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.

Nuts!

Early in the year (January), Colton was eating out with some buddies who had come up to Clackamas to visit. Accidentally ingested a bite of a meal that had peanuts in it. Luckily it didn't turn out too badly for him. 

He'd had an accidental ingestion last August as well ... taking a bite of one of the catered meals at a work/DLP luncheon (walnut shrimp). He toughed out the day there but came home and chugged some Benadryl.  I always remember the allergy scene in the movie Hitch.  

My brother's family was dealing with some allergy issues and asked for our family experience, so I wrote it up for him (below) and figured I'd  put it here as a family record as well. 

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

Of the five boys, all but Callahan seem to have some sort of nut allergy. Luckily, none of them seem to be life-threatening. They tend to get a puffy face, rash, itch, feel sick, but it doesn't quite extend to their throat to make breathing difficult. Generally a dose of Benadryl and a little time gets them back on track. 

Landon is allergic to walnuts - he's had accidental ingestion a few times. Before we recognized it, when he was just little, he'd take a bite of a cookie (with a nut in it) then put it down and ask for a popsicle. I guess it made his throat feel hot and that was how he communicated it (I remember that light-bulb moment when I put that together!) 

Keaton seemed to have a lot of allergies as a baby (milk, cheese, pasta, even to some steak once). We were being cautious with everything (especially nuts) because of that. We got him tested (I don't remember the results really) and he's just tried to avoid things, getting an accidental ingestion here and there. He purposely tried cashews when he was a teen ... that didn't go well (we ended up calling the health hotline and got a prednisone prescription and were really watching him in case it started to affect his breathing. Other than totally making his nose run/stuff, breathing wasn't an issue. Itching was, we had to cover his hands with hotpad gloves so he wouldn't scratch himself silly). 

Coop just seemed to naturally avoid most nuts and peanut butter (Landon, Cal and Keaton can eat PB no problem). We didn't think he had allergies, but I think he just managed to avoid things. I think it was a macadamia nut that caught him (they look like white chocolate chips), this was just a few years ago. Face swelled and felt sick. Since then he's tentatively tried pecans, cashews, walnuts, peanut butter and is staying away from those. But almonds are okay (seem to be for all the boys). 

Colton had a reaction (peanut butter we think) when he was just one year, and with him being that young and not able to communicate we freaked a little and took him to the ER (we'd been up at Merrill and Lorrie's, and Katie drove in front of us and ran into the ER saying "baby not breathing! allergic reaction!" so they epi-penned him immediately. I wonder if we'd had Benadryl if he would have been okay, better to be safe than sorry). Colton seemed super instinctive at avoiding nuts (I think any small taste caused an immediate tingle in his mouth and he'd spit things out before swallowing) and we didn't have another issue until grade school ... again, those tricky looking macadamia nuts! That time he didn't look too bad but was complaining he felt sick, so I went and got him, dosed him with Benadryl and kept an eye on him while he napped it off. 

Most recently this past summer he got some Chinese food and ate a bit, felt a tingle, checked the ingredients "contains walnuts" and he was pretty miserable but stayed at work through it (I gave him Benadryl when he got home). Colton has never tried peanut butter again.

So we're lucky in that it doesn't seem to swell their throat, which is the main scary issue. They are all just careful and try to avoid and have done pretty well with that. Maybe try just a tiny bit here and there to see if they feel a reaction. It's not so bad that we avoid having them around (we keep PB/Reeces ... I know with severe allergies that isn't even supposed to be in the same house). Gray just roasted up some pecans, but none of the boys felt like that was one they could try. Coop has even had "topical" reactions sometimes, getting a rash after handling packages containing some nuts. 

That's the Blackham experience, for what it's worth!

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!