El Paso Weather

Though El Paso has all four seasons they seem a bit crazy. We get most of our rain during the summer. Even though we are in the desert I am told we get snow. We also get about 300 days of sun a year so it gets warm way before Spring starts. This past week we reached almost 100 degrees!

Due to all the rain this summer the desert is green right now and very pretty.

There are also wonderful sunsets and sunrises each day.

August

What's going on in your living room on a Saturday morning? What? It's not a Def Leppard rock party? Well then, you should come to my house. (Please note the "one armed" drummer").

It was time for Jason to teach Brendan how to shave. How can he be old enough for this already?! Time goes so fast. He was NOT happy I took this picture. 

I finished up hanging the pictures and decorations on the walls. Here are a few shots of that. There is still much to do with this new house but it is coming along nicely. 

We grow dogs in our garden. Haha. But seriously, we are going to need to fence it off as she is killing the strawberries by laying on them.

 

Back At It

Now that we are getting back into the routine of things, we are settling in more and more. Since El Paso is still new we find things we didn't know all the time. 

It is Jason's month to have kid dates. They have been trying to find fun things to do and tasty places to eat. We found a thrift store we like and a few good restaurants so far. This week, Daddy and Darby went on a date and came back with matching sunglasses. 

We also found a few shops we like. Paige bought this armed pillow that allows her to sit up in ned. It has made its way to the couch as well. 

El Paso has weird weather. We had fog rolling over the mountains last week. It looked eerie but cool. It made me miss Marin County.

But it is not all fun and games. Now that everything is unpacked I tried to work on our moving claim. That was a fiasco. Several times I couldn't even get to the website. Finally, I finished and submitted it after a few days. Hopefully, they repay us for all that they broke. They really should!

Owies

In North Carolina, Jason used to take Stella into the woods with him and let her off-leash while he ran. She would romp through the underbrush and chase animals. She loved being outside and off the leash, free to run anywhere she liked. Well, that is not working out here in the desert.

Jason has tried twice to take her out to run in the Franklin Mountains. But in the desert, the plants are not as friendly. There are stickers, cactus, and sharp rocks. You have to stay on the path to avoid these. Stella doesn't seem to understand that. Last time she came back with cactus spikes in her face. This time, she went bonding off and cut up all her paws badly. Jason had to carry her back to the car. She couldn't walk. We spend a good while cleaning and dressing them. She was actually a pretty good patient and allowed me to touch her owies. I put ointment on them, wrapped them up, and put baby socks over them so they were padded and she couldn't lick the wounds back open. She is to stay in the house and as still as possible until they heal. She looks so sad. 

We are buying dog booties and hopefully, she will use them. Maybe she can go out on runs with Dad in those. Or learn to stay on the trail.

First Day of School

First day of school in a new school for everyone. Brendan (10th) left first since he has early morning seminary. I drove him to the church. The church building is across from the high school so he walks to school from there. 

Eva (8th) and Darby (6th) walked to the middle school next. They actually leave pretty early. They attend a uniform school this year but I don't think either of them really mind. 

Paige (4th) walks to school as well but leaves the house the latest. Jason and I walked with her this first day. 

There was an email that went out saying that the gate from the park would be open before school so we took that route. When we arrived, the gate was indeed locked. I was so annoyed! It was her first day and she was going to be late. We backtracked and made it to the school a few minutes after the bell. But since it was the first day of school she was not the only one. Parents weren't allowed into the building (Covid precautions) so we kissed her goodbye and she went inside. Then I tried to talk to one of the teachers outside helping direct traffic to ask her about the gate. She had no answers. When we got home I sent an email to the principal (who had sent out the email about the gate in the first place) letting her know it was NOT open and, as a result, my daughter was late to school on her first day at a new school. I was not happy.

Later I got an apologetic email from the principal letting me know that the gate is open but they close it ten minutes before the bell rings. Well, that would have been nice to know. Sigh. We must have just missed the "open" time. Tomorrow she will have to leave a bit early. I am beginning to see a pattern with El Paso schools and their lack of effective communication. I am also thinking about finding out who walks to school from our neighborhood as well and seeing if Paige can join them. She is so social that it would be a great way to make friends. I think she wouldn't mind me walking with her but walking with other kids would be better.

The rug for the front room finally arrived. Stella is sad that it's back to her and I home alone all day now. I spent most of the day organizing and unpacking since we really have only been in this house a month. There is a lot to do to settle in. 

The middle schoolers got home first. They were a bit tired from the walk but they will get used to it. They had trouble finding each other after school so they made a mutual meeting spot. Both of them reported making it to every class despite the size of the school building. Darby seemed a bit overwhelmed at having eight classes and a locker.

Paige walked home and I was nervous the whole time. But she made it. She told me that she had a good day. I am hoping she can make some friends in class. I have to leave to pick up Brendan almost as soon as she gets home.

Brendan and I arranged to meet at the church since we both knew where that was. Franklin High School is HUGE and has two adjoining campuses. His classes also rotate days (periods 1-4 one day and 5-8 the next). We will need to see if the church is a good place for pickup after a few days. Traffic is SO BAD when school lets out. And I am dealing with parents and teen drivers. There is no way that I am going to try to get into the school parking lot. It took him a while today but he made it to me at the church. Classes seemed okay. He is never really very talkative about school. 

It was a BUSY day but, then again, first days always are. 

Sixteen!!

Brendan is SIXTEEN today. I can hardly believe it!

We traveled home from Gallup today. Brendan was such a good sport to spend most of his birthday in the car. When we got home I gave him his presents. He got some fun books and a Lego Minecraft set. It turns out that he already had that set so we will need to exchange it. 

He also has a seminary fireside tonight and he starts a new school tomorrow. What a trooper!