Colton~ Variations on a View

 

As Cooper had his high school (and a concurrent English class) online, and Keaton's college classes shifted online due to Covid, I had been able to peek at the boy's school classes and assignments. I enjoyed seeing their write-ups, and even helped a little.  As Colton completed his first/freshman year away at college/Clackamas, I asked if he had any of his assignments he could share, especially those of a more personal nature. He mentioned there had been one where they had to take a picture from the same spot, and write up thoughts and impressions about it. The original was in the correct MLA format, but I've reworked it a bit for the blog ...

Colton Blackham
Trevor Dodge (WR 121Z)  16 February 2025

Creativity has never been a strong suit of mine, so finding the motivation to start this assignment was a struggle. And that struggle started with picking the spot to take my photographs at. I ultimately took the words from the instructions to really not overthink the location and that just about anywhere could work. This brought me to the stunning view of a small parking lot from the balcony of my luxurious, no air-conditioning second story apartment. The pictures might even be too glamorous to look at, I know. Having moved to Oregon only five months ago, I felt it would be more fitting to capture a spot that I have familiarized myself with a bit more rather than some spot I have never known about until recently.

Interestingly, stepping out on the balcony to take these photos is by far the most time I have spent on the balcony since having moved into this apartment. This can absolutely allow me to say that this project has helped me explore new areas, even if this area is inside my home. 

1. In the first picture I took, you will see that there is a clear sky, which I have learned is a pretty rare sight in Oregon during the winter season. It’s definitely the clearest of the seven pictures I took, which is a little representative of my experiences with the weather since moving here. When I first moved, it was incredibly sunny and warm outside, then I was quickly welcomed with the actual weather conditions here a few weeks in.
2. When snapping the second photo, the first thing I noticed (and will keep noticing in the rest of the pictures), is the cars. In this picture, there were fewer cars parked, making the area just look far more open. I feel like I have grown quite the relationship with this white truck, my eyes are always drawn to it first and I wonder where it’s being driven to everyday. Also, this picture gives me a more accurate view of what the sky looks like on an average day. I noticed the balls on the ground that have clearly dropped from the tree, there being a lot more than the day before. Makes me wonder about how the tree might have looked before Fall and Winter hit. Although it might not be the case, I like to think that in more habitable weather, it is one of those green and puffy trees that you first picture when thinking about Oregon or Washington. The view from the balcony would improve immensely if you look out and see this gorgeous tree directly outside, there to offer the cars some shade from the hot summer sun.
3. This third photo highlights the wear and tear on the parking lot road. You can see clear squares where construction has taken place, you can see lots of discoloring in the middle of the parking spaces, especially with the absence of our beloved white truck. It might be a strange thing to notice, but in this picture I unintentionally captured a few different people. It led me to think about all the people in this same apartment complex as me, seeing the same view as me when looking out the window. Wondering if they have ever taken the time to try and observe what is around us.
4. Rain, Rain, Rain. I mean it does not bother me too much, but I’ve never been a big fan of it. Something that stood out to me in this picture though is that the rain has made the road of the parking lot look better. You can’t see the cracks, the aftermath of the construction, it just looks like a nicer ground to drive and walk on. It can probably be said for lots of other things in Oregon, that the rain contributes to how beautiful it is. Although I don’t enjoy rainy weather, I admit that Oregon definitely would feel like a different place without it. And not just different, but probably worse.
5. A very obvious difference in my next picture, we caught some snow. Refreshing to see a much more noticeable difference in one of the pictures. The snow felt like a big event, the college was closed, our basketball practice got cancelled, and it almost felt wrong to be on the road later in the evening as I barely saw any cars driving. The leftover snow from the storm reminded me a lot of Utah (where I’m from). There would often be days where we would get just incredible amounts of snow, then calm weather right after. But that snow from the storm would linger around for days, just built up on the sides of the road, sidewalks, and roofs.
6. In this next picture you can tell there was some more snowfall, from the roof of the small garages. It’s amazing how undisturbed the snow on that roof is, absolutely no debris, dents, or anything really to ruin the layer that landed there. You can also notice the small piece of blue sky creeping behind the clouds, almost seeming like it’s attempting to break through.
7. Coming up to the last picture, you can see the time that has passed since the last. The snow on the roof has begun to melt, the walked-over snow on the ground has almost completely cleared up, and there’s less cars present in the parking lot.

