While audiobooks are common place today, once upon a time, they were called "Books on Tape" and they were actually ON a cassette tape. Many libraries had little bags that contained the a book, and a cassette tape with the story. You had to provide your own tape player.
In the Westra household, there was also storytime/reading aloud. At some point, Mom/Margie made some "books on tape" and in the present day, those tapes have been digitized. Now, in today's world, there are already several versions of Corduroy being read on YouTube ... but here for the Westra audience, we have Mom/Margie as the narrator, with the pictures added to follow along.
While at this point, the kids and grandkids are probably past the Corduroy age audience ... the original Westra six would probably get a kick out of hearing "mom" read a story again, and the latest generation could hear great-grandma read a bedtime story.
The book IS still being published and is available for purchase today. It's a classic! There's even a set that comes with a little bear, and there are some sequels I didn't know were out there. So hopefully the original six siblings enjoy this reminder of reading time in the Hermitage House with Mom ♥
It's hard to get the WHOLE crew together as the families grow. Still, twice a year, there is a gathering of the Westra clan, calling all those who can make it. Father's Day and Christmas Eve. The Father's Day gatherings have consistently provided a photo opportunity, with 16 posed pictures on the back porch of Scott and Amy's house on Old English road (see the 2022 post). This year ... it was at the Haven Moor House. A familiar backyard, because it was the Westra (Lamar/Margie) backyard for years before (although inside the house! Many changes and updates!) As per picture usual, one regular, one silly. It was quite a crew this year!
Blackhams didn't bring the 9-Square this year, but there were other games: Kan-Jam, ladder golf and corn hole. Marinated chicken, Brazilian Cheese Rolls and amazing gluten free desserts ala Christine were among the food offerings.
Cal and Kate had called Scott to ask if they could bring their new doggy, Vera. It wasn't planned, but Kate and Keaton were most matchy! Five boy picture pose around the patriarch (Grandma) and as Gray was mia, a picture with one of the other bald guys around for the Blackham Father's Day photo (thanks Scott for filling in!)
... there were several selfies thanks to "Be Real" going off during the party.
... and the girl cousins had a fun time putting together a little dance!
Christmas Eve, with soup and the slideshow and the candy bar game, is an annual tradition for the Westra family. This year, everyone traveled to Alpine to gather in Shane and Alicia's lovely new home. Built for entertaining, it was a great place to get together for food, family and fun.
There were several soups ...Jen's Chicken Noodle was not gluten-free, but all the others were! Kim's Ham and Bean soup, Danielle's Sweet Potato Sausage, Janika's Cheesy Potato and Broccoli, Alicia's Creamy Chicken and Rice. There were gluten-free Brazilian Cheese Rolls, and gluten-full breadsticks, dinner rolls and orange rolls. The breadsticks and cheese rolls were baked on the premises (best fresh out of the oven) and Grandma's Kitchen (just a hallway away) came in handy, even with the double ovens in Shane and Alicia's kitchen. There were chips and dips and cheese roll, and SO many desserts!
There were several tables for eating. Plenty of space. Lots of food! Got some pictures in Santa hats and other festive accoutrements. Then it was time to review the past year ... the calendars were passed out, and the slideshow was up on the screen. This year's soundtrack was "Gonna Be Good" by Bloom and the Bliss, "Moments to Memories" by Adeline Hill, "Stars in the Sky" by Kid Cudi (Sonic Soundtrack) and "These Are The Best Days" by PinkZebra. Beyond the birthdays, holidays, school stuff, this was a big HOUSE year, with major moves and other renovations and remodels. See the calendar pages and a slideshow HERE.
Then it was time for THE CANDY BAR GAME ...
The crew moved to the basement for a little more open an area.
Just to note, lots of things in the center were NOT candy bars.
Derek spent a little time on MyHeritage.com (a site similar to FamilySearch.org and Ancestory.com) and traced his lineage back and found some ancestors that have a striking resemblance to him! It was amazing to find so many well preserved pictures, and with such a likeness in so many family lines! From a Viking forefather, to a Persian prince, a gladiator, a cowboy... Okay, just kidding, these are ALL Derek, worked over in the artificial intelligence time machine that My Heritage offers on their site. To get this time-treatment, you are asked to upload 10-25 pictures of yourself (3 full body shots, 5 upper body, 10 closeups and 2 profile pictures). The AI then takes all the data, mashes and matches to create these past portrayals.
