Sunday, March 22, 2009

Half Marathon in Moab

 

It's great that the blog can be backdated ... this post, written in March 2024 will be backdated to March 2009 (I didn't officially start blogging until 2010). In the present day (2024) Grayson is preparing again for the Canyonlands Half-Marathon. So after 15 years, I figured I'd see what pictures and memories were available from the first race in 2009.

According to my journal, Grayson was set to head down on Friday, March 20. Uncle Clay was going, and Maga must have gone too, as Grayson took a few of the boys. Landon, Keaton and Colton went with Daddy (even though Landon was in a cast, having broken his wrist just a few days before). Callahan had too many activities (basketball games, plans with friends) and Coop (a bit of a homebody like Mom) stayed back.

Gray had checked in a few times. Said Colton seemed sick, had the sick eyes, had coughed so badly once he threw up. Landon seemed to be fine. He did good on his time in the race, 1:35, which was 10 minutes faster than he had anticipated. They went to the park, saw Grandma Henry and stopped at the rock shop.

Here's a fun "review" of the race by another blogger ... Reviewed: Canyonlands Half Marathon which describes this as a "a spectacular well-run race, in a beautiful location, with perfect weather, and a gently rolling downhill course." Another article in the Moab Times gives some additional details. From MadMooseEvents, it's said ...

The first Canyonlands Half Marathon was run on May 1, 1976 had just 22 finishers, including a dog. Today, thousands of runners come together in March to enjoy the scenic red rock formations and winding Colorado River that Moab has come to be known for! Running parallel to Arches National Park and the mighty river, runners are in for a real treat. Long considered a "Bucket List" race, in the July 18 issue of Runners World UK, Canyonlands Half Marathon was mentioned in their article "The Worlds Greatest Races." It's easy to see why runners return year after year to experience spring in Moab on this famous road race!


Good luck to Gray as he hits the half again - 15 year later! 

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Interesting Injuries

As I just started the blog in 2010, I'll be backdating some "reference" posts ... one thing the kids always try to remember and compare are their "owies" ... and to date we've had a few, so here is a quick review, and if you're squeamish, you might NOT want to see some of these pictures! 

LANDON: When Landon was little (around five) he cut off the tip of his finger with my sharp scrapbooking scissors. It wasn't enough to do anything about it, we just had to wrap it and hope it healed (it did). For several weeks he had a "mummy finger" ... which was ok because it was around Halloween. Landon also had bad teeth, needing fillings at just two years old, and then having to have his front teeth pulled when he was pre-school age. But as for fun photos ...


We'd gone to JumpingJacks (big inflatables) and hadn't even been there for five minutes before Landon came yelling that he'd broken his arm ... yep, it was pretty obvious! We had to go up to Primary Children's, where he was sedated and they set it under the x-ray. He'd broken his arm once before (up by the shoulder several years earlier) ... both times it was his left arm. BUT ... he's left handed.

CALLAHAN broke his wrist one summer. It was pretty mild, more of a crack. After playing basketball year round, I took him to the Instacare for some knee pain and he was diagnosed with a fractured kneecap. The followup to the orthopedic amended that injury to "jumper's knee" which just needed some rest. He has had a couple notable owies though ... 

 

(Athlete's Foot) He'd been suffering from Athlete's Foot for a while. We tried all the creams and powders to no avail. Then one day it morphed into THIS ... I ran him to the Instacare, and he was in so much pain as they tried to clean it. The doctor even started to cry. We had to go back daily for about a week, they almost hospitalized him. We followed up with a pediatric dermatologist at PRMC and it finally cleared up!

(BIG Bruise) He was trying to flip a wheelie on his bike (on the grass) ... the bike flipped and smashed into his leg. It bruised immediately. It continued to change colors over the following days. Very impressive bruise!

KEATON was the first Blackham Boy to break a bone. At just two years old he slipped off a kitchen stool and broke his arm. He was also the first to need stitches, cutting his head right above his eyebrow. Keaton could be a bit of a hypochondriac, which is why it was ironic that the next situation happened to him ... not really an "ouch" but it certainly fits the description of "interesting" ... almost required a visit to the ER ...

