Easter 2022

 

So many bunnies at the Blackham house this Easter. We'd actually invited the folks, and they were planning on coming, but Dad got hit with a flu bug (not the first time for him or us on Easter, (2013). 

I got the three oldest to recreate this classic picture ...

They nailed it!

The Easter Bunny came and left some treats and toys in the buckets. Reeses eggs are a favorite for Keaton, but he (and I, and Landon) have been treating ourselves for a while with a big bag (or two ... or three) leading up to the holiday. Keaton did get some more in his bucket, along with some Cadbury eggs and a few other treats, and one more box of Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies (one box for Landon and Callahan too). The little boys don't like Reeses (or Tagalongs, or peanut butter anything) so they had Kit Kat and Rolos. There were a couple little nerf guns, Legos (the boys always got Legos in their younger years) and some other random little toys. 

We did brunch around noon ... cinnamon pull-a-parts, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns ... and crepes. We actually finished off most of the food, there wasn't much left-over.  In the days leading up to Easter, I'd made a few batches of meringue "nests" (a Blackham Easter tradition, Jen/Cooper and Cal love them) and copycat Swig cookies.

... one of the random toys was a package of "Bloonies" (I had this on hand from sometime before, I'd looked for them at the store this year but hadn't seen them). Landon and Cal (and Kate) really got into the Bloonies. Lots of memories blowing these bubbles when they were younger.

... there was also some fun in the backyard, playing KanJam (trying to get the frisbee into the "can" ... played with partners, so one can throw and the other can try to bop it in). After several traditional games, Callahan was super silly and put the can over his head and tried to catch the frisbee ... and he did! Also some fun video of the doggies and Daddy (Gray). 

https://youtu.be/9cDjp9Yy7fU

Another Pre-Easter activity this year ... was bunny Zumba. Jen brought all the ears, and she even wore a little white tail. And yes, the Bunny Hop was on the playlist!

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!

March 2022

 

MARCHing on ... another month into 2022. Daylight Savings time. Even in this digital day, we still have a few clocks that we need to change manually. March means Girl Scout Cookies, Tagalongs are the family favorite (well, of Jen and the older three boys). Bought lots of boxes, and Keaton ate most of them (he found where I stashed them, I didn't hide them very well, nor move them when I knew he'd found them). Replaced the wreath on the front door with a cute, customized sign. Here's the personalized report ...

• Colton is staying busy, still going early and staying after to shoot hoops at the school. His Wolves team has started up again, and they are having practices and had a tournament. Colton got recruited by an AAU Club (Metro) but we weren't quite prepared for the costs ($$ and time/travel) at such short notice. We'll try to plan for something like that for him next year. It's almost time for his braces to come off (finally!) and they made impressions for retainers and he has an appointment next month. He's been doing some prep for Prom ...
• Cooper has been playing Pokemon Arceus a lot, much more than Pokemon Go (although he and I had a "lucky" trade this month). School has been pretty easy for him, and he often finishes up the week by Wednesday. He's been going to Pickleball with me (Thursdays) and still getting in time on the treadmill. Still working at the school, but thinking about what job he might be moving to after he graduates. 
• Keaton lost his voice for a bit in March. For a week or so, he could barely talk above a whisper. He's been struggling with sleep too. Staying busy with his school and work, and looking forward to skydiving again. Meanwhile, he's been going rollerskating almost every weekend and even bought his own skates. He also bought a new duvet (and discovered what a duvet is) and changed his room up a little.
• Callahan and Kate went to St. George ... Kate's happy place, and a belated birthday getaway for Cal. Callahan has been playing some basketball when he's not working. Both he and Keaton have helped Landon with his basement.
• Landon and Sol have been working on their basement, getting it finished up. They've done a lot of the work themselves, from laying the wood floor to painting. It's kept them busy! Sol's mom is moving in with them and now they have space for that.
• Jen is pretty much recovered from her fall. There is still a "spin" (just one and done) moving from a vertical to a horizontal position. Zumba-ing three times a week (had a green day for St. Patties, and even threw in an Irish jig) and started attending pickleball (a ladies church group) on Thursdays. Trying to get back into blogging, listening to audiobooks whenever she can and making several loaves of sourdough each week.
• Gray is working hard, as always. He had a couple getaways in March, one weekend going to  Vegas then to Portland, and a couple weeks later to Moab for some RZR riding. He's still making marvelous meals ... we had fried green beans a couple times this month, and he's really perfected salmon (he doesn't eat it, but Jen appreciates it!)

