Newsletter, Slideshow, Blurbs & Family Photo Collages ~ 2024

Ah, the annual Westra Newsletter, updated with all the ins and outs of each family from the year/2025. You can catch the official PDF (better quality) in the Westra Dropbox, or HERE. The blurbs are also included in text format below, along with the photo collages created for the cover of the calendar. 

Here's the quick recaps and photo collages from 2025...

Scott and Amy live in the Murray Holladay area. McKenna and Spencer Erickson and Eddie (2) live in Seattle. Spencer works for Amazon and McKenna works for Microsoft. Alyssa and Jed Smith live in Sugarhouse. Jed is an optometrist and Alyssa is a teaching and learning coach at Spectrum Academy in Pleasant Grove. Kellen and Natalie live in Henderson, Nevada. Kellen will graduate from medical school in May and Natalie is a personal health and fitness coach. Kemery and Mitch Willes live in Payson. They are the proud parents of Letti (4) and Della (2) and will be adding a boy to their family in February. Mitch works for a company that supplies contract software for the insurance industry. Kemery loves being a mom. Taylee manages the Urban Outfitters store at Fashion Place Mall. Amy loves being a grandma and spending every minute she can with her cute grandkids. Scott is the Chief Financial Officer for WCF Insurance.

Chris and Kim live in Pleasant Grove. Kim works as a Medical Assistant and Chris works from home. Conner (33) works construction and Amber works from home for Progressive Leasing. Krystal (32) and Boris live in Texas. Krystal is a lawyer for children’s services and Boris is going to law school. They have one son, Mylo. Kadan (31) and Christine live in Manti and Kadan works from home. They have one little boy, Jonah. Courtney(31) and Seth moved to North Carolina where Seth is a lawyer. Integrity is 8 and Charlotte is 3. And baby Wells. Corin (28) and Kylie live in Redmond. Corin works at Western Clay. They have a little boy, Luke. Seth (27) and Aspen live in American Fork and they have a little girl, Genevieve, and expecting a boy. Seth works at KCI. Aaron (25) married Abbi last year and they just moved near us. Aaron works for KCI also, and Abbi just graduated. Camden (23) married Hannah lastyear and they live in Chris and Kim’s basement apt. Camden works at EquinoxIT, and Hannah is going to school. Cayson (19) graduated, and moved to Midvale. He works with his Stepdad doing lawn care.

Rick and Wendy live in Santa Clara, Utah. They have seven children and five grandchildren. Rick serves as the ASL coordinator and advisor for Seminaries and Institutes in the U.S. and Canada, and Wendy works as an ASL interpreter and coordinator. They enjoy interpreting together, especially on cruises! Janika is an elementary school counselor, and Brandon works for Flex as a Revenue Operations Manager. They have two boys, ages 3½ and 21 months. Jase and Ellen moved to St. George for Ellen’s new role as marketing director for Liberty Village. They have three children, ages 4½, 3, and 1. Jared

and Hallie live in Lehi, where Jared teaches seminary and DJs weddings, and Hallie is finishing her master’s degree and working as a school counselor. Janelle and Bryton are enjoying life as BYU students, workers, and newlyweds. Jaiden attends SUU, studying elementary education. Josh is serving a mission in Seoul, Korea—and has even learned some K-pop dance moves. Jenna is a busy junior, singing, dancing, taking college classes, and working as a lifeguard. 

Newsletter: https://jensenchristmas.blogspot.com/

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

Shane and Alicia live in Highland, Utah. Shane is the CPTO at Cardata, a software company that tracks car usage for employers. Alicia is the Warehouse Retail Manager for Kneaders and just completed her first semester in UVU’s MBA program. They serve in their ward as the Ward Clerk(Shane) and Ward Chorister/Choir Director (Alicia). They have 3 children: Adria (21) finished her full-time missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Oklahoma City Mission in November. She loved her mission and the people of Oklahoma. Adria will return to BYU for winter semester and plans to study Information Systems. Rella is currently a Sophomore at BYU. She is still dancing, taking Ballet classes as well as business pre-requisites. She is planning to major in Marketing and minor in Ballet. She gets along well with her roommates and loves the social scene of college. Calder (14) is in 8th grade and is now taller than both his sisters and his mom! He loves video games and engineering projects. He took a semester of yoga at school and really enjoyed it. Calder has a great sense of humor and keeps us all laughing with his quick-witted one-liners.