After a week of watching this ordinary parking lot, I realized that even the most everyday places can hold meaning. What first seemed like a dull choice of a spot turned into a reflection of my transition to life in Oregon, from the familiar snow that reminded me of Utah to the constant rain that defines this place. The white truck, the cracked pavement, the sturdy tree, and the changing sky all became part of the story, helping me make sense of my own adjustment to this new environment.

Works Cited: Auster, Paul. "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story." New York Times, 25 Dec. 1990. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A175604459/AONE?u=clackamasccl&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9d7c8f7a. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.

Colton Goes to College ...

When Colton made his decision to play for Clackamas Community College, the main question was, "where will he live?"  Unlike my experience at Snow and BYU, where campus living/dorms are part of the experience ... CCC is more like SLCC, where it's a majority of students living at home, in the area. There were no dorms, no set housing.  There was another player coming from out of state, and another from Oregon, but not close enough to commute, so the three basketball boys planned on finding a place together. Sight unseen, with parents co-signing the lease, the guys had a three bedroom/1 bath apartment close to campus.

Conner (the Oregonian) had done most of the work getting everything set, and was able to round up quite a bit of communal stuff (couch, table/stools, kitchen and bathroom essentials), so that Colton and Kobe, coming from out of state, just brought their clothes and sundries. Once there, both families scrambled to get a bed, desk and whatever else was needed to set up the boy's bedrooms. 

I asked for pictures that would help me get a feel of Colton in his new place.

He obliged. 

Here's a little video tour ...

https://youtu.be/vM2hpGp3ERA

The apartment does NOT have air conditioning, as Oregon is pretty temperate. Most of the time. They were having a heat wave while Gray and Keaton were there helping Colton get settled (luckily the Vrbo had AC) and his first week+ there was HOT, even higher temps than Utah (where we have AC ... although out of possible commiseration with Colton the AC here at home decided to go out during this time too! We got it fixed pretty quick - Grayson has connections!)

There's not a washer/dryer in the apartment, but there's a laundry room at the complex. Two parking spaces and there seemed to be plenty of visitor parking too. I'm not sure how well I prepared Colton for living on his own. He CAN do his own laundry, although he doesn't have a lot of practice. Washing dishes ... cooking, shopping for groceries? It will be a learning and growing experience for sure!

 

Off to Oregon

After entertaining a few offers from colleges in the NWAC, Colton committed to Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. So at the end of August ... it was off to Oregon! Gray was in charge of getting him there, and brought Keaton along (Keaton is great at putting things together and was an extra driver for the travel there). So Colton squished in as much as he could. He could take whatever the Charger would carry (leaving room for two passengers and their luggage). 

The iconic Multnomah falls ...

...lots of eating out along the way and after they arrived. 

They stayed for a few days to shop and get Colton set up ...

... as Colton hadn't had much room to bring things with him, and the apartment was unfurnished, they had quite a bit of shopping to do! Fred Meyer and Ikea. No sales tax, but no shopping bags either. And STILL not much room in the Charger to transport purchases. Poor Keaton got squished more than once! Luckily one of Colton's new roommates had provided a lot of the community/kitchen items. You can see Colton's apartment HERE. 

... a few more pictures

Then Sunday, September 1st ... Colton drove Dad and Keaton to the Portland airport. He dropped them off ... then drove away. On his own in Oregon. 

Ready for College Colton Clips

I post a lot of #mycoltonclips on my Blackhamball instagram. Those are basketball highlights. The "clips" being featured in THIS post, are the kind that cut cute curls from a Blackham boy head. Aunt Olivia has been the family hairstylist for years now. As Colton was packing up everything in preparation for his move to Oregon, he visited Livi for one last haircut (and HUG). 