Here's the One Second Every Day

https://youtu.be/k_ilzF2vVy8

 

 That's a basic run-down of the goings on of the Blackham Bunch.

Until next month ...

A Peek At Our Pantry

 

Pantry progression ... I don't remember when the first picture (on the left) was taken, but it had to have been before 2015, as that's when we lost our landline (A Farewell to Phones). The picture on the right is February 2022, after our pantry re-do.  It's something Grayson had on his to-do list for quite a while. His original plans and estimates were dated back in July of 2021. It started with sketches...

That last one looks cool, like a photograph, and looks a lot like how it ended up. We got back on a serious schedule at the end of 2021 and got on the calendar for early-January. We had installation set for a Friday. I planned on unloading everything on Thursday, then Gray would come and remove the shelves after work for the company workers to come in the next day, and hopefully we'd only have a day or two of chaos.

Unfortunately ...

So I put everything back. 

January 2022 was a bad time for Covid. In addition to our installers, Landon and Sol came down with it, as did Aunt Olivia, and my folks. Happily, everyone seemed to recover quickly and without complications. The company was actually planning on the installation the following Friday, but Gray and I hadn't got the memo (they double checked the morning of January 14 before heading out ... and good thing they did!) So, one more week, which was actually a CRAZY week at home (two trips into the Driver's License Division, hosting the JV basketball team on Thursday night, a repair for our oven), but we made it work. Gray stayed home from work Friday morning, we got the pantry completely cleared out. Gray stuck around to make sure everything was a go. After my Zumba class, I got to watch the progress and keep him updated as he headed into the office.

... then it was done and time to start putting things back. Now part of the whole pantry re-do process is a purge of what to actually keep in the pantry. We are lucky enough to have a basement room for food storage, so only the most used things were going to be kept close at hand in the kitchen. 

One of the things Grayson had really wanted in this pantry was a small shelf with an electrical outlet for the toaster or another appliance. We are lucky to have an in-house electrician who was able to add the outlet easily (thanks Keaton!) While I didn't understand Gray's distain for the toaster in it's old spot on the counter, I'll admit I've liked the change. The bread knife and cutting board are kept right there, as is the butter ... away from a certain little kitten who would sometimes jump up and give the butter a lick (we'd have to keep it covered - why does Joy like to lick butter?)

So Saturday was spent putting thing in place, rearranging some shelves and items. I was glad for the adjustable shelves on the right side, as I had a few tall items that needed non-standard heights. We had switched from baskets (in the original sketch) to pull-out drawers on the bottom-left side. I adore my big buckets (sugar, flour and bread flour) so that had been one thing I required (space for them to fit). Love the vertical storage for pans, lids, cooling racks, etc.  Stuck a lazy susan in one corner for easy access to spices.

It really has been a big improvement to the pantry! 

February 2022

 

For a month with only 28 days, it seems like there was a lot going on this February!  All eyes were on the Olympics, and in the US, televisions tuned into the Superbowl. Covid seemed to retreat some, then the world watched as the Soviet Union invaded the Ukraine. A little closer to home, here's a recap of what was going on with the Blackham Bunch.