Derek and Danielle and their three girls live in Traverse Mountain in Lehi. Aniston (15) is a great student and has enjoyed High School at Skyridge (especially Football games and dances).Layla (11) loves soccer (indoor and outdoor) and is an amazing goalie. She is super creative and setup a little “nail salon” in her room for the neighborhood girls. Noelle turns10 in January and is in French immersion at her school. She loves playing piano and reading. Derek works in Public Relations for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is in his second year as Bishop and recently started a side-hustle DIY YouTube channel called “DIY Derek.” Danielle is an amazing cook and baker and loves to design and create pretty spaces. She is the compassionate service leader. She loves researching about health and fitness and nutrition and Derek and Danielle love to do DIY projects in their home and for family and friends.

We have been in our new home in Highland, Utah, for three years now. We are very happy here. We are serving as Temple and Family History Consultants in our ward. Margie is also serving on the R.S. Service Committee, over our many Strasburg Ward Missionaries, and as Relief Society Secretary. LaMar is still serving as a Support Missionary for FamilySearch--for 23 years now! We wish good health and happiness for you and all of your families!

... and for another look back at 2025, here's the annual slideshow, premiered at the Christmas Eve party.

https://youtu.be/90d8elXyc3I 

Calendar 2026 - A Sneak Peek

As the end of the year rolls around, and the new year is in sight ... it's time to think about the annual calendar. It's a bit of a two for one, as we need pictures for the end of year slideshow as well. Some upload to dropbox, others share a Google album. Some pictures come via text, others are collected from social media shares. Collected, organized into themes, making sure each family is represented in each monthly collage ... add one to each of the birthday ages and anniversary celebrations. Place the order in time for Christmas delivery. 

Then ... preserve the calendar collages on the blog. A sneak peek for anyone who happens to check the blog before the Christmas Eve party (where the calendars are distributed).  No big surprises ... the usual themes. Snowy pictures in January, red/pink/Love for February, Easter is in April ... lots of costumes for Halloween/October. Birthday pictures sprinkled in. Like last year, a little "family cheat sheet" just in case anyone can't quite remember names of cousins and other new additions (only two this year, two January babies).  Check out the family collages HERE. 

While this is a calendar for 2026 ... it's really a reflection on 2025.

Remembering the past year while planning for the future.

 January 

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Note to self ... don't fill the whole page with the image, to bleed off the edge, pull back a bit leaving a white border. The image is slightly smaller but then the coil binding doesn't cut into pictures, and the hanging hole won't be in anyone's head ... oops, remember that for next year! Sorry top row!

Calendar by MixBook.

Derby Memories - Derek's DIY

 

Almost everyone has some memories of Pinewood Derbies, most often associated with boy scouts. For the Blackham family, there was a little more than the usual Derby Daze. It started shortly after Landon's first derby. It wasn't great ... an old wood track, a yardstick for the starting gate, four judges attempting to eyeball the finish line. Grayson looked at his boys and realized he had MANY more years, and he wanted a better experience. That lead to his investment in a Pinewood Derby track (and tables, and timer, and computer/software, projector/screen). 

There are quite a few posts on the Blackham Blog about derby days, although it doesn't go back to the beginning (2006). Gray started doing the derby just for our ward, but with such a set-up, he began doing derbies for others as well. We even took a family trip to St. George to run one for Wendy's ward (2008 ... and Wendy has many DERBY posts on the Jenson Journal blog). I don't have the records for every year, but my records show 2010/26, 2011/32, 2012/36, 2016/54, 2017/43, 2018/45, 2019/52.  Gray would have one of the boys come along and help, moving in the equipment, setting up the computer/projector, and running the starting gate. 