She was so cute - she created this step-by-step tutorial that he could have on him to show the next stylist exactly how to keep the cut Colton' likes.  She also got him a GreatClips giftcard to help the poor college student with costs.

Built in blog post ... and I figured it might be good to have it here for reference!

 

Colton - Graduation

 

Class of 2024 step right up ... and with that, the Blackham Bunch concludes the high school experience! I ordered the cap and gown and tassel, and when they arrived, we did a little photo shoot. Colton hadn't yet picked up his additional awards/cords (Jag Medallion, Academic Letter, Academic Scholar), so more pictures the day of graduation before he drove off. 

This year, the graduation ceremonies were being held at UVU. West Jordan was on Wednesday, May 29 at 2:00. I was still able to attend my Zumba class in the morning, and Gray got some work in. Landon joined us as well. We hit standstill traffic on Bangerter, but once through it made good time. There was plenty of parking and seating. Only one program per family, with a QR code to access it digitally as well. The ceremony was also being streamed. 

Colton had gone to school dances with both Abbys who were speaking (historian and student body president) and his good basketball buddy Ethan had an address. The ceremony was just over two hours, with most of that being the seating of the students at the start, and the announcement of names. While I couldn't find an exact number for the graduating class we estimated it to be about 550; smaller than most of the other schools in the Jordan School District. Here's a Colton spotlight ...

I like to include the link in text too, https://youtu.be/Zye3TmYkZxk and here's the whole thing if by chance anyone wanted a peek at that, although you never know how long a third party will keep streams up and available. From the West Jordan you tube channel  https://www.youtube.com/live/iutVS1-Jl5c?si=pf-1bmssE0Y_wnbr  ...

A few photos afterward ... like the other boys (sans Coop) the "gown" was just a rental, which had be be returned before receiving the actual diploma. Not as fun for pictures with just the caps (Cousin Addie graduated from Riverton High the next day, and Riverton went with purchased caps/gowns, so they had lots of cute "after" pictures still all dressed up).  Colton didn't seem very interested in more pictures, so we all headed out with plans to meet up for lunch at Texas Roadhouse in South Jordan. 

Cooper joined us there. 

Up next ... College Colton at Clackamas! 

See his new apartment set up HERE. 

Check out the other Blackham Boy graduations too ... Landon, Callahan, Keaton, Cooper. You can also compare and contrast with Colton's Preschool Graduation and Jen's graduation back in 1989!

Colton -Basketball Senior Showcase

Colton finished up his senior season here in February 2024. It's been a great year, and hopefully there is still more basketball in his future. 

Here's a little look at his Senior Showcase for for Senior night ...

...and a closer look at the collages *Ü*

A walk down the basketball memory lane.

Starting small ... lots of little jerseys and Junior Jazz 

A family photos feature ...

Elementary years ...

Originally Colton played for the Copper Hills Grizzlies (following in his brother's footsteps). 

... we still weren't sure of future playing plans in 7th grade. Colton attended Elkridge Middle while we watched school boundary discussions. When Copper Hills still looked extremely overpopulated (we'd been told we could get a permit, but ...) and Colton had a couple good friends on his Wolves team going to West Jordan, we decided we'd just stick with our boundary school. Colton switched from Elkridge to Joel P Jenson for middle school, and immediately started playing for the Jags Bantam team. 

Colton first met Coach Phil (and Gage and Collin and crew) way back in 3rd grade, playing on a 3rd/4th team at Gene Fullmer. They ended up playing up the  next year (and Colton was already a grade younger) so we parted ways for a couple years (Colton joined the Grizzlies Bantam team). We crossed paths with Phil again, who now had an AAU team, the Wolves, and they happily they accepted Colton into the pack. Colton and the Wolves played together for several years, in local tournaments and leagues, and doing some traveling. The team shifted and changed a bit over the years, but Colton, Collin and Gage remained close, and played together for West Jordan in high school. 