• Medical Moments: Jen continued to recover from her fall, taking it easy and slowly returning to normality (baking, driving, exercising, attending basketball games). Back to the ER to get the staples out of her head. She went to the Optometrist for a check-up (pupils didn't seem to be dilating after the accident, which isn't as concerning as if they ARE dilated) and left with a prescription for glasses (which has been needed for well over a year). Coop had a follow-up with the dermatologist, but we are STILL struggling with his skin (Keaton is having some spots too). Sol had acute stomach pain and ended up in the ER to rule out appendicitis. It was an ovarian cyst, which seems to have resolved.  
• Birthday Boy! Callahan turned 23! We had a little dinner and cake to celebrate.
• Family Field Trip: We got quite the crew to go out and see the mansion that Mom and Dad (and Shane's family) will be moving into later this year. Very nice! We also ate out at Red Robin. Yumm.
• Virtual Choir: It's been 30+ years since Jen sang with the Madrigals in high school. One of the group got a good majority of the Mads to put together a tribute song for another member who passed away. After not singing for a looooong time, it was an interesting experience. Add to that figuring out the technology! My laptop has the webcam on the BOTTOM of the screen. But it was good to sing again and to have some communication with old friends. Walk down that lonesome road ... (you can see the song HERE). 
• Basketball: ALWAYS basketball! It was a busy month, seven game days (with both JV and varsity games) for Colton, plus practices and team dinners. The most memorable moment was the "Battle of the Belt" against rival Copper Hills, which West Jordan won! The Riverton Blackhams came and cheered Colton to a win when WJ played at Riverton. Unfortunately the team got eliminated in the second round of playoffs at the state level, and that officially wrapped up Colton's sophomore basketball season. Cooper had a couple games with his team.
• Symphony Socials: Gray threw a BABY SHOWER for one of the women at work (he planned the whole thing, from invitations to decor to food, of course!) and then took his team to St. George to see the Parade of Homes there (and get in some RZR riding too of course).  
• Tesla Time! Keaton and Grayson have been talking Tesla for a while. As Gray has his nice truck, and Keaton can't quite afford the price tag, they both decided it would be good to get one "for Mom".  It was ordered, and the charger was installed months ago (benefits of having an in-house electrician) and it was finally delivery day!

There was Valentines Day ... wearing red/pink to Zumba, Jen's first day back to class, some roses, and a date to Mountain Mikes (a bit of a tradition, very romantic). President's Day, at Colton had another day off school for PT conferences. One big snowstorm that complicated commutes. Landon and Sol had a weekend getaway to Vegas (work, plus some fun). Jen and the Blackham Girls went down to Hale Theater in Orem to see a show (Christmas gift from Olivia). Jen and Cooper had a Pogo (PokemonGo) event and spent a little time time out playing the game. Rollover from the pantry redo, there has been some purging and organizing of the food storage room, and Jen ran out a bunch of boxes of food stuffs to see if the folks or Chris's family thought they could use. Ironically, Ramen has made a big comeback this month, with Gray doing some gourmet upgrades ... and Colton just eating it plain.  

Here's a link to the One Second Every Day.

That's the recap of February 2022 ... MARCHing on!

Virtual Choir ~ Lonesome Road

 It was 34 years ago that I was singing with the Madrigals at Cottonwood High School. I sang for several years after that, LD Singers while at Snow College, and then performing in church and programs. But then there wasn't much singing going on.

Mid-February of 2022, we received the sad news that one of the Madrigals, Julie, had passed away. One of the other members, Jody, really wanted to get the old group together to sing a song to dedicate to her family. With everyone spread out and Covid still a concern, it didn't really seem a possibility. But Covid has inspired ways to get together creatively (check out this popular Youtube virtual choir). One popular program for musicians is Easy Virtual Choir, and that's what we used. It's free to use, although there are charges to add creativity beyond the most basic offerings (we did end up paying a little to have some options). After tons of messaging on Facebook, we were able to gather a good number of our original group, more than I'd thought would be willing to participate. I hadn't seen many of these folks for 30+ years. I surprised myself a bit ... my first thought was "I can't sing anymore!"

At first we didn't have enough guys, so a few of the fellows recorded multiple parts, singing tenor and bass. I had been a soprano in my high school days, but I dropped to alto now, and I wasn't the only one. One of the old altos stepped up to soprano though.