When the LDS church announced it was cutting ties with the Boy Scouts program, Gray wondered if that would impact/eliminate pinewood derbies, or if the church's replacement program would still utilize them. Gray had invested in a lot of legos, and had done some parties/youth activities featuring a Lego Derby as an option, he'd done some family/work ones, so it wasn't just boy scouts requesting his services. Alas, it was Covid that really cancelled things. There had been a few derbies in Jan/Feb of 2020, and then...  the tracks went into storage and Gray wasn't sure if he'd be getting them out again.

Gray got a request for a derby in April of 2025 ... a favor for a friend. He did it, Landon was his helper (video short here). When Derek texted asking about derby status/possibilities, Grayson got him scheduled for November 12 and it was quite the night. Derek took some video. 

Derek did a YouTube video showcasing the derby, and the car he created for it. 

DIY Pinewood Derby Tribute to a 600,000-Mile Acura Legend

 

https://youtu.be/4_qOKVDID04?si=SLFQHeRNA-rPKr-T

Father's Day 2025

 The annual Westra gathering ... year two at the Highland House! 

Shane sent out the email invitation

We're excited to see you at this year's BBQ! Deets:

• Sunday June 15 (that's Father's Day if you didn't know...you got one week in case you need to do some Father's Day shoppin'. It's also Chris and Kim's anniversary!)
• 5:30pm or whenever. We'll plan on eating around 6pm
• Feel free to park in the driveway or on the street
• We need two volunteers named Scott and Grayson to help bring and cook meat. (Scott and Grayson, if you can't, please let me know.)
• Bring some food to share (salad, dessert, chips, or side dish)
• Yes you can bring your dogs if you want.
• We'll have 9-square and lots of other yard games

PLEASE FORWARD this to all your married kids, and/or Grandma can send it out too (I don't have everybody's email, and I'm lazy) Let me know if you have any questions!

We got the annual group photo ... and a few other pictures too. 

There was sourdough, Brazilian cheese rolls and some dinner rolls by Landon. Fruit, potato salad and jello cubes. For the main, the meats! Marinated chicken, hot dogs, ribs and brisket. Lots of different desserts too. 

In addition to the eating and conversation, there was 9-square, axe throwing, cosmic catch, trampoline and Keaton brought his One-Wheel. Two doggies, Honey and Vera, in attendance.  

 Chris got some great shots too, including a couple 4-Generation combos!

Father's Day 2025 in the books ... and on the blog.

 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom/Margie/Grandma!!

 A collection of memories and pictures for our mom for Mother's Day. We love you!! 💓

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott and Amy ~ 

I am pretty old and not a good journal writer so my memories may or may not be accurate.  But mom’s memories of me are pretty questionable too.  Every time she tells it, I am more of a prodigy - speaking at 6 days and walking at two weeks. Several things she attributes to me I have no recollection whatsoever. I remember her taking all sorts of classes in her early married years - cooking, cake decorating and some club she has a love-hate relationship with - T.O.P. S. I recall her being super busy with my younger siblings. I remember her ironing in the family room at our Saint Street house and how she teared up watching the moon landing on a black and white TV. After moving to the Hermitage house, mom and dad were part of a “young married” group. One day they had an extra ticket to “Hello Dolly” at the Promised Valley Playhouse and they let me accompany them. It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life.

I remember her making me go read her journal when there were serious things her emotions wouldn’t let her share vocally. I remember going shopping with her Saturday mornings at Harmon’s on Ft. Union where she used two thousand coupons and then unloading the groceries and cutting off UPC labels (barcodes for you younger folks) and storing them in little recipe boxes. I remember her tearing up during Hallmark commercials and about any other circumstance. I remember how happy (and maybe relieved) she was when I found Amy who loved me. Mom even shared her lasagna recipe with Amy. I admire her devoted and even desperate effort to impart all of the knowledge, wisdom, truth and love she can to her descendants. I hope I can follow her example and be half as successful. - Scott

I remember when my kids were young and Grandma Westra would come over, she would always bring a bag of books to read to the kids.  The kids would always be so excited to see what she had brought!!!   I do the same thing now with my grand kids!! Letti always loves to look in the front of the books to  see if they were given to her mom by grandma Westra!!! Thank you for helping  my kids to love reading !!! Love  you!! --Amy

Chris and Kim ~ 

Mom would always know and be interested in the details - what girl I was interested in, or what test I was taking.  I appreciated that and it always let me know she loved me.  I tried to follow that example and always know enough about my boys that I could ask them specific questions.

