December 2022

 

December is done, and so is the year. December is dedicated to Christmas prep and the holiday itself - but let's not forget Colton's birthday and basketball. Landon got us interested in the World Cup, and we had the games on and were watching the finals.  Here's the recap for month ...

• Watching the Weather: There were a couple BIG snows ... the snowpack actually looks pretty good this year, already! One snowfall was "dirty" which coated the cars and required them all to get in to the carwash.
• Auto Issues: We were losing air in one of the Tesla tires ... nail in the tire. Again. Unrepairable. Again. Mentioned last month and this was the same situation (not a third one) but the diagnosis was the end of November, and the trip in for the replacement was this month (they didn't have it in stock, luckily it was a slow leak, and we have an air compressor in the garage). Had to take the Durango in to check the "check engine" light, but it didn't seem to be anything much. 
• Medical Moments: Grayson got in for his first colonoscopy - everything was fine. He's still been struggling with skin issues, had a biopsy and is trying some new medication now. Colton has a monster wart (it's named "Daisy") and while we got into the dermatologist this month, it's not a quick/easy fix. With basketball, Colton decided to wait and not risk anything interfering (more than it might already) with his fingers. Keaton has been struggling with carpal tunnel issues, and went ahead and had the surgery at the end of the month. We are hopeful that it will be worth it and he won't have problems with it anymore. With Jen's bonk at the beginning of the year, we hit our deductible and out of pocket, so went ahead with more doctor's visits than we might have otherwise. 
• Basketball: Colton's season is in full swing, with games Tuesdays/Fridays. The first three games away were losses, but then Colton had great games at home (tied the school record for most points in a single game, 37) and they won their first on the road on his birthday. They played three games over the Christmas break. Cal's men's league finished up their season, and they won the championship in OT! 
• Birthday: Colton turned 17 ... his birthday was on gameday, and we hardly saw him. He got his cake a couple days later, we took the picture ... I don't know if he even ate any. He got some WJ Basketball clothes for his birthday.
• Exercise: Gray took a picture of the Peloton at the Symphony work gym at Jen's request ... he's been enjoying it, so it needed to be documented. Jen continues to teach Zumba, several Christmas songs for the holiday season. The home gym gets a workout too from Cooper, Landon and Jen (all 24 Christmas movies featured were watched while walking on the treadmill).
• Work and Family Parties: Cal & Keaton had a work party with Camsen. Keaton needed to take a white elephant, and I pulled out the HUGE Crazy Frog doll I'd purchased years ago, for just such a need. He said it was a hit. We had the Blackham Bash on December18, with gingerbread house decorating and the cash cube again. On the Westra side, the gathering was on Christmas Eve and was held at the new house in Highland. Candybar game, calendars and slideshow per usual.
• Kitchen Creations: Jen continually makes sourdough, but did skip a week to prep for parties. You can see a little bit more about the December Desserts in their own blog post. Chex mix, swig cookies, brownies, rolls and breadsticks. Chicken noodle soup for both gatherings as well. 
• Blackham Christmas Pizza: Christmas gifts are always a bit of a challenge to people who already have everything they need/want. In previous years, Gray has been out buying last minute giftcards. This year, we just did cash ... but it was creative! Jen ordered some pizza boxes and Grayson took over from there, designing, folding and even adding "pepperoni" pieces. 

In past years, we've invited the folks out for games on New Year's Eve. The weather was iffy, and now that they have to travel much further, they elected to stay closer to home. We were pretty boring on December 31 ... the boys were watching TV, and Gray and Jen went to bed around 10.00. Zzzzzzzz.

Memorable Medical 2022

So ... 2022 wasn't the best year for the Blackham Bunch medically. I mean, we're all okay, things could definitely be worse, but "Blackham" style, it was a little heavy medically. We used our  insurance much more in 2022 than ever before.

I started things off in January ... knocked myself silly (determined later, after a second episode caught on camera, that it was a seizure), ambulance/ER, staples in the head (post HERE). One good thing from this event, is that we hit our deductible and out of pocket max during the first month, so everything medical for the rest of the year would be covered. 

There were several skin issues. Coop had some stuff going on with his hands. That's Gray's scaley ankle. Colton had some skin issues AND a crazy wart. Seriously, the wart had a name (Daisy) and couldn't help but appear in many pictures and was somewhat lovingly referred to as the basketball team mascot. Keaton had some skin stuff too.

