New Meeting Grounds

We moved!

This month we said good-bye to my old apartment - the place I lived for the past year and a half, and the place where our team consistently met to work on different aspects of the ministry.  

We are excited about our new space.  The rent is cheaper and the part we are most excited about is the vacant lot right next to it.  We have all sorts of ideas in how we could use this space...outreach in the neighborhood and planting a few vegetables for starters.  The construction team is also excited about the space they now have available to them, so they can continue working with the wood pallets. 

Before any of this can take place, however, the yard needs some major clean-up. 

Clean-Up!

The team has already begun and has done a lot of work already.  The vacant lot seemed to be used as a garbage dump for the neighborhood.  There was also lots of branches that had recently been cut from the tree in the corner of the yard.  We needed to clean all of that up too. 

We've had a couple of "clean-up days" where several members of the team came to work together and tackle the overwhelming project.  We worked and worked.  We could tell that there were some improvements, but there was still so much garbage. 

This was one pile that was left directly behind the house.
Lots of garbage and dirt all mixed together.

Then one day a man came and said that he'd work all day with his son, fill up his truck and take all the garbage away.  This was an offer we couldn't pass up.

They did work all day, and this was the truckload they carried away.  They got most of it, but we still have more cleaning to do!!!  It will probably be another 10 sacks of garbage or more before the yard is really clean. 

Oh, but, when it is....watch out!  We're going to enjoy it!

Painting

Yahson and Joselo also worked to give the inside of the house an extra coat of paint.  The electricity is hooked up, and we settling into our new meeting grounds.  Praise God for providing this space -- and with such a large yard.  It's quite rare, really, especially for the price we're paying.  Even though it's a lot of work to clean it up, we're excited about the possibilities.

For now, it's the perfect fit! 

Reception & Honeymoon

We had our reception the day after the wedding for family members and a few friends at Camp Shalom.  

Some of the youth from the ministry helped with the decorating, cooking and serving the food and cleaning everything up afterwards.  Not sure what we would have done without their help!!

Joselo's family also helped with the chicken and the cake. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing -- some visiting, others went swimming in the pool. 

We had some challenges pulling it all together, and after a hard week of planning and preparing for the wedding, we were exhausted.  It was good to be in a relaxing place with good friends and family.  It took a while longer than we planned to prepare the food, but when it was ready we found it to be delicious!

After we ate, Pastor Erickson, led us in a short reception.  We had a powerpoint.  Some friends from Guerra sang a song and family members had an opportunity to offer advice or blessings to Joselo and I.  It was really special to have Joselo's family and mine altogether in one place.  Who knows when that will happen again?!

Mid-afternoon my family, Joselo and I left to enjoy a few nights in a hotel together. 

We had been working really hard, running around all week preparing for the wedding.  It was so good to have some time to relax and play and just be together at the hotel. 

It was an extra special blessing to have my grandfather, Harlan Mensink, there to celebrate with us. 

I love you Grandpa, and am so glad you came!

My niece Kiley was a delight as well.  Both Kiley and Joselo had been waiting what seemed like forever to meet.  They had exchanged drawings a few times and had talked on the phone.  It was great that they could finally see eachother face-to-face. 

After a night or two in the hotel, my family had to return to MN.  Joselo and I stayed at another hotel for our honeymoon.  Joselo's brother-in-law works for the director of this all-inclusive hotel and got us an excellent deal.  We were even in the VIP section!!  They treated us like King and Queen.  It was there that for the first time, we were referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Santana.  This made us giggle! 

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One night the director arranged for us to have a special meal at the fanciest restaurant.  The food was like nothing I've ever tasted -- it melted in your mouth!  Wow!

Joselo joked with the waiter, asking him where were the rice and beans. 

Though Joselo enjoyed the experience...to him a meal without rice and beans just isn't complete.

We had tons of fun.  We enjoyed the pool so much!

We also went parasailing.

Though we didn't play a round of golf, we went to the driving range. 

It's been several years now since I've played, and this was Joselo's first time swinging a club. 

He did pretty well!  It was fun.

Over all, we had an abosultely wonderful time.  Praise God!  What an unexpected blessing. 

