December 2021

 

Wrapping up the end of the year, the final month ... December. We started it off with some sickness (Not Covid. Keaton got tested even though the symptoms were more like a cold). Keaton was down for a couple days, then Jen for several days. Not "down and out" but she missed Zumba for two-weeks. We had a cuddly kitten (Joy in heat) and BIG snow (school moved online, Zumba was cancelled). The water heater started leaking, but with Gray's connections, were able to get back in business the next day. New couches (after Christmas). Other notable events from the month ...

• Basketball ... as always! Colton has had quite a few games. Last year he played on all his eligible aged teams, Freshman, Soph, JV and Varsity. This year, he's just JV and Varsity. He'll often play the entire JV game, and has been getting quite a few Varsity minutes. He started one game, and has scored almost every game. 
• Birthday ... Colton turned 16 years old this month! We celebrated with a family dinner to Red Robin. Colton completed his Driver's Ed class 1st semester, got all his roads/ranges in, and only had the driving test left. Then basketball season started and he just hasn't been able to fit it into his busy schedule. We'd planned on him getting his license right after his birthday/Christmas (had an appointment Dec28) but had to postpone (while you can take the driving test at the DLD, we were scheduled for just the basic appointment). 
• Christmas Parties ... the Blackham Bash was up first (12/18), a "Cash Cube" was introduced this year. Yes, one of those enclosures where the air blows bills around whilst the one inside attempts to grab as many as possible. The kids (and adults) had fun. The Westra gathering took place on Christmas Eve, as is tradition. Soups, breadsticks, Brazilian cheese rolls, SO many desserts. Calendars handed out, the annual slideshow, and of course, the candy bar game. Grayson dressed up as an elf for the Symphony Christmas party.
• Christmas Home: Very minor decor this year. Got the tree up ... light on, but never added ornaments. Stockings up (but not down, Santa didn't "stuff" them, but just laid out the goodies). The "Santa Head" filled with M&Ms was probably the highlight of the season (the kids love eating candy from it, but don't eat m&ms anytime else through the year.)
• Baking Spirits Bright ... lots of sourdough loaves, many handed out to friends/neighbors for Christmas. Made the "swig" sugar cookies, and brownies (mint, marshmallow) for family parties (and just to eat). Peppermint puffs (meringue cookies). Did NOT get around to many of the other traditional Christmas cookies this year. 
• Winter Waltz ... another date/dance for Colton, complicated a bit by their basketball tournament on the same day. They had to do the "day date" in the morning, and then rush home from the game to make it to the dance.

And with that ... 2021 came to an end. We had the grandparents over for games, and actually had the kids home (sans Cal&K8, but pretty surprised when Keaton/Colton stayed and played). Progressive Rummy and Pirate ... aaaarrrrggg, Grandpa won. And we even made it until midnight! On to 2022 ... but first, a One Second recap from December to wrap things up. 

JenBs Books 2021

 

In addition to this family blog, there is a JenBsJourney blog that is aimed more at food/fitness and books/tv/movies. I did my 2021 Book Recap on that blog but wanted to have all my monthly book collages in a single blog post as well. So that's what I'll showcase here. 

For the part of the year, I kept track of stats/data ... like where I got the book (Audible, Kindle, Library, Review copy), whether it had been in audio format or a kindle read. I added info like where a book stood in a series, if it was a re-read, or a small book. Alas, but the end of the year, I struggled just to get the collage completed. But all the books are rated and reviewed and shelved (so all those details are still available) on my GoodReads page. Sh(E)reader. 

My eyes have really gone downhill in the last year or two. It's affected my reading ... and I've adapted with more audiobooks. I rarely "read" any more. I love my local library, bought an Audible plan (12 months/12credits for $99) and bought some books when they had sales. I jumped on KindleUnlimited deals when they were offered, and requested and received some review copies. 2021 was a year for the books!

Movie Memories from 2021

1999 was a big year for movies for the kids. Landon and Sol got a pass to AMC where they could go to as many movies as they wanted, and they got good use from it! They included Cooper and the other boys quite a bit too. Then... 2020 happened. Ironically, Jen made it to the theater twice that year (in January, Ford vs Ferrari and Knives Out) after not going to a movie in years. Everything shut down. In 2021, things recovered a little. Movies were being made, and the kids got out to the theaters to watch them (but not Jen, she prefers to watch in the gym, with subtitles, while working out). Landon made up a list of the ones he and Sol saw. Coop accompanied them for quite a few (about half) and all the kids went to Quiet Place 2 as a group (why is there no picture? Jen wasn't with them!) Coop had to hurry and watch A Quiet Place before they went to see the sequel. 