We were camping up at Pineview, gathered around our campfire when Keaton suddenly cried out and pulled at his ear. He said there was something in there ... a bug, he could feel it moving, hear it buzzing. I looked and could not see anything. He continued to complain and I took a flashlight and looked again and ... thought perhaps I saw what could be a bug deep in the ear canal. Gray tried having Keaton place his ear upward, then poured water into his ear, hoping to "encourage" the bug to come out on its own. It did ... it was horrible though, like a scene from "Alien" with a couple of legs, then the body emerging. It was a fly, but it wasn't a small one.  YUCK!


COOPER got a broken leg when he was just 17 months old. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Landon came sledding down, slamming into him. Gray and I were out of the country (a trip to Mexico) and it was hard to receive that news when we were so far away. But it wasn't really too bad of a break. The main issue was, that Cooper was a belated walker, and he has JUST started trying to walk, and this pushed him back a couple more months. This break wouldn't be his last ... but the others happened while I was blogging, so they have their own posts. Broken Arm #1. Broken Arm #2

COLTON was the first Blackham Boy to have to go to the Emergency Room. With all the other kids injuries to date, we had been able to get by at the Instacare.  It was flu season when Colton was born, and pretty much the whole family got it ... and baby Colton, only seven days old, spiked a fever. We had to take him to PCMC where he had to spend several days (although thankfully he never got as sick as the rest of us).  Unfortunately that wasn't his last visit ... 



(Allergic Reaction) We'd had some allergy issues with Keaton and Landon ... and also with Colton. While at a family party, Colton ingested something that started to trigger at allergic reaction (peanut butter we think). His face and lips were visibly swollen and we were quite concerned about what we couldn't see (if his throat was closing up). PCMC was close by and we rushed there, they gave him epinephrine and then we had to stay overnight for observation. The picture above actually isn't from THAT episode, but another one (that didn't require an ER trip). Poor baby! 

GRAYSON has had a couple notable owies too ... Shortly before Colton was born, Gray had been at a work outing, walking along when he heard a pop and a pressure in his ankle ... he could barely walk. He had ruptured his Achilles Tendon. 


He opted for surgery ... luckily he's had a full recovery. 

Another "owie" occurred when Gray was going snowmobiling with work. I wasn't crazy about him going, as I've been aware of a couple horror stories (my brother Scott had a couple accidents, as did a college friend) ... so when I got a call just shortly after they had left, I had a mini-heart attack.  Grayson hadn't even made it onto the snowmobile, but had slipped on the ice while getting out of his truck ... hadn't even made it out of the parking lot.
This is the picture he emailed me while waiting at the ER ...

Like Keaton's injury needing stitches, the gash was just over his eyebrow, so neither Blackham Boy really shows any scars from their stitches.

You notice I'm not on this list of interesting injuries ...
maybe I'm doing something right?




Thursday, January 1, 2009

Let's Get Cooking *Ü*

Keeping a collection of Blackham family favorites ...


Desserts
Breads

Dinner Meals


Muvees ...

A little Muvee magic ... our home videos/photos set to music ...

Check out my YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/ScrapJenB

For all the Basketball Muvees, go to

Hoop Dreams

Monday, September 1, 2008

Moab ~ Reunion, Music Park and Sand Hill

Family Reunion Time. It was the end of August, 2008, and the Blackham Bunch and the Extended Blackham Bunch, all headed down to Moab. This was to see Grandma Henry (Grayson's Dad's Mom) and those relations. In past years, everyone had stayed on Grandma Henry's property or next door, and we thought that was the plan this year. We hooked up the trailer and took it with us. We had some issues though ... got pulled over for a light not working, and then realized we weren't up to date on the registration. Oops! We stopped in Price and ended up staying at a hotel ... and then leaving the trailer there rather than risking any more problems. We'd discovered the rest of the family (Maga, Ana and Clay's family) were staying at a local hotel, and figured that would be more fun anyway. And it was.

The reunion was held at the same park we'd had it in previous years. The kids ran and played. I had forgotten it was this reunion where we got the classic picture of Maga in the funny glasses. We also visited Grandma Henry's house ... the dollhouse. A real house, but so named because of all the dolls inside. She was clearing things out and gifting items. We received a "RedBull" and a little SpongeBob couch.

We then went to a local park ... it was SO unique and different! Instead of the usual slides and swings, this was full of "musical instruments" of all sizes and shapes. There is some video under the pictures ... because you really need video to get how cool a concept this "Percussion Park" is!

