
Mark is doing as well as can be expected, most of you know we were in Spokane in April to see his Mom, Grace.
She passed away on May 18th, which happened to be my father's birthday.
We will miss her so much, so thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, we really needed them.
We had a small ceremony here on the island for her, we took a Mwar, Mwar headdress out to the Philippine Sea, and set it afloat, lit a candle
and had a toast to her with Dennis, Judy, Ray, Sandie, Becky and Jamie.
It was a very nice evening, we sat at Oleai's beach bar and grill, and drank a margarita (or two) to her.
As we left to go home, the lei was floating along slowly, on it's way to Bali..........Goodbye Grace, we love and miss you dearly!
Mark is busy at work, getting to really know his way around this place, I know, how hard can it be right? The island is only 5 miles by about
13......
Well, let me tell you, there are a lot of secret little roads on the island, and it amazes me everyday to see how much I have yet to explore!!
Mark and I are looking at property to have a home built, it may be a long drawn out process, but we are both excited and have been working
on home plans for months now!
Or little kitten Piper, is all grown up.....physically anyway! She is so funny and amuses us each day with her antics. She reminds me of April,
the cat we got from Grace, when we moved to Cheney, WA.
She is not afraid of anything, she will get into boxes, bags, suitcases....she charges the dogs in the village that come to our door without
hesitation!
Little stinker!
Speaking of Dogs.....Dude is doing great, he will not let us go diving now without him, and will swim as long as he can following our bubbles
out to sea, until he gets tired and has to go back to shore and rest.
The Japanese tourists love to take pictures of him, especially in his new Hawaiian shirt his "Dad" got him at the Petco, in Spokane while we
were there a few months ago!
He is a ham, and loves all the attention, which is pretty amazing, because when we moved into this house, he was very aggressive to
strangers.
Now he is protective of us and the house, but loves people at the beach!
He is funny!
Our Dear friends Dennis and Judy are in the states for most of the summer, and we miss them terribly!
Hurry back guys!
We have collected quite a few shells in our dive excursions, and am hoping that one day....some day, Mark can build me a cabinet to show
them off!
I love being down there, searching for the perfect little shell to add to my collection. I will add photos of them soon.
All of my family is doing well.....I miss you all very much!
My niece in Florida, Tracy, just had an adorable little guy. He was born on April 15th, his name is Rocco Giovanni.....quite the Italian name
don't you think?
He is a little doll!
I get photos of him regularly.....keep them coming Tracy!
Well, that is all for now, I will catch up more later!
Hope all of you are happy and healthy!
We miss you!
Tam and Mark
Well, all, Hello again!
Here it is July already...where does the time go?
We had a great time this weekend.
We took part in what is called a Hash, it was a trek around the island, led by some people that had previously laid out a trail for us to follow.
There were false trails along the way, and a few people took them for quite a way before realizing that they were not going the right way!
There were cliffs, and all kinds of WW ll artifacts to see.
The caves were so cool to see.
It took 2 hours to finish, and it was so hot!
The tough finish was a climb up a cliff that was at the top of Banzai Cliffs!
We all had a great time though, and are looking forward to doing it again!
We will see how sore we are tomorrow, we may change our minds about doing it again!
We dove this morning at Wing Beach, it was so beautiful!
We saw some Eels, and an Octopus, and some huge Titan Triggers!
As always, it was a beautiful dive, we had a great time, and are looking forward to doing it all again soon!
NOVEMBER ALREADY?????
Hope you all had a wonderful Turkey day.
Mark and I had some extra time off so we went diving.....you were expecting me to say something else??
We went to The Grotto on Friday with some friends, and there was a skinny little puppy there, that we thought of all the rest of the day, and
ended up going back to get on Saturday morning!
She is a purebred Boonie puppy, all skin and bones!
Hopefully she will fatten up quickly so she can learn the ropes from her big brother Dude, the Reef Hound.
He is not at all thrilled with her yet, but I think he will warm right up to her in no time.
We also adopted a kitten in the summer, so we are up to 2 dogs and 2 cats now!
The veterinarian here is going to love us!
We had a great Holiday meal with friends...lots and lots of food! Too much food!
We ate at the Hyatt, and the had a huge spread for the Brunch Buffet, from Turkey, Salmon, Crab, Ham and Prime Rib, it was all wonderful!
We did some diving, some movie watching, and a lot of good old relaxing at home!
Work is going great for the both of us.
I am learning a lot in the optical field, it is very interesting work, and I really enjoy it.
Mark is working hard, getting used to all the different businesses here, and meeting a lot of nice people.
We are trying to get in the Holiday spirit, it is just a little hard for me, because it is 83 degrees out and Sunny!
Listening to Christmas music in the stores just makes me laugh..it is kind of tropical Christmas music that you would only hear in a place like
this!
There are Christmas lights everywhere, and people here really get into it, lighting fireworks and going crazy!
Our House hunting is still going on.....we found some property that we like, and made an offer on it.
Now we are just waiting to hear if they accept, and then we will start building a house!
We are pretty excited to be able to do this.