The program was pretty easy to use. A group is set up, there is a base track laid down. With a computer and earbud, the person singing can hear the base track in their ear as they sing out loud, and the computer records just the voice. I originally used an earbud and Cooper's laptop, but the wireless aspect created a big of a lag. I re-recorded with earbuds that plugged in (I needed to have them in just one ear so I could still hear myself as well) and had to use my little laptop, as Coop's didn't have an audio intake. My Dell has the camera at the BOTTOM of the screen (this is a well known "nose-cam" issue), and I needed to stand to sing ... if you could really call it singing. Use it or lose it, and I don't have much of a voice anymore.

Still, it was a packed week or so, practicing the song, trying to get the parts, chatting with old friends. We finished up one for the funeral, and then had a couple more add their voices (who hadn't quite been able to make the deadline of the first rendering).  Here's the final result (and here's the first one). 

 

It's not perfect, but not bad for 30+ years since many of us had sung it. 

We searched old yearbooks and photo files, but apparently there hadn't been a group shot taken.

A few snapshots showed up and were shared.

Sad for the reason that brought us together again, 

but grateful for the group and the chance to sing together again after all these years!

January 2022

 

Whew ... feels like a LOT happened in January. Basketball is in full swing, Covid continues complicating everything and, well check out the collage/video and details of the days from January 2022.

• Starting off the year with Family ... The Grandparents came over for games on New Year's Eve, and there were more of the kids than  expected (Keaton and Colton usually have plans, but everyone loved having them here). Played Progressive Rummy and Pirate (Grandpa won!) and managed to stay awake until midnight ... then it was time for bed. New Year's Day there was the traditional pastry wreath on the Blackham side. Clayton even made a cinnamon version (no almond per nut allergies) and it was really yummy too.
• Working Where? As I don't drive freeways, and Grayson works in Davis County ... well, there was a "kinda like a date" tour and I finally got a peek so I can picture where Grayson spends so much of his time working so hard. Keaton finished up his temporary time at Nike and is back to working just one job, but is adding some school (starting up the electrical classes).
• Home Improvement and Oven Issues ... the oven stopped heating up. Maybe I burned out the unit with all my sourdough? We were without the oven portion (stovetop was fine) working for a week while it was diagnosed and repaired (I had four sourdough loaves ready to bake ... so I borrowed a neighbor's oven!) The oven seems to bake a little hotter now, still figuring it out. Grayson had also had the pantry scheduled for an overhaul. The original installation date had to be pushed (contractors had Covid) but we're very happy with the finished product. Honestly, a lot of the improvement was just going through everything and only putting half of the things back, but the adjustable shelves and storage are nice.
• Skin Stuff ... Coop has been dealing with eczema on his hands for a few months now. After trying everything over-the-counter we made an appointment with the dermatologist. A prescription seemed to improve things for a bit, but then has been getting worse again, so we'll need to follow up on more treatment there. Skin issues do run in the family.
• Married Mingles ... L&S and C&K had a couple get-togethers, at a newly opened FunPlex and then a celebration for Sol's birthday (22, Keaton was there for that too). Glad L&S got over Covid in time to partay.
• Covid Complications ... Covid is still here, and impacting as much as ever! I'd picked up a couple of the home quick tests to have on hand, just in case (after C&K had it in November) and Landon asked if he could use one when Sol spiked a fever. It was positive, and it was later confirmed as correct, and Landon got sick too. Cooper got sick around the same time ... I put off using my last test as he was pretty much home for several days regardless (he's always online for school anyway, but Jordan School District moved online Jan 19-21 which meant he didn't have his cleaning shifts at the elementary). When I got some extra tests (some additional tests came more quickly than originally indicated, I found some at the local Smiths Pharmacy and then got the government ones in the mail too) Coop took a test, and it was negative, and no one else in our family seemed to get sick, so our immediate household still seems to have lucked out (knock on wood). The grandparents came down with Covid about this same time.
• Utah Driver's License Division ... I went twice in one week! First with Cooper, getting him a Utah ID (while we continue to work on getting him more comfortable with driving). Being 18 and "adult" now, he needed something official for identification. Then Colton was finally able to find a moment to fit in his driving test, passed it and he is now officially licensed to drive. Callahan hasn't needed his Dodge Charger, so now that's what Colton is driving (lucky kid! But the timing of the car/license worked out well ...)
• Jen goes Boom ... Sunday, Jan23 as the day was winding down and I was cleaning up the kitchen, I blacked out. Woke up in an ambulance and spent several hours in the ER. Staples in the head but happy to get home and rest. It has really impacted my step count! (read more about it HERE). 

