April, May, June ~ 2025
Another three months have gone by ... it's been an active quarter, with Grayson leading the way, both at Symphony (step challenge there at his work) and at home! Colton finished up his third term at Clackamas and came back to Utah for the summer. Some extended family gatherings and holidays (Easter/Mother'sDay/MemorialDay/Father'sDay, B-Days for Valentina and Kate, Graduation for Aiden, Lake Day) and some new foods added to the rotation (Eggs Benedict) and Keaton's new One Wheel made these months memorable!
- Clackamas Colton: The third term ended in June, and Colton achieved another 4.0. He trained with the track team, but only ended up running with them once, due to a strained his hamstring. There was Spring training with basketball, and he spent any spare time with his girlfriend, Haley. He (and Haley) drove the Charger home at the end of June. He'll be keeping the same apartment and roommates for next year. He will be working with Coop at DLP during the summer.
- Travel: Cal and Kate took a trip to Italy, and Landon and Valentina went to Portland. Both boys did little write-ups for Mom, so they have their own blog posts ;)
- Grayson a Go-Go: Gray had been biking and running and winning the Symphony Summer Challenge! This quarter he did five half marathons and a 100mile bike ride. He's training for a triathlon too. Sometimes we do get him to join us for pickleball.
- Other Family Fitness: Weekly pickleball. Jen plays with a ladies group during the week and gets in Zumba several times as well. Landon and Coop did a hike up Bell Canyon and Coop did a neighborhood 5k and actually challenges Gray on the winning step count. Cal has continued to get in some basketball games.
- Journeyman Status: Keaton has been studying and testing and passed the journeyman test. After telling me some of the steps along the way, I asked him for a write up (here).
- Coop - Concerts, Courts and Kittens: Coop went to a concert (Your Neighbors) and got invited to try some new pickleball courts (RonWoods) with some friends. He continued to play with random strangers after his buddy left, staying out late (as those courts have lights). The neighbor had kittens, and we got in a cuddle session before they left to their new homes.
- Westra Family Gatherings: We had the grandparents over for dinner and games in May, and attended the annual Westra Father's Day shindig in June. Jen instigated a scheduled call to Mom, starting in May and they've been happening weekly since then. Gray has gone biking with Scott a few times, and we had a double date for Chinese food.
- Blackham Family Gatherings: After the Westra gathering in Highland, we stopped by the cemetery. We got together for a quick bite when Jami was in town in May, then again for Mother's Day, and again for a graduation BBQ for Aiden in June.
- Derby! It's been a while (pre-Covid) but Grayson had been asked by a friend to run a Lego derby ... so Gray pulled out the derby stuff and legos (lego derby, not pinewood) and enlisted Landon to help.
- Family Feasts: Lots of food ... we had the boys over for several of the NBA finals game (steak, marinated chicken, salmon, burgers, nachos ...) and some big breakfasts where Grayson has been perfecting eggs benedict. We had Kate's parents over after pickleball for brunch one week. Gray ordered more from licorice.com ... yummy!
- One Wheel: Keaton got a one-wheel, a motorized "skateboard" that can go fast and far between charges. He's been going to meet-ups and riding with other groupies, and riding a lot on his own (one bad tumble that scraped him up all along one side ... he does wear a helmet). There's an app to track achievements, speed, routes ...
- Yard & Garden: We've got vegetables (pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers) and tomatoes coming up in the garden, and quite a few flowers (marigolds, hollyhocks and the hibiscus). A little sharing garden with starts out by the Little Free Library. The neighbor was having some landscaping done, and we had her guys take out a tree and do some trimming, and add a border to two flowerbeds.
- Lake Day! We got the whole crew out (including Colton's girlfriend Haley, in town for a visit). Jordanelle was the chosen reservoir, as they allow dogs, and Cal and Kate wanted to bring Vera (and were actually spending a couple days there camping). I need to get blog post with a write up and all the pictures. Fun day.
Here's some LIVE ACTION, the One Second Every Day highlights ...
April 2025
May 2025
https://youtu.be/xri69vWfvcA?si=yvK0MnmlwIFhwPnb
June 2025
https://youtu.be/JgjFRl9sSe4?si=dLjDbIRfklWcSsNk
