Colton Catch-Up

 

I had completed the September OneSecondEveryDay video and I realized, it had NO COLTON in it! I texted him that Mama needed an update and some pictures. He sent some back with a little write up and a few pictures ...

A few fun things Haley and I have done recently - bowling (she destroyed me), painted these little wood pumpkins, gone to a few of Ty's football games, Olive Garden date last night, and lots of trips to McDonald's. Haley and I were planning on Salt and Straw last night after Olive Garden, but we were so full that we got bundt cakes instead to eat later.

After finishing up his two years at Clackamas, Colton moved to Lebanon to stay with Haley's family. He's been working as a merchandiser for Franz Bakers (Haley pulls a shift too, and her dad is a supervisor) ... going into the stores and making sure the shelves are all stocked.  Sadly, he hasn't had time or found the people to play with to continue with basketball, although he's made a couple trips back to Clackamas here and there.  He's now starting school, taking online classes from both OSU and LinnBenton. 

The Charger (originally Cal's car from back in his high school days) had been having some issues, and we'd helped him out getting a new (to him anyway) Civic which has been more reliable. 

We were glad to have been able to spend some time with Colton and Haley in June for our family vacation to Hawaii. Not sure what his holiday plans are, but I hope I keep getting pictures and updates at least!

(Colton's original letter is recorded in full on the Westra Write On correspondence blog).

Family Photos ~ 2026

 

The last time we did official family photos was in 2015 ... before Landon headed out on his mission. A lot has happened in the last 11+ years. The boys have grown up, and we've added a few gals to the family. As we planned our Hawaii getaway, it seemed only logical to work in family photos while we had everyone together, and were able to take advantage of such a beautiful backdrop. We went with the basic white/tan/blue color scheme that is a favorite for beach photo shoots and still had to do some last minute shopping (for Gray, and Keaton/Cal benefitted from Landon planning several outfit possibilities). 

There were several beaches very close by where we are staying, and our photoshoot was at Fleming Beach with Gamze Smith as our photographer.  Full family photos, kid collections and couples ...

Very happy with our pictures and all the memories we made in Maui!

Hawaii 2026 - Maui Memories

Grayson had talked about taking the whole family to Hawaii (he'd been a couple times with Kolby and Jami, Keaton attending one of those trips). He got lots of advice and recommendations from family/friends and decided on Maui, June 2026. Below you'll find a video recap/one second style, and a bullet point of memories ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bbD_cqoVfA&t=9s

Maui Memories

• Delta One - fully reclining seats, first class+ service
• Hawaii - Holy Humidity
• Rental Car policies … GB needs to drive out two cars
• Red Convertible, SUV, Jeep, Mustang
• Costco shopping
• Lizards!
• Noisy birds
• Many Monarchs!
• Flowers and greenery. 
• Pineapple growing on property.
• Huge unenclosed showers - but hot water issues (in Mom&Dad's)
• Landon’s announcement - Wedding planned for Friday
• Lots of pool time
• Lots of beach time
• Lots of nap time
• Lots of games/Dalmuti, Blink, SET, Spot It, Pirate
• Long morning walks
• GB running loop. Strava. Keaton run ... Cal too!
• RAIN (then stop), but always damp/humidity. Breezy!
• Lots of loads of laundry/showers
• Snoring
• Rainbows
• Hawaiian Sunscreen - white(zinc) and hard to put on, splotchy results
• Little frog at swimming pool
• Pokémon Go - Comfey, Wiglet, Pink Corsola and Hula Oricorio
• Plantation House brunch (Sunday) Patio/Outdoor seating, don't feed the birds
• New black cap for Mom ... Needed, hair in humidity!
• Big Breakfasts at "home" -- borrowing pans from other apartments
• Costco muffins, croissants, salmon, toasted cheese sandwiches, greek yogurt and fruit
• Colton - temporary membership at local gym
• Road to Hana - Landon, V and K8 ( all day Monday)
• Breakfast at Honolula Store - condensation clean up, Dole whip, Kitty
• Boogie Boarding O beach (Monday)
• Cal - slide slides up foot
• Sand in every crevice (Coop says no more going in the ocean)
• Beach Day "K" (Tuesday) Snorkeling, Monk seal on beach
• Cinnamon Rolls - HUGE
• Deciding what to wear for family pictures. Landon/Val shop for Dad
• Family pictures in the evening - Flemming Beach
• Colton and Haley Pedicure
• Pickleball (four paddles at our place + brought two)
• Banyon Tree Dinner - $1600 + $40 parking
• Colton and Haley, ants, then beetles - Keaton gives them his bed
• Cockroaches - a few dead ones
• Napoli blowhole - cool Pogo postcards (another Grayson)
• Windy road (our own Hana) / Haley carsick (switch to front for ride home)
• T shirts - family photo
• Recreate boys swimming pool photo
• Beach walk - see turtles (Thursday night/Friday Morning)
• Cal and Kate leave Thursday …
• Food Truck night for dinner
• Snorkeling - L&V, K&GB
• Goggles, flippers enjoyed as much in the pool
• "Coop" football
• Landon and Val - massage
• HiChews
• Run out of garbage bags and tide pods in the main (Mom&Dads)
• Beach Wedding
• McDonalds
• Me(JenB)/Morning Pogo…meet up GB … turtles!
• Introduce Coop to turtles
• Labyrinth (again)
• Crabs on the rocks
• Colton and Haley - Early flight
• Coop T-shirt (had to talk him into it)
• Hawaii library card!
• Watching kite surfing
• Arcade (killing time)
• Toy Story 5

