Humanitarian Aid Projects

The Yuma 2nd Ward Relief Society spent the months of June and July making 75 burrito babies (soft dolls in blankets) and some quiet books to donate as toys for the Humanitarian Aid program for our Church. We spent a couple of evenings working together on the babies, and the quiet books we made on our own.

Here is my 10-page quiet book. Each page took an average of 4 hours (or was it 5?), but it was a lot of fun to make and gave me a good excuse to ignore the remaining boxes that I haven't unpacked yet. I got several ideas from the Internet--it's amazing how many ideas are out there--and modified them with supplies that I had on hand. 

 Peek-A-Boo

This was the least creative, but the easiest to put together.

Dallin enjoyed doing it. (He and Erin were good critics.)

Go Fishing!

Catch the fish by unbuttoning them and putting them in the net.

Fly the Rocket

Slide the rocket up and down the ribbon.

Count the Beads

Match the Shapes

Note: The snaps were a pain to sew.

Drive the Car

The car button is attached with a ribbon 

and can be "parked" in the tan garage for storage.

Pick the Apples

Apples are attached with velcro and can be pulled off and put in the basket.

Tie the Shoelace

We didn't have a clean extra shoelace on hand, 

but Ian let me use some of his paracord.

Barn and Animals

I thought this was the cutest!

Finger puppet animals sit inside a pocket behind barn doors.

Cat's Collar

Buckle and unbuckle the collar on the cat.

This was my very own, original design, and I was happy with 

how it turned out. I did get the collar at Dollar Tree.

 

I figured if I start making quiet books now for my grandchildren, 

I might have them done by the time I actually have grandchildren!

(Or maybe I should get back to trying to finish unpacking...)

Kit Fox Find

This morning we were setting up a new Mark/Recapture plot for our FTHL surveys for next week. As April was walking along her flag line, she found a kit fox den. Kit foxes are predators of FTHLs, so we mark den locations when we happen upon them.

This is what peeked out from the den entrance as April stood there recording a GPS coordinate!

How cute is that face???

It appeared rather curious and looked out a little further, with April still standing right next to the den entrance.

It was too exciting to keep all to herself, so she called to Kevin and the other guy helping us to come over.

We backed away a little further from the den to see what the little critter would do next.

He stared at us, came all the way out, sat down, and continued watching us.

We continued watching him.

He turned around.

He walked a few meters away from the entrance.

He definitely wasn't too shy!

Love those desert-adapted ears!

Then we became too boring for his liking, and he retreated back to the safety of the den.

Ever Feel Like You're Being Watched?

Using the "outdoor facilities" in a flat, barren landscape is challenging enough

when working in a group; but when you're on a military range, 

you never know what kind of dummies may be watching...

Technology is Tiring

Apparently Dallin and Kevin simultaneously got worn out 

working on the iPod and computer, respectively, 

and needed to take a nap.

More Nighttime Adventures

Hyrum's parents were sad they missed out on the last evening trip to the desert, so they asked if they could come along the next time we went. They are both school teachers, Hyrum's dad is into birding, and they like the outdoors. We were surprised that they had never played in the desert south of Yuma, however, since they are long-time residents. We were glad we could enlighten them as to where to go to catch scorpions.

This is the crazy group of children who accompanied us.

We traded Dallin for Zach for the evening, thinking that D-boy 

might like playing with Zach's 2-year-old sister at her house across the street.

Ian caught his first Shovel-nosed Snake of the season!

 

April also caught one, and Kevin found a Flat-tailed Horned Lizard to show everyone.

We don't have pictures of those or the sidewinders we encountered, or of Hyrum's parents.

Oh well...

For some reason, we do have photos of scorpions again.

 

We also tried to call in a kit fox and scanned the area with a spotlight, but had no luck.

We only saw cute little kangaroo rats hopping about, but it was a successful outing, nonetheless.

Mormon Battalion Museum Trip

Sweet husband Kevin took April's place doing lizard surveys on Saturday so that she could go with the Yuma 2nd Ward Relief Society on a trip to the Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego. This was renovated just a couple years ago or so. April's great-great grandfather, Captain James Brown, was a member of the battalion, and we have a record about him that Grandma Brown compiled as part of our family history.

The ladies met at 7:00 a.m. and arrived at the museum for a tour around 10:00 a.m.

A missionary led us through the tour, 

which is mostly an audio-visual presentation. 

Jasmin got to dress up like a battalion soldier in the general store.

This is a copy of Levi Hancock's journal, including sketches of the San Diego area when they arrived.

Some more artifacts...

Adobe brick making display outside

At the end of the tour, you get your photo taken. 

It was a bit tricky to fit all 12 of us in the frame, but we managed.

We ate a picnic lunch afterwards and then returned to Yuma by mid-afternoon.

It was a fun women's outing!