2024 ~ Annual Look Back/Recap

 

I don't keep up on the blog as much as I should ... I got about 30 posts done during the year. Once upon a time I was attempting monthly updates. For the first half of 2024, I got several blog posts done about specific events. I got quarterly updates (plus some individual posts) for the last half.  I still like an annual wrap-up. The collage (above) and write-up (below) were created for the Westra side ...

Jen and Gray and their five Blackham Boys have had a busy year. In addition to the actual work with Symphony Homes, Gray heads up a monthly dinner for veterans and built the Bluey house out of boxes for a diaper drive. He ran several half-marathons and completed the Spartan. Jen continues baking sourdough, teaching Zumba and loving all things book related. She set up a Little Free Library in the front yard. Landon works with LKL Associates. He had surgery for a torn ACL but was back playing pickleball and even ran a half marathon. Cal supervises quality control for Camson Electric and his wife Kate works at SLCC. Their doggy Vera keeps them busy! Keaton moved from his basement apartment to a townhouse in Daybreak with roommates. He works with Cal at Camson and is continuing his electrical education. He is into skydiving, roller skating and cooking (Blackstone/SousVide). Cooper is working at DLP Unlimited. He slimmed down, ran a 5k and 10k and almost always leads the family in daily steps. He's obsessed with music and went to a couple of concerts. Colton had a great senior season as his basketball team swept region undefeated. He played in the state Allstar game and committed to play for Clackamas Community College. He is currently #1 in the NWAC for assists!

Going into a little more detail than in the Christmas Blurb ...

• Home Sweet Home: Three "moves" ... Landon, Keaton and Colton, and that created some rearranging of rooms on the home front as well (Colton downstairs, "library" front room, "spare" bedroom upstairs). 
• Broken/Fix: Basement bathroom (mold), Truck (bodywork), Charger/Durango in for repairs (A/C). Had to replace the Tesla tires several times (nails). Repairman for the stove and dishwasher ... the ice maker stopped working but we are just sticking with ice cube trays.  New furnace(A/C stopped working) and new manibloc/plumbing. New bed for the snore bedroom. Hot tub removed.  
• Medical: Gray had some rib issues after the Spartan. Jen, a couple dizzy spells and two bouts of Covid. Landon's knee/ACL surgery. Cal almost chopped off his thumb. Coop caught covid and had a high fever (registered 105). Colton accidentally ate some nuts (not life threatening, but miserable for a while), bit his tongue badly and could barely eat for a week, and had tooth issues, root canal and crown. 
• Family: First Father's Day at the Highland House. Blackham Family Reunion. Kolby came in for Thanksgiving. Westra bridal shower (Alyssa). Hale x 3. Come From Away w/Gray. 

• Gray had a "getaway" year, lots of trips/travel & races. SanDiego for some biking, Vegas for a wedding, St. George and Moab, Mt Charleston, Rockies Half. STP (Seattle to Portland/bike) Logan to Jackson, Salt to Saint. Puerto Vallarta, getting Colton settled in Oregon. Subway. Spartan. The Bluey Diaper House occupied much of 2024, as did the Symphony King of the Hill workout challenge. An accident in an ATV (no one hurt except the machine/totaled).
• Jen continues teaching Zumba 2-3 times a week, playing pickleball 1-2 times a week and still hitting the treadmill and elliptical in basement gym. Almost always has an audiobook in, and rates and reviews all her reads on Goodreads and Storygraph (#jenBsBooks). Set up a Little Free Library (#182597) in the front yard, along with a sharing garden (seeds, starts, produce). Still making sourdough ... 24 loaves a week, to give away to friends and neighbors. A couple of dizzy spells, and a couple of Covids, but 2024 was pretty much medically mundane (and that's good!)
• Landon moved into a new apartment in Midvale, just as he got the news that he needed knee surgery  (ACL). It wasn't long before he was playing pickleball again, and hiking, a 10k, even a half marathon. He had work/play trips to Mexico, Vegas, Louisiana, Cabo and Idaho. For Halloween, he had a "couple costume" introducing the gal he'd been dating (Valentina) to the family. 
• Cal & Kate had a trip to Cabo and San Diego  and did a super cute family photo shoot. Cal has continued playing basketball in several different men's leagues and tournaments, and almost took off his thumb with an axe during a camping trip. Ouch! A couple of Camson getaways, and a couple working trips to Bear Lake.  
• Keaton moved out of his basement apartment and into new digs in Daybreak, rooming with a buddy from high school. Nice setup! In school for his journeyman, working with Cal at Camson.
• Cooper went to a couple of concerts this year ... he's obsessed with music, especially the Spotify Unwrapped stats that come out at the end of the year. StatsFM (another app) keeps the boys conversing with music trivia. He's continued to move up at his work/DLP. He got a passport and went to Mexico with Dad/Landon and the Seattle Blackhams. 5k/10k races. Pickleball and treadmill, and a 10k streak on the Fitbit. He also got a new haircut (from Olivia) cutting the sides/back short, but leaving the top long enough for a ponytail. 
• Colton finished up his senior season, won region, played in the allstar league, talked with several colleges and went on a college tour/trip - decided on Clackamas and committed. Tried out track, ran the 100, 200, 400 and relays. Graduation.  Worked with Coop at DLP for the summer. Off to college, moving into an apartment with roommates, and college ball. 

