Easter--Yuma Style

Patti (with friend Eric) and her sisters organized a super-fun Easter celebration 

on Saturday afternoon for family and friends at the Jacobson's house.

After eating a Mexican-themed potluck dinner, 

all the children went on an egg hunt in the orchard.

The eggs were numbered from 1-12,

and each child was supposed to collect one of each number.

Once Dallin realized there were treats inside the eggs,

he sat and commenced eating them.

 

Then they got to dye eggs.

Do these guys look related?

Kevin and Ben are second cousins and share the same Great-Grandpa Gold.

They met for the first time at this Easter party.

Ben and his family are friends with Patti and her boys.

Small world...

 On Sunday we were invited to our neighbor's house for yet another Easter egg hunt.

 

We didn't have time to dye our eggs until later that evening.

Then the children went on our family's traditional Easter scavenger hunt

and got some sidewalk chalk, water balloons, and more treats.

It was different than spending Easter at Grandma's and Grandpa's house,

but thanks to friends and neighbors, the children had a fun time.

Random Photos

Sylvi is thriving in her outdoor hutch, pre-summer season.

We'll have to move her indoors when it gets hot.

An unfortunate dove happened to slam into one of our windows.

Not wanting it to go to waste, Ian plucked, cleaned, fried, and ate it.

How cute are reading children?

Too cute for their own good!

Our Spiritual Cat:

Comet has decided to start his own daily scripture study regimen.

Zach and one of his numerous casualties, 

this time with one of our plastic chairs;

he's great for entertainment.

The Return of the Flat-tails!

Researchers from the University of Arizona contacted Kevin several months ago inquiring about the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard (FTHL) since he is the resident expert (and he has his PhD to prove it!). They have a new project funded through MCAS Yuma studying the impacts of a runway the military is going to build for their Joint Strike Fighter. The runway will be built in prime FTHL habitat. Since the FTHL is a species of special concern (although it is NOT endangered or threatened), environmental assessments are required before and after construction. The research does not influence whether or not the habitat will be destroyed, but perhaps some good may come from the findings.

 

Part of that good is that April has been hired as the project leader, working along with the PIs, Dr. Phil Rosen and Researcher Matt Goode. Kevin will act as an advisor, but has other commitments (like his job at AWC) which prevent him from spending more time with it.

 

Phil and Matt came out to Yuma for a visit and spent a couple days with April on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, our old study site from Kevin's dissertation research during 1996-98. Security has changed a lot in the past 15 years, and we violated major safety policies when we unknowingly drove into a "hot" explosive testing area on our way to visit the tracker huts which will serve as the field station. Oops!  (Really, we were not in any immediate danger--we just temporarily interrupted the training exercise and probably got someone from the Range Management Department in trouble.)

Many hours later, after an hour-long Range Safety Course (during which they said, "don't go in the hazard areas" and "check in when entering and exiting the range") and after waiting in lines for background checks, we had official temporary miliary ID cards, official temporary vehicle passes, and official military Motorola radios. We feel rather official now. Plus, April has official access to the Range Scheduling Website in order to schedule ALL our activities. We must schedule the tracker buildings where some of the crew will be living, the main road if we want to drive on it, as well as the desert space (called "Cactus West Surface Area") we want to walk upon looking for our lizards. Hopefully I haven't inadvertently released any critical or top secret information in relaying this. If so, the military may shut down our blog.

Can you see the lizard?

Part of April's job is training the new crew (which has yet to be fully assembled) how to find Flat-tails in the first place. One difficulty in studying the FTHL is its cryptic behavior--it relies on camouflage to hide from predators and does an excellent job. With our years of experience, we are considered expert Flat-tail finders and have learned how to track them through sandy areas. Phil and Matt were impressed with April's ability to find a couple of lizards to show them.

Can you see the impression where this FTHL is buried?

There are a lot of juveniles this year, which indicates that last year was a good one for reproduction. This year is going to be harsh, however, with the lack of the winter rains which means reduced food sources for all the desert critters. We expect a large portion of the juveniles to die off over the season.