AI Art is all the rage right now ... although it's not without some controversy. In an article by the MorningBrew news site, it mentions that artists are upset about copyright concerns and devaluation of real-life skills. There are also privacy and ethical issues ... but it is easy to see the appeal of getting such pictures so quickly, easily and inexpensively.
While not quite as realistic ... FamilySearch.Org offers a similar fun photo activity. With it, you can take a simple selfie to add and upload your face to preset picture poses. This was a Westra Family History Challenge back in 2021 with some great results! Many of the grandkids participated.
MyHeritage also offers an "animation" option ... upload a picture and bring it to life. This is especially unique to photos of long lost ancestors who have never been seen "alive" by current generations. There was a blog post featuring this fun option too ... Animating Ancestors.
Jen went a little crazy with the #voila app in 2021, which could "Disney-fy" photos, creating cute cartoons (see some of Margie here). You can check out some other funny faces on a Blackham Bunch Blogpost. There are fun filters, face swap apps and in 2021 Derek made this #refaceapp clip of he and Danielle in some starring roles ...
Growing up Westra, one of the fun activities would be to watch old home movies. Dad/Lamar got a "moving pictures" camera in 1969, and it would be brought out to record action shots for the next 10+ years, until a new VHS camcorder replaced it. The camera probably looked a little like the one pictured above (top left). It recorded onto 8mm film, little 3 inch reels. There were 43 little reels. You can see in the picture above, how Dad labeled them all, and stored them in old Planters snack cannisters. Movie film. To watch said film, it required a projector/player ... probably like the one pictured (bottom left). The reel would be added to the front wheel, and would feed past the light, and be projected onto a wall or screen, and then wind up onto the wheel in the rear. When the film was finished, the end would flap, flap, flap around until the machine was turned off and the rotation stopped. There was no sound recorded, just "moving pictures" ... but one of the things we Westra kids enjoyed was when Dad would play the film backwards. We'd laugh and laugh as our little bodies on the screen would run backwards and go UP the slide.
It was quite a bit of work to watch these film reels. Getting out the projector, getting it on the wheel, feeding it into the machine. At some point, as technology improved, Jen got the reels converted to VHS. In the box with the old film reels was the invoice. $3.50 per reel (I peeked at prices today, and it's $10-$20 per small reel). The company took all the little reels, and combined them into six larger reels, and sent those back with all the home movies now on VHS tapes (one full, one with just the little bit extra that hadn't fit onto the first tape). When VHS went out of fashion, Jen had the tape converted to digital.
The Chronicles of the Westra Family had been posted to the blog before, here it is again ...
I'm not sure how many minutes each 3" reel held, not many. Google says between 2-4 minutes. That does seem accurate, as the final compilation is almost two hours long. As certain subjects (Scott's 6th Bday, EastersCompilation, TimelessToys) have been featured in a blog post, smaller, more easily digestible, clips have been included. There will be more to come... found footage added to existing posts, and new posts featuring some of these events. Even though the video quality isn't great, it's still priceless!
Here's a TABLE OF CONTENTS as it were, based on Dad's labels (in bold) and Jen's additional notations. Glance through and see what's there, and you can use the time stamp to go directly to where you want to watch. Birthdays, Christmas and Easter seemed to be the main focus through the years
#1 December 1969
Scott's 6th Birthday (:34)
Christmas 1969 (2:18)
#2 Easter 1970
Easter (3:10)
Wendy's Birthday (3:35)
Chris's Birthday (3:39)
#3 November/Christmas 1970
Jen's Here (4:59)
Sledding in the driveway (video troubles - maybe redo?)