I will get some additional posts up with more details on some individual activities, but this is the vacation recap! Maui memories!

Asked and Answered

 We've got an engagement!

Congrats Landon and Valentina!

Four Blackham Boys and a 15k

Grayson has been running many half marathons with his buddies ... this weekend, he proposed a 15k to his sons. Cal was out of town in St. George, and Colton in Oregon, but Landon, Keaton and Coop said okay.  So early Saturday (April 11) they headed out. The race started at 8:00, and they were done by 9:30.

At home, before the race, I asked, who among the four would win. Landon laughed and said "not me" and Keaton shook his head. Gray had already stated he expected the boys to beat him. Coop smiled and said "I guess it will be me then ..." and it was.

Some of the shots captured by the race camera ...

I peeked in via Life360 ...

Coop at enough of a clip that the app thought he was in a car.

Keaton and Gray had Strava tracking them ... always fun to see the route mapped out and get the stats. 

Post-race picture with their medals.

... and a little refueling after the race.

St. Patty's ~ 2026

St. Patricks Day isn't a big celebration day ... but I have aquired some green hats over the years. My Zumba class was the day before (Monday, March 16) but I sent out a group text encouraging wearing green, and we had a couple of Irish Jigs on the playlist. 

I set out the hats, telling Grayson and Cooper than they could/should wear them to work the next day ... Cooper declined, but Gray actually went ahead and did it. He took a picture for me, and then got a little help from AI to make another photo even more festive! 

Got green? No pinchies! 

BlackhamBunch ~ 2025 at a Glance

I hope to get a more in-depth write-up/review of the year ... but until then, here's the collage created for the Westra calendar/slideshow and the little blurb for the newsletter.

Jen and Gray and their five Blackham Boys live in West Jordan. Gray is still with Symphony Homes. He had an active year, with "75 Hard" and 16 half-marathons/four triathlons and a 100 mile bike ride. Jen continues baking sourdough, teaching Zumba and is all about books! Landon shifted from the West Jordan LKL location to the Spanish Fork store, and found an apartment in American Fork. He's added a girlfriend, a puppy and a kitty to these changes! Cal supervises quality control for Camson Electric and his wife Kate is working towards her Masters at UVU. They enjoyed a trip to Italy. Keaton works with Cal at Camson and received his Journeyman license. It's been a "OneWheel/Unicycle" year for him. Cooper is moving up at DLP Unlimited, added forklift training to his resume. He ran his first half-marathon and is always up for pickleball. Colton finished up his first year at Clackamas and is back on the basketball team as a sophomore.