... and of course, basketball! Pre-region wrapped up (West Jordan swept Murray/Grandma Margie's Alma Mater, Jen dared try the drive to Westlake, where WJ got demolished) then the official season started up. Cal and Keaton came to the Copper Hills game (their Alma Mater). Some of the schools streams games, so I was able to watch via video after my accident. We also hosted a team dinner (parents take turns, Thursday Jan 20 was a busy day with the oven repair, Colton's license, the homemade pizza for the JV team ~ 10 boys and one coach, then pantry prep for that installation the following morning! Whew, glad that was all before the big boom and no Covid complications!)  Cooper totally surprised me by saying he had signed up for "Junior Jazz" (which is really "SENIOR Jazz" literally, as the kids are all seniors. Keaton had turned to rec ball back in his day and had fun). Coop is playing with his same buddies from his elementary/middle school days. I went to his first game (Jan8/Hunter High School) then didn't feel like attempting the drive to Magna for the second one, but will hopefully hit some of the ones still coming up.

I think that recaps January ... Here's the 1 Second Every Day video.

Jen Fell Down and Broke Her Crown

 

It was January 23 ... a usual Sunday, nothing out of the ordinary. We'd had a family breakfast. I'd baked bread and delivered it to a few families. Gray had made a yummy dinner. I was doing some kitchen cleanup, and I did feel a little off. The next thing I remember was waking up in an ambulance and feeling more than a little off. I was taken to the ER for some tests and staples in my head. 

I've passed out a couple times before in my life, and both times I felt it coming on. This happened so fast and without any warning, I must have just dropped and hit my head on the way down. Head wounds can bleed, and apparently there was blood (both from my head, and I bit my tongue). Cooper had been in the family room just off the kitchen and heard the thud. Generally, when I drop something and Cooper is close by I'll jokingly say "Cooper, don't drop things" ... and when such a rejoinder didn't come, he came to investigate. So he was the one who found me, bleeding and unconscious, and possibly having a seizure. The rest of the family was around, so Gray, Keaton and Colton all came when he called out. 

At the ER, they did a CT scan and EKG. I had thrown up before leaving the house, in the ambulance, and the nausea was continuing in the emergency room, despite several anti-nausea medications. The world was spinning at the slightest movement. Grayson and Keaton had come and were sitting with me in the emergency room. My dad came and sat in the waiting room too, but with Covid protocols they weren't letting additional people in (Mom was home ... positive for Covid, Dad had just recovered). It was a long night. The fall happened around 9:30, so much of this was happening when we would have been home asleep. 

The scans didn't show anything of concern (no brain bleed) and I could have been discharged around 2:00 am ... except that I still didn't feel like I could move. Any attempt and I'd be hit with a spinning world and nausea again. Despite the discomfort of an ER "bed" I slept some ... which is more than Gray and Keaton were able to do in the chairs in the room. Keaton ran home to gather some clothes (what I'd been wearing had been cut away) and around 5:30 I figured I'd push through - I just wanted to be in my own bed. Wheeled out to the waiting car, barf bag in hand, we made it home.

Despite the mess my head was in (blood and vomit in my hair) I went straight to bed and slept for about nine hours (they'd taken my Fitbit off at the hospital, but my Oura ring tracker was still on and provided some data). I then got up and showered (Gray had installed two handles in the shower, and had pulled out the shower bench from Cal's broken foot days), then threw up again, and went back to bed and slept until the next morning.

All the family took Monday off from school and work. It had been a long night for everyone. Landon and Sol and Cal and Kate had come over to the house to stay with Colton and Cooper while we were at the ER.  Tuesday, it was back to normal for everyone but Grayson. He worked from home for a few days, making sure I was okay, and getting Cooper to/from work. Colton had JUST gotten his license (seriously, just a couple days before) so that was one less uber service needed - as I didn't get back to driving for a couple of weeks.

