September 2022

September 2022... it started with new concrete in the driveway, and ended with the demolition of the master shower. Home Improvement oh-oh-oh (think Tim the tool-man Taylor). There were some little get-aways, family fun, looking at leaves and a birthday.  The most momentous moment was Cooper getting his license!

• License to Drive: It's been a loooong road. We originally attempted getting a learner's permit before his sophomore year, but he didn't pass the test on the first try and wasn't up to a second attempt. We let it go. When it was time for Colton to get his learner's, I made an appointment for Coop too, and we did some group study. They both passed that time. Then, practice. Just the small roads, just to/from his work (very close by). He had to get his license by October 2022, or he'd need to re-take the written test. As the deadline grew closer, we pushed a little more. He had one session with a driving school, and then we arranged for a driving test with one of Cal's old coaches (who had given Cal his driving test back in the day). Coop passed! So the final step was a stop at the DLD. Now, Mom doesn't have to drive him to/from work. 
• Park City: Gray, Jen, Landon and Coop did a little Park City day, riding the lifts up looking at the leaves and enjoying the cooler temperatures the mountains provide. Jen got in some PokemonGo and left a pokemon in a "gym" there on the mountain, where it stayed for the next month and a half. Maybe I'll get a separate post up with additional photos/details of the day.
• Eating Out: We had a family dinner (Landon's birthday) at Cheesecake Factory, and a full cheesecake was Landon's birthday cake this year. There was a breakfast out at Virg's, and Olivia took Landon out for some Auntie time. 
• How Does Your Garden Grow: It's been harvest time! Tons of tomatoes, so many cucumbers, lots of zucchini. Several pumpkins, and a couple of them are really good sized! Our tomato plants got hit with tomato worms. We had a caterpillar conundrum as I brought a couple in, thinking we might watch them pupate into moths ... but they eat SO much, and there is so much poop. And then ... the lid was left a little open, and one of them disappeared. It was later found outside ... we're not exactly sure how that happened (did it escape through a door left open? did a cat carry it out?) but was glad it was found. The next hornworm went to a friend who has toads, who like to eat the worms for dinner. 
• Getaways: Gray had a weekend away in Moab with work buddies ... and this coincided with Cal and Keaton down there for their work. The guys did manage a meet up. Cal and Kate had a little overnighter camping trip with friends. Gray went to Oktoberfest with a friend.
• Homecoming: Colton and his basketball buds did a group date to the school homecoming. I did get Colton to give me a little write up. See it here (Homecoming Colton ~ Junior Year). We even let him show off by taking the Tesla.
• Looking at Leaves: Grayson LOVE Autumn! He took several rides in the mountains checking out the leaves, and then He and Jen went up Butterfield Canyon (to the West, close to home). 
• Family Fun: There have been lots of board games and card games per usual for the Blackham Bunch. Hackysack is another activity the boys enjoy. Pickleball has continued to happen each week. The Seattle Blackhams were in town, so we had a Blackham Bash, food and fun.
• Basketball and Football: Colton has been playing in a Fall league with his Wolves. Most of the games have been later Saturday nights, often a double header (8:00/9:00), and in Lehi ... so Jen hasn't been going to watch or video (but might get some footage from another mom). One game that was earlier (7:00) and closer to home (APA in Draper) had Mom and Landon cheering Colton on (they got an easy win). Colton has also been working out with Coach Scott, and we will be working with him for college recruitment possibilities,  and as the rest of the Wolves are seniors and won't be playing club ball next year, Colton signed on with Salt Lake Metro, and he'll play with them next Spring. We're all signed up with NBA League Pass to watch upcoming basketball games, but September ... was FOOTBALL. The NFL has started, and Coop is in a fantasy league again (with both Blackham Uncles). If there is football on ... Cooper is watching!
• K8's New Job: Kate was offered the Humanities and Social Sciences Career Coach position at SLCC. It comes with health benefits and a 401k and she's excited for the new challenge. 
• Lots of Landon: We've got to see more of Landon lately ... sadly, he and Sol have been struggling and to give space while they figure things out, Landon has moved back home. We've actually loved having him around again. ♥

So that's our September ... on to October!

Homecoming Colton - Junior Year

Colton didn't hit Homecoming his sophomore year, but as junior year started up, he and his basketball buddies were definitely doing the dance. The "ask" is always a bit stressful, coming up with a creative way to pop the question. Once he came up with an idea, he turned to Kate to help with the lettering (Kate has helped the boys with almost all of their dance ask/answers!)

So "Simply Lemonade" was was the theme Colton went with for the ask. The asking is different in this day and age ... seems like the girls know ahead of time (Colton's date was inside waiting and then came out for a picture). The answer was drink themed too ... Kool-Aid.  We still have a little Beta fish from Colton's prom answer back in April. 

Saturday, September 3, 2022 was the day of the dance.

Colton asked if he might take the Tesla, to make the date super cool. Grayson said okay.  Colton said he had a lot of fun, and even cooperated when I asked him to do a little write-up of the date:

I started off the homecoming day by picking up Cashlee in the Tesla and we made our way down to Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman. We met up with everyone else there, and started setting up some of the games we had. We had a couple of paddleboards, a large mat for the water, a crossnet, then the stuff that I brought (KanJam and a football). We spent a fun couple of hours there, took a group picture, then all headed back to our houses for a few hours until it was time to take pictures. During that time, I hurried and picked up my corsage. A little before 4:00, I headed to Cashlee’s house to pick her up for pictures. After putting on our corsage and boutonnière, we met up with everyone else at the picture sight at this little walkway across from Gardner Village. There we took our group pictures in some 90 degree heat.

The group consisted of me and Cashlee, Ethan and Emmalee, Carter and Christie, Steven and Abby, Daniel and Ashlyn, Kyle and Jovi, Zac and Abby, Tyler and Lexi, Drew and Avery, and finally Brody and Bryn. Pictures didn’t take too long and after about an hour, we all went to pick up some food to take back to Kyle’s house. Quite a few of us went to Costa Vida for food, and then arrived at Kyle’s to eat together. We had the Utes football game on the tv at the house. Dinner was a lot of fun and we just messed around a lot at the house with everyone. The dance started at 7:00, but no one wanted to get there nearly that early. At around 8:15, we finally left for the dance. We spent nearly two hours there and the whole thing is pretty much just a mosh pit so you get tired really quickly. It is still a lot of fun though, I entered the dance circle a couple of times, one time being really cool where Carter went into the middle of the circle and then I came in and jumped over him as the beat dropped. At 10:00, the dance ended and I was pretty glad to get out of there. Cashlee and I went and got some slurpees at the Maverick on 13th, then we all headed back to Kyle’s house to end the night. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the dance, so what we did was put on Creed II in the main basement and put on Top Gun: Maverick in a separate little movie theater room that Kyle has right next to the basement. Most of us stayed in the basement and watched Creed. I was crazy tired and was dozing off for a while then I definitely fell asleep for almost an hour. Cashlee woke me up around 12:15 and a lot of us left then because curfew for a lot of the girls was 12:30. So I took Cashlee home then got back to my house for the night.