Colton continued to play whenever he could, with a variety of teams. Showtime was an "off season" team with Coach Sawyer ... sometimes made of WJ Jags, other times compiled of other kids Coach Sawyer was working with.  More Wolves. More West Jordan Jags in Spring or Fall. Colton joined the Salt Lake Metro the summer before his senior year and traveled to three tournaments with them. He'd also jump onto Cal's Men's League team when they needed an extra player. 

Shortly before his senior year, Colton was invited to play in the Utah Top50 league, and that was a lot of fun. Games were played at SLCC, with the final games downtown at the Delta Center, NBA court!

West Jordan was a great experience for Colton.  

Lots of fun on and off the court!

Some Senior snapshots ... and a look at his program pictures/profile over his four years.

Colton got some Varsity minutes as a freshman (he even started once) but mostly played Soph/JV his freshman year. Freshman year was impacted by Covid (from tryouts to games) but we are glad that they still got to play! You can read more about Colton's Freshman Year on the BlackhamBall blog. 

Colton's Sophomore season ... he didn't play in any of the sophomore games. He was JV and Varsity. There was a strong senior presence, but Colton got some playing time and points and started a couple times. 

Colton's Junior Year - while not a senior, he started every game (except for the final "senior night" ... and he got subbed in pretty quick) and was the leading scorer and assist leader on the team. Check out the BlackhamBall post for the schedule, video links, highlights and more. 

Senior Year ...

Senior year was great. The season started off a little rough, as it was a tough pre-region lineup. Only one win there. But as soon as 2024 rolled in, and region play began ... the Jags went on a winning run. Undefeated 13-0 until their elimination during the state playoffs. 

So many videos, #mycoltonclips and pictures! The team contracted with a professional photographer who covered multiple games. Love having so many photos and great action shots! There were a couple other photographers at other games, and we purchased a few of those pictures too.

More on the BlackhamBall Blog wrapping up Colton's senior season ... 

and other Blackham Ball. 

Colton ~ Homecoming + (Senior Year Socials)

August of 2023, Colton started his senior year at West Jordan. Part of high school, is the social, school dances and such. First up, Homecoming. Colton originally hadn't planned on hitting homecoming, but then he got nominated for the court (Homecoming King) so ... he went. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jfOK1yfrQsM

As part of the Homecoming festivities, he had to prepare a little presentation at a pep rally, there was voting, and the announcement at the homecoming game. I wasn't able to make it (week of my extended EEG) but Coach Wouden was his escort, and Coach's wife got video to share with me. You can see it HERE. 

Pictures and the dance ... fun group of guys and gals. 

Homecoming was September 17, 2023.

Colton got asked to two of the girl's choice dances during his senior season.

November 2023 was Sadies /50s theme.

I had to tease Colton a bit for buying a leather jacket to wear once for pictures.

WE paid for it (he used the family credit card).

Even with girls choice grouping, Colton was with a bunch of his buddies.

Then in February 2024, it was Sweethearts.

Colton decided to forgo Prom - He had a track meet all that day anyway!

Spring Break 2023 (Colton &Co)

Abby's family goes to Vegas every Spring Break with another group, which happens to be the family of Colton's basketball buddy Ethan. Abby's family invited Colton to come along, and Ethan had his girlfriend attending also (Abby and Emmalee happen to be best friends too). There were lots of pictures from the trip, and I had Colton do a write up ...

March 25 (Saturday) I got dropped off at Abby’s house around 3:00 to just hang around for an hour or two before getting ready to leave. After about an hour and a half, I helped Dustin (Abby’s dad), pack up all the luggage into his truck and we left for the dance studio that Abby had rehearsals at. Once we got there, we picked up Sydney (Abby’s sister), who just got done with dance, then Abby headed into the studio for about 45 minutes for rehearsals while the three of us waited in the car. Once she got out, we left for St. George. We made two stops on the way down there, once in Payson to get food at a Beto’s, we also stopped at a gas station to get some drinks before we got back on the freeway. Then we stopped once more before St. George at a gas station again for treats and snacks. A little after 10:00, we arrived at their condo in St. George where Hannah, (Abby’s sister), and Erica (Abby’s mom), were already there. Hannah had just gotten her tonsils out so Erica had flown down a day early to be with her for a bit. We only stayed up for about an hour more just chilling around the condo then we all headed to bed.