The image above has most of the movies Landon could remember them seeing. He made a full list, included below ... all these were viewed in the theater. I'm sure there were more he watched at home streaming.

Chaos Walking
Nobody
Godzilla vs Kong
The Unholy
Voyagers
Wrath of Man
Spiral
F9
The Quiet Place 2
In The Heights
The Forever Purge
Black Widow
Space Jam 2
Old
The Suicide Squad
Stillwater
The Green Knight
Free Guy
Don't Breathe 2
Candyman
Shang-Chi
No Time To Die
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Halloween Kills
Eternals
Encanto
House of Gucci
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Keaton watched a BUNCH of older movies (streamed), many recommendations from Uncle Kolby. Here's his list ...Fargo, No Country For Old Men, Raising Arizona, Walk Hard: Dewie Cox, Captain Fantastic, Kung Fu Hustle, Stand By Me, Knocked Up, Superbad, Good Boys, Rushmore, Talladega Nights, Dope, One Night in Miami, Without Remorse, Django, Kill Bill, Goodfellas, Usual suspects, Taxi driver, Election, 40 Year Old Virgin, Pineapple Express, Dune, Good boys, Rain man, Ferris Bueller, Back to the Future, Catch Me If You Can, The Matrix, 50/50, Terminator, Just Mercy, Logan Lucky, Shawshank Redemption, Step Brothers, 21 Jump Street, Malignant, Freaky, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Finch...

You can check out JenBsMovies from last year ... the majority were watched in the gym while working out. There were a few that were for Cooper's school (Film Studies, English), a few on the road during the Seattle vacation, and Gray and Jen watched a few together ... w/popcorn.

Christmas 2021

 

Christmas recap ... we got the tree up, but never got around to decorating it. It still looks pretty with just the twinkling lights. The stockings were hung, with some greenery. A few other pieces of decor ... the Santa head with M&Ms in it. Didn't get around to a bunch of our Christmas cookies, but I made the peppermint puffs (Coop and I love them) and lots of sourdough loaves, many given out as our neighborhood/friend gift this year.  Grayson got all dressed up for the Symphony work party, and Jen donned some festive hats for Zumba. There was the Blackham family party, the Westra Christmas Eve party, and then Christmas day at the Blackham home... more on those activities below.

I always seem to struggle with gifts, finding something that the receiver might actually want. When it came to the kids this year, I really didn't have any ideas. Talking to Gray I mentioned we could just throw cash at the kids, or get one of those wind boxes that makes the money fly around while you attempt to catch it. Grayson looked at me a bit funny and said "that IS actually the plan for the Blackham family party". Quite the coincidence!

The Blackham Christmas Party was held Saturday, December 18 and we were able to get everyone out, although Landon and Sol had to leave before the Cash Cube fun. We took some family photos, ate some dinner (soups and sourdough), exchanged some gifts, then it was CUBE time. Clay had rented the machine (an inflatable one) and Gray had picked up cash. There was $50 for each kid. Mostly singles, but also a $5 and $20. Rules were you could NOT pick up cash from the bottom. It would tend to collect there, so those inside were encouraged to "kick it up" back into the wind stream. It's a lot harder than it looks! Once you grab some money, what do you do with it (as you want your hands free to grab some more). Kate's long hair was definitely getting in her way. Originally, the plan hadn't been for the adults to participate too, but once it got going, it was decided everyone should get a turn (there hadn't been $50 for the adults, but taking what was left from the kids section there was still some money to throw in for the bigger people). I am not sure who was able to rake in the most dough, but everyone seemed to have fun. 

Caught some of the fun on video ...

https://youtu.be/_iFxShI2hIQ

The Westra Christmas party took place on Christmas Eve, as per Westra tradition.

