The Peanut Patch

This morning we took Grandpa to Yuma's famous Peanut Patch. It is a quaint little shop filled with peanuts and peanut products, fudge, chocolates, salsas, and other delectable items. (For those who have visited Cox Honeyland in Logan, Utah, it is a similar type of small-town shop, with the focus on peanuts rather than honey, obviously.)

 

We arrived in time for their advertised "tour" and learned almost everything there is to learn about peanuts from Donna, the owner. Since Erin learned that peanuts are not a true nut and are actually a vegetable, she says she's eating her vegetable quota when she eats peanuts. (She thinks they are much nicer to eat than broccoli!) Donna made some peanut butter as part of the demonstration, and we all got to taste a sample. It was pretty good.

Unfortunately, peanuts are no longer farmed in Yuma due to the invasion of the white fly which is a pest that destroys peanut crops. Donna says they order their peanuts from the midwest.

Here are the children posing by one of the original peanut harvester machines.

Ian is standing by a peanut roasting machine which can roast up to 150 pounds at a time.

Afterwards we got to walk through their candy-making areas and see the yummy chocolate-covered strawberries they were dipping for Valentine's Day. We got a sample of peanuts and a sample of their fudge. And we sadly neglected to take any photos of the cute little shop because we were too focused on all the fine goodies.

We left with a couple bags of snacks, including peanuts, peanut brittle, sesame sticks, sunflower seeds, and a Valentine's surprise for Kevin.

It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes!

Grandpa Young flew on an airplane to Phoenix.

Then rented a car and drove to Yuma 

(and somehow took photos while driving--this is approaching Telegraph Pass).

He navigated well through the Foothills areas, past the college where Kevin works...

...and arrived at our house just after we had come home from church.

 

He admired our resident Great Horned Owl whom he found sitting in one of our Eucalyptus trees,

 ate a chicken dinner, went for a walk, and read scriptures with us before bedtime.

We have some fun activities planned for the rest of the week.

Sewing Lessons

The children have been asking for sewing lessons. We sort of started last fall, but then something interrupted us. Today we decided to go ahead and make a project: pincushions! Erin liked the owl pattern that Mom found, so we made some today. We dispensed with the long, gangly legs, since owls do not have long legs. Erin, our resident owl expert, knows things like that.

These are much cuter pincushions than the generic tomato pincushion that Mom has had for 20+ years.
Ian hasn't quite finished his yet, but here are Dallin's (made by Mom as a demo) and Erin's owls.
Dallin will not be using his as a pincushion--his is strictly a stuffed toy.

The Sonoran Desert in February

A couple of our hibernating lizards have been found above ground the past couple of weeks. This is probably due to our disturbing them to change transmitters. It has been warm here, however, getting into the high 70's during the day, and the ants have been active.

April dug out T5 to change his transmitter today. He was the only one who had not been disturbed yet out of the 5 tagged FTHLs. Here he is, blinded by the sun which was angled right on his burrow.

 

Ever wonder what happens to helium balloons that are lost or released into the sky? This bright red one added a nice color contrast to the flowering creosote.

 

Let's Go Fishing! NOW!!!

One of Kevin's New Year Resolutions is to spend more time in the great outdoors. Another Saturday had nearly passed with no more outdoor activities than cleaning the pool. So at 4:00 he announced that he was going to go fishing, and if anyone wanted to come, they'd better be quick. Megan, Ian, and Dallin joined him on an excursion to Fortuna Pond. (Erin was too busy playing down the street at her friend's house, and April had to work on her Sharing Time Lesson, the topic of which--ironically--was about God's creations.)

A Great Blue Heron

that was not very shy

 

Kevin kept busy taking photos of the children fishing and helped bait hooks and untangle lines. Everyone started out using bait, except Megan, who chose to use a lure. Within a few minutes, Megan hooked a huge fish which broke her line and made off with the lure. That prompted Ian to change to a spinner as well.

Random Interjection: 

This family had brought their Christmas tree out to burn it,

apparently a long-time family tradition for many Yumans.

Ian with his prize catch:

A (Nearly) FOUR POUND TILAPIA !

(Which also happened to be the only fish that was caught)

Interestingly enough, it somehow happened to get hooked on the bone below its eye.

The unfortunate fish on the family's cutting board,

ready for filleting

Yum! Cooked and ready to eat!

Dallin ate the most, believe it or not.

Baptism Towels

In the Yuma 2nd Ward, the Primary gives out towels to the 8-year-old children who are going to be baptized. As part of April's job serving in the Primary, she gets to purchase the towels and prepare them with a ribbon and message. In her online search for an appropriate poem, she came across this tutorial for making a CTR towel (Choose the Right). So, what was supposed to be a quick job printing out 10 copies of a poem and tying it to 10 towels turned into a Saturday afternoon project wherein she adapted the tutorial a little (zig-zagging around the edges of the shield and letters instead of just stitching close to the edges) and completed 5 of the towels while ignoring all other responsibilities for the day. But it was a lot of fun, and the towels turned out super cute!!!