Most of the skin issues eventually resolved, either with medication or on their own. Even Daisy disappeared (not until Spring 2023). But add in a couple ER visits for Grayson and Landon too (Landon has aged out of our insurance plan, so he didn't benefit from our maxed out medical), then a colonoscopy for Gray (he actually enjoyed the "nap" ... said it was the most rested he'd felt in a while!) On the positive side- he had successful weight loss in 2022, down 50 pounds!  A general physical for Keaton, hoping to address some skin and sleep issues. Slipped in carpal tunnel surgery for his wrist at the end of the year (horrible issues with the hospital/insurance ... still going on two years afterward). 

Covid was still around, so masks were still around too. 

I had several months of physical therapy for shoulder pain (from the fall?)

... hoping for less medical stuff in 2023!

November 2022

November ... Thanksgiving, birthdays, basketball, and a few other things going on. Here's a recap of the  month:

• Basketball: There were tryouts for high school basketball. Colton will be starting Varsity this year. They've been having practices, conditioning, fundraisers (chick-fil-a night night) and had their first game. Callahan is playing in a men's league on Wednesday nights too. 
• Birthdays: Grandma/Margie, Mom/Jen and Dad/Gray all have November birthdays. We got the traditional white cake with buttercream frosting from Sam'sClub (although it's no longer standard, you have to special order it) and had the folks over. We recreated a cute picture from 13 years ago and played some games. Gray had a lovely bouquet delivered. 
• Eating Out: The Westra side got together with all the adults for a dinner at Asian Star to celebrate Margie's 80th birthday. On the Blackham side, we went to Olive Garden for Ana's birthday. For a Jen/Gray birthday dinner, we went to Mountain Mike's for yummy pizza, breadsticks and mini churros. 
• Sadies: Colton and crew went to the school Sadie Hawkins dance. The theme was "Hollywood" and Colton and his date went as a Topgun couple. 
• Gray's Getaways: Grayson spent two weekends in St. George riding the red rocks in his RZR.
• Medical: Jen had her follow-up testing ... an MRI and an EEG. While neither was terrible, she doesn't really want to do either again (and glad to get them done this year when the deductible and out-of-pocket has been met). Keaton had a consultation for his wrist - carpal tunnel surgery is scheduled for next month. Gray got into the dermatologist to deal with a rash on his ankle. Colton had his annual physical (required for school sports). 
• Car Troubles: Colton's Charger had brake problems, shaking as he slowed. We were able to get it in for repairs (grateful to have Keaton's Corolla as a backup). A tire on the Tesla was losing air, again! We'd just replaced one of it's tires (not-repairable) a couple months ago, and the Durango had been in twice for nails in the tires. It's that new neighborhood under construction right by us! Like last time, the tire was not repairable and had to be replaced. 
• Ice Issues: The ice maker in the fridge likes to go on the fritz. It will stop making ice, for no apparent reason ... and then start up again. We've learned to just wait it out and are grateful for the pebbled ice maker downstairs. This month, the ice maker would pour water directly into the ice box. Our ice tools (pick and scoop) had been left in the tray and got completely encased in ice.
• Thanksgiving: We had a small family Thanksgiving. Check out the blog post for more on that.

We don't have any trees in our yard, but still manage to get piles and piles of leaves. Green waste pickup ends the last week in November, and we still had lots of leaves (currently piled up in the garden). Gray and the older boys indulged in a steamed artichoke ... and ironically, the next day, Jen's book had a character eating a steamed artichoke (described in detail). Funny how that happens. Landon went to a shooting range with buddies and has been really busy at work. LKL had a grand opening of their new location off Mountain View.  Gray and Keaton did a work activity handing out blankets to help the homeless, and the Westras (both Shane and Alicia, and Mom and Dad) made the move to the new Highland house, and Scott and Amy completed the sale and official ownership of the Havenmoor house. 

Here's the one second every day video ...

https://youtu.be/O16x_oGkf7g

October 2022

October was pretty busy with continued home improvements, basketball, family gatherings, food and a couple little trips. Here's the recap ...

