I love the end-of-the year collage ... but it is a bit of a challenge to try and fit so many of the memorable moments from the past year. On a world stage, Covid continued to be a concern, but vaccines became available and everyone in the family got immunized. Cal&Kate still caught it though. The Olympics (postponed from 2020) were held in China. In the US, Biden's presidency became official, although the day was marred by insurrection. Closer to home, there was a small plane crash (several fatalities) less than a mile from our house (there have been a few crashes with Airport 2 so close by). To recap the year for the Blackham Bunch ...
- Work: Symphony, and thus Grayson, stayed super busy. Landon shifted into a salaried position and Sol switched her career course. Cal and Keaton continue with Camsen, with Keaton returning to Nike for a short time as well (work ... and shopping with a discount!). Coop shifted from a substitute to a set shift, working a couple hours each afternoon.
- Weather: At the start of the year some "dirty" snow fell, coating cars and backing up car washes. Despite a few big rains that would fill up the retaining basin at Constitution Park (or Constitution Lake as it were) and had Gray out covering the window wells, much was said about the drought. Water levels at the Pineview were down and the waverunners didn't make it to the lake. There were some smoky skies, strong smelling, producing spectacular sunsets.
- Home Sweet Home: Started the year with new couches. Had to replace the router, which meant reconnecting everything wifi. Oven issues ... had some burned bread, and then the microwave went out. Repair was backed up, so we just replaced. Had to replace the water heater as well ... glad to have Grayson's connections! Got a Tesla charger installed ... and a Tesla ordered. Gray set up his dream office space & storage... home sweet away from home.
- Getaways: Gray had a lot ... Seattle three times (once himself, once with the family, once with Keaton and Coop). Several trips to St. George and Moab for RZR riding. The dunes, Bear Lake and Wendover weekends too. He and Keaton went to SanFran and Hawaii with Kolby and Jami. Landon and Sol went to Mexico twice, and Cal and Kate had some St. George trips, and also went to Arizona and Hawaii.
- FOOD: So much food! Jen was given some sourdough starter and went a little sourdough crazy! Baking bread multiple times a week, making pizza dough, pretzels, doughnuts, crepes. Gray added to his kitchen tools with a new, bigger Blackstone grill and a Komodo Joe ... adding the pizza oven attachment. While Tepanyaki is still a favorite restaurant, Grayson mastered most of the meal ... fried rice, shrimp (even tossing it to the boys), salmon. Tons of steak, lots of brisket and ribs and pulled pork. Asparagus and fried green beans. Cheese puffs and cheese dips. Chocolate Lava cake. Bacon wrapped chicken became a new family favorite this year. We discovered a couple new kinds of popcorn.
- Basketball: Colton finished up his freshman year, played a ton in the spring and summer with multiple teams. Had a few travel tournaments (St. George, Las Vegas). Made the team again his sophomore year and made his first varsity points. There was a change in coaching and a tragedy too. Callahan played in several leagues throughout the year. Jen even went to a few of the games and made videos like in his younger years. Cooper even played Junior Jazz ... or is it Senior Jazz, (as they are all seniors).
Other random memories from 2021 were ... Tax Time, which was a little more complicated after selling Maga's house the year before. We owed big time (not because of that though). Vet Visit for both kitties, got some dental work done. Pokemon Go made a comeback with Cooper ... who then got Jen hooked! Pickleball summer. Playing games, watching movies. Annual Westra Father's Day, and a big Blackham Bash at Top Golf. There was a drive to see the fall leaves, a comedy show downtown, Thanksgiving hosted at the Blackham home, a Cash Cube for Christmas, and memories of our monarch. #voilaapp :)
That's the recap by topic, here's what each individual was up to ...
- Grayson: Lots of work, still some time to play. No waverunner fun this year due to the drought, but several weekends of travel and RZR riding. New office/storage. Lots of time in the kitchen/garage making meals to spoil the family. He made dinner more than Jen!
- Jen: There was continued success with weight-loss ... until around May. That's about the same time Jen got the sourdough starter, not sure if there is a correlation there? The second half of the year was NOT good weight-wise, with what was lost being found again. Still Zumba-ing three times a week and working out in the home gym. Got off-track on the blogging, and got a little obsessed with Pokemon-Go. Still listening to audiobooks all the time, you can see all her books here.
- Landon & Sol: A couple trips to Mexico, a new car, work changes ... Landon wrote up a summary of their year, and you can find it here.
- Callahan & Kate: A trip to Hawaii and other getaways. Kate graduated from the U. They were the first in the immediate family to get Covid. You can see Kate's full write up here.
- Keaton: There was a LOT of jumping out of planes for Keaton this year! He also built a 9-square set and had a couple memorable trips. Keaton wrote up his year, you can see it here.
- Cooper: Finished up his junior year and started as a senior in the fall, still online at Mountain Heights. Got his learner's permit and practiced a little, driving home from work. Still cleaning at TerraLinda five days a week (moved to morning for summer). Lots of pickleball, ping pong and Pokemon Go. Active in the home gym ... had a 45k day on his Fitbit. He'd won in Fantasy Football for two years straight ... alas, 2021 wasn't his year (but Uncle Kolby kept the title in the family).
- Colton: Finished up his freshman year at Joel P and started as a sophomore at West Jordan High. Going from just a few hours in person in the mornings to FULL days (as he would go early and stay late). Got his learners and took driver's ed and was SO close to getting his license right after his birthday, but couldn't quite fit the final test in, so it got pushed back a month (and into 2022). Very social with school activities and went to a couple dances. So. Much. Basketball.
So ... I think that wraps up 2021. For more details there were individual updates every month here on the blog and sent out in family emails.
Here's the One Second Every Day compilation ...
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