So many soups. Breadsticks and Brazilian Cheese Rolls. And desserts ... SO many desserts. That's not even including the candy from "The Candy Bar Game". Everyone received their photo calendars for the upcoming year, and we reflected on the year it had been by watching the annual slideshow. We were missing the Jensen family this year. It was good to get together, as Covid had cancelled the Christmas party last year.

Then it was time to go home and wait for Santa to come ...

Christmas morning! Santa DID come, and there were gifts from the kids to each other. After opening, there was some playing of games. Out back (not really a White Christmas this year), a dance-off downstairs, and then we pulled out the game table (Christmas last year) for more games. 

... and that was Christmas 2021!

Keaton - 2021 Recap

Keaton asked me what I wanted for Christmas ... I told him I wanted a write-up of the year. Not long after, I received an email "Merry Christmas Mommy" with his recap (included below). 

Starting out the year, I had still recently been promoted and moved into a van to manage job sites with Camson Electric. That meant that Cal and I didn’t work together as much because we were both in charge of different jobs. It was fun, though. I was hesitant at first because I wasn’t sure where this path was headed for me, so they had me primarily on finishes for the first few months. I was the only lead working on Edge finishes so later in the year when I started roughing houses, I got a dozen calls everyday asking about little things that only I knew about. It was cool being the only one to rely on. It was a little weird with some people because I hadn’t gone to electrical school and I had only been in the trade for a year, but I was managing people who were in school, had more experience than me, and were far older. For the most part it all worked out. Getting all this experience had allowed me and Cal to modify a few things in the house: new garage motors, new lights, and the Tesla charger (still waiting on the Tesla, it's ordered!)

It wasn’t until March when Camson finally had me start roughing houses. I had been doing finishes for about 5 months and I was sad I didn’t get to pull wire. I think my transition went pretty smoothly. They had me rough the Edge townhomes that I was finishing, which made me happy because I knew those inside and out. I did have to get used to making a ton of minor decisions every day and just making sure that my guys have something to do while maintaining material and communication with the supers and our material team. Working on all those finishes allowed me to get really good at it, but I immediately fell in love with roughs once when I bounced back in. Swinging hammers, pulling wire, and blasting Kesha on the radio all day was, and still is, my thing.

Trips! I think most, if not all, of the vacations I went on this year were with Kolby and Jamie. First, was Hawaii in April and that sure was one to remember. That was the trip where I realized I really loved hanging out with those guys and they were not only my family but my friends too. I almost cried when we had to catch our flight back. We went to Seattle in July with the whole fam and also in October just me, Dad and Coop. Lastly, there was San Francisco and that was one of my first times in a major city. All of those trips were way too fun and I owe it to the Seattle Blackham’s.

Cal and I went on a work trip to Moab with the crew leads and higher ups. We rode in Razors, ate a ton of food, and played games. That getaway along with the work Christmas party made me realize that a lot of the guys at our work are hilarious and we love hanging out with them.

I built a 9 square set this year which was a pretty big hit. I first played it a couple years ago with some high school buddies, but I knew that I could make one after learning how to work with tools. It only took a couple hours and it was well worth it. If you haven’t played the game, I highly recommend it.

Skydiving! This was a big one for me this year. So much so, it got its own post (Jumping From Planes).

Towards the end of the year really came with a cherry on top. Season 5 of mine and Cal’s favorite show Big mouth was released. For my Pa’s birthday we saw Hassan Minhaj’s new special, the King’s Jester. I started working at Nike again in my spare time since skydiving is shut down in Utah for the winter. And of course the end of the year Spotify “Wrapped” playlist released. I look forward to that every single year.

Other things that defined this year for me include a whole heap of bloody noses, getting wings at Trolley and Bdubs and Krispy Kreme donuts. Amazon online shopping really got the best of me this year! Lots of packages showing up on the doorstep, and lots of returns (luckily there is a Kohls return close by). Ever since Hawaii, I’ve been trying to catch up on older movies that have made an impact on pop culture (since our family has kinda lived under a rock my entire childhood). The rest of the year's memories include ... becoming a part of the Tesla community, pickle ball, Dr Squatch soap, Kolachas, passport and TSA shenanigans, and I’m sure a number of other things I’m forgetting about.

That’s about it. Thanks folks and see you next year.