Here's a live look ... all the monthly One Second Every Day videos combined. 

https://youtu.be/kn3kfsbYK-Q

Visiting Clackamas

When the basketball schedule came out (Clackamas Colton) I saw that there were three games at Clackamas the weekend after Christmas. I wanted to visit and check out Colton's apartment and area in person, and getting three games seemed like the best time to plan for, to cheer him on in person and get some video. Gray was on board, and I suggested taking Cooper (who had the week off work anyway) and Keaton (who hadn't used much of his PTO). Then we figured we'd see if Landon and Cal&Kate wanted to join. Kate decided to stay home with Vera, but everyone else was on board. Grayson booked the flights, found a place to stay, typed up an itinerary ...

In the week before Christmas ... Keaton wasn't feeling well. After a few days he bounced back. Then it struck Cooper. If the thermometer was reading right, he hit 105° and yes, tested positive for Covid. Then Gray said "I'm feeling poorly" ... both missed the Westra Christmas Eve party. Christmas was low key with just the family. Gray and Coop were both feeling better and the trip was going on as planned. Except the morning we were to leave, I got sick. I didn't feel like I could spend the day traveling and sadly decided to sit the trip out. It was now a BlackhamBOYS activity, with me vacationing vicariously.

Originally, we were all flying out together, but Colton had a practice and had to be back earlier, so he had flown out at 8:00 in the morning. The rest of the crew was scheduled to fly out at 5:15. The flight was delayed almost an hour, but they made it to Portland. With one less person, it actually made the travel a bit easier, as the rental car could fit five people (maybe not comfortably, but they fit). As they went to check into their VRBO ... Gray realized he'd been ghosted. No responses from the host.  Luckily, they were able to find three rooms at a hotel that wasn't too far. That was Thursday (Dec26).

No game on Friday (games were Saturday, Sunday and Monday) but Colton still had practice in the afternoon. The gang got together for breakfast, Colton joining the crew. After eating, Colton gave the family a tour of the college campus and gym. The boys humored their father, going to Benchmade (a knife store. Gray likes knives. A lot) and then dinner out at Oswego Grill. 

Up next? Salt & Straw, an ice cream shop Gray and Keaton had visited when they dropped Colton off in August. As the trip had been coming up, Keaton had said "I'm SO excited to go to Oregon... I'm going to eat so much ice cream!" And they did.  They went to Salt & Straw four times...

Cal and Keaton tended to stick to a favorite flavor - salted caramel. Gray was a little more adventurous (olive oil ice cream anyone?) and liked to take advantage of the free taste samples. Of course Salt&Straw was dessert. There was lots of eating out for meals. Here's a peek ...

The group had McDonalds a few times. Breakfast at various locals to try pancakes, eggs benedict and hashbrowns. For more meals; Oswego Grill,  Din Tai Fung,  Bamboo Sushi, more than once ... the Green Machine rolls were a hit. 