Scott's 7th Birthday (5:05)
Christmas (5:07)
#4 Dec 1970/Easter 1971
Jen New Year's Baby (5:14)
Misc Family/Hula Hoop
#5 Easter 1971
Easter (5:57)
Wendy's Bday (6:22)
Swimming (6:26)
Little Jen in a Recliner (7:22)
Swingset (7:36)
In the Yard (8:03)
Jen Crawl/Walk (8:09)
Bathtub (9:11)
Family
#6 November 1971 - Jenny
Jen Bday (9:55)
Sunday Dress (10:59)
Outside/Big Hole (11:10)
#7 December 1971
Scott's Bday (11:30)
Bathtime (13:00)
Christmas (13:15)
#8 January 1972 - Snow
Snow (14:11)
Sledding (14:29)
New Years (15:13)
More Sledding (15:48)
Snowman Pictures (16:06)
#9 March 1972
House/Yard (16:27)
Swing (16:59)
BigWheels (17:49)
#10 Easter 1972
Easter (18:36)
Bath (21:17)
Jen/Table (21:27)
#11 Wendy's 4th Birthday
Wendy's 4th Birthday (22:00)
Sunday Best (23:51)
#12 Aug/Oct 1972 Richland - SLC
Carving Pumpkins (25:00)
Richland Friends (25:15)
Richland House
Sandbox (26:00)
White Dress (26:35)
Hermitage House/Yard (27:00)
#13 Thanksgiving 1972
Snow (27:40)
Hermitage House/Inside(28:16)
Pictures for Christmas Card (28:45)
Grandma Norman's House (29:05)
Grandma Burgener's House (29:40)
Snow! (30:30)
#14 Scott's Birthday
Family Party (31:31)
Friend Party (32:54)
#15 #16 Christmas 1972
Christmas at Grandma Norman's House (33:47)
Christmas Morning/Dollhouses (35:55)
Grandma Burgener's House (39:25)
#17 Snow 1973 (40:05)
#18 Wendy's Bday (40:30)
Sandpile (41:38)
Family Reunion/Tortoise (42:00)
#19 Summer/Sept 1973
Chris's Bday (44:20)
Four Siblings (46:10)
#20 Nov/Dec 1973
Snow (46:40)
Jen's Bday (47:25)
#21 Xmas 1973/Easter 1974
Decorating the Tree/"Pool Table" (48:27)
Scott's Bday (49:15)
Christmas Morning (49:43)
Easter (51:27)
Christmas 1974 (52:47)
#22 Wendy's Bday (54:23)
Cleveland (55:35)
Hermitage Backyard/Swings/Swimming (1:00:09)
#23 Yellowstone. Mammoth.Jackson
#24 Yellowstone. Chris Bday 1974
Family Party (grandparents/cousins) Chris's Birthday? (1:01:07)
#25 Jenny Bday. Scott Bday 1974
Another Family Party, Jen's Bday? 1:01:40
Jen's Birthday Party (1:02:18)
Scott's Bday Party (1:03:35)
#26 Scott Bday/Wendy Bday/GhostTowns
Wendy Bday (1:04:45)
Truck and Camper (1:05:41)
Water/Camp (1:05:57)
Waterfalls (1:07:37)
#27Chris and Margie's Birthdays1975
Hermitage Backyard (1:07:45)
Chris's Birthday Party
Halloween (1:09:47)
Margie's Bday (1:10:17)
#28 Christmas 1975/Easter 1976
Christmas (1:10:42)
Lorrie's Birthday (1:12)
Golf Clubs (1:12:35)
Piano (1:12:58)
Easter (1:13:23)
#29 Wendy Bday
Wendy's Birthday/Family Party (1:13:41)
Baby Shane (1:14:34)
Skateboarding/Biking in the Circle (1:15:30)
Shane's Blessing Day (1:15:52)
Grandma Norman's House w/Burgeners (1:16:43)
#30 Chris and Margie's Birthdays
Kids Outside (1:17:41)
Baby Shane (1:18:19)
Margie's Bday (1:19)
Swingset (1:19:25)
#31 Jen'sBday/Christmas 1976
Jen's 6th Bday (1:19:32)
Scott Changing Baby Shane (1:20:43)
Scott's Bday (1:21:47)
Santa (1:22:08)
Grandma Norman's House (1:22:31)
Red Dresses (1:24)
#32 Christmas 1976
Christmas Morning (1:24:14)
Big Henry/Toto
Gingerbread House (1:25:27)
Baby Shane and Big Henry
Red Dresses Again
#33 Christmas 1976
Cousins Over (1:27:39)
Flash of Bath (on original - removed for YouTube)
New Year's Baby Shane (1:28:02)
#34 Easter 1977
Basement/Chin Up Bar (1:28:07)
Grandparents Over (1:28:44)
Shane Walking (1:29:15)
Easter (1:29:58)
#35 Wendy Bday/Summer 1977
Wendy Bday (1:30:57)
Little Shane (1:31:31)
Shane's Bday
Summer Outside (1:33:32)
Lots of Neighbors, Tina the Dog
#36 Jenny Bday 1977
Jen's 7th Birthday (1:35:25)
