#blackhambirthdays #2019

Many years I've done individual posts for each birthday.

This year ... it's a compilation!

 Sol is a January birthday - 19 years old

 Cute Cal got kissed by K8 - 20 years old

After Callahan's birthday in February, there is a dearth of birthdays for the immediate family. 

There are Aunts and Uncles and Cousins b-days along the way.

And birthdays for Maga, K8 and Grandpa in May. 

Then, at the end of August, starts Blackham Birthday Week.

 Cooper turned 16

 Keaton turned 19

It's a different cake, I promise! 

I mean it IS the same cookies and cream ice cream cake that is a family favorite, 

but there were two of them for the two different birthday boys. 

Landon (turning 24) has his birthday in September, 

but it's right on the heels of Keaton and Cooper's birthdays. 

Lemon Jello cake again for Gray's big 50. 

He got back from Hawaii just in time to celebrate...

and take a birthday nap. 

Poor Colton (14 years old) often has his birthday eclipsed by the holidays.

The white cake with buttercream frosting is a favorite too.

In addition to candles on a cake, "birthday dinners" are something we often try to do.  I can't remember if we got out for Sol or Cal's b-days, but there was a Tepanyaki outing for Cooper and Keaton. For Landon we all went to Salt City Burger. For my birthday (pictured above) we went to Red Robin, then back to Tepanyaki for Grayson's birthday just a couple weeks after. For Colton, we waited until the crazy Christmas rush was over, then had his birthday dinner at Olive Garden. 

Colton's Birthday Party

I am NOT a good birthday mom. I just don't enjoy the planning and putting together of a party, in fact, it's uber anxiety inducing. Over the years, I'd managed to host one or two birthday parties for each boy ... but that was all they got. Poor Colton though ... with his birthday falling right before Christmas. It always got lost in the hustle and bustle of the season, but the kid never complained.

This year, I committed to a party. We gave him the choice of a few friends to Airborne or somewhere else fun ... or many friends at the local church building, with pizza and the chocolate fountain (and basketball of course). He chose the latter, and the invitations went out.

We waited until after Christmas, hoping to catch the kids with a little extra time as they were out of school. Some friends were traveling for the holidays, but we still had quite the crew. Colton invited his Wolves team, his Grizzlies team, and some friends from school. 

A post shared by JenB (@jenblackham) on Dec 27, 2017 at 11:03am PST

Several of his Wolves teammates live fairly far away, in Utah County. I was a little surprised that they (and their parents) were willing to drive so far to support him! All the brothers came for a bit too. While basketball was the main activity (little pick-up games, tornado, random shooting) there was spike ball and some big inflatable balls too. 

We picked up pizza (and crazy bread) and instead of cake, let the kids "dunk" (basketball theme, right?) strawberries, marshmallows and pretzels in the fountain of chocolate. Colton really "cashed in" too, as money is the main gift at this age. I think the party went well and Colton was pretty happy. I'm just glad it's over, and now I have just a bit less mommy guilt this year. 

A Party for Pammy

It was someone's 70th birthday this year, and Grayson decided to throw a party for Pammy to celebrate! All the other siblings really stepped up, and Kolby's family even flew in from Seattle for the event. There was a lot of planning (it was a surprise though) for weeks on end, and then it was the big day.

It was a really nice set-up. Grayson's derby tables come in handy for more than derbies! Courtney had pieced together two big #70 displays of photographs (and created the invitation) and I'd put together a slideshow to play in the background (posted below). There was a birthday cake and a chocolate fountain, and Jami and the girls had made sugar cookies and cupcakes. Clay made pulled pork, and there were chips and veggies too. Aunt Judy brought a nice display of Pammy products and there were tons of pictures everywhere.

It was held at the old Cottonwood 1st ward church gym. All the family was invited, all the friends we could get a hold of, and all the neighbors ... it was quite the reunion. Lots of catching up after many years.

... and plenty of new pictures taken too!

Here's the video that played at the party.

It is long ... 70 years worth of pictures!

I also took video AT the party, and combined with the pictures Courtney took, here's a video recap of the party itself. Thanks to all who helped out and who came to wish Pammy a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Pammy!

A Collection of Cakes ~ Birthdays 2015

So - I had blogged Callahan's 16th birthday back in February. I got him a couple of cakes, because I couldn't choose. NOT a problem later on. By the end of the year, we have a glut of birthdays, so even in one week, we can have three different types of cake! So sans Cal, here's the rest of the 2015 Blackham Birthdays.

Cooper was up first, on the 28th of August. He turned 12!

Keaton follows a few days after ... August 31. Big 15 for him.

After not being able to find our favorite Oreo Ice Cream cake for a while ... we had it again!

Landon celebrated his 20th birthday on his mission to Mexico. 

We celebrated for him here with a lemon-jello cake and big-head stand in!