The hotel worked out (and was about half what the VRBO cost was) ... A Safeway and McDonalds next door. A gym ... both Gray and Coop hit the treadmill there. Cal and Keaton shared a room, Landon and Cooper shared a room, and Gray had his own. 

No central location to hang out, so they'd just pick a room and gather there to watch a show together, or to play their nightly game of The Great Dalmuti. 

Originally part of the plan was to go visit Kolby and Jami at their new house in Portland. But with the recent sickness, that got shifted to another time (they had just barely moved in too, hadn't really unpacked and settled yet). 

The gang hit Ground Control, and old school arcade instead. 

Oh course the REAL reason for the trip, was to cheer Colton on in his tournament!

The Clackamas Holiday tournament ... Clackamas played Green River on Saturday, Walla Walla on Sunday (you can see the BlackhamBoys in the stands a few times here, and Clackamas got the win!), and Edmonds on Monday.  The games were livestreamed, so I was at home watching, and sharing texts with the crew.

The guys were good about keeping me updated on everything. Pictures and texts, and even write-ups of how things were going. Grayson had an itinerary that he added his personal thoughts/memories to (see it here), and both Cal and Keaton wrote up their memories of the trip. It's so fun to get the different perspectives, see what mentioned (or not) by each person, and to hear their unique voices!

On Tuesday (Dec31) it was time to return home ... sans Colton.

Some pictures of the travel along the way ... the flight into Portland, stuffing into the rental car, the Delta SkyClub on the return trip home. Wrapping up 2024 and welcoming in the new year. 

Blackham Bunch Quarterly Recap ~ Q4/2024

 October/November/December

Quite a few of the activities this quarter were written up in their own individual blog posts ... but it's still nice to have everything organized into a quarterly (and an annual, should still do that too) review. Here are some highlights from the fourth quarter of 2024 ...

• Getaways: Gray hiked The Subway and he and Landon ascended Angel'sLanding. Landon had several trips for work and play ... Vegas, Idaho, Louisiana, Cabo. Cal and K8 went to SanDiego. A visit to Portland at the end of the year for the full family (although Jen ended up sick/sitting it out). 
• Holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas (Leg Lamp Lighting), as well as bdays for Jen and Gray in November and Colton in December. 
• Staying Active: Pickleball through October for the family. Gray/Landon and Cooper ran a 10k race up at the U of U and Landon did a half marathon.  Jen continues with Zumba/Ladies Pickle and the home gym. 
• Basketball! Colton's college season started up, lots of games! Most of the games were streamed, so even out of state, we could watch.  Cal had some games with his men's league as well. 
• Spotify Wrapped: The end of the year means it's time for Spotify Wrapped. Can you say obsessed? Coop and Keaton can talk about music stats for hours! What was your top song?

There were some power outages in October. Required replacement of the Tesla tires. Truck repair and Durango registration. The national election. Grandma's knee replacement. We went to Hale twice in October (The Magic Elephant and The Adams Family). Gray catered a wedding (chocolate fountains). Jen's book love (reading, book clubs, little free library) continues, and she started playing the piano again. 

At the end of the year, sickness struck. Keaton first, then Coop ... Coop took a test, it was Covid. Grayson was "feeling poorly" as well, and while Keaton recovered in time to attend Christmas festivities, Coop and Gray had to sit out the Westra party (the Blackham Christmas had been a week earlier before they were sick). Then Jen/Covid ... right before it was time to leave for the Clackamas visit. 

Here's the One Second Every Day LIVE look at the last three months ...

October 2024

 https://youtu.be/DGWchADNXd4

November 2024

   https://youtu.be/IHKzAj9znM8

December 2024

   https://youtu.be/rO1jepMBab4

#JenBsBooks in 2024

I will be creating an annual review on my JenBsJourney blog for all the books this past year, featuring the Goodreads "Year in Books" and Storygraph stats. But here, and now, I'll do a collage compilation. I always enjoy glancing over all the covers, seeing which books stick out in my memory ...  All the books are rated and reviewed on both Goodreads and Storygraph. I'm JenBsBooks on both. 

