First "Baby" Step... DONE!!!

YAY!!!

FOGO DE CHAO!!!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!! Our friend Steven was here for a little shopping and a little fun.
He got here late Friday night and we met Ann, Mike, and Vicky for a little appetizer fun at Applebees. We went home to go to bed but stayed up til 2 AM!!!! I can seriously not remember the last time I was up so late! Crazy! AND pretty silly as we only stayed up to watch Oprah that was on TIVO!!! We could have watched it at any time. I did learn though, that when you're 35, you should NOT eat boneless buffalo wings and then stay up til 2. It's a bad idea.

We survived though and had a great day Saturday of shopping a bit and just hanging out. Steven tried RJ Riches for the first time and had one of their enourmous pancakes. He pretty much ate the middle and that was all he could do. We tried to eat just a little amount as we had GREAT plans for the evening! Those plans did NOT disappoint! We went to a fun new restaraunt in downtown Minneapolis called FOGO DE CHAO.... It's a Brazillian restaraunt that is pretty much just all about meat. If you want to check out the website it's www.fogodechao.com.
The whole premise is that after you have visited the salad bar, that was amazing, they give you a little coaster-sized disc. It's red on one side and green on the other. When it's turned green, the waiters bring over AMAZING pieces of meat either all stacked on a sword or big cuts of meat that they then slice off a piece for you. The pieces are small, but don't worry, they just keep bringing it as long as you are on green. Once you turn the disc over, they give you a break and stop bringing it around until you turn it over to green again.

After the second round of greens......


A very happy husband!


We survived the meat coma's and were able to enjoy the VERY brisk walk to our car on the top floor of the ramp. It was cold but WHAT a beautiful night!


And then we Wii'd!!! Thanks to Ann and Mike for hosting the Wii party!
FUN!!!
The competition was fierce, as you can see. It's a good thing that we all love each other!

Have a great week everyone!!!

HOW FUNNY!!!

How funny is it to compare the following pictures to the one's from the previous post!
SIGH!!!!
WHAT A CHANGE!!!

On the ground wishing...

WHAT a day!!!
We tried to go to Iowa this morning at 6am to see my parents and celebrate my niece Nicole's first child by going to her baby shower. We thought leaving at 6 would get us ahead of the storm, but as you can see, 6am wasn't early enough. :( This happened a couple of years ago as well and left my sister with a 21 lb turkey and with just a few hungry mouths to feed rather than the multitudes that she had expected. This time however, Chris and I have a 17 lb turkey thawing as I write this. The initial intention was to take it with us and cook it for Sunday dinner at my Mom and Dad's but couldn't get there. We have no multitudes either. So if you're coming to visit in the near future, we hope you like turkey. ;)


We got as far as Owatanna, but the roads were just too bad. We knew we were going to be driving right into the storm, but were unsure of how bad it was going to be. When we hit Owatanna though, there was a pretty heavy feeling of driving into impending doom.... ;) After checking out a couple of exit ramps and many phone calls with my family, we decided it was best to just not risk it and come back home. We're sad, but safe and warm, and watching movies. :) Some days, the best plans just don't work out.


My father is a very wise man and has said to me many times....
I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground. (Referring to his airplane flying days)
So..... I guess, we'd rather be at home wishing we were in Iowa, than stuck in the ditch wishing we were at home. :(



We were able to have a fun lunch with our new sister-in-law at RJ Riches. :)

Great fun in the midst of a disappointing day.... that hot chocolate was SO GOOD!!!
I think it was the real whipped cream that they put on top of it!

We hope you all are having a great weekend and are safe enjoying the beauty in the crisp, clean, whiteness outside. How pretty is it to see all of the Christmas lights and hear the ringing of bells? Take some time to remember at the start of the season what it is really about and love on the people in your life that God has blessed you with.

Know that we are thinking of you and praying that you are enjoying all the hustle and bustle!


We can't wait to get your Christmas cards!!!!


Cheryl and Chris

PICTURES!!!

Here's the link to SHUTTERFLY with all of our pictures. :)
Hope you enjoy them! WHAT a fun way to share!
www.mendezmexico.shutterfly.com

Viva Mexico!!!

