Happy Birthday, Rev. Father Anthony And Teresa!

Today we bring out our official Mendoza Blog virtual birthday cake for our favorite Byzantine Catholic priest and our favorite mother of our favorite God-daughter.

Thank you Father Anthony, for your Priesthood, for the Sacraments you bring us, and for being an alter Christus to us. When you celebrate Divine Liturgy, it is with great solemnity. When you show your humor, it makes us all laugh. You are a great example of what a Priest should be. You make us desire Jesus, and to aspire to holiness. Happy Birthday, Father!

Thank you Teresa, for being a great friend, even with such a great distance between us. You are a good mother to your children, in imitation of our Blessed Mother, and a good example of a Christian. Thanks for choosing us to be God-parents to one of your children. May God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe watch over you.

May God bless you both, and have a blessed birthday!

Mendoza Sighting: New Hampshire Edition!

Well, well, well. It sure seems like the Mendozas get around the country.

Here we see the Mendoza van, in of all places, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is parked across the street from the Old North Church, where George Washington once worshipped in 1789.

So let's see the evidence.

It certainly looks like our van. It is blue, missing a hubcap, and on the left side, it even seems to have had a slight ender-bender in the past. It is even parked in front of an historic church.

Believability Rating: 50%. Although it looks pretty good, there is the possibility that this is not our van. For one, it looked a little too clean. This van had a roof rack, which strangely, seems to be missing on our van. We don't need to carry skis. Its not like we ever go skiing, or snowboarding.

I mean, come on.

The windows are tinted, which also seems to be missing now.

Also, I saw the driver come out of the van, and it could not have been me. How could I see myself come out of a van? It's not like I was watching myself six months into the future. Besides, this guy didn't look ANYTHING like me. Sure he was better looking, but he had that pasty skin that I saw on all New Englanders after a long winter that makes them look like drowning victims. The van also looked way too clean when I got closer to it. It also seems to have been registered in the state of New Hampshire.

Besides, this was a Thursday, and the family would have needed the van to get to Violin Lessons.

This was pretty close, but no cigar.

Oh well. Tune in again later for another edition of...

MENDOZA SIGHTING!

Ulysses Sighting: New Hampshire Edition!

Some may know that we have recently returned from the state of New Hampshire for vacation. We went for the blessed event of a Baptism, the making of a new Christian, but we also had time to do some other stuff, like...

ULYSSES SIGHTING!

Even all the way across the continent, there are all sorts of people driving these huge, powerful red trucks, and some of them are very convincing. You could almost believe that a powerful Naval Officer could drive some of these.

So we took some pictures of some of the more convincing ones. For your viewing pleasure, we present one of them right here.

If you look carefully at the truck in the foreground (click on picture for a larger view), you can see that it is indeed a Red Pick-up Truck. It even has one of those larger cabs that could fit 4, maybe 5 people. It looked like it had been taken off-roading. It had the appropriate Black trim. This particular truck was even in a church parking lot, so that was good. The driver could not be found, so we could not really be sure.

BELIEVABILITY RATING: 25%.

While indeed this was a Red Pick-up Truck, we were in New Hampshire, which is quite a ways from where Ulysses is currently at. Also, this pick-up truck in the foreground is a Dodge Ram, which is totally different from what he drives.

This sighting had much promise, but alas we were denied. If only we had seen more Red Pick-up Trucks that day. Perhaps we might have had better luck.

We had other sightings, but we will get to those in due time. In the meantime, there is a bit of a corner of a huge White Van just at the right edge of the picture. Maybe later we can zoom in on that for a...

KRAMER SIGHTING!

Stay tuned for more sightings!

Every Mexican Man's Self Image...

After two beers. Or maybe one. Some with no beers whatsoever.

Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 Claims First Victims: Ley de Inmigracion De Arizona Toma Sus Primer Victimas

Nobody will be spared from SB1070.
When asked why she crossed the border and was in the country illegally, Dora the Explorer said that the map told her that was the way to go to get to Cotton Candy Forest to save Tico the Squirrel from the Mean Magician. Tico the Squirrel could not be reached for comment.

Dora's cousin Diego, along with Amnesty International are already planning to file law suits.

Yosemite: Winter 2010

So, as we noted in an earlier posting, we decided to make a one day trip to Yosemite Valley, just to walk around the cheap showiness of nature, take some pictures, and buy some postcards. We managed to do all three.

Forgot how far away Yosemite is, but we were glad we could make it.

We told all the kids that we needed to get up REALLY early, like around 5 AM. These are the kids who have a hard enough time getting up for school. But tell them that we will be going to a National Park, and that there might be the possiblity of souvenirs, and they actually get up before the adults, and are dressed and ready to go right when we need to go!

Let's get to the Park.

Before even getting to the park, just after Mariposa, there appears to have been a rockslide, and the entire road is blocked. They have built two one lane bridges that go around the slide. You have to wait about 15 minutes according the sign at the stoplight, but we did not have to wait that long.

To all of our friends who like Yosemite and Hansen's Soda, this picture is for you!

Kids love playing in snow! Just like the Grand Canyon last year, we could have just taken them to play in snow, and they could have done it all day. "Hey kids, Yosemite Falls is right behind you!" "Good! Hey, more snow!"

Sun peeking out through the trees.

Snowball aimed at a sibling.

If only our world was as beautiful as Pandora!
As a good friend of our said, "People, get out of your basement, and go walk around!"