Leg Lamp Lighting 2024

 

The Blackham family was a fan of the Christmas movie "The Christmas Story" with the now iconic Leg Lamp and pink bunny suit. Clayton has created his own tradition, with a leg lamp, and official "lighting" ceremony that day after Thanksgiving, and he even dresses up in the pink bunny suit. He also makes donuts, and invites all the family, friends and neighbors. And they come ... I get a little anxious with the crowds and the cold, so I sat it out, but the rest of the Blackham Bunch made it out. 

Several from the extended Blackham/Zundel crew came out too ...

Kolby and flown in to spend Thanksgiving with the family.

Cal and Kate and Vera got a cute family photo

on Clay and Courtney's cute Christmasy front porch!

Catch of the Day in Cabo

Landon had been taken on a work fishing trip to Louisiana in October (Big Fish), and then in November, he and a couple co-workers were treated to Cabo! More fishing!  Again, Landon sent some photos and a little write-up of his experience ...

(Thursday, November 14, 2024)

We ended up having the trip moved forward one day due to poor weather expected on Sunday. The vendor changed our flights and everything to make it happen, which we were very thankful for. Not that we’re going to be here an extra day, but simply moved forward a day.

Juan (coworker) and I left from SLC at about 7 am. Our flight was to Denver and then to Los Cabos. While in Denver, we met up with Johnathon and Kyle (the vendor that invited us on this trip). It was a quick layover in Denver with just enough time to get a quick breakfast sandwich to go. We boarded and then arrived in Cabo around noon.

Kyle got us a shuttle and we were off to check in to the hotel we were to stay. It was about a 45 min drive, so I bought one of my favorite snacks for the ride: Japanese peanuts. Not sure why they’re referred as “Japanese” as they’re entirely Mexican. The only thing that matters is that I can enjoy them once again.

We settled in very briefly to our room and left to go meet the crew at the boat. “Bull Rider” is a 60’ boat and has more square footage than my apartment lol. It is so big that the mileage for it is reversed.. Not how many miles you go with one gallon of gas, but it is actually four gallons to go one mile. Yikes.

No fishing today, but simply a quick trip around the bay to sight see. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather to do so. This was the first time I met Rick, the owner of the company sponsoring this trip and owner of the boat as well. He’s a great guy with many stories.

For dinner, we went to one of the restaurants near the dock, where Rick gave them some of the white fish they had caught last week to prepare for us. Some of it grilled and some battered and deep fried. It was all delicious.

We finished up dinner, made a plan for tomorrow, and then Johnathon, Juan, and I left to see a bit of the town. Probably stayed out a bit later than we should’ve, but it was a fun time.

(Friday, November 15, 2024)

 Up and on the boat early setting out by 6 am. Johnathon, Juan, and I were exhausted and not feeling well from our drinks last night. Whoops. This was also my first real test with motion sickness, so I was a bit nervous how it’d go.

The guys brought us some breakfast, but none of us were ready to risk eating yet. We all opted to take a nap while we set out for a 50-60 mile ride off the coast.

Once the sun was up, I woke up, but was feeling awfully woozy. At this point, I couldn’t tell if it was the hangover or sea sickness. I went to the upper deck to go get some fresh air that helped a lot. I had taken Dramamine and put on some motion sickness patches too to hopefully prevent getting sea sick.

Luckily, it ended up just being a little hang over for me. A couple hours in I was feeling much better. And then it was time to chum up the waters and set the lines.

Right away, we had something on one of the lines. And it was big. It was a blue marlin. Juan went to work it first, because they told us the blue marlins fight hard. Juan lasted about five solid minutes before he tapped Johnathon to take over. For a fish this big, you have to use the boat controls to help you bring it in. They got the marlin in right beside the boat before it came loose. It was a bummer, but you can’t keep the marlins anyway.

