November 2021

 

November brings birthdays for Jen and Gray (and Mom!) and Thanksgiving. Beyond birthdays and holidays... 

• Landon and Sol finished up their Mexico trip, celebrating "Day of the Dead" while they were there. They made it over for the big meal on Thanksgiving, and for birthday cake on the big days.
• Cal and Kate got over Covid, and got their sense of smell/taste back. They did some dog-sitting and hit the Van Gough exhibit.
• Tepanyaki ... is our go-to celebratory dinner, which we sandwiched in between the birthdays.
• There was some laughing as some of us (Gray/Jen, Landon/Sol & Keaton) went downtown to see the comdedian Hasan Minhaj.
• Oven issues ... lead to some burned bread, but luckily "turning it off and on again" seemed to reset things without a repair. 
• Got screwed ... screw in a tire, but we are spoiled with an in-house air-compressor and fast service from Discount Tire. 
• Work Shifts ... Keaton never committed to electrical like Cal has, and he has taken a step back with that job, no longer a team-leader with a van (which does open up a needed spot in the driveway) and now works on Cal's crew. This was partially because he wanted to return to Nike for some holiday shifts. And some holiday shopping discounts. Mostly for the discounts I think. 
• Sadies ... Colton had his first official "date" to Sadie Hawkins (school dance). 
• Jump ... Keaton had his 50th (and final for the season) jump out of a plane.
• Kitties ... our kitties have recovered from their vet visit last month. Now they are super jealous as Coop spends a little time giving food and love to a wandering neighborhood kitty that has been stopping by with regularity.
• Still playing Pokemon Go ... Jen is more active than Cooper and actually passed him up.
• Basketball ... Cal played in a weekend tournament with buddies, and ... Colton made the high school team. Not that there was really any question there. He's a sophomore, but will only play JV and Varsity this year. They had their first game the last day of November (JV highlights HERE, and he made his first points in a Varsity game, he was the only non-senior to get any playing time). 

Now it's the countdown to Christmas. We DO have the tree up, although it's not decorated yet ... 

Thanksgiving - 2021 AND Years Past

Thanksgiving 2021 ... Ironically, we had a bigger crew for Thanksgiving dinner last year, right when Covid concerns were running really high. Clayton's family had just recovered from their Covid cases ... so we actually felt fairly safe gathering together as they hosted. This year, Clay and Ana with with in-laws, so Olivia joined us as we had a small Blackham family dinner. 

We had the married kids ... and three vegetarians, so in addition to regular turkey (which Grayson brined, then stuck in the sous vide, then browned) we had some Tofurky. Callahan gave it a thumbs up. Salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls. Lots of drinks ... I actually didn't get the turkey cookies made in time for Thanksgiving (I think we had some "pie in a pan" Cool Whip dessert) but made them the day after. 

... I realized I hadn't done a Thanksgiving post last year, or the year before, or the year before that (I had made a post about 2016 when Grayson prepared quite the feast and 2014, when Clay&Courtney hosted). So here's a peek at some of the past Thanksgivings ...

Last Year ...

Courtney and Clay were hosting in their new house (next door to their old one). Gray was on  turkey (some in the Sous Vide, some smoked) and Landon made the rolls.  I made  stuffing, jello cubes and my "pie in a pan" cool whip dessert. Dinner was yummy. We ate, then the kids went downstairs to play Jackbox while the adults talked. Some financial stuff with Olivia.  Milo the dog is HUGE, and was trying to eat everything, and did some tricks which made everyone laugh. Dessert, then home.

... and the year before that was at our house, small crew. 

First Thanksgiving without Maga.

The day before Thanksgiving there were some blizzard conditions. Landon and Sol had just flown in from Mexico (and had a scare at the airport when Sol's paperwork was taken for additional questioning). Keaton stocked up at Nike (employee 50% discount) and Cal and Kate's hamster died. Hubs had the turkey brining in a bucket on the front porch ... the mail lady wasn't quite sure what to make of that. 