  April felt a temporary wave of homesickness while checking out one of the new weather stations.

It was made by Campbell Scientific from Logan, UT, and our good friend Jim Crook was involved with its manufacturing!

 

 

We are in the process of working out the study designs and protocols which may take a few weeks. Also, we need a field crew ASAP. If we have any readers who would like to spend the summer roasting in the Yuma sun while tracking, catching, tagging, and measuring FTHLs as well as doing scat surveys, please contact us!

If Kevin had another midlife crisis. . .

maybe he'd get a tattoo like this:

 The family is still recovering from his first midlife crisis, 

so hopefully we won't have to deal with another one anytime soon.

Monday Moments

 Made a delicious batch of bread this morning.

One loaf was consumed for lunch.

Another is ear-tagged for a neighbor.

 Ian was excited to catch his first desert spiny lizard!

It was hanging out on our concrete wall, catching some rays.

 

He had very beautiful markings.

BBQ at the Park!

 We had to wake up this slumbering cutie to go to a Primary/Ward Party for the Yuma 2nd Ward.

It was a BBQ dinner and game night at the Wetlands Park.

 

In Yuma if your wife is the Primary President, 

you get to barbecue hamburgers while holding your own sunshade!

Isn't Brother S. stylish?

 

 Dallin enjoyed throwing the balls.

He pretty much likes anything involving balls.

Ian tried this game too.

Megan preferred walking on stilts.

The 3-legged races were a lot of fun. 

First small children partnered with older people.

Ian and Zach teamed up.

April and Erin were partners.

   

Then they got to do it with someone their own size.

Erin and Maria made a cute team.

Two members of April's class came with their families.

Here is Brooke:

And this is Jacob:

We also had an egg/spoon race and a water balloon toss,

but we were too busy playing games to take pictures.

Yard Work Treasures

Friday we tackled some bush trimming on the south side of the house.

We made a family of mockingbirds a tad nervous, but we were careful

to leave the nest unharmed.

While cleaning up the trimmings, we found a dead spiny lizard on the grass.

We're not sure if it might be a Comet casualty...hopefully not.

Regardless, Dallin found it fascinating to carry around.

"I have a dead lizard!" he kept repeating as he walked around showing it off.

Then Ian came running over to us with his exciting catch of the day:

a ground snake!!!

He had been looking for worms to feed the baby mockingbirds

when he found the snake under leaf and wood debris in the orchard.

It was a very cool find.

No, we did not feed it to the baby birds.

Ian's Project

 Ian spent the afternoon constructing this using

a picture and instructions in his scout book.

He made it completely by himself.

Think we can pass him off on his requirement?

Our New Neighbor

Zach (our neighbor) got this awesome chameleon for his birthday!

Notice its zygodactylous feet, which allow it to grip onto branches.

Young Thespians

Every year the Missoula Children's Theater comes to Yuma and all school-aged children in the community are invited to audition for a week-long theater workshop. The week begins with auditions Monday afternoon, 4-hour rehearsals Tues-Fri, culminating in a dress rehearsal and performance on Saturday afternoon. They provide the scripts, costumes, props, and instruction. Arizona Western College sponsors the workshop, so it is free of charge to all the participants. There is a small fee for the performance, but that goes back to the community.

To our surprise, when some friends mentioned this opportunity to us, Megan and Ian said they wanted to try out. Erin opted not to this time. It turns out that not too many audition (they can use 50-60 participants), and everyone who auditions gets a part.

This year's production was "The Tortoise Versus the Hare," which was loosely based on the famous fable.

Megan was cast as Kensington, a member of "The Troupe," a group of traveling actors.

She got to speak in an English accent and sing songs.

 

Ian was cast as Ralphie, a cameraman for the TV Crew.

He got to speak in a Bronx accent, which the family will have to endure forever after now.

The Ensemble

Our Young Thespians!

 

Enjoy this small sampling of the performance.

We were amazed how well it turned out for the short amount of time they had. 

Megan and Ian had a blast and learned a lot. They can't wait until next year.

If any of you are interested in having your children participate,

check the tour schedule to see if your city is on it.