So Long Thatcher...

The day has come.  My parents have sold my childhood home of 23 years and are upgrading to a bigger and better home in Utah.  I thought my last chance to go home was back in June, but fortunately I was blessed with a tender mercy and had 5 days in a row off from work-- that NEVER happens!  Aaaand, Stephen got to come with so I got to show him my roots.  I introduced him to the Diamondbacks, Thatcher High School, EAC, the Gila River, what cotton looks like, breadsticks at R&R Pizza, green chile meat & flour tortilla chips at Casa Manana, Red Knolls, Mt. Graham, my brother, a few of my high school friends, and PLENTY of ward people very excited to meet him.  Not to mention we helped my parents pack up the house and load the U-haul.  Try cramming that into 2 and 1/2 days!  I thought we did pretty good!  My parents left the very next day with a tightly packed U-Haul with a goodbye to our empty house.

I honestly don't know when I'll ever be back to Thatcher, but I am sure going to miss it!  It was a wonderful place to grow up and all of my experiences and interactions there shaped me into who I am today.  And for that I will forever be grateful.

And mostly importantly and despairingly, I made my last and final purchase of Mi Casa tortillas... my life will never be the same again.

Thatcher

The beginning of June, I drove home to Arizona for a few days since Sonya and Tyler were going to be there for a week and my parents are moving so it was my last chance to go home, ever...

On the way, I stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town, just 10-15 minutes off the freeway in Phoenix.  I can't believe we had never been there before as a family on MANY of our day trips to Phoenix.  It was a cute little tourist attraction with restaurants, shops, and mine tours.

The next couple days in Thatcher were spent eating at our favorite restaurants-- R&R Pizza and Casa Manana, as well as going to Frye Mesa-- man made lake at the base of Mt. Graham and on the top of a giant mesa.  We spent the afternoon swimming and jumping off the wall of the dam.

And PLENTY of time was spent sorting through junk, getting rid of stuff, and packing up the memorable items.  Goodbye Thatcher...

Thatcher, Arizona......

....one place where you can have one hick of a time!  Haha, thanks to my bro-in-law for coining that unforgettable phrase.  There's no place like home.  I love coming back to Thatcher to visit and all the memories it brings back.  I hadn't been back since last Christmas!  That's the longest it's ever been.....

We had a grand 'ol time.  Not to mention the weather was FAB...... sunny & fairly warm.  Our adventures included the following....

Delicious breadsticks at R&R Pizza, shredded beef tacos at Casa Manana, burros at La Casita

Drive through back country dirt roads.  Who knew there would still be cotton in December??

Frozen hot chocolates at DQ..... one of the few locations left that have them

Mom's famous tacos for Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas Day church

Trying out our new quillows (handmade by Mom) on Christmas morning

Hike to the top of one of the mesas

Beautiful view of Mt. Graham

Wouldn't be a trip to the Gila Valley w/out some excitement at Safford Bowl

And of course, stockpiling my supply of tortillas for the next few months

Drive up Mt. Graham

Thatcher Reception

Sonya and Tyler's reception was AMAZING!! Sonya had come up with all of these ideas from looking at various blogs so we put them all together and the final result turned out much better than expected. Her colors were Tiffany Blue and Yellow with a hint of green and pink. Here are some pictures from Erik Loño, my bro-in-law, with his artistic eye. Probably one of the best receptions Thatcher has ever seen! The time flew by too quickly chatting and catching up with old family friends. It was so good to see everyone again!

The Gila Valley Temple Dedication

Yep, there's now a temple in my hometown. The desert of the Gila Valley now boasts gorgeous temple walls surrounded by fields and fields of equally beautiful white as snow cotton (well, only in the Fall that is, but who's telling?) Elise and I flew home for the dedication.

Saturday night was the TCC, or Temple Cultural Celebration, which they apparently have for each temple dedication. We unfortunately didn't get to go to it live at the football field, but watched a broadcast of it at the Stake Center. It was fun and entertaining, but also a bit cheesy. Lots of song and dance to tell the history of the Gila Valley - cotton farming, coal mining, Gila Valley Academy (now EAC), Spencer W. Kimball, the mormon battalion, etc. Pres. Monson opened with a few words and he and President Eyring actually sang a Spanish song. They are quite the pair!

Sunday was the actual dedication and I'm super glad that we were there for it. My mom, dad, and Elise got be inside the temple for it and Sonya, Tyler, and I just watched the broadcast from the Stake Center. It was really nice. Elder Holland gave a fantastic talk among others. President Monson is quite the character! He was outside for the cornerstone sealing and just chattin it up with everyone. He said they were expecting him inside, but he was having too much fun outside :) Unfortunately, we never got to see him in person, but nevertheless it was a lovely weekend.

In addition Elise and I threw Sonya yet another bridal shower (her third one to be exact).

In the Salt Lake Airport on the way home we saw Elder Bednar, Elder Cook, and Elder Gonzalez. They were on the escalators just in front of us. That was my first Apostle sighting! Closer than the Conference Center that is. Perfect ending to a perfect weekend with perfect weather - 90 degrees and sunny! (Might I just add it snowed all day in Utah the following day. Yuck!)

Holiday Hooligans

Yes, I like alliteration. That's the best I could do..... If you have something better, you're the winner! :) It was a fun holiday down in AZ. Surprisingly it was a white Christmas. Yes, you heard me right..... A white Christmas in Arizona?! What the...? This picture tells the story. There were nothing but clouds the whole time except for a few days (like 2. argh) blissfully sunny days. I'll take what I can I guess.

The holiday hooligans consist of: myself (of course!), Elise & Erik, Sonya & Tyler, Mom & Dad. Ryan & Maranda spent it with her family this year. Side note: they prefer not to be called by their nicknames anymore :( But that's less confusing for you!

It was a week of bike riding, mesa hiking, basketball playing,

guitar learning, gun shooting,

goodie eating,

game playing,

mexican eating,

tumbleweed carrying (see story below),

present opening,

walk taking,

pin bowling,

friend seeing FUN!

Sorry some of those didn't make too much sense...haha!

Fortunately I got to strap my bike to the top of Erik's car and enjoy the white weather :) I also attempted to learn to play the guitar. I learned all the chords for Wild World by Cat Stevens but struggled putting them all together smoothly. If anyone knows this chord, you get a prize (I'll dedicate a whole blog post to you. haha)!! I forgot what it is......

I also went to a few Thatcher High games at the EAC Holiday Tournament and even got be an "assistant coach" by association for one of the games. Wanted to learn from the best - Coach Henson! Now I know how to better equip my own team for the winning! Season games start next week. Yikes.....Bring it on!

Tumbleweed Story - not a must read, but very enjoyable none the less :)
So one day I was down at my Dad's office at the college working on semester grades when all of a sudden there's a knock at the door. What the heck? Who in the world is that?! I open the door and I can't even see out cause there's this GIANT tumbleweed blocking the whole door frame. So I just closed it and went back to work. A few minutes later, there's another knock. Well I just ignore it. By this point though, I'm afraid to admit, I was actually starting to get scared, like for real. Haha! So I called my dad just to tell him what was going on and then there's another few knocks with door knob jiggling. Aaaaaaah! I finally opened it getting ready to yell at whoever it was. I open it and there is Elise & Erik laughing heartily.....of course. Oh man, they had me good. I know they are dying laughing reading this right now, as they should be. Good one guys! You're too funny!