We had the best time in Arizona! We didn’t go to Buckeye this time, my parents weren’t going to be there and we only had a few days away so we just went straight to Thatcher to spend as much time as we could with Grandma. It was the perfect time to go. The weather was beautiful! My boys played outside in Grandma’s back yard the entire time. Grandma looked really good. She does really well for being 97 years old! Such a sweetheart. She loved seeing the boys and having some company. She was worried about the boys forgetting her, but who could possibly forget Grandma?!? They talk about her all the time. It makes me so happy to know that my boys had the opportunity to know this jewel of a woman. I hope they treasure their time with her, I know I do!
Another fun thing about this time of year is the COTTON! It’s harvest time! This is the time of year they pick the cotton. It was so beautiful! All the white fields everywhere! It was so fun to see all the pickers in the fields and all the big bales of cotton. Took me back to my childhood when I would play in those for as long as my dad would let me. We took Grandma on a drive around the fields so she could see and we were able to catch Lance on one of the pickers in a field they planted for a study at the University. Will wanted to get in the picker with Lance but he had someone from the University in the cab with him. Maybe next time! Lance stopped and got out for a minute to talk to us and Will was so interested to know how it all works and probably more interested in how the picker runs from a satellite! lol! Will loves equipment! But really, he was so intrigued about the cotton that on our way home he looked at me and said, “I should have been a farmer.” I told him he was about 12 years too late! Dad’s already sold all of his farm land, unless he wants to learn about grapes! ha-ha! From the fields in Thatcher, we drove to Solomon to see the fields there and we ran into Adam in the truck and Uncle Denny in the tractor. We talked to Adam for a minute then decided to make our way back to Grandma’s house so she could have her nap. I got to thinking about it on the way back and I regret not having an appreciation for what my dad did all those years. I sure do now! That is really neat stuff! It makes me proud to come from a family that made such significant contributions to the farming industry, especially cotton, and helped it become what it is today. There have been six generations of Laytons that have farmed in Thatcher!
On our last day there, we went to lunch at Casa with Aunt Paula and Uncle Denny and that is always fun. Paula told us that she had a brand new tree house in her yard and invited the boys to come play. They were really excited about that! We headed over there that evening and the boys played more in the corn field than in the tree house! We picked a big box of corn to take home and then on the way out Paula told us to take a big 50 pound sack of pinto beans too! We can live on corn and pinto beans for the next year!!!!!! Thank you to Paula and Denny!
We really had a great time. I hope we can go again soon! I love it there!
With the beautiful Gila Valley Temple in the background!
Look at sweet little Mitch! This is the best picture!
We got a few shots of the beautiful scenery on the way home.