It took some time to get the next fish on the line, but sure enough we did. And then I was up. Mine was a striped marlin. Not as big as the blue, but at least we got mine up for a nice pic. Because of you didn’t get a pic, it didn’t happen lol. The striped ones don’t fight as hard as the blues, so I got it in by myself within five minutes. But my arms still had a nice pump.

We were struggling to find tuna for a while. Then on the radio someone called out where they were biting, so we headed that way. Then it got crazy.

To increase your odds, you put out more lines. Most of the day we had five lines out at one time. Once we found these schools of tuna, we would have them on the lines every few minutes. It was awesome. We sit for a minute, then there’s a bite and everyone jumps into action. Then another bite, and another! We had three fish on at the same time and it was chaos, but so fun at the same time.

I honestly got to the point where I started to dread the sound of the reels of another fish on the line. My hands and arms were so tired and needed every second of rest they can get.

Our haul was mostly small yellow finned tunas. Roughly 18” and weighed 15-20 lbs. I ended up bringing in the biggest tuna of the day. Just over 24”.

When we finally called it a day, we headed back to shore with our haul. We went back to the hotel room, cleaned up, and left again for dinner. Rick took us to this Italian restaurant that was delicious. I ordered a shrimp scampi, but when I saw the lasagna that Johnathon order, I’ll admit I was jealous. It was a solid brick of lasagna. He shared a bit with me, but kept the rest and I don’t blame him. Luckily, Rick ordered a few to go to take as our lunch on the boat tomorrow.

To end the day, we went back to the boat just to watch the Paul v. Tyson fight. It was quite underwhelming in my opinion. Rick and Johnathon fell asleep during it. Nor was it the outcome we hoped to see Tyson win.

*****************

I didn't get a write-up from Saturday/Sunday, but heard from Landon that they went back out Saturday, didn't catch anything. There was a LOT of tuna from Friday though ... and they sent it home with the guys. Packed it up with dry ice and had them take on the plane (seems like maybe it would have been easier to have it shipped?) So back at home, Landon has been giving out some tuna steaks, and looking up recipes!

10k x 3

 

Grayson has completed several half-marathons in 2024, and Landon did his half, a milestone after his ACL surgery earlier in the year. While Coop is uber active, often hitting 30k in steps in a day (between work and treadmill or other activities), 13.1 miles in a single go might be out of his comfort zone. Even a 10k is slightly more than his regular run ... but doable. When Grayson brought it up, both Landon and Coop were willing to give a 10k a go. There was a local race that Saturday. Gray got them signed up and picked up the packets on Friday.  Gray and Coop headed out Saturday morning,  a little before 9:00, picked up Landon along the way, and headed up to the University of Utah. The 10k started at 10:00.

Of the Blackham boys, Coop finished first at just under 45minutes. 15th overall, 3rd in the Male/20-29 division.  Landon was next at 49 minutes, with Grayson at 54 minutes.  They didn't stay for the awards.

I asked Coop how it felt (as the distance and outside weren't his usual, plus the challenge of the crowd) and he replied "the crowd cleared up within the first mile, so that part wasn't bad. Running outside is definitely different. Bobbing up and down while moving vs doing it in place felt really weird, but I got used to it."  Gray, having done a majority of half-marathons starting up a canyon, mentioned that there were some uphill portions of this race that were places he had to push through. 

There was a photographer on hand at the race, so here are a few more photos!

Callahan had stopped by a couple nights before the race, and we jokingly commented that Grayson hadn't included Cal and Keaton in the original group text. So Gray DID invited them, but they weren't up to a last minute 10k (Keaton said maybe a 5k ...). We've had a few family 5k races in the past (2018, 2017, L&C2017, 2016GKC&Maga, 2015).

While the boys were gone, I walked two miles on the treadmill in 40 minutes. 

Gotta do what you can!

Halloween 2024

 

It was a cold Thursday Halloween night in 2024. Grayson brought up a memory of several years ago, when it was still quite warm and he set up the projector with "The Great Pumpkin" playing as he handed out candy. That was before he got "scrooge-y" (so he says, although that's a Christmas, not a Halloween reference). 

