The Meneses Spot: 2012

Holiday Gathering

This year the Grimsleys are extending an invitation to gather at their house Sunday, December 23 at 6:00.
This will be an old fashion potluck due to the fact that Elvia's stove choose the holiday season to quit working and a new one will not arrive until after Christmas.
We will do the traditional video exchange for the adults, but this year there will also be one for the kids.
Also, if you want bring cookies or candy, we will do an exchange. Bring one and get some.
See you there!!!

Trail Mix

When we were young and lived at Del Rey Farms there was always farm work to do. So at this time of the year, we often had to help pick up walnuts. On the farm there were two sheds. One was mostly empty and the other larger, more modern one housed the tractors. To the west of this garage, there was a row of walnut trees, and it was left to all the kids, Martinez's and Meneses's to pick up the walnuts, take off the hulls and bag them up to go somewhere. We would keep some of the walnuts and mix them with some of the raisins that we also grew. We had our own trail mix. Many a day this was my salvation meal, since I really hated atole and avena (oatmeal and cream of wheat). Most days mom had a eat what you have or do without rule. Sometimes I would pick to do without. I think that it is totally ironic that now I am eating lots of cream of wheat and oatmeal and the things that make it tolerable is adding walnuts and/or raisins. So my question to you is what foods do you remember really disliking as a kid that you eat now?

Thanksgiving Pasts

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did. We had lots of great food and fun. We started a new tradition after letting our food settle, we had a Just Dance contest. Chris and Connor were the winners in the adult and children divisions.
I thought that I would share my memories of the California Meneses' first encounter with a Thanksgiving turkey. We were living at Del Rey Farms, and Uncle Abel was staying with us. We had been learning about traditional Thanksgiving in school and so we (the kids) determined that we needed to have turkey. Of course this was during winter and it was cold and raining so dad had not worked and we had no money. I can remember crying as if the world would end if we didn't get a turkey. I think poor Uncle Abel finally had enough and he went out and bought a turkey. Of course when he brought it home, mom didn't know how to cook it so she cut it all up and fried it. I think we all thought it was delicious.
As I look back across the years, I know it was a challenge to mom and dad to learn all about the expectations that come from living in a world where the culture is not the one you grew up with and that you know your children need to learn if they are going to be successful.

Tamale Day

Come join us in celebrating a family tradition. As usual, meet at our home. Uncle Harrison will provide the pizza and soft drinks. Allison, I will provide the wine :) Where? 328 Oleander Shafter, CA When? Sunday, December 16th at 1:30 p.m. Looking forward to spending time with you all!

Save the Date!

Mother/Daughter luncheon will be on Sunday, December 9th at 2:30 pm. Can't wait to see all you lovely ladies at Connie's house!

Update on Connie

My mom will be having surgery tomorrow at 11 am. She looked good tonight and the surgeon is very optimistic. We think she will be groggy and in pain tomorrow, so she will probably not be up to a lot of visitors post-surgery tomorrow, but somebody will send out an update.
She will have to be in the hospital for 3 to 7 days after surgery, and after that will have six weeks off of work. So, if you are in the area during that time, stop by and visit. It's been nice for her to have a lot of visitors, and laughs!
Thanks for all the prayers, notes, visits and love.

September is under way!

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Many of the Smiths found themselves spending time at Tulare District Hospital. But there were other exciting events happening. Reese started preschool and not only did she look cute, but she was very brave. As she starts this phase of her formal education, Cathi is completing her requirements for a Bachelor of Science degree and will be gratuating September 15th from University of Phoenix. As a follow-up to Doug's question, here's a new one: Who was the biggest quarterback bust everrrrrr? Why. Did you know that Grandpa Art Meneses' favorite baseball team was the Milwaukee Braves?

Reese's First Day

Football how we love thee, let us count the ways

I didnt mean to knock scarlet off of the top spot, but something important has come up....time for the meneses predictions! Im sure if we pulled last years up id be way off, but im giving it another shot and this ones for all the marbles! Or just bragging rights

Scarlett Elizabeth Arismendez

Born July 18, 2012 @ 6:16 P.m.

7lb 9oz. 19 1/2 inches long.

Isn't she spectacular?!

How to Vacation Like a Smith: 2012 Edition

Connor getting ready for a date??

PreSchool Grad!

Sofia finished preschool tonight. Here's a look at her on her very first day and on her very last.....

The Raquel Guerrero Meneses Scholarship

Congratulations to Connie Domingues the 2012 Raquel Guerrero Meneses Scholarship recipient. This is Liz's brain child and the 2nd year it has been awarded. Qualifications include: 1) Minimum 2 years attendance at Woodville Elementary School, 2) Must be a graduate of Woodville Elementary School, 3) 3.0 or higher accumulative GPA at Monache High School, 4) Acceptance to 2 or 4 year College Institution.

Last year's award value was $250.00. We doubled the contributions this year and awarded $500.00. Contributors included: Liz, and LarryPigott, Maria and Harrison Favereaux, and Ron Meneses. Join us in our goal to once again double the value for a $1000. 00 2013 scholarship.

It's Been a While...

It's been quite some time since we had an update here on the blog. The T-Shirts post needed to drop from the top, so I'm just going to post a this one today.
To those out there who still take a minute to come by and check this out, I'd like to invite you to leave comments and add your own posts as often as you can.

We started this site years ago with the idea that using the internet we could stay in touch with family. And while the blog is past it's peak, other internet activity has come in it's place to keep people up to date with family around the country.

I'll try to keep posting something at least once a month, hopefully more ofthen than that. I also may just steal some of your pictures from Facebook and re-post them on here occasionally.

As always, I wish everyone in the family the best. It's always fun when we can get together, but it's nice to know we can post online to share whenever we feel like it.

T shirts still available

Greetings from Spring Training

Here's Pax at Temper Diablo stadium, having a hard time getting autographs today.

March Madness!

Let's do this! It's time to fill out your NCAA tournament brackets. Who will be this year's Cinderella? Will a 1 seed finally lose in the first round? Who will be the last West Coast team standing?

Follow the above link to fill out your bracket in the Meneses Hoops league. There is also an old group existing and you are welcome to fill that one out as well, but the official group is Meneses Hoops.

Spring time = start of Baseball

Alright, I'm hoping my new post will get some traffic, and with this subject it might be more hotly contested than the 2012 post....
Time to dust of the prediction caps for the upcoming season!

Yes I Did

2012

OK I just wanted to see movement on the blog and I'm bored so I'm tossing a post out there.....I guess this is in line with sort of a question of the month post. It seems the Mayans have predicted for us a very bleak 2012 (I sometimes wonder about their skills since they were unable to predict their own demise) How many of you think they were one to something? What are your predictions for 2012? What would you like or look forward to in 2012?

-I don't know if the Mayan calendar is correct but it sure looks good on my wall
-Doug