Saturday, November 29, 2008

"family" pictures...

so yesterday afternoon we went around town and took some "family" pictures. it feels weird saying family cause its only the two of us...for now. so we loaded up shannon and her camera and started driving around. here are some of the pictures we took...if you want to see more you can head over to our myspace pages. or perhaps my facebook once i get to uploading them on there. enjoy!!!











Saturday, November 22, 2008

happy thanksgiving...

so being the preschool teacher that i am, i had to come up with a cute little project for my kids to do for thanksgiving. what better than turkeys. before i get to the turkey part i must tell you... at the beginning of the year i sent home a letter letting parents know things were going awesome with the kids and a little list of some things would could use in the classroom. one of those needed items were the cardboard rolls from toilet paper. so since i have dont that i have a 3'x3' drawer full of toilet paper and paper towel cardboard rolls! a the time i sent the letter home i had NO idea what i would do with the rolls but i knew something would come up. this was the project to come up!
with a little paint, turkey face cutouts, glue, and coffee filters...ta-da! you get a fabulous looking turkey. so i had to make one as a sample to show the kids what we were making. well at the end of the day, chelsey and michelle wanted to make a turkey also. so after we got some work done they sat down with all their supplies and made their turkeys. here are all of our turkeys hanging out together. so from left to right we have: gideon, fredina, and... i forgot michelles turkeys name! oops...
i love the ladies i have in my room. they are so much fun. here are the three of us with our awesome looking turkeys....
so to you and yours...happy thanksgiving! (i could probably direct this straight to you aimee since youre probably the only one who actually reads my nonsense!)

are my eyes seeing right...

so my low fuel light went on last night and i needed to stop for gas. so i decided to go to fabulous freddys. ive been noticing it was getting cheap. so i stopped to get gas and this is what i saw:
i havent paid less than $2 in a looooong time. granted its a PENNY less than $2, but still. its the numbers that i see! so as i was pumping gas i pulled out my camera as inconspicuously as possible. i succeeded! so then i decided that if it didnt fill up then i would go until $30. lately its been going beyond that. but not this time. it stopped at:
ok im joking. it actually stopped at $21.8-something. but being the anal person that i am i cant stop at odd numbers. so i just kept clicking until $22. this shot i didnt take as sly as the other. i forgot i left the flash open (which i didnt do on the first shot). because of my neglect i got this nice bright shot of the pump and my total! then i pulled out of the gas station quickly! now that utah has caught up with the rest of the world...we are happy campers or drivers!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

some visuals...

so a few posts back i gave an extended update on the mendonsa household! i let you know how steven started a new job. well i first learned that i spelled it wrong. its mikohn. i originally wanted to post some pictures of the kind of stuff he does. but i couldnt find a website (a result of my mispelling!). now that i have found out the correct spelling i have found some pictures. although he wasnt personally involved with these exact signs, he has been painting ones similar to this (i got grumbles from steven when i brought them up on the computer) and ones that are much more complex. so here they are:

lately they have been working on a lot of stuff that will be going into the new hotel in vegas called the encore. maybe ill take him down there and take pictures with actual signs he has painted... like a kindergartner on their first day of school! :] although it may be a bit traumatizing since he spends lots of time with these signs! we shall see i suppose!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

tattoo freaks of st george!

so we have made it back from cali. its been almost a week since we got our tattoos finished (for steven) and started (for me)... our original appointment was set for noon to six for steven, sister, and myself. in the end it turned out to be from noon to eight and only steven and i actually got something done. so needless to say it was a long day for steven since he was there all day. he even had lunch and dinner with jimi. sister and i showed up at about five and those three hours were long enough! so check out the pictures... mine will be colored and done in december when we go out for Christmas... yay!

this is my arm. i decided to go with a wrap around picture set since the tattoo is so wide and my arm is little. gives you the whole effect! :]
and here is stevens all done. we should probably do a wrap around picture as well. ill work on that! oh and if you look at the post below this you can get the whole before and after effect with stevens...
enjoy...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

we are going big...

...well at least i am. we are making our way back out to cali for the weekend. we have a tattoo appointment set up for saturday afternoon. and its literally ALL afternoon. we will be at the red door tattoo from noon to six! yes six hours!!! but two of those belong to sister. anyway...why i am going big is because im taking my tattoos below the elbow. steven had gotten this tattoo done last time we were in cali. and im getting the same thing but my banner will say: and my beloved is mine. sweet i know! :] so stevens will get colored and ill get my outline done ready to be finished around Christmas time.

this has been on my mind for a while just cause it means a lot with work. ill have to wear long sleeves every day. which if you really think about it, doesnt matter cause i have air conditioning! and we, unlike so cal, have winters where its FREEZING! so all in all i dont think its all that big a deal. itll be funny once i get it done and im at the store and happen to run into a parent (which hasnt happened yet) and they see my wonderful arms! ha... oh i cant wait to see the faces!!! :] so there it is. another post sooooo soon! i know. im getting better. just thought id throw this random thought into oblivion know as "cyber space"!
<3

Saturday, October 25, 2008

now for part 2...