I'd bought some candy and had it prepped and ready ... and Coop and I snuck some of our favorites in the days preceding the holiday. We didn't get our first visitor until fairly late, after 7:00, but then we got quite a few groups. I was on door duty this year. 

My Zumba class had a couple of seasonal songs; Skeleton Sam, and of course, Thriller.  I remember the Terra Linda 6th graders performing it, so I have video of both Cooper and Colton doing the dance back in the day. Similar steps in each, based on the original music video.  99% of the time I'm just in my traditional gray/black at Zumba, but I sported an orange Halloween t-shirt this year.  I snagged the picture of a cute little red riding hood and a scary wolf from K8's Instagram.  Landon and others at LKL dressed up at work (more Landon pictures below).  Gray had his usual "Pal"oween with his work buddies (the Friday before). He's Deadpool. I didn't get a Halloween post up for a few years, but in 2022 ... he was the danger (from Breaking Bad). 

I wasn't super familiar with Landon's character costume, but he sure looked cute!

Loved the freckles!

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable ... Disney series.

Landon said they made some of the traditional sugar cookies shaped like pumpkins and decorated with candy corn. We didn't get around to making them at the West Jordan Blackham abode.  Fingers crossed there will turkey cookies come Thanksgiving though! 

Gray and the Subway

Grayson has had a lot of activities this summer ... hiking, running, biking. Almost all with buddies from work. One buddy had a buddy who had pulled a permit for The Subway in Zions for a group of twelve. So Gray joined. It didn't fit into the schedule that well, Monday, October 7, but you have to take what you can get. Per the info about it ...

The Subway is a classic semi-technical slot canyon hike in Zion National Park. To complete the hike you wade/swim/scramble/climb down the Left Fork of North Creek. The stream is the trail for most of the route. Some of the holes are deep enough that you do have to swim, and the water is cold.

• Trail Head: 37.339954, -113.075776
• Trail Type: Canyoneering
• Length: 9.5 miles, 7 to 9 hours
• Difficulty: Technical

The hike is somewhat like the famous Narrows, only more intense. You climb down waterfalls and scramble over boulders. Serious rappelling is not necessary but ropes come in handy to help get people over cliffs and to lower packs.

Most canyoneers do this canyon from top down - it is very difficult to do it bottom up. A shuttle is required. You must have a permit to hike this canyon; permits can be obtained at any Visitor Center. Get detailed trail information before doing this hike. Only attempt this canyon if you are hiking with an experienced canyoneer.

During the first part of the hike you stay on top of ridges and cross shallow washes, until you reach the of Left Fork Canyon and Russell Creek. That's where you scramble down the steep hillside into the slot. Once in the slot you just hike downstream, finding ways over or around obstacles. The semi-technical part of the route ends at the bottom of the Subway (at a spectacular small waterfall where canyon walls arch overhead and almost close to create a tunnel-effect - a subway). From there you continue hiking downstream past a large boulder covered with dinosaur tracks. Exit the canyon where you see a sign marking the trail up the ridge to the Left Fork Trailhead. It is a steep, hot climb out of the canyon.

In addition to some climbing gear, everyone needed a wetsuit for the water portions. Between Gray's camera, and a couple others, there were a lot of pictures to capture the experience.

Landon ~ Big Fish

Landon works for L.K.L. Associates in the roofing department. One of the shingle manufacturers had a trip planned for for several guys from L.K.L as well as some of their customers. They were off to Louisiana for some fishing! A four day trip, he headed out Monday, October 21 and returned Thursday October 24, two days traveling, two days on the water. Landon checked in with a write-up and some pictures ...

Day one ended up being a long day. We landed in New Orleans and had to wait roughly an hour for a car rental. After that, we were all quite hungry. We went to Texas Roadhouse simply because it was on the way to our destination and had a big group. We finished eating, but I happened to be with the subgroup that stayed out late to visit Bourbon Street. That ended up going much later than I had hoped. We didn’t get to our lodge until 3 am and we needed to be up by 5:30 am for breakfast before heading out on the water.