Family Party - Grandparents and Cousins
#37 Scott's Bday 1977
Scott's Birthday (1:36:20)
#38 Christmas 1977
Christmas at Grandma Normans (1:38:44)
Westra Home (1:40:22)
Outside/ZimZam(1:41:58)
Cousins House (1:42:05)
#40 Christmas 1978 (oops, out of order)
Christmas Morning (1:42:14) seems to repeat here
Christmas Morning (1:44:26)
#39 Summer 1978, Shane'sBday
Jen/Wendy & Shane (1:45:08)
Bathtime (1:45:14)
Wendy and Jen - Baton Twirling (1:46:17)
Parade (1:47:10)
Birthday Cake (1:47:27) - Chris blows out the candles ...
Easter (1:47:47)
Shane's Bday(1:47:56)
(Lots of flowers/bouquet in background, Kellie's passing)
In May, the annual invitation email from Sir Scott was extended to the Westra Clan ...
"Family: The Draper Westra’s will be honored to host the annual Father’s Day event one month from TODAY! I hope Sunday, June 20th works for everyone. We will plan on the traditional barbeque and if Grayson will share some of his secret recipe’s (or at least some advice); I will fire up the Treager as well. Please let me know what you can bring so I can pretend to round out the menu with anything missing (by assignment to someone else of course). I think we will plan on starting around 5:00 pm with dinner. We will dedicate 6:11 pm to 6:12 pm for a group family photo. Even I can smile that long. If it looks super hot, we may shift things back an hour. Derek – as the youngest and healthiest sibling, I nominate you as chair of the activities committee. Hopefully nothing that requires a liability waiver. Feats of strength, airing of grievances, etc. Please forward the message on to your kids. They are all welcome as well. Cheers, Scott"
We WERE experiencing a heat wave in June, so slight shifts in the time frame were added ...
"Is everyone super excited to celebrate all the great dads in the family?? Hopefully we can also celebrate a Jazz victory over the Clippers in Game 7! Who names a NBA team after a manicure tool anyway? Due to the heat, we will be starting the party and having dinner at 6:30 pm. I hope that isn’t too late for everyone. If you really want to come earlier, there is some pruning and weeding that I didn’t get to. The photo slot will be moved to 7:38 – 7:39 pm. It should be a nice Summer Solstice evening with the sun setting at 9:01 pm. Projected temperature at 6:30 pm is 91 degrees, cooling to 76 degrees by sunset. See you Sunday!"
Due to the heat, instead of smoking meat, there were pulled pork sandwiches prepared. The vegetarian crew brought a veggie version. Salad, veggies, fruit, chips, Brazilian cheese rolls (for the gluten-free guys, although gluten eaters enjoy them too). Scott and Amy had installed a kitchen in their basement and it was a great out-of-the way spot for the last minute baking. Jen brought a bunch of sourdough loaves to hand out. Oodles of desserts as well ...
In previous years there has been a trampoline, slack line, jump ropes, a segway, water balloons ... this year 9-Square was introduced. The game setup is a mix between four-square and volleyball, and while you can buy the set online, it's a little pricey. Keaton made a set on his own (and then Shane ended up making one for their family as well) which he brought and set up. The Westra backyard still had the decorative lights hung (from Kemery's wedding) but Scott had taken out a tree (no more slack line!) so there was a spot for the poles. 9-Square is a great game, fast moving, good for large groups and all ages. Little Layla liked it a lot!