• Master Bath: Gray and Landon tore out the master bath (tub/shower) and we now have a nice walk-in. The toilet was also replaced, with a higher seat and a bidet lid.
• Temperature: We had to turn on the heat!
• Leaves: Gray and I took another trip up to Butterfield Canyon, this time in the RZR. There is a separate post about the trip. UnbeLEAFable. And although we don't have any trees in our yard, there are still lots of leaves! The last "lawn mow" of the season was mostly leaves.
• Getaways: Gray, Keaton and Landon had a weekend in Moab, and Cal & Kate were road-tripping for a week (during SLCCs Fall Break, which was a week before Colton's). They started in St. George, then went to Tucson AZ for a few days. Then driving back through Vegas for a couple nights, and back to St. George, before heading back home. They were gone Oct14-23. 
• Family Gatherings: Wendy, Josh and Jenna were visiting during their Fall Recess, so there was an impromptu Westra family dinner at Red Robin for those who could make it. On the Blackham side, family got together on Oct16, acknowledging the absence of Pammy for three years now. Clay prepped mucho meat for gourmet tacos.  A little later in the month, there was a birthday gathering for Aunt Olivia. 
• Medical: Jen finally got into the neurologist (a follow up from her fall in January) and will have a couple of tests (MRI, EEG) next month.  Gray had a coronary calcium scan (just precautionary, checking out the arteries) and Keaton got some new medication for the rash on his arm. 
• Basketball: Colton had workouts with Metro, and Coach Scott throughout the month, and a few games with his Wolves team. Most of the fall games had been in Utah County, but there was a local tournament at Alta, so I went to watch and video. Here's the highlights  (game 1, game 2, game 3). Colton and his buddies also went to a Jazz game ... Colton drove.
• Pickleball: We got in a final game of outdoor pickleball before the weather changed, and we even got Keaton to join us finally!
• Food: New additions to the family menu ... chicken wings and roasted baby potatoes. I've been making fried chicken tenders in breading for quite a while, but tried battered tenders using simple sourdough starter - very yummy! We had Papa Murphy's pizza a couple times, and with Halloween this month, had to make pumpkin/jack-o-lantern cookies. 
• Palloween: Grayson's work has a "Palloween" for employees, and Grayson went as Walter White/Heisenberg.
• Halloween: We didn't get too many trick-or-treaters this year, even though it was a nice night weather wise. The kids are always happy to help out finishing up the candy. 

 That was October ... now, November!

Thanksgiving 2022

 

I've has been doing a lot of family history blogging for The Westra Way, and a visit to the folks house had me bringing home a big box of "family artwork" from the Westra siblings over the years. In it, there was found a creative "hand turkey" I made back in elementary school. There's a big box of Blackham Boy artwork as well, so looking through it, there were more examples of creative turkeys made by the boys. Fun how different they all are!

Thanksgiving morning started with Colton off to do some early morning training with the boy's basketball team. They ran the track at school, and they took a selfie! Yeah! I'm thankful for that! Grayson was busy prepping for the meal. One turkey breast in the sous vide, and another on the smoker. Injected with a yummy buttery solution before cooking. 

Grayson also makes the world's best mashed potatoes! Instead of making rolls from scratch this year, we elected to use the Beehive Lion's House rolls. They had been set out (in the fridge) the night before, and didn't raise as much as I would have thought. They still didn't seem to rise much, and I was a bit worried they weren't going to. After being stuck in a sunbeam, they got a jumpstart and were big and beautiful. I had made Jello cubes (no cranberry sauce, but these have a similar look, right?) and added basil carrots and simple stove top to the meal. Gray had picked up a HoneyBaked Ham ... not that we were lacking on food! Cool Whip dessert for after (my "pie" in a pan). Of course, since we have vegan K8 and Cal, we had some vegetarian options as well.

Grayson and Landon needed to lay down to rest and digest after the meal. I worked on some clean-up and the rest of the crew was up for some games. First up though, as they had been discussing Pokemon, I had mentioned it was too bad that they didn't fill their minds with all sorts of other facts (rather than Pokemon evolutions, attacks, regions, etc). I mentioned listing the presidents and the states on a map. That last suggestion peaked their interest for a contest to see who could get the most correct. I printed out some blank maps and everyone had five minutes to fill it in. 

Colton was the clear winner - completed first and fast, with everything correct. One could surmise he had a bit of an advantage, being in U.S. History currently in school, but Colton said they hadn't really talked about the states, and he hadn't really studied the states since elementary school. We reminisced a bit about the boy's 5th grade programs back at Terra Linda, with an "America" theme, and the song "50 Nifty United States". In fact, there was a post about it, and there's video! See it HERE. Then there were games. SET and CTM. It was a small, family Thanksgiving. We had our meal at 1:00, and Cal&K8 headed off to another Thanksgiving with her side of the family. 

There had been the annual turkey cookies early in the week also. 

Happy Thanksgiving!