The Blackham Bunch: Blackham Bunch Quarterly Recap ~ Q4/2024

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

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

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sh(e)reader's bookshelf: read

Generation M

by Scott Cramer

I read book 2 and 3 back to back, and feel like they were just one long story. The first installment was it's own story. I almost felt like the first couple chapters of book 2 could have been included in the first book. It picks up right...

Colony East

by Scott Cramer

I remember REALLY liking book one of this series. I knew it was going to be a trilogy, but figured I'd wait until I could read the final two back to back. So ... it has been a while since I read the first book. I remembered the basic sto...

tagged: kindle-prime

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

I'm not sure what caught my eye, causing me to pick up this book. Although as an adult I often read YA, this seemed aimed at an even younger audience (with the main character being in 6th grade). Although there is a slight mystical/myste...

tagged: library-eborrow

Mars Rising

by Cidney Swanson

Ah ... the conclusion, and this was a definite conclusion. Like a few other series (Harry Potter, Frost Chronicles) the very end does wrap up years and years, showing us the full lives of these characters we've come to know. This book d...

tagged: kindle-cloud and i-bought-it

Striking Mars

by Cidney Swanson

It was nice to pick this up and continue on with the story immediately after finishing book four. Another continuation of the story, a little more of a cliff-hanger ending then the others, but the first few chapters of Book6 were there a...

tagged: i-bought-it

Mars Burning

by Cidney Swanson

I started 2014 reading the first three books in this series, and finished the year reading the last three. I did a combo review of the first three books and I'm having a hard time thinking of reviewing the final three separately (I have ...

tagged: i-bought-it and kindle-cloud

Outside In

by Maria V. Snyder

When I read book one, I didn't love it, but was intrigued enough to continue on and find out what happened here in book two. I liked this book better than the first. I'm not sure if that was simply because I'd already been introduced to ...

Opposition

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The conclusion to this series. I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the series! I'd known this final one was out and I went ahead and bought it (and then it appeared at my library the next day, I could have saved a bit of $$ if I'd waited) ... ...

Time's Edge

by Rysa Walker

2.5 stars. I liked the first book, enough to give this second in the series a try. But ... I think I was a little burned out on the story even as I started. I had to force myself to finish. All the time travel, changes, jumping around wa...

tagged: kindle-prime

Divided

by Elsie Chapman

I THINK I liked this better than the first book. Maybe already having the scene set and the characters established ... or the glimpse into how this world came about and other twists were just a bit more interesting than book 1. Still a s...

Dualed

by Elsie Chapman

2.5 stars. I do really enjoy the dystopian trend ... this book just didn't really grab me. The romance wasn't really there, no build up, no believability. So many things just seemed to happen without any real meaning or reason behind the...

The Line

by Teri Hall

I really need to review my books before they go back to the library! I remember liking this book fine. I do really like the dystopian stuff, but although the setting was promising, it just didn't really deliver. It just didn't make that ...

tagged: library-eborrow

Bridge to Terabithia

by Katherine Paterson

My 5th grader was reading this in school, and I downloaded a digital copy from the library to read along with him, to be able to discuss the developments. I'd read it before years and years ago, and remembered the basics. It was interes...

Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins

3.5 stars. I'd heard a lot of good things about this book, and as I picked it up and started reading, I really enjoyed it. It was cute, light, the writing was fun and would make me smile. About half way through the book though, it got a ...

Watched

by Cindy M. Hogan

2.5 stars ... it was okay. There were a few things that simply drove me cRazy as I read this book! I'm a little more into the supernatural/fantasy/sciencefiction/dystopian stuff. When it's already so "out there" I think I'm much more wi...

tagged: kindle-cloud, got-it-for-free, and netgalley

Blue Noon

by Scott Westerfeld

I like coming into a complete series, where I can read the books back to back if I wish. Sometimes I still don't ... I want a break between books. But here, I did continue reading. It was just an interesting concept, and each book had it...

tagged: library-eborrow

Touching Darkness

by Scott Westerfeld

I'm not in love with this series, but it is interesting. While book one still left things a bit open-ended, it did have a conclusion and I wondered a bit how the story would continue. This did pick up in the days after book 1 ended, and ...

The Secret Hour

by Scott Westerfeld

Jessica Day ... it was a little weird how often the character was referred to by her full name throughout the book. It almost always felt off to me. The storyline was interesting. There were little images included at the end of each ch...

tagged: library-eborrow

The Taking

by Kimberly Derting

This book had a very interesting premise. Only one night has passed for sixteen-year-old Kyra, but five years have gone by for everyone else. She has been missing, but she hasn't aged, she is still the same ... or is she? The writing wa...

tagged: library-eborrow

Timebound

by Rysa Walker

3.5 stars. I did like this book. Time travel always boggles my mind a bit. Even with the complexities of that, at times the book felt a tad simplistic, aimed at a younger audience than the main character (around 16 years old). It's bee...

tagged: kindle-prime

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Blackham Bunch Quarterly Recap ~ Q4/2024

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