Though this is in the later years, I appreciate being taught about investing in assets, and the way that increases your value (and keeps up with inflation).  Buy low, sell high.  Buy and sell in increments.  Don’t panic.  Stay invested long term.  This has made a huge difference in our net worth and lifestyle and my boys have all learned it WAY earlier than I did.

--Christopher

My memory is just of being consistently loved, and appreciating the generosity of mom and dad towards me, which I didn't have with my previous mother-in-law. We really enjoy our time together, and mom's interest in our life. -- Kim

Wendy and Rick ~ 

I love exercising with Mom in her “swim spa!” It gives us a chance to exercise and visit at the same time! I love being able to talk with Mom and catch up on everyone’s lives! I love Mom’s desire to continue to educate herself and pass along whatever she has learned to her posterity! I love how Mom prays for ways to help her children and grandchildren. Some of those answered prayers have come in the way of opportunities such as FSY, church history tours, and other get-togethers. Inspired ideas that have come to my mom have often been answers to my own prayers. Thank you, Mom, I love you!!
– Wendy 

Jen and Gray ~ 

• One random "Mom Memory Montage" is Progressive Rummy. I remember her playing with me and my friends back in my high school days. Lots of NewYear's nights in the later years. Once when Mom proudly went "down and out" in the final hand, and had done sets instead of runs (nope! Back up into your hands go the cards). Mom laughing (sometimes to tears) over Grayson's comments. Buying tons of cards (it's just a little 2) ... having multiple legs (I looked under the table, she always only had two legs!), so many possibilities. 

• Having a birthday so close to Mom, we'd often combine cakes ... and happily we both LOVE the white cake with buttercream icing from Sam'sClub. Quite a few cake memories (including me holding it up and tilting a little to get a better camera view, and it toppling over! Oops. Mom laughed and laughed and said it still tasted good). A birthday picture in 2009 that we re-created 13 years later in 2022. 

• Recently, it's been fun talking about books and Goodreads, or what TV/Movies we’ve enjoyed. I belatedly jumped on the Wordle bandwagon, but NOT to the extent that Mom loves the game and does all the variations. During Colton's college basketball season, if Mom and Dad weren't out gallivanting, they'd always tune into the streaming games and watch and send little comments throughout and at the end (Mom would watch to the end ... I think Dad might have fallen asleep, as some of them went late). 

• Blackham Boy Grandma Westra associations might dominantly be a ROTH/Fidelity association. All the birthday and Christmas monies invested, and encouragements to invest on their own. It's something they'll appreciate even more in the future!  Also lots of fun memories at the Havenmoor House. Holidays (Easter and ChristmasEve), Cookies&Cousins, Waffles&Westras. The toy cabinet, the little pool table downstairs, the cave, all the flowers …

• Once at the Blackham home, we starting making a list of homonyms ... I told the boys that this was something Grandma Westra had done in my early years, as well as teaching us lesser known words like dearth and plethora ... the latter means a lot! -Jen

Shane and Alicia ~ 

I always remember Mom being there for me. Whether it was fixing a huge piece of strawberry shortcake, playing games like Boggle, or just talking, Mom was always attentive and caring. One thing that has really amazed me is how much Mom continues to love, serve, and pray for all her kids and her grandkids, regardless of age, stage, or circumstance. So much of what she still does and how she spends her time is to help her family. - Shane