We had a Westra family birthday celebration (Grandma on the 7th, me on the 10th) and I brought our favorite Sam's Club white cake with buttercream frosting. I was simply trying to tilt it slightly to get a better view for the camera, but it tipped over! Oopsidedown cake!

Another (non-upsidedown) cake on my actual birthday ...

... and another lemon jello cake for Grayson's big day.

I asked him to SMILE!

Whereas we didn't put on 47 candles for Grayson, we did put on all 10 for Colton!

I'd wanted our regular double decker cake, but they were out, so he got this big one.

There you go ... now you're all caught up on the Blackham Birthdays.

A Birthday Cake for Cal (x2)

Someone had a birthday! Our man Callahan has now turned SIXTEEN years old! I must admit ... I didn't have anything for his birthday. Bad mommy! Life has just been a little crazy getting Landon off on his mission and doing the great room rearrange. Callahan is such a sweet kid, he just said "that's okay, I get to play basketball". I did end up getting him a few things after the fact (a Nike belt, a lanyard for his keys, some new shirts) but nothing wrapped up for him to open on his birthday.

For birthdays, we usually buy one of three cakes. I haven't been able to find the cookies and cream icecream cake for months ... that was a favorite. The other two options are the triple chocolate fudge, or the white with buttercream icing (buttercream, NOT whipped cream, there is a huge difference) from Sam's Club.

Callahan wouldn't commit to what kind he wanted ... 

So I got both.

We had the Blackham side over on one day, and enjoyed the chocolate cake. We had the Westra side over the next day (we also invited Callahan's girlfriend out, she had been gone on his actual birthday) for the white cake. Grandma Westra and Mommy LOVE the white cake!

As always ... I updated the Little Callahan Facebook album with recent pictures, 

but it's looking back at those baby photos that makes everyone say "ahhhhh" ... *Ü*

Colton - 9

Lost in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays ... Colton has a birthday. Nine years old and never had a "friend" party. If I'd thought ahead and tried to get invitations made before school was out Christmas break, we might have tried to have one after Christmas. But alas ...

I was feeling uber guilty about it, as I do every year. Poor kid, he's such a good sport about it too. He did express and interest in a bowling party, even if it was family, not friends. We quickly threw one together. We did invite Jacob, and Callahan's girlfriend Amanda came too, so it wasn't just family. Maga, Ana and her boys came and it was a lot of fun.

We ordered pizza and punch, and after bowling we let the kids play on some of the arcade games. I think Colton had a good time. He'd asked for "shirts with sarcastic sayings on them" and he got quite a few (he's wearing one in the pictures above). 

We did the usual cake and ice cream too. Many of the boys prefer the chocolate cake from Sam's Club, but Colton said he wanted the white with buttercream frosting. That's MY favorite, Grandma's too. She and Grandpa came out for cake and to wish Colton a happy birthday and play some games.

I LOVE looking back at baby photos ...

Love this little boy.

See all the pictures HERE.

Happy Birthday Colton!

Belated Blog Birthdays

There are a LOT of birthdays come Fall at the Blackham home. I've been a bit behind in my blogging and never got around to my traditional birthday posts. So here's a recap of the recent ones.

Most recently, it was Grayson's birthday! Callahan, Keaton and I were gone for the evening with basketball stuff, but I left the swag on the counter for Gray. He'd told me I'd been "stingy" with the cookies recently, thus the oreo gift pack. The diet coke will help combat the cookie calories. I also made him a new quilt, as the one I'd made him years ago had fallen apart and he hadn't been able to find a replacement at the store. As I have done with the kids, I added a photo album of baby pictures of Grayson growing up through the years. 

Here's a sneak peek ...

 You can see them all here. 

MY birthday also occurred in November. We went out to Texas Roadhouse (sans Callahan, who was at basketball tryouts) and then came home for cake. My mom had been craving the white cake from Sam's Club for HER birthday a few days before. Gray and I had attempted to stop and pick one up, but the store was out! So we invited Grandma and Grandpa and Maga out for cake, and had grandparents and games night.

Landon's birthday was in September ...

His "cake" of choice is cheesecake. The Cheesecake Factory cheesecake to be exact. The whole family went out to celebrate his 19th birthday! I've included the "Little Landon" link. One of the gifts Landon received was shocking!

Literally!

This "game" is called "Lightening Reaction" and four people hold the handles. Lights and music play, and when they stop, the last person to press their button gets a shock! There are four intensity levels. There was a lot of laughter as the boys (and Daddy) tried this game out. It's been a favorite with family and friends as well!

We had two birthdays there at the end of August as well. 

Keaton and Cooper ...

Cooper's birthday was up first. Eleven years old! We had a little celebration with my parents the Sunday before. Cake and ice cream and games ...

