Bayfield Elementary and more....

Mason and Landon started school at Bayfield Elementary on Monday. Mason's 5th grade teacher is Mr. Foster and Landon's 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. Magno. Both are young and seem very sweet. The boys liked them. With a knot in my stomach on Monday, we took them to school and walked them in. The whole way there they were laughing and playing which helped my feelings a lot. Landon went in his classroom like he'd been going there forever. Mason went in looking very uncomfortable but said he was not nervous(differences in their personalities). I had peace that day so thank you to all who were saying prayers for them. When we picked them up, we were somewhat lost about what to do because there was no line to get in. Turns out, when the bell rings, the kids just go unsupervised to where ever they are supposed to go. Well, Landon's classroom has a door that opens to the outside so we knew he would come out that way. Mason on the other hand we had to hunt down because he did not know where to go. I am so shocked at the lack of safety issues they have here compared to Parkside. Other differences are that there is no snack time or bathroom stops(kids just have to ask for a pass when they have "to go"). The boys were excited that they have recess here, three 15 minutes increments of free play on the playground. There is no PE or PE teacher. Everything went well and they were both excited about going back to school on Tuesday. They are out of school from Wednesday through the following Monday though so we lucked out! Below is their new school....

On Monday after school, we finally got to take that bike ride we were wanting to take. Lake Vallecito is a reservoir so they start letting the water out some slowly in the fall. In the spring, all the snow begins melting off of the mountains, flows down in the lake and fills it back up (I hear it is very muddy in the spring). So, in the spring and summer, the lake water is just about 50 yards from our house. Right now, it is probably about 150 yards away, still visible to the right of the house. So we rode out to the lake bed that is now barren and there is a stream flowing down the middle of it. It is so beautiful to stand there and look at the view. The stream is enticing to the boys and I can see hours of fun playing in it with some high rubber boots! We walked on over to the lake and hundreds of mallard ducks flew off. This is where we met John, the butcher from the general store next door, with gun on his shoulder and dressed in camoflauge, there to do a little duck hunting.

On Tuesday, we took the boys to school and Mike and I stayed in town to run errands. The boys missed the basketball sign ups for Bayfield Park and Rec and they would not let us in because they had turned other people away already and the teams were packed full. They recommended we drive 10 miles down the road to Ignacio, because they still needed players. So we went to Ignacio and signed the boys up with the Southern Ute Indians league. Now, this is going to be interesting. The Southern Ute Indian Reservation is in Ignacio and they have two casinos, so you can imagine how nice their community center was. It has a gym, a rock climbing wall, exercise classes throughout the day, a tumbling tots class for Haven, and a nice indoor swimming pool that is open all the time. You can join for a nice fee or pay $4 to visit to use the facilities. Interesting facts I learned about this Indian tribe is that they have oil wells on their land along with the casinos. So, everyone that has any Southern Ute blood in them gets a monthly check for $1500. When the kids reach 18, they get a $20,000 check and can go for free at any college of their choice on top of that. Unfortunately, because money is handed to them, only 3 or 4 a year go to college for education and many of the Southern Ute's don't even work. They all get to use the community center for free though so they should all be in shape! Practice for the boys start next week and their games begin in December. I was told that most of the Ute's don't play basketball, that it will mostly be white boys that we are playing with.

We were invited over to eat with Mark and Margie on Wednesday night and got to eat our first ELK!! It was delicious!! It tasted a lot like steak. Mark is a sheriff's deputy and Margie is a LPN that works for the county jail. They are in their 40's and have two teenage kids still at home. They have not been in the church for a while because Mark gets disgusted with the legalism that the church is full of, and he did not trust the last pastor they had too well. He and Mike have a lot in common, most important their love for Keith Green! (70's Christian artist). I believe the church members would be shocked to find out that they were the first ones to invite us over.. ...so I can see God moving already. Mark seems to have a great heart and really loves God. He kills 2 elk and 2 deer per year to feed his family for the year. He cuts up and wraps his own meat. (We have had two other families bring us some food over)

Well, I am finally caught up with what all has been going on. The boys have been out of school Wednesday and Thursday so they have been fishing (with no luck :() biking back down to the stream to play in the water, and Donny came over for a little while yesterday. Haven had her snow boots on in the steam and kind of fell down, so that cut the water play short as I had to get her back home and dry her off. Today we plan to go see HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3...(yea!!!) and go to a Halloween Festival that the Service League is having for the community tonight. We hope to meet many of the younger families in Vallecito tonight. Below is our house and church...(didn't mean to post the picture twice and I haven't figured out how to remove a picture yet.) Praise God a little more today than yesterday, pray that He gets tons of glory on this "holiday" and pray for safety of all those who will be out tonight. Also, pray that we will get an offer on our house today!!

(By the way, would you please post a comment on Mike's entry......after he wrote it, he keeps coming to check to see if anyone commented and finally said "I'm done blogging because no one comments on what I write".....boo-hoo!) LOL!!