So after a mere two hour nap, we got up to get ready. The three who had been drinking didn’t get up in time to join us on the water today. I was paired up with one of the customers we invited and started catching speckled trout right away. Before I started catching the trout, I first caught a catfish, which needed to be released. The next fish I hooked after that I believe was the fish of the day for the whole group. It was a red fish bull, “bull” meaning it was too big to keep. It was 40” which is a gnarly fish to reel in. My partner was reeling in the trout super easy, but I had to fight this bull for a solid five minutes. My arms were so tired once I finally brought it in. I was a little nervous I wouldn’t be cut out to keep fishing the whole day, but that was by far the biggest fish I hooked.The spot we were getting the trout was amazing. We hit our limit of 30 within an hour. The rest of the day we looked for more red fish, but they were harder to find and trickier to reel in. Still an awesome time.

Finishing off our time on the water, we returned to the lodge, showered up, and took care of a bit of work. Then for dinner they prepped some of the trout we caught and it was glorious. I wanted more, but was completely stuffed. The rest of the evening was pretty chill. A bit of drinking and playing games, but I was so ready to hit the hay.

Day three was basically the same deal as day two. I was with two of the guys that missed the first day of fishing, so compared to them, I was feeling like a pro. We launched from a different area where there was a lot more open water. The first two spots we went to treated me so well. I’d cast my line and within seconds I’d have a bite. There were lots of small fish that we couldn’t keep, but I didn’t care. Just hooking a fish and reeling it in was a blast for me. Especially when I had a decent streak of five or six casts that I got to reel in. I didn’t hook anything crazy like the 40” red fish from day one, but I did reel in a decent 29” black fish that put up a fight. We made a competition of course for the biggest fish, but also for the fish with most spots. I thought that was lame compared to the biggest fish, until I reeled in one with 17 spots. Our guide hyped it up a lot and got me excited about it. To finish out the fishing for the day, we went to a very open area where we hooked up bigger fish. Oscar, one of the customers we invited on the trip reeled in the biggest fish on our boat. About a 31” red fish. To end the day back at the lodge, some of us tried to catch up on work and others just relaxed. A great day.

Thursday they finished up and made the flight home in the evening.

Back to work!

Landon - Blister Boy!

 

The Antelope Island Marathon had four distances. Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and 5K. Landon opted for the 13.1 distance (half-marathon). He's been playing pickleball, and doing some running and hiking, but this was his first official race, and longest distance, since his ACL surgery last March. He didn't really even tell us about it until the day of ... Friday, October 11, 2024.

Per the race website: Antelope Island is home to 600 bison and the largest island on the Great Salt Lake. This course is a true marathon in that it is not all downhill like many. There are several rollers for the runners. The views of the race have the Great Salt Lake to the East and Antelope Island mountain on the West.

He said that his knee held up really well during the race, but that his shoes were rubbing pretty early one. Hot spot ... and big blister(s). He had to sit out pickleball that weekend. 

 

 

Cal&K8 ~ San Diego

 

Cal and Kate arranged for dog-sitting (Kate's mom taking care of Vera) and they jetted off for San Diego (October 5-7). As Grayson has made several trips there (earlier this year with friends, last year a trip with Landon in January, and then with Coop and Keaton in August) he had some recommendations of things to see, places to eat. One was Del Friscos, and he said he'd even pay for their meal.

They went to Del Friscos.

Kate said the butter cake was 10/10.

Some additional food photos ... and yes, the traditional finger photo with ice cream.

It's a Blackham thing.

Blackham Bunch Quarterly Recap ~ Q3/2024

 2024 - July, August and September

Once upon a time, I was doing quite well and getting monthly updates done (emailed out to family and on the blog) but ... well, not a one in 2024. I have gotten in quite a few individual posts on specific topics, and here's a quarterly report at least ... July/August and September.