well here i am getting ready to begin update part two. not sure how excited i am about this one though. things after camp were a little sad and happy at the same time...and crazy with school. so my last post ended with us at (church family) camp. at this point we knew grandpa was sick and none of the family were really too sure how much longer we had with him. so when we got back into civilization from camp, i had a message from my sister to call her back. the news wasnt what i wanted to hear. she had told me that grandpa had passed away that saturday that we were at camp. i was super bummed, but in a sense i wasnt because i knew he wasnt miserable and in pain anymore. he was at home with Jesus. that was the comfort in this entire situation. so once we got home i got on the phone and started booking flights and letting my principal know i would be gone. so we made it to riverside for the memorial service and his funeral, which i would not have missed for the world. this weekend was filled with lots of family time. it was nice to see all of us come together and just hang out. after grandpas funeral just the family went over to my ninas house and had some food and just hung out. my grandma was in good spirits with all of us around.
we even celebrated liz's birthday.on saturday ruben and mikey had a football game so we all rallied together at the game. its funny to see these little guys running around a high school size football field. all these little pint size specks running around this huge field and they get rap song intros also!! funny stuff...
sister and i shared a sisterhood moment. i realized we had the same drink and the same phone (ill admit...before i get in trouble...that she had the phone first. i guess thats only right: the little sister follows the big sister (only in some things!) :] (LOVE YOU SISTER!!!!!)
i just want to share some of the pictures of my grandpa...he was a funny man and an awesome grandpa!!!! he always knew what to do when i put the camera up for a "myspace" picture! does your grandma know that?!?! :]

if anyone knew my grandpa they knew he had the cane and he wasnt afraid to use it if you needed disciplining...or if you were in the way of his angels game! haha... fear the cane!!!!
i will NEVER get rid of this picture. grandpa was always trying to say he didnt like towbie because he wasnt a smart dog like chula! ha... but i just so happened to catch this picture on my phone...kid you not! he tapped his chair and called towbie to jump up there with him. as God as my witness!!!! and he sat there with him and was petting him. so as much as grandpa tried to say he didnt like towbie...i always had this picture in my mind saying "you love towbie!!!" steven has now started working for a company called mykhon. this company makes the big fancy casino signs. so since steven knew how to paint...they put him in the paint department. its much different than custom homes or del tacos, but he has really got a handle on what he is doing. its laid back and he enjoys his work. we just pray that he may continue to be a light in this dark place. its really nice to have my husband home by six and able to go to wednesday bible study and be there with the youth kids. and hes not so stressed! i love it!

other than that...not much else. my life is consumed with special ed files, paperwork, and school. and on top of that trying to keep this house in order and be a good wife. its rough but God continues to give me the strength and energy to get through the days at work and come home and just do my thing here. so yeah... there you have it. updated to this point in time. hopefully ill be able to keep up regularly and not have to do this for months at a time!

enjoy!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

life-part 1...

okay so here is the long-awaited update. i think im going to make it a two parter. for the sake of time and not wanting to sit here foooorever! my last major post was about my trip to mexico, which was in july. that was such a blessing. now we are hoping to be able to go with the youth to thailand in march. lets keep our fingers crossed. itll take a lot of money i think. who knows!

so in august i moved into my new classroom. here are some pictures of it before it was all finished. i realized i didnt have updated pictures but oh well. guess those will be a surprise when they get posted, you may even get a video!

1. This area now has those grey cubicle panels you see put up to make three work cubbies. i guess itll make sense when you see the up-to-date pictures. you can see one of my aides on the left...yes shes on her phone! :]

2. this is the middle of the room. on that counter straight ahead is where my desk is now. i have so many cupboards. and those two big cabinets! i love it. sitting on the floor is my other aide, she's awesome...not on her phone and working hard! :]
3. and there is the glorious storage closet! you see those shelves by the door, but it goes about 4 feet to the left also. its like a small room! ive considered making it my prayer closet but im not sure how that would work out and they would think im totally weird. i guess ill count the cost! and to my right in this picture, which you cant see, is another counter top much like #2 and more cupboards.
So there you have...a small tour of my room. i think a video would be much better. plus i can narrate it! :] so now that we are up and running for the school year things look much nicer and put together. needless to see this is where i spend A LOT of time. ive been sucked in!

once the school year started it was time for church family camp. not (church) family camp...but church family (camp). this was the first year we have been able to go. and since we serve in the youth ministry we have the privilege of camping with the youth kids. we had our own little community. and they werent too crazy that weekend.

1. some sweet time of worship in God's creation. yes the lights are hung up like a pinata!
2. shannon and i before they left to go paintballing. i stayed behind to play bocce ball. yes i have traded in the gun and mask for a game of throwing balls around! funny story though. so i stayed to play in the "bocce ball tournament" i had heard so much about. after waiting for some people to show up it was me, pastor rick, and two other men who go to our church. we started to play and they were surprised that i could actually play the game! ha... :] i told them i perfected my bocce ball skills while volunteering for the special olympics. although my teammate and i lost by a hair, we gave them a run for their money! theyll be ready for next year!
3. so this big area where we had church and worship, which was right in front of the fire pit and where we ate dinner, had a ton of apple trees (the apples were delicious). and since this place is secluded there were free-roaming deer walking around and eating the apples. it was so cool to see them get this close. you could tell they were very cautious cause if they saw one thing move, they were walking back towards the bushes in the back. back as you can see in the 2nd picture, they got pretty close. i had wished my grandma were there cause she LOVES deer.