Callahan and Kate - 2021 Recap

 

We started the year off with LOTS of home improvement projects! We had shutters installed on our windows, replaced all of our underground plumbing, converted one of our bedrooms into an in-home yoga studio, and xeriscaped our front and back yard. Cal also replaced nearly every light fixture in the house, so our house is officially up to his electrical standards. ;)

Cal completed two more semesters of school and is preparing to test for his journeyman license next year. He is quickly moving up in his company and is one of their top crew leads. I graduated Summa Cum Laude in psychology and positive psychology from the University of Utah in May. Due to the pandemic, I couldn’t bring guests to my graduation commencement, so we celebrated with a trip to Kayenta Art Village in southern Utah. Kayenta is our favorite place to rest and recharge, and we enjoyed spending some time with my grandparents after not seeing them for nearly 6 months during the pandemic. We saw Beauty and the Beast at Tuacahn Amphitheater (which was the first live event we were able to attend since March 2020), enjoyed the sun and red rocks, and shopped and ate at Xetava Garden Cafe. A few weeks later we threw a graduation party in our newly landscaped backyard with friends and family. We had a chocolate fountain, played corn hole, and sat around the fire talking and laughing well into the night. It was so nice to finally have friends and family over to see our house and feel some resemblance of normalcy.

In June we celebrated our first wedding anniversary! We had a romantic trip to the Bahamas planned, but the pandemic reared it’s ugly head once again, and the resort shut down weeks before we were supposed to arrive. Instead, we planned a trip to Oahu, Hawaii with my brother and sister-in-law in August. We ate açaí bowls, Hawaiian poke, and shaved ice nearly everyday and enjoyed sunbathing and playing cards on the beach.

In addition to the Blackham Seattle trip in July, we took an Allen family trip to Kayenta over Labor Day weekend and attended my cousin’s wedding in Arizona a few weeks later. I got to show Cal my childhood home, my first elementary school, and introduce him to some of our old neighbors. We ate at Rubios, the Mexican restaurant that my brother and I used to work at together, for nearly every meal.

In October we celebrated our 5 year dating anniversary at our favorite bar, Trolley Wing Co, and ate the best vegan wings and fries. We reminisced about our first date, our senior homecoming dance, and got all emotional about how far we have come together. Trolley has become a favorite for us (and for Keaton as well!)

Despite being vaccinated and wearing masks religiously, we came down with COVID-19 at the end of October. It felt like we had been hit by a truck for about 10 days, and had lingering symptoms for about three weeks. We both agree that getting COVID was the lowlight of 2021.

Some other miscellaneous details: Cal played in several men’s leagues and started participating in Tsports monthly basketball tournaments. Cal and his team were invited to play in the season finale tournament in November and took 3rd.

See highlights from one of the games HERE (https://youtu.be/XvgqlyACPkI)

I was a student TA at the U, which upon graduating I received a post-baccalaureate TA position that I am really enjoying! I didn’t know I had a knack for grading papers and helping students write thesis statements, but am looking into routes to possibly become a professor.

We went snowmobiling in Midway and rode razors in Moab, attended several friends weddings, met the first baby of the “friends from childhood” group, visited the Van Gogh exhibit downtown, had a little photo shoot with Jade for her 10th birthday and enjoyed babysitting her while my parents traveled this year.

... and that was 2021!

School Dance Daze ... Colton Starts

Colton is now a sophomore - which means school dances! He got asked to Sadie Hawkins in October. It was pretty late at night when giggling girls dropped off the poster and treats. It took a while for Colton to get around to answering (she knew it was a yes, but officially I had to get after him to get it done). He had help from his SILs ... K8 wrote out the words on the poster, and Sol took him to drop it off. There were additional goodies with both the ask and the answer.

Then it was Colton's turn to initiate the date ... he and his buddies asked to Winter Waltz, even though it was complicated by a basketball tournament that same day. AND it was COLD ... they were freezing for their photoshoot. Pajama theme ...

It's just the beginning I'm sure. I feel bad that I never got around to blogging all of Keaton's high school dances. He had quite, with lots of fun photos. Maybe I'll still get around to doing that. I did get a few of Landon and Callahan's prom pictures on the blog.

November 2021

 

November brings birthdays for Jen and Gray (and Mom!) and Thanksgiving. Beyond birthdays and holidays... 