• Family Fun: We get in some pickleball every weekend, usually Jen, Landon, Cal, Keaton and Cooper, and Cal's In-laws! Cal and Kate have had a few campouts, one to Jordanelle, where the rest of the Blackham Bunch came up and joined them for a lake day (sans Jen, who was sick). We had a brunch up at SnowBasin. A pizza night (dessert pizza was a huge hit), hot dogs, and of course plenty of Gray's good meats. Coop and Landon went to a concert (Glass Animals at Usana) and Landon and Cal took Coop axe throwing for his birthday. Celebrated birthdays for three of the boys. Had a big family reunion on the Blackham/May side of the family.
• Grayson a GoGo: Gray has been SUPER active, running several half-marathons this year, and also training for big bike races. Seattle to Portland. Logan to Jackson. Salt to Saint. He also participated in the Spartan. Gray's been good at updating his work on his exercise/activities, as they have a challenge going on there. King of the Hill. That has it's own blog post.
• People Pains: Gray hurt his rib and back at the Spartan race, and that hobbled him for a bit. Jen got Covid, second round for her. Hit with the "spinz" a couple times too. Colton ate peanuts and had an allergic reaction (just miserable for a while) and bit his tongue during a basketball game - he could barely eat or talk. Colton also needed some dental work, a root canal and crown. Cal almost chopped his thumb off with a hatchet, and Keaton caught his hand with a screw. Landon ... good news! He's pretty much back to hiking and running after his ACL surgery.
• Repairs Required: SO many breakdowns! We'd had Gray's truck, the Charger, the Durango all in the shop earlier in the year. We had to take the Durango in again for an A/C overhaul ($$), and the Charger in again for a tuneup. Both the Charger and the Tesla got nails in their tires. The house A/C went out, so we had to get that replaced. The oven and dishwasher needed repair, and we just decided to stick with ice cube trays rather than pay for another repair for the freezer ice-maker unit (just repaired last year). We got a new toaster.

Grayson's work participated in a community diaper drive - they built a darling Bluey Heeler House. This kept Gray pretty occupied and stressed for a couple of months. It got a write up on the family blog.

Colton got in quite a bit of basketball before he headed off to college. He played in a couple different tournaments, with a few teams. Cal plays in a Men's League on Wednesday nights, and Colton got to play for almost all the summer season (he missed out on the championship games ... but Cal's team still took first place!) Colton won an award for the most points scored in the season.

Cal and Keaton have been working together at Camsen - they had a work retreat (riding RZRs in the mud) and a couple trips to Bear Lake (for work). As those brothers enjoyed working together, Colton got a job for the summer at Cooper's work, DLP. They did a quick interview and hired him immediately, so he didn't have to do a big job search. The brothers were able to carpool, which was nice when we needed to get a car in the shop.

Then ... it was time to get Colton to college! In Oregon! Colton and two other basketball boys found an apartment close to campus. Grayson and Keaton were in charge of getting him there and settled. Colton could take whatever he could fit into his Charger (which didn't have much space) and the guys drove down. Some scrambled shopping to find a bed/desk and all the other essentials (luckily one of the boys lived in-state and had a lot of the common area stocked). A heat wave hit as they were there, and the apartment doesn't have air conditioning. You can see Colton's place HERE, and read his first letters home HERE.

I think that's a decent recap of the last three months ... whew!

Here's a LIVE look ... One Second Style.

July 2024

https://youtu.be/ja_15C8A5Mk

August 2024

 

https://youtu.be/-FJgJ8TVLBc

September 2024

 

https://youtu.be/j4IsJh18tt4

Thumbsy

 

Cal got a little clumsy while camping - handling an axe and OUCH, took a slice off his thumb! He said there was a LOT of blood. Not really something that could be stitched, just cover, keep clean and hope it heals in a hurry. 

Cal/Camson had job at Bear Lake not long after this injury, and Cal commented that you never realize just how often your thumb is used in everyday/work activities. It was hard to work with the sensitive and bandaged thumb ... and even a year after, he says it's still sensitive.

It's a little reminiscent of when Landon was little and cut off the very tip of his finger with sharp scrapbooking scissors. LOTS of blood there too, I remember I grabbed a cloth to try and stanch the bleeding, and then "let's both lay down on the ground and raise your arm up" ... as if I didn't lay down, I was likely to fall down. Luckily baby Callahan was safe in his crib while all this occurred. Landon had a "mummy" finger for several weeks!