4. it was super cool to have our sunday service in between all these apple trees. it was pretty cold though cause there was a storm passing through all weekend (which resulted in a broken tent on saturday night). lots of wind and light rain. crazy weather. and the clouds were crazy looking.5. and yes we stayed up til midnight every night playing games with the youth kids. it was funny to watch them play hide and seek in the dark. we started to mainly play games inside since it was getting pretty cold at night with the storm passing through.

6. on sunday we had a time of baptism. these kids sitting with pastor rick were the ones who were getting baptized. he was sitting there with them giving them a biblical view of water baptism and why we do it. and making sure that that was still what they wanted to do. it was a sweet time! and cold for those who had to get in the water!7. after the baptism we made a slip-and-slide. it was hilarious. with water and dish soap you can have a lot of fun! i really wanted to try this but we ended up going to the lehman caves.
8. so like i said before we went to the lehamn caves. we went with bill and marica. it was pretty cool to see some cave formation stuff. our guide was even more interesting. this picture with bill and marica was taken in a pretty dark area of the cave and im pretty sure we blinded a few people behind us! ha...

9. so after the guide told us not to touch any of the cave formations it took all of me not to touch anything. you dont think of things until someone says not to do it! plus they look like they have interesting textures. and i am a big person on feeling different kinds of textures. so marica and i PRETENDED to touch the cave stuff. rest assured that we did not touch anything, and didnt mess up any of the "rocks" that have been forming for "millions of years"!! the picture below us was a cool one to see in person. they had some name for it but then started asking tourists what theyd name it. the guide said that a little boy had said to call it "an elephant stepping in gum", which i thought was adorable. plus thats what it really looks like. funny stuff...

10. so on this ranch where we went camping they have some other livestock in addition to the deer. there were these sheep. they were really loud and annoying. i thought it was funny that there was this one black sheep in the pen with the white ones. i guess this is how i feel in st george, utah! :]

11. fun times with friends. we said this would be our poster picture for the young adults ministry. here we have (LtoR) shannon, me, steven, chris, and cody. not sure what cody is doing though. we are a bit confused!ok well this will conclude part one. i need to get away from this computer! i wish i could just talk to the computer and it would type in what im saying. but i dont have that so i must give my wrists a break before i get carpel-tunnel (or however you spell it!).
until then....


Friday, October 10, 2008

taking a break from life...

ok so i just wanted to let all of you (all three of you) know that we are alive. things have just been busy since my last post. seeing as im (sweetwater) the one who updates this i have to have some free time. in between work, school. and youth ministry, i dont know when to get to this!

i never thought special ed would entail so much paperwork! yikes!!! i was wrong.

i hope to post some pictures of my classroom soon. i wish i could post pictures of my kids. they are all so precious. i love it.

until i get time to do that...hopefully soon...rest in the fact that we are alive and well.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

what a month...

so steven and i have been in and out of saint george for the past month. hes been working in california and i have been running all across the countryside. as of yesterday, im back in town (for a good while) and steven is still out in carlsbad.

during the week of july 20 to 26, i went down to ensenada with our youth group for their annual missions trip. it was such a blessing to go a minister to the people down there and to see our youth having a heart like Jesus. so for the four full days we were doing ministry we worked with the mayo clinic; which is a group of doctors from arizona and minnesota who go down each year and open up a free medical and dental clinic. this was so awesome to watch come together each day in a different location.

each day while the doctors were running the clinic we did a mini vacation bible school with all the kids who were running around. fun stuff! i have adopted about ten of them already! :] we would set up tents and then we would do a few bible skits, hand out snack and drinks, and gave out a bunch of toys! it was so cool to be able to bless these kids with cool toys and coloring books.

these two little girls were sisters. i just wanted to pinch them and bring them home with me!







this is the groups of kids from our youth group. they did so awesome!







our basic setup each day. our "stage" and the shade for the kids to sit and watch. this second day was a blessing where we actually had canopies and didnt have to sit in the sun!




this little girl stole my heart. if i couldve brought her home i wouldve surprised steven with a little gift! needless to say i didnt want to leave her behind. :[ i guess ill see her next year.







the little guy in the red shirt was my buddy. i noticed him when i was walking around. he has downs syndrome and if any of you know me you know that i am passionate about children with special needs. so i took some toys over to his mom and talked about his school and stuff. i spent a little bit of time just talking to her and and playing around with sergio. i cant wait to see him next year.


after a long four days of ministry we were able to hang out and
go to the beach. it was a nice little break we were able to take after working so hard. all those days in sun start to wear on you after a while...

so until next year, we can pray for those hearts that we ministered to. may the Lord keep watch over them and protect them.

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actual readers!