FamilySearch.Org is the main site that the Westra's use for family history. Backed by the church, it has a ton of information and it's FREE to use. There are other genealogical sites out there, like Ancestory.com and MyHeritage.com ... these often have fees, but can include additional information or fun activities. One of these activities that has been making the rounds on social media lately is MyHeritage's "Deep Nostalgia" which can take an old photo and bring it to life! Animating ancestors! Cool ... or creepy?
For being several generations back, there are quite a few memories about ol' great-grandpa Sanderson (98 of them, pictures/text) on the FamilySearch website. Check them out HERE.
Here are more "live" pictures ... the great-grandparents on the Westra side, Ate and Geeske
To use MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool, it seems I did have to create a log-in (free). I used the tool a few times and then received a pop-up to subscribe (after a 14-day free trial). $150 a year, which seems excessive with FamilyHistory.org's free (and already mostly complete line for our family+) offerings. It seems if I came back to the site, I was able to upload and "liven up" more without having to pay or take further steps. I also accessed MyHeritage again from a different browser, and this time used the "Facebook" log-in (rather than setting up an email/PW) and used it several times and didn't get the "sign-up" pop-up (although I did recieve a general "welcome" email at the email address associated with my Facebook). So while you don't have to pay to use the tool, I do think you need to "sign-in" somehow before use.
It was April 28, 2015 when Scott wrote an email (which is pretty momentous in and of itself), he included a picture with the note "Guess what I found? A whole box of childhood!" And sure enough, it was! Oh the memories music can create! "Little Red Caboose" is probably the most remembered song for the Westra siblings (at least for the older four kids). I remember we would take the square case and use it for a "wheel" as we "chug, chug, chugged" around the front room. Even in today's tech-savvy world, I'd been unable to find a copy of the Chip 'n Dale version of the song we loved.
So ... take the train back to childhood. Chug, chug chug!
(click HERE for video)
Derek's front porch has a cute swing. It's been featured in many family photos. In the summer of 2020 however, a new family took ownership of said swing. A hummingbird family! There on one of the top knots, a mama hummingbird built a nest and laid two tiny eggs. Derek's family had a front row (or front window) view of all the hummingbird happenings, and Derek got some video so family and friends could also get a peek. Here's some of the video updates he shared on Facebook ...
... and amazingly enough, this wasn't the only bird family to take up residence at D&D's abode, a little earlier in the year, a momma robin built a nest and laid four little eggs. Derek documented that too ...
In July, Derek wrote "Final hummingbird update: The birds have flown the nest, and the Westras have taken black their porch! We loved all the birds this year, and had a 6 for 6 success ratio (with all four baby robins and 2 baby hummingbirds surviving). The hummingbirds were so cute and fun to watch, but they were SO messy and pooped all over. Our Saturday chores included deep cleaning the whole porch, and removing their nests. Sad to see them go, but glad to have our space back. "
This wasn't the first hummingbird nest for one of the Westras.
Back in 2016, when Shane's family was living in California, Alicia wrote ...
(February 21) The girls discovered a hummingbird nest in one of the trees by our garage! We were excited to find that it even has two tiny hummingbird eggs in it.
(March 6) one of the hummingbird eggs in the nest hatched this week! Now there is a little ball of feather fluff with a beak in the nest. We haven't gotten a great photo yet...we'll keep trying.
(March 13) We've been anxiously watching our baby hummingbird grow! The other egg never hatched, sadly. The baby hummingbird is almost filling up the whole nest. It's fun to peek in at it.
The Blackham home has housed some birds too ... but they just get starlings, which aren't as cute! You can check out a post on the Blackham Blog about them (Noisy Birds). And then of course, there were the DUCKS (several blog posts about the ducks, but to see the hatching caught on camera, click HERE). Ducklings are on the go just a few hours out of the egg, very different than the helpless little robins and hummingbirds. Another winged set of progression pictures and video of Monarch Memories is on the Blackham Blog as well.
When I finished up the "Red Pig" post, Wendy let me know about another photo of Baby Scottie on the red pig. In fact, in this photo, you could actually tell the pig was red! It was in color. The other, more familiar photo, was black&white.