Tree reflected in Merced River.

Greetings from the Valley floor.

Some Sun peeking through again.

Half Dome reflected in a puddle near Sentinel Bridge.

Yosemite Falls.

Half Dome again from Sentinal Bridge.

Yosemite Falls from the trail leading up to it.

At Lower Yosemite Falls. Getting wet from the Falls and from the sky.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite Falls Bridge.

Kids wanted to take in a talk by a Park Ranger to get their Junior Ranger Badges. More on that later. The talk for today was about Bears, and the Ranger took us out to the middle of the Valley from Shuttle stop #6, so that we could get hailed on for an hour and a half! Thankfully, it was only small hail.

Anyways, Park Ranger Ben shows us what happens when a bear finds the Whipped Cream bottle, and then bites into it. the can blew apart, and killed the bear.

Bear Skull.

Bear Pelt.

So the girls finished their Jr. Park Ranger Books first, and so they got to be sworn in first. There were a couple of Rangers there, and there was a Lady who said that she loved to swear in Jr. Rangers, and that she even like to announce it to people. I thought she was kidding.

So the girls got sworn in.

Then the lady who liked to swear in kids swore the third kid in.

And then the lady did announce to everyone in the Visitors Centre, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just sworn three new Junior Rangers; please give them a hand!" And people did!

A wider view. The kids were really happy.

Some Internet Terminals at the Deli. They cost 25 cents a minute, and we know some people who used them last year.

We hope to go again to Yosemite, and get some pictures form each season, and maybe visit some areas we have never been to, like the Hetch Hetchy area. maybe we can visit some other parks as well, like Death Valley or Sequioa National Parks.

Hope you like the photos! We enjoyed taking them!

Slowly Overcoming MY Fears

For those of you wondering, yes, I will get close to Lemons. I will even go to Costco and kiss a bag of Lemons. Here is proof I am slowly overcoming my fear and aversion of Lemons. notice how close they get to my 'stache.

Hey Floridians, this one is for you!

Wolf Woman Returns!!!

There is good restaurant here in Salinas, by the name of Taquitos, formerly Taquitos. Been around for at least 30 years. Decor leaves much to be desired, but we would like to think that all of the effort goes into the food, which is really good.

However, there is one disturbing thing about this restaurant.

It is on the way to the Restrooms.

In a corner.

It is the Painting of the Wolf Woman.

We first noticed this when we took Heather to this restaurant with our favourite Canadians to celebate her birthday.

Someone had to go to the restroom, and someone said that there was a strange painting.

Just what is going on here in this painting? It is trying to express the duality of mankind in these troubled times? The interconnectedness of man and nature? Was this the last item for sale at a garage sale?

What ethnicity is this Wolf woman? How did they get the wolf to pose for this? Why is the wolf's neck so thick? Why is one shoulder bare on the woman?

Why are the wolf's eyes cross-eyed?

Why do we care?!?

These are just some of the thoughts that go through our minds.

Birthday French Toast FAIL

I am usually pretty good at French Toast. I guess I soaked this particular piece far too long.

I Would Rock This Hat

In a desperate attempt to find a Friend of mine an Epiphany present on Monday night that had to get mailed the next day to get to its destination, I actually went to the Mall. I used to love to go to the Mall before the Internet, and I could watch Teenagers be jerks in the comfort of my own home instead of driving out to go see them.

Even though I did not find what I was looking for (I did find something, but that is a post for another time, when little children are not around, mine, and yours), I did see a hat that I would love to wear.

How many votes do I get? Yes, it does go with a Zoot Suit. Come on. It would look cool.

Even Commander Adama looks good in one.

I want to play him in the biopic.

Best Snowmen Ever

Kramer Sighting of the Week!: December 5th, 2009

America! You have been lied to!

Yes, we all know about Climategate and Obama's 'Health' care stuff.

No, we are talking about the Kramers.

They would like for people to think that they have left the Central Coast of California for the Sunny Clime of Florida.

That is not true.

You are being lied to.

They are in fact still around, and we have seen them! Although we were not able to catch up to them, we did manage to take a picture of their van, and we post it here for your viewing pleasure!

Although this vehicle is way smaller than their van, we are convinced it it them. Their van is in fact classified as a bus, and this one closely matches that description. It is also white in colour, and has those huge mirrors. The grill looks a little bit different, black this time instead of chrome. Maybe they're bombing up their van. You know, getting some custom work done on it. Maybe stretching it. It seems they might have done this. Notice also they have added more windows to the van. Now you can see in every direction! For the absolutely most trick option they have added now to their van is the addition of Port-a-Potties, for those times when you are travelling, and there are no restrooms or rest stops available. You know how kids can get. Aways asking if you are there yet and that they need to got to the rest room. Now there are no worries. Just stop by the side of the road, and hello blue liquid!

Believability Factor: 90%!. Although this is a white bus just the one the Kramers have, there are several things that would lead one to think that this does not belong to them. First of all, There is a Salida de Emergencia on this bus. Why would the Kramers need an emergency exit, and why would they need the sign in Spanish? Secondly, the bus seemed to be full of Mexicans dressed for Field work, and very few of the Kramers are actually Mexicans. Lastly, this bus is way too small for the Kramers. It only has a capacity of 42 people.

Well, here we thought we had sighted them, but alas, this one was too small. We were pretty darn close!

Tune in again soon for another edition of...

KRAMER

SIGHTING!!!