I took it slow for the recovery, just resting and watching a few shows, listening to my audiobooks (my ears were bothering me a little). I got back to bread making. After a couple weeks, we went back to the ER to get the staples out.  Back to driving. I tried a walk on the treadmill. Back to Zumba on Valentine's Day. Pretty much back to normal ... still get a single slow spin as I move from a vertical to a horizontal position.

Now for the bills ... Ambulance ride was just over $2,400 for the 12 mile ride. The ER billing is around $28,000. I'd always thought I was such a good deal for insurance companies, as I very rarely went to any appointments. Time to collect now. Waiting to see how the insurance handles it all. 

Home Improvements During the Pandemic

Here's a little look at the repairs/renovations and rearranging done 2020 and 2021.

As Covid hit and people were home more, home improvement projects were pretty common. Stores like Home Depot and Lowes were always crazy busy. We ended up with some pandemic projects, but the catalyst was Callahan, not Covid ...

Callahan was getting married. This meant he was moving out. As he packed up his room (he and Kate had bought a cute little house in Kearns), he took his big basketball frame (a Copper Hills basketball jersey given to him when he graduated) off the wall, there was a big black mold spot, and water damage that had been hidden. The kitchen sink was right above, and one of the pipes had sprung a large leak. Grayson ripped out the all the yucky drywall, repaired the pipe and made sure it got dried out and disinfected. 

You are likely familiar with the children's story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" right? Home improvement projects are like that. You start with one thing, and it leads to another (check out "A Plethora of Projects and a Pair of Parodies" on the Westra blog). The drywall was replaced, and then the wall would need paint. While just the one wall needed to be painted, why not paint the whole room? If we are hiring painters, let's have them do the entire basement. Where do you stop painting? Best to just continue all the way upstairs, right? With the fresh paint, the old carpet looks awful, so let's look into new carpet as well. Then how about some new lights (handy to have a couple electricians in the family!)

Keaton said goodbye to his room upstairs, and moved into Callahan's old bedroom. New carpet and paint, and it's cooler, more private, completely dark with new curtains (the upstairs room was never completely dark). His bulletin board made the move, but wasn't recreated with everything on it, so I grabbed a picture to preserve it as it had been. The upstairs room became the "school" room. We pulled the corner desk out of storage for Cooper, and pulled Colton's desk in too. Double desks, and plenty of dedicated school space, which was a good thing, as both boys were online at this point.

Prepping everything for paint and carpet was a lot of work. All the walls needed to be bare for paint, all the floors for carpet. The gym became the storage spot (no paint or carpet in there) for lots of things, and it was a time to purge. Scrapbooking supplies, books, toys, games, clothes ... we ended up replacing Colton's desk for something smaller, getting rid of the old entertainment unit, the basketball shot game. Offered some thing to friends, neighbors, had to make appointments for DI donation drop-offs (and sometimes they were booked out for weeks!) 

While we were switching things up, Colton's old twin bed got shipped out and he got a full, Cooper a queen. Keaton had purchased his own "purple" mattress a while back. We ended up moving the dresser from Coop's room to Colton's, so while Colton stayed put, there was some rearranging and a bit of a new feel for him as well. You can check out the great Room Rearrange of 2017 to get a glimpse of some of the past presentations and purges!.You can even look back to when the front room was the Noah Nursery when the boys were babies. The boys keep growing up, and things keep changing.

Upstairs, we didn't do any new flooring (yet), but did have the walls and the ceiling painted in the kitchen, front room, school room and hallway. So again, everything had to be pulled off the walls, all the furniture moved to the center of the room. My den didn't get any paint, but moving Colton's desk out of it into the new "school" room let me rearrange and set up a sewing spot. The office switch set-up from 2017 has been working out well.