There were multiple posts throughout the year, and four quarterly reports compiling all the events from those three month periods. Here's a compiled/annual 1secEverday2025 ...  

 https://youtu.be/rdrDiI_yrS0

Blackham Bunch Quarterly Report - Q4/2025

 2025/Q4  ~ The Blackham Bunch in October, November, December

Wrapping up 2025 with a recap of the activities in October, November and December. There are the usual holidays; Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays for Jen/Gray and Colton. The usual stuff ... pickleball, basketball. Hale Theater, Wicked, Bargatzee, Derek's Derby, Fisher House, and a few trips to Portland too ...

• Gray a Go-Go: GB was running races; Antelope half, Mission Bay Triathlon, Haunted Half, Portland Pumkin Half, Snow Canyon Half, Thankful Half. A little getaway to Wendover too. 
• Travel: Jen and Gray flew out to Washington, to catch some of Colton's preseason scrimmages, then the whole family made it out at the end of December to Portland/Clackamas (Bamboo Sushi Green Machines, Salt&Straw, three games/WINS at Clackamas, seeing Colton's apartment and visiting Kolby and Jami). Cal and Kate also had a Wyoming getaway in October. Gray flew out to San Diego for his triathlon, and to Portland (didn't connect with Colton) for a comedy show and a half, also in October. 
• Basketball: Cal continued playing in a number of men's leagues, alas, second place at both SJ and Tville this season. Colton's sophomore year at Clackamas started up, preseason scrimmages and games, some stitches. 
• Seeing Shows: Every year we try to attend at show at Hale with the folks. We saw Sister Act in October. Olivia set up a girls night out to see Wicked (part 2). GrayBlack and his buddies went to a see Rory Scovell in Portland, and then Symphony had a Bargatzee night, and GB was able to snag tickets for Keaton and Coop to attend too. 
• Keaton's Adventures: Still hitting the One-Wheel and Unicycle, Keaton also got out Canyoneering and other outdoor adventures with friends. He also wrote up some of his current interests (as a Christmas present to Mom) ... perfect for blog posts (upcoming). 
• Minecraft Mondays (and one weekend retreat): Coop and his buddies have been gathering virtually every other Monday to play Minecraft. One weekend in December, they pulled an all-nighter as well.  
• Spotify Wrapped: Coop and Keaton obsess over this every year!
• Birthdays: The boys came over on Jen's Bday for cake, and then we did the traditional Tepanyaki dinner over the weekend (between Jen and Gray's bdays), more cake after dinner (a lemon jello cake that fell just a bit). Gray had a few birthday celebrations with work/friends. Colton stayed in Oregon for his birthday, to spend it with Haley. He got two cakes, one there, and then a belated birthday cake when he got home to Utah (home for Christmas). 
• Holidays: Halloween costumes from Landon (Holy Guacamole) and Colton/Haley (firefighter and dalmation). Coop pointed out the DOTS (Colton's nickname) in our Halloween candy. Lots of pumpkins from the garden, but we didn't carve any. We hosted Thanksgiving and celebrated Christmas with the Blackham and Westra side of the family. 

I think that's pretty much what was happening during Q4/2025.

Here's a live look, one second style ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqe1LNVWLiA

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXvpv-_77j8

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN5yrdGWr4w

#JenBsBooks ~ 2025

... at the end of each month, I grab the cover images of all the books I read and create a collage. I include the total number of books and the pages read. Sometimes I include some extra details. I also try to do an annual book review post with my other stats from Goodreads and Storygraph (when/if I get that done, I'll post a link). This is my little Online Library as I look back on what I read, and how many I can actually remember!

Vera vs Stuffies

Costco carries these cute stuffed chicken doggy toys. I've bought a few for Vera, and around Halloween, there were two "pirate" versions. I bought both. While they are some of the sturdier dog toys, they still don't last that long when once introduced to Miss Vera. 

Cal and Kate had visited, and taken home one of the chickens, but it wasn't long before Cal asked if the second was available. It was time. He took some pictures, the new vs the one Vera had been playing with. One leg gone. Back and head opened, stuffing out.  How long before the new chicken is in the same shape?  Vera looks so innocent in the picture! 

Vera is "ruff" on stuffies! Another post not long after the chicken ...

Cal mentioned Vera seemed drawn to BLUE toys, 

so when I saw this little elephant, I picked it up ...

Ears ... easy come, easy go, and gone!