Over the years, I think we'd seen many of these black&white pictures. In photo albums, and then when Wendy created the wonderful book for Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary, she took all those old negatives and had them converted to digital files. Those pictures were now easily accessible in Dropbox, and in the printed book. There was the occasional color picture in the earlier years, but they were few and far between. It wasn't until just recently, when Chris took Dad's slides, and got them converted to digital, that more of these color pictures have surfaced. There are quite a few pictures that are obviously taken at the same time (moments apart) to the more familiar b&w shots.
I've asked Dad, and I've done some Googling ... and I THINK, that there must have been different film types. If you were taking pictures for slides, or taking them for prints/negatives, you'd load different film into your camera. I guess it's possible that perhaps it was in the processing that the end result occurred, but I don't think so, I think you had to plan from the start. I don't know if the same camera could work with different types of film, and even if it did, you'd have to stick with one or the other until the film roll was completed. I asked Dad if he remembered having two different cameras, and stopping and taking a photo with one (to get a slide shot) and then the other (to get a print/negative.) He doesn't remember that, but admitted to having two cameras ... and he said that they both likely have an unfinished roll of film in them!
When Chris went to get the slides processed, he and Dad thought they were mostly mission memories (and there are a lot of those), but we were all happily surprised to find quite a few early photos of the family as well. Some color-recreations of familiar photos, but lots of new pictures as well. All in color!
We are pretty spoiled today, being able to see the picture immediately after taking it, not having to buy film, and then wait and pay to get it developed. Then, there was often just one copy of a photo/slide/negative, and if it was lost, it was gone. Now it is easy to take, store and share pictures. Video too ... looking back through my own video history, I recall the big VHS recorder, then the switch to a smaller camcorder with mini-tapes. Then as digital cameras were introduced, I was able to take a picture or a video using the same device ... although I still had my separate video camera as well. Now video saves to a drive and it's easy to copy, share and play with. And you can take both pictures and video on your phone!
Before the VHS even though, were film reels. I don't know exactly what that type of video camera looked like, I can't recall being filmed with it, but I DO remember when Dad would set up the reels and project the moving pictures onto the wall. No sound, just images. We'd laugh when Dad would stop and reverse it, and suddenly we were going back up the slide instead of down!
Sometime in the past, we had the old reels converted ... to VHS. Now that VHS is obsolete (Mom and Dad still have a VCR though, just FYI), time to convert them again. Skipping DVD, straight to digital. The quality isn't great. There's the original conversion, and then I'm not sure of the condition of the tape that was sent it. There was some obvious issues, but still, it's fun to get a little peek at the Westra Siblings way back in the day, IRL ... I'll be grabbing portions and pieces to go with specific blog posts in the future, but if you wanted to look at the entire tape (it's two hours ... covering 1969-1984) it's on youtube/below, and in GoogleDrive (where you could download a copy if desired).
Father's Day 2020 ... this was the 14th annual group gathering in Scott and Amy's backyard. It's been held every year since 2006. Ironically (per the pandemic) this was probably the largest group there has been. There were even two dogs in attendance. The traditional family photo was first up on the docket (as Kellen had to leave for work) ... and there were going to be some water wars, so best to get it done before the kids got all wet.
Blackham's brought Grayson's super cool water balloon filler - a nice set up where eight balloons can be filled at a time, with on/off spouts to keep the H20 in some control. Chris brought a bunch of baby balloons (and Jen brought some big ones). So there was tossing, chasing, throwing and launching, as Chris brought his "launcher" to fling them high in the sky.
Cornhole is a favorite, with the Blackham Bunch especially. The girls liked the hula hoops, and of course there was plenty of food and dessert for all (and the dogs were begging everyone for scraps).
The Jensen's performed a rendition of "Oh My Father" with voice and bells ...
Perfect for Father's Day! Videos below!
... and some family fun in action!
... and let's not forget Scott's poetic invitation!
There have been pictures posted of the outside of the Havenmoor House ... and here's a peek at inside the garage. Garages can get crazy, and I've definitely seen worse. There is an extra fridge and a couple freezers. All sorts of stuff hanging from pegboard along the walls. Shelves holding all sorts of stuff, some organized in apple boxes. Look at all those racquets! That blue metal shelving unit (below) I remember from the Hermitage House. It was right outside the basement backdoor, under the deck. I remember we kept all the "newspaper logs" stacked in it (newspaper logs were papers soaked in water then rolled up and then used in the fireplace instead of wood).