I also repositioned our recycling (that took some getting used to as we'd go to the old spot out of habit), and made the coat closet a "cleaning closet" (and some extra storage for Grayson's gadgets). There was an old intercom system and phone plug that I just took off and covered up with cute Etsy crafts (the gadget there is a "Brilliant" light switch - high tech stuff, given to Gray as a perk of the job). Got a new, BIG clock (we'd lost our cute little apple clock in the great earthquake of March2020). We'd had a few big pictures/art around... they haven't made it back on the walls yet, not sure if they will. 

Downstairs ...

We had the ping pong table ... a birthday gift for me back in 2011. It's gotten a lot of use, off and on, over the years. It could be folded up, as could the basketball shot game (Christmas 2019). We kept the ping pong table, but the basketball shot was given away. There was some talk of getting rid of the arcade games, but they are unique. The old entertainment center ... it was gone. We had a little miscommunication and both Grayson and Keaton ordered a new set-up, and both were delivered on the same day, about an hour apart. I was a bit confused. We were able to return one. We hadn't really planned on upgrading the "video game" television, but the upstairs tv died. We bought a replacement while contacting the company, who ended up replacing the defective one, which left us with an extra. The basement room is much less cluttered now. We debated some sort of seating, but as ping pong has been happening a lot, we simply got two wheeled chairs that can be moved out of the way when anyone wants to play (ping pong that is, the chairs wheeled back in when one wants to play Xbox or Playstation). It was pretty funny how many ping pong balls we found stuck behind the entertainment center when we moved it.

Paint and carpet weren't the only upgrades ...

When Cal and Kate got married, I asked if they'd be interested in our washer/dryer set rather than buying some themselves. Being a frugal couple, they were. We got a brand new set. Our fridge (the old one we moved downstairs when we got a new one for the kitchen) wasn't working well, but we'd grown dependent on the extra space - so new fridge for the basement. Not pictured ... but we replaced the microwave as well. We weren't sure how long a repair would take (with Covid and supply chain issues) - Grayson was able to get a new one and Keaton installed it. We did need to have the dishwasher repaired (October 2020, and the oven early in 2022, dang appliances!) At the end of 2021, we noticed our water heater was leaking. We were able to get that replaced quickly (perks of Grayson being in the construction business with lots of connections). My elliptical had issues, and we looked at new ones, but ended up finding the needed part and Grayson got it up and running again. 

Grayson's garage got new garage door openers ... snazzy ones without the box on the garage ceiling.

That's a pretty complete recap of the renovations, rearranging and repairs.  

Next up? The pantry ...

2021 - Year in Review

 

I love the end-of-the year collage ... but it is a bit of a challenge to try and fit so many of the memorable moments from the past year.  On a  world stage, Covid continued to be a concern, but vaccines became available and everyone in the family got immunized. Cal&Kate still caught it though. The Olympics (postponed from 2020) were held in China. In the US, Biden's presidency became official, although the day was marred by insurrection. Closer to home, there was a small plane crash (several fatalities) less than a mile from our house (there have been a few crashes with Airport 2 so close by).  To recap the year for the Blackham Bunch ...