How lucky are we, getting to build a dream home on a tropical island?
Pretty dang lucky!
Well, this is short one....We wish all of you Happy Thanksgiving!
Love, Tammy and Mark
Well Here it is 2007 already!
Mark and I are doing great, we are in the process of having a home built and are eagerly awaiting the big move (hopefully in July!).
Mark and I designed the house, and are enjoying going to the site each week, and seeing it go up one block at a time.
We like that fact that we can go to the contractors, and make little changes here and there.
It is great to be so involved in this project because I have never had the chance to have a house built "For me" before and it is fun but
scary at the same time!
We still dive every weekend and wish it could be more often!
It is something that we absolutely love to do, and we have some wonderful friends to do it with!
The pet population in our village has increased by one dog.
We have adopted a Boonie pup that was apparently abandoned at the Grotto.
We happened to be there for a dive one morning, and she was so pitiful looking, with nearly every bone sticking out, and she had hardly any
hair on her skinny little body.
She was eating garbage and anything else that the tourists gave to her.
She even ate ants at our place when we brought her home!
I think she realizes now, that we will feed her every day and she doesn't need to eat bugs anymore!
Although Mark has given her the name of Stinky Junior, after her big Brother Dude (or Stinky Pete as he is often called), I have given her
the name of Banzai since that is the area we found her in.
She is doing well, eating and learning how to play, understanding that baths are a GOOD thing, and learning that Dude's bowl is just that,
HIS BOWL!
She stays close to home, and is learning to let us know when someone comes down the drive by barking, and then running to the back door
like a scaredy cat!
She has a wonderful personality and I am so attached to her already!
So, we are at 2 Dogs, and 2 cats and that is it! No more animals for us!
Work is going great, we are in the process of a remodel and I am awaiting the arrival of a new custom made desk to call my very own!
The clinic is a terrific place to work, and I am fortunate to have some very nice co workers and really, really nice bosses!
My only wish is that I could have more time off to dive with Mark!
Yes, living in paradise can be rough sometimes!
We have some company right now.
A friend from Spokane is here, his name is Tom and is an avid Diver.
Mark, Tom and Dennis just got back from Palau this morning.
They had a great trip, but Judy and I are glad to have our "boys" back home!
Tom will be here until Tuesday the 23RD, and it has been a pleasure having him here!
We will miss him and are hoping that he will come back some day.
We had a Tsunami warning last Saturday and luckily it turned out to be nothing here, but there was an 8.4 Earthquake in Japan.
This is the second Tsunami scare we have had since we have been here.
We are supposed to be in our dry season right now, but it sure has been rainy lately.
It is good for my orchids so I won't complain too much!
I cannot wait to have our own "yard" in the jungle to work in and baby!
I would love to have a ton of orchids to maintain and watch grow and bloom!
We are looking forward to planting some stuff of our own to harvest like Bananas, and Papaya!
One of my favorite treats is the meat of the young coconut, and the juice right from the coconut shell!
At the street market on Thursday evening, you will see lots of people walking around drinking right from a coconut shell that has had the
end chopped off, and you just stick a straw in and enjoy!
Tom had a fun time his first day here.
We took him to the market for dinner where he was interviewed by a local news station, and was on our evening news!
His first day here and he is on the evening news? Only on Saipan!
Other than diving and working......there is not too much more to report from our end of the earth!
We hope that all is well with our friends and family!
WE LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH!
Take care and until next time......ADIOS
 |  |  |
Time has flown by and Mark and I are grateful to be able to say that we are doing fine, and enjoying our dream life on the island!
The house is coming along fine, our jobs are great, and we are healthy and very happy!
We adopted a new puppy in November and she is growing into a sweet, smart dog!
The house is coming along fine, our jobs are great, and we are healthy and very happy!
We adopted a new puppy in November and she is growing into a sweet, smart dog!
Ruckus, the cat we adopted
last year.
last year.
From skin and bones to spoiled rotten!
She sure loves the water!
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Becky and Tammy at
the ladder.
the ladder.
Brian and Tammy at
one of the cool cut
outs in the coral.
one of the cool cut
outs in the coral.
Tammy pointing
something out to the
others.
something out to the
others.
Brian and Tammy
goofing off!
goofing off!
Mark at one of the lower
cliffs along Bonzai.
cliffs along Bonzai.
Brian and
Tammy again.
Tammy again.
Coconut crab trap
Tammy looking at a
WW ll artifact.
WW ll artifact.
These are the remains of a
soldier from WW ll
soldier from WW ll
Some more reamains, and
some Japanese Bowls or
Pots of some kind.
some Japanese Bowls or
Pots of some kind.
Looking down at the
Pacific from Banzai cliffs
Pacific from Banzai cliffs
These were some of the most beautiful caves we have seen. We are going to go back and do some exploring again at
a later date. There were Stalactites and Stalagmites in a lot of the caves, and we also saw lots of Sake bottles, Coke
bottles, and pots along the way.
a later date. There were Stalactites and Stalagmites in a lot of the caves, and we also saw lots of Sake bottles, Coke
bottles, and pots along the way.