In 2018, Grayson did a complete redo of the Blackham garage. He spent quite a bit of time (and money) but anyone who has ever seen it is quite impressed. Do you know who else was impressed? Grandma and Grandpa. Probably a little more Grandma ... she decided it was time that the Westra garage was reworked as well.
Here's a peek at Gray's Garage ...
Thus started a big job at the Westra home (well ... garage). A lot of things given or thrown away. Shelves emptied and repainted. Recreating some of the same look with the Gladiator shelving and wood paneling, getting a similar wheeled drawer and some nice big lockers. Crates to replace all the apple boxes, and Grayson even broke out his (up until then unused) CriCut machine to make matching labels for the crates.
... a little look at some of the changes
Some pictures Derek took while over working ...
We need some "after" shots when it was ALL done.
Grandpa doesn't spend quite as much time in his garage as Gray does, he's more known for his love of working in the yard. His pond and plants and buckets ... and holes. In fact, Grandpa has the ULTIMATE hole, a CAVE. It's under the deck. He built a nice set of stone stairs down to his cave entrance (and to the basement backdoor). The stability of the cave got to be a bit worrisome, so some time and money was spent reinforcing the walls and shoring things up.
Chris helped set up the construction, getting bids and deciding which route to take to ensure no cave collapse. After the workers came and did their job they told him " We appreciated serving you. We are here to handle any future cave projects. Keep digging." Future cave projects ;) Dad did once have dreams of having a raquetball court under the house/garage ...
Derek got a little song idea in his head ... Stairway to, instead of Heaven ... to Nowhere. He actually took the time to write the words down, and then to record it. He gave me the clips to work up into a video, and here it is ... Stairway to Nowhere!
Stairway to Nowhere
There’s a man named LaMar
And he works very hard
And he’s building the stairway to nowhere
When he gets there he knows
He can store potatoes
And hoses and junk from anywhere
Oh, oh oh oh, and he’s building the stairway to nowhere
In July 2018, Shane and Alicia were coming in to visit. Wendy's crew wanted to connect, and we managed to get most of the family together for a group gathering.
It all started with an email, and then more email exchanges ...
Alicia: I’m finally organizing our schedule for our trip! As always, there are lots of people to see and we’re trying to balance time with both sides of the family, a few close friends, and time to relax. We have two open evenings for family dinners...Sunday and Tuesday. Which one do you want (you get first pick...my family gets the other evening.) I should mention that by family dinner I mean going to Red Robin or something.
Mom: Shane & Alicia leave today and will get here about noon tomorrow. We are planning on dinner at Red Robin on Tuesday for any family that can join us. They don't usually take reservations, but I hope they will for a large group. Earlier would be easier to get that separate room, but hard for our working men. Let us now if you think you can come or definitely can't come, so we can give them an approximate number. Then we can come here after for dessert and a longer visit and so the cousins can play. Derek came at 8 this morning and will work all day to finish putting up the decorative panels on the garage wall. Thanks Derek! Grayson stopped by last night and went to Home Depot and purchased and brought home the Husky work bench we had chosen to get. He was able to get a floor model so no assembly required! So it is nice to have that taken care of! Thanks Grayson. He said he will probably stop by Mon. with some hooks, etc. to show us and ideas for us. Now we just need to finalize our cabinet choices. Jase and Janelle & her friend will be staying here tonight. Jase is picking them up in Logan, as their Stay-at-home EFY ends tonight. They stayed with Janika and Brandon this week. Then they will drive on to St. George tomorrow morning. We had a nice dinner and visit at Derek and Danielle's on Sunday and Rick and Jase were able to go there with us. They had never seen their house and Jase was a big hit with the girls, playing with them. Monday Rick & Jase went to the New Haven summer barbecue with us at the common area. Rick was able to buy a car. Jase finishes his training up here today for his new job at Deseret Federal Credit Union. Chris came last Tuesday to take Dad hiking, but Chris ended up feeling sick and awful and could hardly make it down the mountain, so he wasn't able to enjoy it. Corin's wife Kylie's birthday is today, so we can all wish her a happy birthday.