We're Home!!!

WHAT a great trip!!! It was a vacation full of new things, new friends, and a few interesting things that we didn't expect!!! (read on!!!)

Here's a quick rundown of how our week went!

I'll add a few pictures here and when I get all of the pictures added to Shutterfly, I'll add that link. :)

Sunday...

It was daylight savings time, so the "fall back" helped us to get a leisurely start to our vacation which was a much welcomed change from our previous experiences. We're glad to report that the flight went well, no one lost their luggage, and we were able to get right onto the boat with, get this, NO LINES!!!!

Our room was TINY!!! Chris measured it to be about 12x14!!!! In TOTAL!!! Put a bed in there, and that leaves NOT MUCH ROOM AT ALL!!!! It was really ok though,,, there was so much to do that we weren't in our room except to sleep.

The ship was gorgeous! It was a smaller ship and very well kept up! It was immaculate and the lay out was very convenient. Our cabin was in the middle of the ship and toward the front so it was easy to get to everywhere we needed to go. The service was phenominal and the food was incredible!!!

One of the funnest things about being on a cruise is the people you meet! We chose to eat at the set dining and got to know some amazing people! Both of the other couples were from San Diego and had both gotten married on the Saturday before the cruise. David and Courtney met another couple that they clicked with and we only sat with them for a couple of nights. We were very blessed to really get to know the other couple, Carlos and Nillian. It was really great to spend some time with them and make new friends!

Out itinerary was great as it gave us time at the beginning and at the end to relax and get some sun without having to get up early and be on a schedule....

Sun... at sea

Mon... at sea

Tues... Cabo San Lucas (Where part of the Bachelor was filmed and aired while we were gone!!)

Wed... Mazatlan

Thurs...Puerto Vallarta

Fri... at sea

Sat... at sea

Sun...return to San Diego

Sunday and Monday we spent on deck reading and relaxing. We were SO excited to get to see Two whales and about about 30+ dolpins swimming and jumping alongside of our ship!!! We didn't get any pictures as we weren't expecting to see them. We weren't sure if it was migrating season or not, but I guess it was!!! Next time, take the camera on deck!

When we took off out of port, there were three other ships in the harbor. The biggest of them was the ship used in the movie Master and Commander. We were also able to see the USS Midway that is now a museum. I can't wait to go back and tour it!!!

Tuesday.... Cabo San Lucas

Chris chose to go on excursion on the America's Cup Rigata!!!! It was the boat used by Team New Zealand in the America's cup race in 2002. The sailboat was 80 feet long and had a 12 story mast! On the boat each passenger was assigned a job to do and the sailors filled in. Chris got to steer and help raise and lower the sails.

Vicky and I spent the day in the 95 degree heat shopping a little and going back to the boat early!!! It was a HOT ONE! and VERY VERY sunny! I made friends with a Pelican and he even posed for a picture with me! I wanted to bring him home, but Chris said no. It's how it always goes!

Wednesday...Mazatlan

We all went on the "Colonial City Tour" which was great but seemed like the never-ending day!

Our tour guide was VICTOR as our little stickers he gave us said. Those were to remind us who we were with for the day! Our tour left Mazatlan and stopped first at a Adobe Brick Factory. This was pretty much an open field with a big clay pit. They explained how they dig out the clay each day and use it to make 1000 bricks a day, 4 at a time by hand.

Next we stopped at a small village and saw a tile maker, again who made these beautiful designed tiles by hand and dried them in the sun. We also were able to stop at a bakery and were given rolls that were baked in a brick oven. I love my brothers baked goods, but there is something to be said for that brick oven! After getting back on our bus we made our way to a small stand that sold various artisan crafts for incredibly cheap prices! We were able to buy some beautiful pieces that we can't wait to put out in our home.

The next town we went to was Concordia. Here we had a drink at a Cantina and visited a Cathedral. There are a few times in my life that I've known I was walking on Holy Ground and this was one of them. There was an elderly woman in there praying who Chris said reminded him of his Grandmother. I won't get to meet her until Heaven but I feel like I was given a glimpse of her that day.

