Christmas 1995

There were THREE new babies (stockings) added to the Westra clan this year (Alyssa, Landon and Janika). Missing Shane, his first Christmas gone on his mission.  The Jensen's alternate with Rick's side of the family, so they weren't there for Christmas Eve, but were able to join for Christmas Day at Merrill and Lorrie's house. 

Here's some video from the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gatherings ... Dad/Lamar mentions that the tree (notice it's perfect/more commercial shape) was NOT taken from the yard this year. The stockings were hung by the stairs. This was before the big entertainment center, with the older/big tube television. Interesting to note the changes over the years!

https://youtu.be/OCq2IRZliBE

... and more miscellaneous Christmas pictures.

Merry Christmas Memories!

 

1995 ~ Annual Recap and Christmas Newsletter

The official Christmas Newsletter is included at the bottom of this post, and the information in it retyped (for easier reading) and added to a bit for the annual recap here on the blog! 

1995 ... in the news was the Oklahoma City bombing in the U.S., a nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway. Michael Jordan came out of retirement to rejoin the NBA. OJ Simpson was found innocent in his wife's murder trial. The Dow Jones closed above 5000 for the first time. Windows 95 was released. It was the introduction of Ebay. A new optical disc storage media is announced (DVDs!). Popular movies were Toy Story, Batman Forever, Apollo 13, Braveheart. Best Picture goes to Forrest Gump.  Average income was $35,900. A gallon of gas cost $1.09. A US postage stamp was $.32. Bill Clinton was president. 

Closer to home, it was the year for new grandbabies, going from three to six in 1995. There was a  missionary farewell, and a ferret. Here's a peek at the Westra Sibling stories:

• Scott and Amy welcomed little Alyssa into their family, joining Mckenna who turned two (February birthdays for both girls). They ended the year moving from their first home into a nice home in Draper (Rosewood Park Lane). 
• Chris's crew has now been in Fayette for over a year. They have two boys, Conner and Kadan. 
• Wendy and Rick welcomed a baby girl, Janika, as the year came to a close.
• Jen and Gray moved into a new home in West Jordan, got a dog (Samoyed named Loki) and had a baby boy (named Landon). 
• Shane went to the University of Utah, and put in his mission papers. He got his call and was off to Brazil (with a stop-off at the MTC to learn lessons and Portuguese). 
• Derek was going to Bonneville Jr. High, playing soccer (outdoor and indoor), roller blading and spending time with friends. 

This was the first full year in the New Haven house (having moved in November of 1994). Mom and Dad did a lot of landscaping, trying to get Shane's help while he was still around.  

As always, there are more family pictures in Dropbox.

Here's the original Christmas Newsletter ... dot-matrix printer?

Pre-Mission Photoshoot & Mission Call Memories

Here's Shane's mission call memories he wrote up in an email a few years ago ...

I received my call on my birthday in 1995. It hadn't been that long since I submitted my papers, so while I thought it would be cool to get my call on my birthday I was totally expecting it the following week. But I went to the mailbox just to check, and the big envelope was there! I couldn't believe it. Mom was the only one home, and I knew she would try to convince me to open it right away, so I shoved it under my shirt and came home and said "sorry, I guess we need to wait". I went up to my room (I was staying in the East bedroom at the time) and put it under my pillow and went about the day like normal. A while later Mom said "I was so hoping it would come today!" and I admitted it did come. She made me go get it right away and said I should open it right then, but I wanted to wait. She convinced me to at least call Dad from work and open it with him on the phone. I remember seeing Brazil -- somewhere I hadn't really seen myself going -- and "Belém" was a place I had never heard of, so I ran and got the globe and found out where that was. As we learned more about Belém and Brazil in general I became even more excited, while Mom became even more nervous. It was also cool to see President Hinckley's signature on it, as he has just barely been sustained as the prophet and president of the church. 