March 26 (Sunday) I don’t remember the time everyone got up but we pretty quickly packed everything up that we used so we could get on the road. For breakfast, we had some store-bought cinnamon rolls that were not very good, especially the frosting. Hannah had a lot of little gifts like treats from coworkers that we helped pack into her car, then when leaving, Abby and I drove Hannah back to her apartment as Hannah wasn’t really supposed to drive. We hung out there for just a little bit then Abby’s parents came and got us in the truck. We stopped at a gas station once more for a drink then were on the road to Vegas. We left at around 1:00 and got to Vegas at around 4:00. We Facetimed Ethan and Emmalee as we were arriving, who were already in the hottub of the hotel, so Abby and I just hurried and dropped off our luggage at our rooms and headed down to the pool to hangout with them. We swam for a couple hours and went back up to the hotel rooms.. Everyone just hung out for a couple of hours, then Abby, Emmalee, and Sydney got permission to take Dustin’s truck to head to the store to grab some stuff for Sydney. Back at the hotel, Ethan and I showed a magic trick to the adults that took them a long time to figure out. I had a couple other magic tricks that I was just completely blowing everyone’s minds with. After an hour, I got a call from Abby, telling me and Ethan to walk downstairs and across the street to the casino that had a really good place to get shakes. We thought it was weird that they couldn’t just come pick us up, but we walked over and saw why. They surprised us with a prom response poster, “We hit the JACKPOT for Prom! Yes!” They just went in on a poster together to respond to both of us. We took some pictures then got some shakes before heading back up to the hotel. For the rest of the night we played some games then Ethan, Emmalee, Abby and I watched a movie. We fell asleep for most of it but Ethan and I had to wake back up to head to the other room to actually fall asleep.

March 27 (Monday) Woke up early on Monday at around 7:00 to go on their usual hike (this trip/hike is a family tradition). Took about 30 minutes to get ready, pack up lunches and clothes before heading off. It was a 45 minute drive to the start of the hike in Arizona. The first hour of the hike was nothing special, just walking down the trail talking with everybody. After an hour, the trail led into the middle of these canyons, which was really cool. Just basically rocks on both sides of us while we were walking in the middle. Two hours in we came across the Colorado river. There were tough hills to hike up shortly after that. On the way down one of the hills, Ethan slid and landed his hand right on a cactus. Dustin, not very carefully, plucked the spikes out of his hand and we kept going. A few minutes later, we arrived at the streams of the hot springs. Also came across some nude old men on that part of the hike which was very fun. I changed into my swimsuit and some water shoes for this part. Ten minutes into the streams we came across the actual hot springs. There was a big ladder that led to four different pools of hot water, each getting hotter as you go higher up. We walked through all of them to the end, placed all of our bags and food down, then headed back into the third pool to relax for a bit. We talked for a bit with some other hikers then got back out to complete the second half of the hike. We ate our lunches after getting out and started walking again. The hike back didn’t seem as long, but it was a bit harder. We had to go up some large hills and canyons. It was particularly hard for Erica, this being the most strenuous work she’s done since her chemotherapy in just a few months ago. She had breast cancer last year but was able to beat it. We finished the last bit of the hike and then had the drive back to the hotel. The parents dropped all of us off then went back out to do some grocery shopping. Abby and I took a little nap once we got back. We just chilled out for the rest of the day as everyone was pretty exhausted after the six mile hike. The parents made some frozen lasagna and enchiladas for dinner that we all ate while watching tv. Luckily, Abby’s family is also obsessed with The Office, so that was always an easy option to turn on. I spent a lot of time in the room messing and solving the Rubik’s cube that Dustin brought, he is also able to solve one and we spent a lot of the week geeking out over it. Nothing else really happened for the rest of the day, the four of us watched another movie to end off the night before Ethan and I headed back to the other room. 