We were ready for a calm Thanksgiving day. It was small, as Gray's family was taking turns with the in-laws and Cal&Kate were with her family. Sol had to work, so Landon came and grabbed the littles and they went to a movie while Gray and I prepped the meal. I got the rolls going, sticking them in Keaton's room with a small heater as the day was quite cold. Gray got the turkey on the smoker and prepped the potatoes. Sol ended up getting off work early and was able to join us, and Keaton had invited a couple of his friends to come as well. It was a very laid back Thanksgiving day. Landon, Sol and the two little went to another movie after dinner.  Keaton headed into his "Black Friday" shift at Nike ... but he didn't make it there without incident. It was NOT how we wanted our Thanksgiving day to go (Toyota Truck Totaled). The end of 2019 was rough ... and then came 2020. Oye!

... and 2018

Thanksgiving at Maga's house ... cute decor and disposable dishes. LOTS of food and a chocolate fountain.  Aunt Olivia was recovering from a bad tooth infection and could barely talk, eating was hard too. Landon brought a bunch of dice and we had a big 10-person game of Pirate after dinner (should I mention that I won?) Then it was movie time as most of the crew headed out to "Ralph Wrecks the Internet". 

2017.. we hosted (Clay&Courtney went with her side of the family)

Thanksgiving was on November 23 ... I remember my rolls didn't rise (it was cold!), the prime rib was done early and the turkey was taking longer than expected. Added Brazillian cheese rolls to the menu and could have used double (or triple) ovens. Sent home leftovers with family and still had plenty for us too. 

2016 was at our house, and Grayson went all out with a few turkeys done up in different ways. 2015 the whole Blackham clan went downtown to GrandAmerica for the buffet there for Thanksgiving. 2014 was hosted at Clay and Courtney's house. 2013 it was at Pammy's, 2012 it was at Clay and Courtney's and Gray deep fried a turkey. Probably at Pammy's every year before that ...

 

Keaton - Jumping From Planes

 

This last year, Keaton decided jumping out of planes would be a fun activity. He'd done it once before, a tandem jump (strapped to an instructor) a couple years ago. He did that again, then took steps to jumping on his own. Many Saturdays and Sundays were spent in Tooele at the airfield and up in the air. He even got Landon to jump once! He invested in his own helmet and gear. He'd share videos and recap the experiences for me when he returned safely home. Below, is his write up, and one of the videos showing some of the tricks/skills. One thing he said many don't realize is how LOUD it is, with the wind whipping by as you free fall.

I first jumped out of a plane in 2019 with one of my buddies for his birthday (see that experience HERE). We both loved it so much, and it resonated with me for two years until I finally looked into it more,  seeing how I could get more involved. It was surprisingly easy. 

I took a short ground school class where they taught you all of the basics and after that, you’re good to start jumping! I did another training tandem so I could pilot the parachute and remember the feel for what it’s like up there... and then after that you just put on a suit and a rig and you’re good to go. 

You have to complete about 13 jumps accompanied by an instructor who assigns you maneuvers to do while free falling. If you successfully do them and maintain control, you pass and move onto the next category. CatA is focused on stability, altitude awareness, good form, and practice touches. CatB is team turns and forward movement with instructors latched. Then I took a recommended course at iFly where I got 15 minutes of freefall time, which is similar to 15 jumps. This helped a lot with my form and stability. CatC is most of what CatA is except the instructors let go and you maintain your form by yourself (this is the hardest for most people, me included). After C is where the fun begins. Solo exits (no instructor latched) from this point on. D1 and D2 are 90, 180, and 360 degree turns. E1 and E2 are difficult maneuvers like front flips, back flips, and barrel rolls to prove recovery and stability. CatF has two parts: one is tracking (I call it Iron Man flying) where you move in the air to gain horizontal distance and the second is Hop n Pops. Normally we’re jumping out 13 thousand feet in the air with almost a minute of free fall in contrast to a hop n pop where you jump out at 5 thousand feet and pull your parachute about 5 seconds of leaving the aircraft. This is to practice the emergency exit procedure in the event of an aircraft malfunction. You can do them for fun, though. I love hop n pops. Then G1, G2, and CatH are all focused on docking (linking up with another person in the air). These are all pretty tricky because where you go and how you fall in the air is all dependent on your form and maneuvers. Lastly is the check dive or graduation jump. In this one, you combine nearly all of the maneuvers in previous categories into one jump. After you’ve completed your check dive, AFF classes, student status requirements, written test, and 25 jumps, you should be able to receive your A license which allows you to jump with any other licensed jumper. I was able to get 50 jumps in this year and I couldn’t be more grateful. There’s only going to be more to come.

Here's a peek at some of the video ...

https://youtu.be/SpLwsoy553k