• Work: Symphony, and thus Grayson, stayed super busy. Landon shifted into a salaried position and Sol switched her career course. Cal and Keaton continue with Camsen, with Keaton returning to Nike for a short time as well (work ... and shopping with a discount!). Coop shifted from a substitute to a set shift, working a couple hours each afternoon.
• Weather: At the start of the year some "dirty" snow fell, coating cars and backing up car washes. Despite a few big rains that would fill up the retaining basin at Constitution Park (or Constitution Lake as it were) and had Gray out covering the window wells, much was said about the drought. Water levels at the Pineview were down and the waverunners didn't make it to the lake. There were some smoky skies, strong smelling, producing spectacular sunsets.
• Home Sweet Home: Started the year with new couches. Had to replace the router, which meant reconnecting everything wifi. Oven issues ... had some burned bread, and then the microwave went out. Repair was backed up, so we just replaced. Had to replace the water heater as well ... glad to have Grayson's connections! Got a Tesla charger installed ... and a Tesla ordered. Gray set up his dream office space & storage... home sweet away from home. 
• Getaways: Gray had a lot ... Seattle three times (once himself, once with the family, once with Keaton and Coop). Several trips to St. George and Moab for RZR riding.  The dunes, Bear Lake and Wendover weekends too. He and Keaton went to SanFran and Hawaii with Kolby and Jami. Landon and Sol went to Mexico twice, and Cal and Kate had some St. George trips, and also went to Arizona and Hawaii.
• FOOD: So much food! Jen was given some sourdough starter and went a little sourdough crazy! Baking bread multiple times a week, making pizza dough, pretzels, doughnuts, crepes. Gray added to his kitchen tools with a new, bigger Blackstone grill and a Komodo Joe ... adding the pizza oven attachment. While Tepanyaki is still a favorite restaurant, Grayson mastered most of the meal ... fried rice, shrimp (even tossing it to the boys), salmon. Tons of steak, lots of brisket and ribs and pulled pork. Asparagus and fried green beans. Cheese puffs and cheese dips. Chocolate Lava cake. Bacon wrapped chicken became a new family favorite this year. We discovered a couple new kinds of popcorn.
• Basketball: Colton finished up his freshman year, played a ton in the spring and summer with multiple teams. Had a few travel tournaments (St. George, Las Vegas). Made the team again his sophomore year and made his first varsity points. There was a change in coaching and a tragedy too. Callahan played in several leagues throughout the year. Jen even went to a few of the games and made videos like in his younger years. Cooper even played Junior Jazz ... or is it Senior Jazz, (as they are all seniors). 

Other random memories from 2021 were ... Tax Time, which was a little more complicated after selling Maga's house the year before. We owed big time (not because of that though). Vet Visit for both kitties, got some dental work done. Pokemon Go made a comeback with Cooper ... who then got Jen hooked! Pickleball summer. Playing games, watching movies. Annual Westra Father's Day, and a big Blackham Bash at Top Golf. There was a drive to see the fall leaves, a comedy show downtown, Thanksgiving hosted at the Blackham home, a Cash Cube for Christmas, and memories of our monarch. #voilaapp :)

That's the recap by topic, here's what each individual was up to ...

• Grayson: Lots of work, still some time to play. No waverunner fun this year due to the drought, but several weekends of travel and RZR riding. New office/storage. Lots of time in the kitchen/garage making meals to spoil the family. He made dinner more than Jen!
• Jen: There was continued success with weight-loss ... until around May. That's about the same time Jen got the sourdough starter, not sure if there is a correlation there? The second half of the year was NOT good  weight-wise, with what was lost being found again. Still Zumba-ing three times a week and working out in the home gym. Got off-track on the blogging, and got a little obsessed with Pokemon-Go. Still listening to audiobooks all the time, you can see all her books here. 
• Landon & Sol: A couple trips to Mexico, a new car, work changes ... Landon wrote up a summary of their year, and you can find it here. 
• Callahan & Kate: A trip to Hawaii and other getaways. Kate graduated from the U. They were the first in the immediate family to get Covid. You can see Kate's full write up here. 
• Keaton: There was a LOT of jumping out of planes for Keaton this year! He also built a 9-square set and had a couple memorable trips. Keaton wrote up his year, you can see it here. 
• Cooper: Finished up his junior year and started as a senior in the fall, still online at Mountain Heights. Got his learner's permit and practiced a little, driving home from work. Still cleaning at TerraLinda five days a week (moved to morning for summer). Lots of pickleball, ping pong and Pokemon Go. Active in the home gym ... had a 45k day on his Fitbit. He'd won in Fantasy Football for two years straight ... alas, 2021 wasn't his year (but Uncle Kolby kept the title in the family).
• Colton: Finished up his freshman year at Joel P and started as a sophomore at West Jordan High. Going from just a few hours in person in the mornings to FULL days (as he would go early and stay late). Got his learners and took driver's ed and was SO close to getting his license right after his birthday, but couldn't quite fit the final test in, so it got pushed back a month (and into 2022). Very social with school activities and went to a couple dances. So. Much. Basketball.

So ... I think that wraps up 2021. For more details there were individual updates every month here on the blog and sent out in family emails.

Here's the One Second Every Day compilation ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEQt4kVQNrA