From there we went to an open air market on the way back to the bus and I was able to purchase a gorgeous Christmas tablecloth. What a treasure that I'll keep forever!

(SEE, it was the never ending tour!!!) (Worth every penny!)

Our last stop was to watch the Pamplana flyers. (spelling on that one is lacking!)

They were a group of traditional Mexican dancers. I'm not sure if that's quite right, but it's the closest I can come. Maybe indiginous is a better word..... anyway... it was a group of 5 men who first danced, and then four of them climbed on a spinning wheel and spun upside down for several turns. SCARY!!! no seatbelts! BUT THEN... they climbed up a 50 ft pole on ladder rungs TIED onto the pole. At the top, without safety harnesses, four of them sat on a square ring. One for each of the four winds. The final guy climbed on top, and danced. Again, no safety harness. Then each of the four men tied themselves to a rope and swung down as the rope tied around the pole unwound. Then the dancer, lowered himself down just by his hands on one of the ropes. It was incredible!

Thursday... Puerto Vallarta

All of us spent the day on a snokeling catamaran tour to Yelapa and Majauitas. We jumped on a Catamaran with 8 Mexican guides and drove out to Majauitas, a small fishing village. We weren't able to use their beach so we jumped from the Catamaran and were divided into two groups... strong swimmers and not so strong swimmers. We went with the strong swimmers out about 1/4 of a mile from our Catamaran to snorkel. Here, Vicky's favorite, Pepe, (A biologist native to the area and who looked like Johnny Dep) would free dive down about 30 ft and bring up creatures from the bottom for us to hold. SO COOL! After we more leisurely swam back to the Catamaran, we then had lunch and moved on to Yelapa. Pretty much paradise in the middle of the Mexican jungle. Chris went on a hike to a natural waterfall and into the heart of Yelapa.

Vicky and I sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun.

After we were done with our tour we spent our time walking on the boardwalk in Puerto Vallata. I think we all fell in love with it here and can't wait to go back!!!

I can wait for another death defying taxi ride though! WOW!!! I'm probably glad that I don't know much Spanish. I'm pretty sure that our driver called the other drivers donkeys and other things that I couldn't quite make out.

Friday and Saturday were spent laying on the deck and going to the infirmary!!!!

Chris and Vicky both met the ship's doctor and were treated for an upper respiratory cough and PINK EYE!!! They looked terrible! I didn't get sick until Sunday just before the plane ride home. I NEVER need another plane ride like that one! WOW!!!

We're all feeling a bit better and are glad to have had an amazing vacation. We're also glad to be home! ;)

We can't wait to see you all!

Love you and Thank you for your prayers while we were gone!

Cheryl and Chris!

One more thing...

We also wanted to say thanks to the Heutmakers for a great lunch out today!

It was so fun to get to see you for a bit today! Why is it so hard to find time to get together?
Hope is beautiful and you are SUCH great parents! We are so blessed to have you be an example for us in how you are raising such a bright, fun, and gorgeous daughter!

We love you and HAVE to get together soon! We'll take over Mike and Ann's Wii!!!
;)
See you soon!

Bye for the week!!!

It's VACATION TIME!!! and We just wanted to say "See you in a week!!!" We're almost done packing and we're going to head off to bed here soon.
We're leaving bright and early for the airport for San Diego and then on to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta via Princess Cruise Lines!!!
WE'RE SO EXCITED!!! (In case you can't tell!)

I'm sure we'll have LOTS of pictures to share and I'll post them as soon as I can. We planned this vacation well as we get back on Sunday, Nov 11th, and I have the 12th off of work. YAY!!! It'll be good to have a day of vacation, after vacation!

If you want to check out our ship you can also view the bridge cam. It'll show you updates of where the ship is in the course of our week.

We'll be on the Dawn Princess.
http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/dp/dawn_bridgecam.html

Tigo will be at Dog Days for the week, but they don't have a bridge cam. ;)

Have a great week and we'll see you soon!
Cheryl, Chris, and Vicky.

