Thatcher Eagles 42 -- Morenci Wildcats 6

Jacob's pick-six to end the game -- the last touchdown scored by the Thatcher Eagles in their regular season. Playoffs coming up next on Friday vs. St. Johns at St. Johns.

Eagle Football -- The Season Begins

You can sense it from the lengthening shadows leaning northward to the shortening of the days and the moderating of the temperatures -- fall is in the air. And so are the footballs.

Jacob's Thatcher Eagles took the field for the first time this season last night -- even though it was only a scrimmage against Tombstone Yellow Jackets. Here are some pictorial highlights...

No score was kept, but the coaches seemed satisfied with the effort. The season begins in earnest next Friday night with the first game. Not sure of the opponent.

This is Jacob's last hurrah on the gridiron so he's hoping to make the most of it. He should see more playing time on offense and defense. It's anyone's guess how the team will do this year.

Here I am, in all my backside glory. Spencer shot this image at our recent Hansen Family Reunion on Mt. Graham. You can see the camp kitchen you all gave me for Christmas. It was great fun to use, very easy to set up, very efficient, and carried a great deal of the the "Wow" factor for those who were at the family reunion. It solidified my reputation as a "serious camper." Thank you all again, for the great gift.

The family reunion was a lot of fun but also a lot of work. I was in charge of providing the camp location and set up and for some of the activities. Everything went off without a hitch except for some rain we received Wednesday (before the event actually began) that soaked a lot of our sleeping bags and tents.

The actual reunion ran Thursday through Saturday. I went up on Tuesday to lay claim to a camping site. Mom and I had taken a scouting trip up the mountain a couple of weeks earlier and decided that Snow Flat was the best place. It is a three or four-acre meadow near the top of Mt. Graham with a small pond at the lower end. There was a large group already there when I arrived Tuesday afternoon, so I went around a bit of a hill toward the lower end of the meadow and set up the camp in a lovely spot under a canopy of Ponderosa pines and douglas fir trees.

I was there alone Tuesday evening and night and used the time to set up a couple of tents, the kitchen area and arrange the campfire area.

In the morning I finished with the set up and then went back down the mountain to pick up Jan and the rented Port-o-Potties and do the shopping for the food items that needed to be on ice. It rained on the mountain before we were able to return and I had not put the rain flys on the tents, thus the soaked sleeping gear.

Spencer and Anna arrived Wednesday night so it was just the four of us for dinner and evening campfire. That was nice. On Thursday other family members starting arriving. The list of attendees...

Grandma and Grandpa Hansen

Kathy Johnson

Susan Abbott

Christie, Russ and Christian Frandsen

Mark Hansen

Julie and Lizzy Early

Joseph Abbott and his triplets

Spencer and Anna

And Sally

Thursday was mostly gathering and talking. We had a good dinner of your Mom's famous Mexican food. She is quite a fantastic Mexican food chef.

Friday we toured the telescopes which was fun and impressive to the visitors. Saturday there was a shooting range -- Joseph Abbott and I were the range masters -- and a t-shirt painting workshop taught by Lizzy Early. Both were a lot of fun.

Then as rain was threatening again, we packed up our stuff and drove the winding road back to Thatcher. Julie and Lizzy stayed with us in Thatcher Saturday night and then drove back to Phoenix Sunday morning to catch a flight back to Portland.

I think everyone who attended the reunion had fun. The weather was perfect. There were no mosquitos, only a skunk that took a liking to my kitchen area. He/she visited us just about every night.

Mt. Graham is really quite a great place to get away from the desert's summer heat. Within forty-five minutes one can be in an alpine setting amidst firs, pines and aspen.

Mom is now in Utah visiting her mother and sisters -- and Whitney's family, I think. She has been quite the traveler this summer with trips to Washington earlier this year, Iowa and now Utah. I've been "stuck" here in Thatcher for the duration, but I don't mind. I miss Mom when she's gone, however.

I registered for the Tour de Tucson this past week to ride with Spencer, Anna and a few members of Anna's family. It sounds like we will have quite a group. That puts added pressure on me to do well so I've stepped up my training rides. I rode more than 400 miles in July--a pace I will need to maintain to get in the shape I want.

Jacob made it through football camp and now gets into regular two-a-day practices until school begins. Sally seems to be adjusting slowly to her new situation.

Life moves on.

Love.

Dad

You probably recognize the picture as the spines on a saguaro cactus. These particular spine clusters are found on the saguaro in the front of our house.

I like "pattern pictures" and seem to take a lot of them. I think I may start getting enlargements of some of them printed for framing and displaying in my "office" (read spare bedroom) here at home.

We've been enjoying some delicious moments of monsoon type rain the last few days and some increased humidity. Of course, we don't get Iowa-type humidity of 99 or 100 percent like I've seen on recent Iowa City weather reports. Percentages in the 40s and 50s are typical for summer monsoon days here in the desert -- maybe sometimes in heavy rain conditions getting up to the 60s and 70s. But then it dries out again when the storm passes and then builds up for the next afternoon's showers.

My grass, as Whitney and her kids can attest, turned out nicely. It seems to be growing way too fast, however, which might be the result of the fertilizer I used when I planted. I've had to mow it every second or third day. I believe I will cut back on the sprinkling schedule to see if I can slow it down a bit. But it's thick and green and a joy to walk and play on. The local wildlife seem also to like it -- rabbits, quail families, other birds and our ever-present desert chipmunks.

I've just finished an audio series of Hugh Nibley talks entitled "Time Vindicates the Prophets." It is available through the BYU bookstore. I highly recommend it. I have been listening on my iPod as I travel for my work and also as I ride my bicycle. It is a series of talks given by Nibley in the late 50s (I think) that were broadcast on Sunday evenings on KSL radio. There are, perhaps, 20 or so talks, each about 15 minutes long. He touches on various aspects of religious and philosophical history as it relates to the early Christian church, later evolutions of the church influenced by philosophy and how those developments compare with the restored gospel and latter-day prophets. They are worth the time to listen. Nibley is amazing in the depth and breadth of his knowledge of early history and philosophy.

We so enjoyed having Whitney, Ethan, Jackson and especially Sophie here with us for a week. We hope they had fun and found the trip worth the time and effort. Mom can never get enough of her grandkids of course and is now planning a trip to Iowa to visit Erin. That will complete her trifecta of visiting Rachel earlier this year, having Whitney here in Thatcher this past week and then going to Iowa to visit the three Tingey grandkids. She's a great Nana, don't you all think?

I've been enjoying getting back into the biking habit. I made a few changes to my bike this season which has made it quite a bit more comfortable for me. I've suffered from various kinds of neck and wrist pain the past and the slightly different riding position I now have is helping to minimize that.

This is a beautiful time of year here in the Gila Valley. The lush green cotton fields, the white billowy summer clouds in the blue sky and the afternoon thunderstorms dancing around Mt. Graham compensate for the warmer (hotter) days and evenings. Mornings are still cool, however.

Keep yourselves safe and well.

Love,

Dad