I remember just after Adria was born, I was so tired and wasn’t feeling like myself. One day Margie announced that she and LaMar would come babysit while Shane and I went to lunch for a date. I hadn’t realized that I needed a little bit of time away until we were at lunch. Now that is something I try to do for young parents around me when I can. Another thing I admire about Margie is her green thumb! I love looking out at the flower beds in the back and enjoy their beauty. --Alicia

Derek and Danielle ~ 

When I think of “Memories of Margie,” I think of: fresh homemade bread with homemade jam, fruit leather drying on the deck of the Hermitage Circle House, meatloaf and lasagna, her dancing around the kitchen with her “exercise tapes,” digging through her purse for a mint or candy during Church, watching Star Trek together, and taking 10 minutes longer than everyone else when deciding what to order at a restaurant. ;) Of her many amazing and admirable attributes, a favorite is her thirst for knowledge. Whether it was consuming BYU Speeches while on the treadmill, reading business books (despite not working in business), learning EVERYTHING about the stock market and family finances, or helping countless people with gospel resources - her insatiable appetite for learning is impressive and rare. Thanks for your amazing example mom! Happy Mother’s Day! - Derek 

There are so many things that I love about Margie! She is the best mother in law I could ask for. She has a love for education and is always learning and sharing her wisdom, allowing others to benefit from her studies. I love how supportive she is of her family, providing love ad support in whatever way is needed, including attending rainy soccer games to cheer on her grandkids. I love how she encourages mental and spiritual growth by providing financial support for FSY, church history trips, etc. It's also so fun to see her competitive side when we play card and board games together. She's just the best and I'm so grateful to know her!

--Danielle

And a few of the grandchildren...  

I admire Grandma's desire to learn more about all kinds of things, but specifically finances. She puts in the effort to make sure she's got accurate information and shares it with her loved ones to help us all plan for a stable financial future. Brandon and I have also loved going to see shows with Grandma and Grandpa at Hale theater! She is thoughtful and loving and it makes me happy to see how much she loves our little family and watching her posterity grow in general. Love you, Grandma! - Janika

I love talking with Grandma about the finances and the stock market. I love getting her opinion on things to help me formulate my own ideas and make better investment decisions. -Jase

I love Grandma so much! I loved going to her house as a kid, and some fun memories I have is convincing her to open up the freezer in the garage so that we could make some papa murphy’s pizza for dinner even though she was always planning on “saving it for later”. Grandma is really good at saving. She has great self control, and she does an incredible job teaching all of us about our futures and why we should save now financially! I’m forever grateful for her wisdom, and what she has taught me about priorities. Love you Grandma!

-- Jared

I love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, whether we are playing rummikub, playing word streak, or watching jeopardy late at night! Grandma and Grandpa are so generous, Christlike, and service oriented. It is a gift to spend time with them! -Janelle

I remember when I was little Grandma taught us how to play speed rummikub and we would play for hours! As I've gotten older I have learned that the Rummi genes run in the family because I'm pretty good ;)  Grandma - you are so loving and generous, I would be nowhere near where I am without your support! Thank you for helping me to grow and learn, and for helping me make it to efy, the church history trip, and my mission! -Jaiden 

(I didn’t know if I would have time to get an answer from Josh, and so I took his answers from a similar write-up that we did for Christmas). Grandma makes the best warm fresh rolls (my mouth is watering just thinking about it). Oh wait, actually change my answer to that peach jello stuff, that’s the best! I appreciate it when we have time to have long chats about random things. I like to play Rummiku with Grandma. My Grandma also gave me a lot of knowledge and advice for my future!  –Josh 

I love talking about plants with Grandma and walking around her garden and talking about all her different kinds of flowers. I also love playing Rummikub with her! –Jenna 

Rella: Some of my favorite memories are being with grandma in the kitchen! I always love the jello and when she had cherries for us on the kitchen counter. One of my very favorite memories though was when she was making brownies once and asked Alexa how much time was left on her timer. Alexa said there were no timers set and grandma turned to me and made the most shocked and aghast face I’ve ever seen. Grandma is so fun to be around and I love her so much! 💖💖💖

And some other fun pictures!! (In no particular order!!)

 Click HERE for the Google Album!