What's been happening...

Sorry for the lack of updates on here. Life is still pretty crazy and making enough time to update everyone has been hard. :) Chris is gone today visiting his Grandma with Barb and Vicky, so I'm able to find some time to sneak up here to say hello! :)

These are just a few pictures from getting ready for Mike and Ann's wedding! They had a GREAT day! It was so fun to celebrate with them and see so many people who have loved Ann and Mike throughout their lives celebrating together! We were so blessed by all of the conversations we were able to have with those that we don't get to see very often and those who we hadn't yet had a chance to chat with!

We also were able to spend Steven's birthday with him as well as his birthday was the Friday before the wedding! The Strum's were so nice to even arrange for him to have a birthday cake!

Here are just some more pics from the weekend....

Someday, I'll figure out how to get my pictures to go where I want them on here. lol

:)

Blessings to all of you!

Have a great weekend!

Visit with the Beams!!!

Hope and Troy came for a visit and met their nephew Tigo for the first time EVER! He loved them and was so excited to show them our home. He can't wait to visit in Nebraska someday very soon!

:)

TWO YEARS!!!

Can you believe it's been TWO years since I became Mrs. Christopher Mendez? WOW!!! What an amazing two years they have been! Marriage is amazing and I love my husband even more today than I did two years ago. I am so thankful to be able to share my life with my best friend. Here are some pictures from our dinner out and also a couple from the last couple of years. :)

How very blessed am I?

Update on Dad...

Last Monday my Dad had surgery at Mayo. Just wanted to let you all know that he is fine and is home recovering. He was released from the hospital yesterday and sounded great on the phone when I talked to him today. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing Dad and am so thankful that everything went well! Please keep praying for him as he regains his strength.
:)

FAIR FUN and STEVEN!!!

Hey there... it's been a while since I've been able to post. WHERE has summer gone?

We had a great weekend a couple (or several) weekends ago when our friend Steven came up to visit! We spent a lot of our time at the fair with Vicky. Lots of good food and good fun! Steven still owes me $3 for fulfilling the trolly ride dares that he challenged me to. It was a great weekend to go as it was "fitness day" at the fair. It's amazing how great you feel after accomplishing the fitness walk even though you ate two corn dogs! (They were GREAT corn dogs!)

OKOBOJI CAMP REUNION!!!

Last weekend was packed FULL of fun with the Okoboji Lutheran Bible camp reunion and quilt auction. WHAT a great time we had! It's so fun to go back and see friends who have been such an amazing part of my life! It's strange how I forget how much I miss them, until I see them! It's also strange how there seems to be no time lost when we get together again. Lives have changes, babies born, weddings have happened, and yet...the friendships are still the same.

One highlight was from the Friday night Dry Bone's concert. It was so great to see them back together and to get a peak into how much fun they were having to be playing together again. It's amazing how songs will bring back such strong memories. Chris was able to listen to the CD on the way to camp so that he was able to recognize the songs. I love watching him making memories at a place that is so important to me.

It was also quilt auction weekend and we were able to see incredible gifts in giving as people gave of their hearts in the quilts that were donated to camp, and then in those that purchased the quilts. I'm always blessed by watching people give in order for camp to keep doing what it does in reaching lives for Jesus. Chris and I did bid on a couple of quilts but had no success as people (including a past youth group girl of mine!!!) outbid us. I guess we just have good taste and pick the one's that everyone else wanted as well! Oh well, there's always next year! It's good to know that we up'd the bids on a few of them!

The weekend was even more special because Ann brought Mike along for his first "camp experience." It was fun to see camp through his eyes. There were too few sing alongs for someone's first time at camp, but I promise Mike we'll make that different for next year!!!!

It also was fun to play with Mady and Elim and see their joy at getting to be at camp. I love it that it's such a special place for them now to!

ok, on to posting some pics. I promise I'll learn someday soon how to break the pictures up. If my dear blogging friends would share their wisdom in an e-mail sometime, I'd greatly appreciate your help. hehehe It will make my posts a LOT more fun to read, I'm sure!

Blessings to you!

Catching Up!!!