... the final activity was the big red sand hill. Running up, falling down. 
Getting sweaty, and getting sand stuck. All. Over. Right before the car ride home!

Here's video from the weekend away ...


... we picked up the trailer in Price on the way home. Got hit with a huge rainstorm for the last little bit. Poor Colton had a bad cough much of the trip. The nights had been long. It was good to be back home.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Birthday Bash

Birthday Bash in the Blackham Backyard

It was my nephew Aiden's 1st birthday. There was a big slide, water squirters, and of course, a water fight. I think I was probably the only person to stay dry ... but I had the camera!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Colton and the Car Door

When Colton was little, he surprised me by opening the car door all by himself. Such a BIG boy!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter 2008


Easter was early in 2008. March 23. We'd barely got back home after a family trip to St. George. We'd gone out Thursday, March 20th, and Grayson ran the Pinewood Derby for Jensen's ward (Wendy was pack leader, Josh took first place). We stayed for a couple of days, and even participated in the annual Ivins Easter Egg hunt. It was packed with people, different fields set up for the different age groups. They started by giving all the kids a couple eggs (in case they weren’t able to grab any in the chaos) and then the rest were just laying on the grass to be picked up. Cooper was intimidated by the whole thing and didn’t even hit the field. Colton and I went out and picked up a couple eggs and called it good.

We headed back home Saturday. Got the kids settled downstairs (because they often sleep on the couch, but we need it empty for the Easter bunny!) and to bed. MY bed. Yeah. A peek at the baskets above (even Mom and Dad got baskets this year) and more Easter activities below. Dying hard boiled eggs, decorating cookies, nests, playing with toys the bunny brought. 

 Happy Easter!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Pool Time for the Littles


I got this little inflatable pool for the little. And it was LITTLE. But enough that Colton could "go boom" and splash. Cooper seemed more entertained by the hose. Dad got his feet wet too. 

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Camp & Beach ~ Pineview Family



We had a 4th of July getaway planned - had reserved a spot up at Anderson Cove at Pineview Reservoir. Tuesday, July 3, Grayson went into work and I got my workout in then took the younger kids to the store to pick up stuff for the camping trip. Did the packing... Keaton kept asking when we were leaving every 15 minutes. Gray got home a little after 5:00 and we got off shortly afterward. The boys were a little antsy during the drive, asking when we were going to get there. We made it there and got set up. Colton was quite a handful, running in and out of the camper, climbing up on the little concrete barrier, running into the road (Gray had to make a mad dash for him as a car was coming up). We roasted hot dogs and then marshmallows. Callahan almost had a meltdown about having to poop in the outhouse. Keaton was cute after his visit there, saying “there was NO flusher in there”. Cooper just sat and played his gameboy. Colton tried to throw his blanket into the fire twice (I caught it the first time, got it out fast the second, successful time). When the coals were glowing we roasted marshmallows. As night rolled around we played Uno and ate mini-chocolate donuts. Cooper wanted to go home and Colton was uneasy but we finally got everyone down and to sleep. Colton slept with Gray and I and the other boys slept on the other side. I don’t know if Colton is always so restless, but he really kept me awake all night.

In the morning, Maga and Olivia showed up and we headed down to the beach. Cooper was NOT happy about being close to the water but settled down in the shade of the canopy and played gameboy the whole time. The bigger boys played in the sand and in the water. Colton didn’t seem to like the water but after I got in, he came in and had some laughing, splashing fun. Cooper complained almost the entire time, and Callahan didn’t last all that long either (he had his cast on, and it was technically waterproof, but ... also had to make sure SAND didn't get in it. He got it removed the next day). We stayed a few hours then packed up. I had put sunscreen on the kids so no one got burned (Gray got so much sun last year it made him sick). 

Video quality isn't great - but still fun to look back on "live" ...


We had pretty much packed up everything before heading to the beach, so other than packing everything back up to the car from the beach, the cleanup wasn’t bad. We hit the road home around 2:00.  Got home, unpacked, got showered and such. I was wiped out, as was Gray. The kids played around and wanted to do fireworks. Gray picked up some KFC and we ate dinner then let the kids light fireworks. I had bought a $10 pack with some additional of their favorites (smoke bombs, snakes, sparklers) and that was enough to make the kids happy.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...