 Cooper's dinner choice was Chick-Fil-A

I really attempted to pick up the Oreo Ice Cream cake, which has been a favorite in the past, but the store didn't have it in stock. We had to make due with this giant cookie. Here's the link to reflect back on Cooper's Baby Days ...

Keaton loves the ribs at Texas Roadhouse ... but I don't know if we'd ordered a whole rack of ribs before. His eyes were a little wide at how much food was on his plate! It was a fun birthday dinner out. Fourteen for this guy! Yup, I have Little Keaton photos too.

We had a birthday celebration with the Blackham side of the family the Sunday after. I picked up the favorite fudge cake from Sam's Club for this celebration. All three boys took turns blowing out the candles.  

Let me tell you, with all the celebrations and cake, 

it sure is hard to control calories!

Only one more Blackham Birthday this year ...

Callahan 15

Happy birthday to Callahan! This picture was actually taken the morning AFTER his birthday.  He said his hair looked funny ... between the pulled up hoodie and his expression, he looks like the unibomber! It had been a late night on Friday (at least 9:30) so we waited on the cake ... and had it for breakfast.

On this actual birthday, the high school basketball teams were playing and Callahan and his basketball buddies always go to cheer and support the teams. I picked up pizza, crazy bread and some cupcakes and took them to the school for a little impromptu party. I don't know why Callahan doesn't look happy ... everyone else seems pretty darn pleased!

Cute little Callahan!

Check out all the pictures from birth-15 here.

A Birthday for my Baby Boy

Colton is EIGHT years old (Dec20)! I can't believe it, he's my baby and he'll always be my baby.  It was the last day of school before the holiday break. They were having a small Christmas party, and Colton brought his favorite candy bar (Kit Kat) to share for his birthday treat. I picked up an Oreo Ice Cream Cake and we had that in the evening. Poor Colton, his birthday does tend to get a bit lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but he's such a good sport and never complains at all.

A look back at this baby boy ...

You can see these pictures full size, 

and the rest of the album (to present day) HERE

I love looking back as he's grown through the years.

Such a cute little boy.

Happy Birthday Colton!

18 Years Old

I can't believe Landon is 18 years old!  He got a few presents and we went out to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. His request for a birthday cake was actually a CHEESEcake, so we brought home a whole one with us.  I updated Landon's album ... a small glimpse below, and see them all HERE. 

Kea"TEEN"

... we have ANOTHER teenager in the house now! Keaton turned 13 years old. Cousins were in town and the family attempted to go wave running at Pineview, but the weather wasn't super cooperative and they had to call it early (I stayed home with Colton who didn't want to go).   We went out and picked up another Oreo Ice Cream cake (we'd just had one on Wednesday for Cooper's birthday). Keaton also received a lightsaber, some Takis, and a big Star Wars Lego set to add to his collection. Happy Birthday Keaton.

... if you have a minute, check out Keaton's updated album. The evolution of a 13 year old. I love looking at old photos and walking down memory lane!

Double Digits

Happy Birthday to Cooper!  The past few days had been overcast and rainy, and Cooper was very pleased with Mother Nature's gift of sunshine on his birthday (there was a freak rainstorm in the afternoon though). Cooper took treats to school to pass out to his new classmates. He got presents from his brothers (Colton went and bought him his favorite chips and a Kit Kat bar with his own money, and Landon gave him a $15 Itunes giftcard! Nice brothers.) He got some additional treats, and I made brownies and homemade chocolate ice cream waiting for him after school. That green thing he's holding in the picture above is a Minecraft Creeper, which he was really excited about. He also got a cool sidewalk chalk pencil and a couple other toys. We had an Oreo Ice Cream cake in the evening, after his favorite dinner (fried chicken and yellow rice).  

You can check out my Cooper Album
to see the evolution of a 10 year old!

Happy Birthday Maga

May is a fairly busy birthday month. It's Maga's birthday on May 3 (as well as my brother Shane, and my Uncle Merrill). Derek has his birthday a couple days later, and my dad has his at the end of the month. Unfortunately both family parties fell on the same night. We had our RSVP into the Blackham side before we knew about the Westra gathering. We were sorry to miss it, but still had a blast with the Blackhams. 

There was a pinata

 ... and the traditional chocolate cake. Maga is laughing because we used trick candles on her! Even with the wind and her blowing (and the kids helping) those candles kept coming back. Landon finally pinched them off. (If you missed Gray's birthday with the trick candles, it is worth checking out, I have video here). 

 Clay pulled the ol cake in the face trick on Colton

We gave Maga the game Ticket to Ride (European version). She actually gave US the regular version a few years ago and was always telling us to bring it to her house to play. Now she'll have it (in case we forget) and we can learn some European Geography too.

We didn't see Maga on her actual birthday, but the boys drew pictures and we posted them to her Facebook page. Happy Birthday Maga!