Shane was he the fourth Westra missionary, but the first of the Westra siblings to leave the country for a mission. Shane had been going to school at the U, but was still living at home, so he hadn't had that "out of the house" experience the other Westra missionaries had. Mom was a little nervous about it all.  He was scheduled to leave for the MTC on July 19, leaving for Brazil in September. Mom and Dad tried to get in a lot of landscaping around the house while Shane was still around to help. Then the yard and house was used for a pre-mission photoshoot! 

Mom remembers that they didn't check the mission papers for awhile, and then saw the passport stuff should have been started earlier. They panicked and worried it wouldn't come in time! They ended up going to a place in Trolley square to get the passport photo taken--nearest place they could find back then.

Pretty good pictures ... but too bad Alicia wasn't around to do a professional photoshoot ;) 

(check out Landon's Pre-Mission Photoshoot for Alicia's photos)

Shane was the first Westra (of this generation) to leave the country for his mission - 

but he wouldn't be the last!

Easter ~ Growing Up Westra

 

If you are one of the Westra Six Siblings, and you think about Easters in the Westra home, there are a few classic memories. Like looking for hidden jelly beans in all the little nooks and crannies of the lava rock fireplace, and finding jelly beans months after Easter. We also were sure to reach up IN the fireplace to the little ledge to see if there were some hidden there. Here are a few more of the classic Westra Easter items.

• The Country Bunny book: This is likely not unique to just the Westra family, this is a classic for many. Westra Siblings remember this book being read to use and it became an Easter classic. Jen had to get a copy for their home library/Easter box.
• Grandma Lucille's Cookies: Grandma Burgener often had an ice cream bucket full of cookies on top of her fridge to feed hungry grandchildren. At Easter, there were eggs and chicks, sugar cookies with a smooth icing.
• The Plastic Baskets: The four baskets, two green, one yellow, one pink, made their debut in 1971. They remained THE Easter baskets for the foreseeable future. Grandchildren have now used these baskets in classic Westra Easter egg hunts.
• Boxes of Cereal: As the picture above indicates, "sugar cereal" boxes were an Easter tradition. Every child got their own box, and it was theirs, not for the family. The Blackham household has recreated this tradition some years (Easter2020). 
• Paper Plate Bunny Faces: The illustration in the top right of the collage in a modern day paper plate bunny. Even though the little paper place bunnies created to represent each family member were hung up every year (for many years, not exactly sure when it ended) there didn't appear to be a picture of them. Viewing the video of old Easters however, there was a glimpse (screen capture included in the collage above - those ARE the originals!).  These were the Easter equivalent to the famous Christmas stockings.
• Sugar Mold Eggs: Mom had made a couple sugar mold eggs that were brought out every Easter for years and years. It was so much fun to look in the little hole to see the secret world inside. Jen totally planned on making some herself at some point - collecting molds of various sizes and small figures to create the inner scene, but it never happened. Jenna has made some with her church group though (Jenna's Sugar Eggs). 

Jenna's eggs, just part of her collection.

Mom/Margie's eggs were larger, with the viewing hole at the end, similar to the ones pictured below. It was a smaller hole though. When I was younger I remember marveling out how it could have been created (like a ship in a bottle) not realizing that the frosting around the edge covered up a seam, that originally the egg had been two halves. Mom used her decorative icing skills she had learned years earlier (Creative Cakes). 

No one can really remember what happened to the eggs (did they finally break? Were they thrown out?) or when they stopped being displayed each Easter. They were on display for many years (1970s/1980s), and similarly, a gingerbread house was brought out for Christmas. Mom/Margie also remembers: 

"One year, your Grandma Westra/Burgener made sugar mold eggs for Easter and mailed them to our home in Richland, Washington. They are a lot of work, but very fragile. They arrived all broken. I felt bad since she had gone to so much work and effort. I can't remember if I told her they broke in transit. Probably not, as that is not my nature."

Jen's molds ... and undone intentions.

Check out all the EASTERS on the blog 

(here for random presentation, here for chronological order).