Soooo long since I've been able to post anything! Life is absolutely nutty around here.

Chris and Tigo are at Puppy Class which I've skipped to catch up on some Cheryl stuff.

Our newest exciting news is that we have Direct TV with DVR!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am! I'm anticipating that this will make life just a bit easier than using our stone age vcr that won't rewind a tape. Don't get me wrong... vcr's are great... just not OUR vcr. It was AWFUL! Every time you wanted to rewind a tape, it would take like 10 minutes and some serious wrestling to get it to JUST REWIND!!!! So now, no more of that! It's 185 channels of viewing pleasure that isn't constricted by time! Technology! Gotta love it!

Other than that.... Much has happened since I last was here. Read on!

My sister and her family came to visit! THAT is always fun! I love them so much and have a great time when they are here. Our fun included introducing them to La Casita. (Which no longer takes saveondiningcoupons, by the way) (due to some fools who used the ones that you can print out on the computer EVERY time they went! Imagine that! hehe) Then we went to IKEA. LOTS of fun taking pictures and searching for IKEA treasures. Other than that we just hung out and had a great time catching up.

We also were able to go to New Hampton, Ia... Ann's old stomping grounds for a day! It was SO much fun to peek into the wedding plans a bit and enjoy a great sample, actually feast, of the food that they will be serving at their upcoming wedding! Just a couple of months away now! Ann, Vicky, Katherine, and myself also were able to have our hair done by the gal who is going to do it at the wedding! We all loved the "do's" and look forward to nailing down exactly what we'll do for the BIG day!

Other than that life has been filled with Tigo fun, cleaning and updating our little home some, a weekend at the cabin, and LOTS of corn fun at the Mendez home! LOTS OF CORN!!!! Can't wait to share it with you all when you come visit! :)

Ok, I'm going to attach some pics of the above mentioned good times and then go watch a little Direct TV!!!

Blessings to you all!

Cheryl

Random Updates

Life seems to have gotten a little busy these last couple of weeks! We've had several birthdays including Sal, Mike, Vicky, and Chris' Grandma's party down in Mankato. What fun we've had celebrating these important days! Here's just a few pictures of our day in Mankato. The precious little one is the newest member of the Michel's family. He is so very beutiful and just a week old! Quite a gathering for someone so new! I'm sure it's the first Michel's party of many for him!

We also (well mostly Chris) helped Mike and Ann move a piano that Ann had given to her by a gal she met at work! Guess her job at Kemp's is better than even the ice cream bonuses! She's going to LOVE having her own piano to practice on and play! I'm glad we could be a small part of her blessing. I at least held the door. :)

Ohhh....Chris and I were a bit adventurous tonight. We tried a new Vietnamese restaraunt in Fridley. Who knew that such a great place was so close! We were seriously the ONLY customers but the food was amazing! Outside the door was a sign that boasted that they had the best eggrolls in the Twin Cities. It made us chuckle as we went in, but they were reallllly good! We can't wait to take others there to try it. Any takers?

ok, off to bed. I'll try to post sooner next time!
Blessings to you.

Weekday Surprises!!!

What a wonderful husband I have! Chris surprised me at work last week with these GORGEOUS roses! It had been a pretty crummy week and an especially crummy day. I was standing in the hallway chatting after an interview when the receptionist found me to tell me I was needed at the front desk and it was very important. Well, at work, everyone thinks EVERYTHING is important so I went to the front desk. Who knew it was Chris with such a pretty surprise! My desk was a lot more fun to be at for the next two days and now my kitchen table is that much prettier as well.

Nice work Barb and Vicky for teaching him so well!

I am so blessed!

Weekend at the Cabin

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks! It seems that summer is off to a running start! How can we possibly be THIS busy! We finally have a weekend at home to get some projects completed and our house clean again. Tigo has a way of getting the floors awfully dirty, awfully fast! Thank goodness for the shop vac!

Last weekend we had a great weekend at Chris' parent's cabin! What a great blessing to be able to go and relax, get some sun, and enjoy Barb's weekend cooking!

Here are some pictures of our fun!