March 28 (Tuesday) The girls had already scoped out the days of the trip that would be the warmest, so they had already planned that Tuesday was going to be a pool day. Abby and Emmalee were really looking forward to tanning by the pool and this was the best day to do it. We headed down to the pool in the morning, where it was pretty hard to find a table to claim. We eventually got one. We were at the pool for over five hours, I did pretty good with sunscreen, my only sunburns actually coming from Wednesday. Everyone showered up once we got back up to the hotel room and just hung out for a couple of hours. After a while, we decided to go to the outlets, which is pretty much a mall. We walked around the stores for a while, especially Nike since there was some cool stuff there. While the girls spent a lot of time in the Vans store, I got distracted by the little shops in the middle of the hallways that were selling some interesting rubik’s cubes. I bought a 3x3 cube that was built of spheres instead of squares. Abby and Emmalee bought some cool hats and once we got out of there, we all headed back to the casino where the shake place was and got some dinner there. They had some decent burgers and fries, which we all ordered. We only had a few minutes back at the hotel after, Abby and Emmalee wanted to do a little photoshoot with a digital camera on top of a parking garage right next to the hotel. It was really fun and we got some good pictures, even though we had to work through the wind. We just watched some tv once we got back then went to bed after.

March 29 (Wednesday) Wednesday was probably the least eventful day of the trip. Right after breakfast, Emmalee had to leave Vegas early, as she had a volleyball tournament starting up the next day. We hit the pool once again for a few hours, but it was a lot colder this time. The wind was blowing pretty hard so I spent most of the time in the hot tub rather than the cold pool. We tried a new board game that Ethan’s family had for about an hour. I did not enjoy it all though because it was long and complicated. We chilled out for another couple hours then Dustin suggested we go out to the big Cabela's store. We walked around there for a while and it was actually really interesting, especially the small aquarium that they had. Ethan and a few of the parents were really craving some fish tacos for a while so we hit up a fish grill a couple hours later. The menu showed what items were spicy and what items weren’t. Most of the fish items were listed as spicy so I just got some chicken tacos, which were still very good. We drove back to the hotel after that and played some more board games. Dustin showed me a short documentary on Netflix about some of the fastest speedcubers, which were people who competitively solved rubik’s cubes. Not much else happened that night, watched a bit of tv then just headed to bed.

March 30 (Thursday) This day was also not that eventful. We didn’t really do anything in the morning, watched a bit of The Office with Abby’s family and then Abby turned on the movie, World War Z. It’s an intense zombie apocalypse story that I definitely fell asleep during. Dustin snapped a funny photo of me and Ethan just slumped out on the couch while watching the movie. A bit later that day, we split up for lunch. Those who liked sushi went to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant while the rest of us headed to Buffalo Wild Wings. Lunch was really good and we met back up right after where Ethan’s family split off to the outlets again to get a gift for Emmalee’s birthday. Abby’s family and I drove for a while around the strip looking at all the buildings. We got back to the hotel and watched some more of The Office, Dustin and I also watched some I.T. Crowd. I tried to learn some more magic tricks during that evening but it didn’t go so well. Once it got dark out, we all headed down to the hottub for our last night there. Dustin and Erica also picked up some shakes for everyone to eat while in the hottub. Once we got back up to the rooms, we just hung out for a couple hours before everyone went to bed. 

March 31 (Friday) Friday was just all about packing up and leaving. Ethan’s family was leaving a few hours earlier than Abby’s, and I was in their room so I got up a bit earlier than all of Abby’s family. I used that time to pack all of my stuff up and help Ethan’s family pack up everything they brought. From there, it was just more packing until we were ready to leave at 11:00. We made some stops on the drive back, we stopped in St. George to see Hannah for a bit and stopped by some friends of Abby’s family for a bit. We also hit a gas station to get some drinks and then we drove all the way back. I helped Dustin take everything off the truck and then Abby and I headed over to Emmalee’s house for her birthday. We were playing some games at her house when we had the genius idea that whoever lost the next game would have to swallow Emmalee’s new goldfish that some of her teammates got her as a joke gift. Ethan and I went into her room to see the goldfish when Carter also came in and just asked how funny it would be if he swallowed it while everyone was in the other room. We thought he was joking but we closed the door and he swallowed it. Highlight of the night. 