Our Dominican Wedding

I always wanted to get married in my parents' backyard in Avon, MN.  When we were denied the VISA for Joselo to travel to MN, we had to find another plan.  I was sooooooo excited that my family was all able to come for the wedding. 

My parents arrived about a week before the wedding.  We worked hard preparing for the wedding, moving beds, pillows, and other household items from where I lived to the house Joselo and I would live in together.  We had to get a lot of these things done before the rest of the family arrived, so they all had a place to sleep and we could all be together in the same house. 

Each day we worked hard pretty much all day.  My parents learned quickly about some of the challenges of living and working in the Dominican Republic.  Crazy things happen here that just don't happen in the US-- things that regularly slow you down or cause your plans to change.  Things like the electricity going out all over town, running out of water, everyone being limited by transportation and a very laid-back culture where nothing seems to be very urgent.  Like the Americans we are, we fought through the challenges, found a way to complete the task and tried to accomplish as much as possibly could!!  Wow.

My brother and sisters, grandfather, niece and aunt and uncle arrived a few days after my parents.  The first thing my sisters got to do was try on their bridesmaids dresses, and then they along with my mother attended a Dominican bachellorette party.  What an introduction they had to the Dominican Republic!!

Some of the leaders I work with from the ministry planned a few activities and my sisters planned a few things as well. 

      

This was a game my sisters planned that ivolved rolling dice and taking turns trying to unwrap a prize that was covered in duct paper while wearing oven mits.  My sisters had played this game before in the U.S. and had lots of fun.  In the Dominican Republic, we had to ditch the oven mits after a while because it was impossible to get at the duct tape.  Maybe it was the humidity that made it extra sticky.

 Before we even got to the game, the first part and the majority of the party consisted of advice from other women on marriage but more specifically it seemed on intimacy within marriage.  As I said before, it was quite the introduction for my sisters to the Dominican Republic.  Claire and I tried to translate as much as we could, but there were definitely things lost in translation and in all the laughter.  What an experience for all of us!

The day of the wedding, we all got ready at my old apartment.  My mom, sisters, niece and the bridesmaids. 

The wedding was supposed to start at 4:30pm.  We ended up waiting for quite a while at my apartment.  We had only one vehicle and lots of people to transport to the church.  I know I made a phonecall to a friend back in MN at was already 4:30pm.  I actually don't know what time the weddings started, but it was certainly after 5:30pm! 

Clara, Belkis and Venisa.



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When JOselo got to church, he had to leave again to run and try to download the wedding processional.  The person who had told us he would take care of it, didn't show up. 

He still had some time to greet people and take pictures with his nephews before the rest of us arrived!

A Dominican tradition is to have ribbon across the aisle.   The guests all fill in down the sides, so the only people walking down the center are the wedding party and the bride and groom. 



Our nephew Ivan, and nieces Kily and Jashlyn and cousin  Alana.



Jashlyn cutting the ribbon.

Alana carrying the Bible.

Kiley Jo as flower girl.

Ivan as ring bearer.

Another special part to our wedding was the way in which the wedding party entered the church. 




The guy walked behind the gal, carrying a flower.  When the gal got to the front, she walked in a circle, so everyone could admire her.  Then, he presented her with the flower and gave her a twirl.  They bowed and curtsied and separated, waiting in the aisle for the bride and groom to enter.

Joselo escorted by his mother.

They had me wait in the car until it was my turn to enter.

My dad asking me, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The bubbles were a lot of fun!

My mom and dad.

Joselo's mom and dad.

Cake "to go"



Joselo's family.

It started to sprinkle a bit after we took this picture.  We all ran into the church to take a few more pics. 

Sister Kelly, Aunt Carol and Uncle Craig, Joselo and I, Kiley Jo,
Brother Josh, Mom and Dad, Sister Kari and my Grandfather Harlan.



My brother Josh, Oscar Eduardo, Esteban (Wilfri), Roberto Belen, Joselo, Me,
Sister Kelly, Clara, Belkis, Venisa and Sister Kari



It was so fun to have my niece there!!!!!!

We praise God,

and give thanks to everyone who helped make our day special.