• Landon and Sol finished up their Mexico trip, celebrating "Day of the Dead" while they were there. They made it over for the big meal on Thanksgiving, and for birthday cake on the big days.
• Cal and Kate got over Covid, and got their sense of smell/taste back. They did some dog-sitting and hit the Van Gough exhibit.
• Tepanyaki ... is our go-to celebratory dinner, which we sandwiched in between the birthdays.
• There was some laughing as some of us (Gray/Jen, Landon/Sol & Keaton) went downtown to see the comdedian Hasan Minhaj.
• Oven issues ... lead to some burned bread, but luckily "turning it off and on again" seemed to reset things without a repair. 
• Got screwed ... screw in a tire, but we are spoiled with an in-house air-compressor and fast service from Discount Tire. 
• Work Shifts ... Keaton never committed to electrical like Cal has, and he has taken a step back with that job, no longer a team-leader with a van (which does open up a needed spot in the driveway) and now works on Cal's crew. This was partially because he wanted to return to Nike for some holiday shifts. And some holiday shopping discounts. Mostly for the discounts I think. 
• Sadies ... Colton had his first official "date" to Sadie Hawkins (school dance). 
• Jump ... Keaton had his 50th (and final for the season) jump out of a plane.
• Kitties ... our kitties have recovered from their vet visit last month. Now they are super jealous as Coop spends a little time giving food and love to a wandering neighborhood kitty that has been stopping by with regularity.
• Still playing Pokemon Go ... Jen is more active than Cooper and actually passed him up.
• Basketball ... Cal played in a weekend tournament with buddies, and ... Colton made the high school team. Not that there was really any question there. He's a sophomore, but will only play JV and Varsity this year. They had their first game the last day of November (JV highlights HERE, and he made his first points in a Varsity game, he was the only non-senior to get any playing time). 

Now it's the countdown to Christmas. We DO have the tree up, although it's not decorated yet ... 

Thanksgiving - 2021 AND Years Past

Thanksgiving 2021 ... Ironically, we had a bigger crew for Thanksgiving dinner last year, right when Covid concerns were running really high. Clayton's family had just recovered from their Covid cases ... so we actually felt fairly safe gathering together as they hosted. This year, Clay and Ana with with in-laws, so Olivia joined us as we had a small Blackham family dinner. 

We had the married kids ... and three vegetarians, so in addition to regular turkey (which Grayson brined, then stuck in the sous vide, then browned) we had some Tofurky. Callahan gave it a thumbs up. Salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls. Lots of drinks ... I actually didn't get the turkey cookies made in time for Thanksgiving (I think we had some "pie in a pan" Cool Whip dessert) but made them the day after. 

... I realized I hadn't done a Thanksgiving post last year, or the year before, or the year before that (I had made a post about 2016 when Grayson prepared quite the feast and 2014, when Clay&Courtney hosted). So here's a peek at some of the past Thanksgivings ...

Last Year ...

Courtney and Clay were hosting in their new house (next door to their old one). Gray was on  turkey (some in the Sous Vide, some smoked) and Landon made the rolls.  I made  stuffing, jello cubes and my "pie in a pan" cool whip dessert. Dinner was yummy. We ate, then the kids went downstairs to play Jackbox while the adults talked. Some financial stuff with Olivia.  Milo the dog is HUGE, and was trying to eat everything, and did some tricks which made everyone laugh. Dessert, then home.

... and the year before that was at our house, small crew. 

First Thanksgiving without Maga.

The day before Thanksgiving there were some blizzard conditions. Landon and Sol had just flown in from Mexico (and had a scare at the airport when Sol's paperwork was taken for additional questioning). Keaton stocked up at Nike (employee 50% discount) and Cal and Kate's hamster died. Hubs had the turkey brining in a bucket on the front porch ... the mail lady wasn't quite sure what to make of that. 

We were ready for a calm Thanksgiving day. It was small, as Gray's family was taking turns with the in-laws and Cal&Kate were with her family. Sol had to work, so Landon came and grabbed the littles and they went to a movie while Gray and I prepped the meal. I got the rolls going, sticking them in Keaton's room with a small heater as the day was quite cold. Gray got the turkey on the smoker and prepped the potatoes. Sol ended up getting off work early and was able to join us, and Keaton had invited a couple of his friends to come as well. It was a very laid back Thanksgiving day. Landon, Sol and the two little went to another movie after dinner.  Keaton headed into his "Black Friday" shift at Nike ... but he didn't make it there without incident. It was NOT how we wanted our Thanksgiving day to go (Toyota Truck Totaled). The end of 2019 was rough ... and then came 2020. Oye!