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.

Braces Beginning ~ Ortho END

 

It's the end of orthodontia for the Blackham family, as Colton wrapped up his braces saga. It started in September of 2019, soon after he switched schools to Joel P for his 8th grade year.  The monthly appointments are always a bit of a struggle during the school year, as getting after-school visits aren't always possible. Then came Covid ... which shut down schools AND dental/ortho offices for several weeks (postponing appointments). 

When the office started accepting appointments again, they would only allow one other individual with the patient, and masks were required. Our ortho office is very close by (walkable even, under a mile) but has no right turn (off 7800) which makes it a bit of a pain to get out of and turned around for home. I got in the habit of just dropping off Colton at the end of the neighborhood (by the Maverick Church) and having him walk the short distance. This had been common practice with the older boys too. Then afterward he'd start walking home, I'd often go grab him so he didn't have to walk the full distance home, meeting up in the neighborhood. With Covid, as Colton started his 9th grade year, he was only at school in person for three classes in the morning, and leaving before lunch. The rest of his classes were online (although he was going to the high school for basketball class on A days in the afternoons) and so his schedule was much more flexible for ortho appointments. At the very end of his ortho journey, he was able to drive himself to appointments!

I remember a funny exchange in May of 2021 ... 

• Jen: The orthodontist said your son should be getting his braces off soon.
• Grayson: That's good. Which son?
• Jen: Ummm, the ONE who has braces?

"Soon" apparently has different meanings, as the removal ended up months away. Finally, in March of 2022, Colton got his braces off. He has a permanent retainer on the bottom, and a clear retainer for the top. Hopefully his teeth will remain pretty and straight. I wonder if he'll show teeth in his smiles for photos now :)

I was glancing back on the blog about the other boys ortho (I had a "teeth" label, which hits baby teeth and wisdom teeth too). I have Landon's "done" picture, and a small post as Callahan started up and finished up. I didn't have anything for Keaton. I looked and found an "after" picture, but no before ... really none with a smile showing braces! His ortho experience mirrored Colton's. Getting them on in 8th grade, and getting them off halfway through sophomore year. I remember the orthodontist saying that Keaton had small/few teeth (unlike so many who have to get teeth pulled because of overcrowding). The opposite end can be an issue too, as they can only pull them together to a certain extent. The end result looked fine to me. Cooper ... didn't get braces! I'm sure an orthodontist would say there were issues, but doctor/dentist appointments are such a struggle, and his teeth are really pretty straight, so ... Grayson never had braces either.

Prom Pictures - Colton Sophomore Year

Saturday, April 2 was PROM for West Jordan High School. Colton went with his buddies Ethan, Carter, Stephan, Gage and Jair (all on the basketball team). Colton was on driving duty which stressed Mom out, but he managed it all fine and said the dance was "amazing" (that is a direct quote).

First off was the ASK and the ANSWER ...

Colton had Kate help with the lettering again. In today's social media age, the ASK and ANSWER gets posted to the various platforms, so Abby had posted "Yea, Prom with Colton!" the night he asked, but the ofFISHal answer didn't come until a few days before. And yes, we now have a little beta fishy. His name is Gerald.

There was some prom prep and planning. Colton and a friend went out for some suit shopping, and then there was deciding on the day date and dinner. I had to remind Colton about the corsage. 

Present-Day Prom is an ALL day thing! 

They started around 8:00 am for breakfast, 

got some pictures, and then went paintballing.

Then it was back home to get ready, and off to the Capital for a photoshoot. 

Lots of fun pictures. Got lots of great ones with the guy group!

Some silly, some serious ... some smiling!

LOVED this one!

 

Dinner was downtown at Brios, Italian. Colton wasn't too impressed ... it was pricey and he might have had a touch of food poisoning, or his meal just didn't agree with him. He was having some serious stomach cramps. He tossed his take home box.

... and one more with the basketball team!

Colton is hard to see ... shortest in the back? 

Seniors in the front! 

Prom memories!