... and 2018

Thanksgiving at Maga's house ... cute decor and disposable dishes. LOTS of food and a chocolate fountain.  Aunt Olivia was recovering from a bad tooth infection and could barely talk, eating was hard too. Landon brought a bunch of dice and we had a big 10-person game of Pirate after dinner (should I mention that I won?) Then it was movie time as most of the crew headed out to "Ralph Wrecks the Internet". 

2017.. we hosted (Clay&Courtney went with her side of the family)

Thanksgiving was on November 23 ... I remember my rolls didn't rise (it was cold!), the prime rib was done early and the turkey was taking longer than expected. Added Brazillian cheese rolls to the menu and could have used double (or triple) ovens. Sent home leftovers with family and still had plenty for us too. 

2016 was at our house, and Grayson went all out with a few turkeys done up in different ways. 2015 the whole Blackham clan went downtown to GrandAmerica for the buffet there for Thanksgiving. 2014 was hosted at Clay and Courtney's house. 2013 it was at Pammy's, 2012 it was at Clay and Courtney's and Gray deep fried a turkey. Probably at Pammy's every year before that ...

 

Keaton - Jumping From Planes

 

This last year, Keaton decided jumping out of planes would be a fun activity. He'd done it once before, a tandem jump (strapped to an instructor) a couple years ago. He did that again, then took steps to jumping on his own. Many Saturdays and Sundays were spent in Tooele at the airfield and up in the air. He even got Landon to jump once! He invested in his own helmet and gear. He'd share videos and recap the experiences for me when he returned safely home. Below, is his write up, and one of the videos showing some of the tricks/skills. One thing he said many don't realize is how LOUD it is, with the wind whipping by as you free fall.

I first jumped out of a plane in 2019 with one of my buddies for his birthday (see that experience HERE). We both loved it so much, and it resonated with me for two years until I finally looked into it more,  seeing how I could get more involved. It was surprisingly easy. 

I took a short ground school class where they taught you all of the basics and after that, you’re good to start jumping! I did another training tandem so I could pilot the parachute and remember the feel for what it’s like up there... and then after that you just put on a suit and a rig and you’re good to go. 

You have to complete about 13 jumps accompanied by an instructor who assigns you maneuvers to do while free falling. If you successfully do them and maintain control, you pass and move onto the next category. CatA is focused on stability, altitude awareness, good form, and practice touches. CatB is team turns and forward movement with instructors latched. Then I took a recommended course at iFly where I got 15 minutes of freefall time, which is similar to 15 jumps. This helped a lot with my form and stability. CatC is most of what CatA is except the instructors let go and you maintain your form by yourself (this is the hardest for most people, me included). After C is where the fun begins. Solo exits (no instructor latched) from this point on. D1 and D2 are 90, 180, and 360 degree turns. E1 and E2 are difficult maneuvers like front flips, back flips, and barrel rolls to prove recovery and stability. CatF has two parts: one is tracking (I call it Iron Man flying) where you move in the air to gain horizontal distance and the second is Hop n Pops. Normally we’re jumping out 13 thousand feet in the air with almost a minute of free fall in contrast to a hop n pop where you jump out at 5 thousand feet and pull your parachute about 5 seconds of leaving the aircraft. This is to practice the emergency exit procedure in the event of an aircraft malfunction. You can do them for fun, though. I love hop n pops. Then G1, G2, and CatH are all focused on docking (linking up with another person in the air). These are all pretty tricky because where you go and how you fall in the air is all dependent on your form and maneuvers. Lastly is the check dive or graduation jump. In this one, you combine nearly all of the maneuvers in previous categories into one jump. After you’ve completed your check dive, AFF classes, student status requirements, written test, and 25 jumps, you should be able to receive your A license which allows you to jump with any other licensed jumper. I was able to get 50 jumps in this year and I couldn’t be more grateful. There’s only going to be more to come.

Here's a peek at some of the video ...

https://youtu.be/SpLwsoy553k