Scott: Tuesday is a state holiday so there shouldn’t be work conflicts. Amy and I will be out of town.
Derek: We should be able to join on Tuesday. We'll plan on it! Sounds fun! If we are going to Mom and Dad's house afterwards, we can bring some small fireworks (unless they are banned in your hood like they are in ours). :)
Mom: Fireworks are not banned in our area, so that would be great. Linthorsts did quite a show in the circle on the 4th, so I don't know if they will be doing more on the 24th or now.
Mom: Instead of going to Red Robin and trying to work around everyone's schedule, we will just buy a lot of Papa Murphy's pizza and have a family get-together here. You can come anytime in the afternoon or evening you want---swim if you want---have pizza when you want and have ice cream and cookies and brownies, visit, and play in the yard. You can visit with Shane and Alicia's family while they are here from California until Fri. And Wendy and her 3 girls are arriving later today until Fri.
Chris: We will bring some gluten-free boysenberries from our gluten-free boysenberry vines, and also gluten-free cinnamon French toast cookies. Sorry Wendy they will have almond flour.
... so, Wendy did NOT pay close enough attention to Chris's email and thought those Snickerdoodles looked good. They tasted good. But they didn't make her feel good! She had to go lay down (and take some Benedryl?)
There were Papa Murphy pizzas galore (although Jen forgot to grab the Cinna-wheel dessert she'd ordered with them, not set aside with the pizzas at pickup, but too much bother to take a trip back) and said brownies and ice cream... and fireworks.
Why are all the kids looking into the pond in the picture at top?
There was a snake!
Jen brought out some duck eggs for Derek to take home, but he forgot them ...
and then Mom used them up.
... this video is pre-party, as the Blackham Boys got in the car to come out.
But it's a favorite memory of the day (and month, and year ... maybe life!)
The next day, the available Westra Women DID go out to lunch ...
but did Chuck-a-Rama instead of Red Robin
Family fun and ladies lunch ... reminiscent of a year earlier, July 2017
I'm not sure where we originally picked up our gingersnap recipe. It's been the standard for all the siblings growing up Westra. They are nice and soft ... not rock hard like the packaged ones you buy in the stores. These gingersnaps always seem to be a hit whenever shared and people often ask for the recipe, which we are happy to share. They are so delicious, warm and soft, right out of the oven. Of course the kids love the cookie dough as well, and I like to freeze the cookies then dunk them in milk.
Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
Cream the shortening and sugar together. Add molasses and eggs and mix until blended. Combine the dry ingredients, then add them to the bowl and mix. Form dough into small balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.
Of course ... it's best to DOUBLE the batch. Eat them as soon as possible, or freeze them. You can keep the dough in the fridge for about a week and pull it out for fresh out of the oven cookies over the next few days too.
If you need a little extra help ... here's a video!
...I'm sure there are many more rave reviews, but here's an email cousin Emily sent Mom.
Aunt Margie—
I meant to tell you on Sunday but your gingersnap recipe is one of my most requested recipes ever! Dave’s boss absolutely loves those cookies and has requested that I make 200 for a launch party tomorrow! That is one well loved cookies! It was great to see everyone on Sunday! Have a terrific day!
Love,
Emily
Added November 2020 ... Derek shared this picture in a family text. He wrote:
What is more "Westra"
(a) Making gingersnaps that do not, and will never "snap" or
(b) Using a cheese slicer as a spatula?
The little cheese slicer is the perfect size for gingersnaps, and the edge is nice and thin. It is just one of those things that you learned "Growing up Westra".
A funny gingersnap related story. This would have been back in 1991 or early 1992. I think it was Shane who had made gingersnaps. He rolled them into balls and stuck them in the oven and ... they didn't cook. They just stayed in ball form. Well, the obvious conclusion was that the oven was broken. Mom and Dad replaced the oven. The dough had been refrigerated, and so the cookies were put in the oven again. Guess what. It wasn't the oven! It must have been an error in the dough! But the old (working) oven inspired Jen&Gray to finish the basement in Gray's mom's house, putting in that mustard yellow oven. They even talked Mom and Dad into replacing their fridge to match the new stove, and Gray and Jen got a refrigerator for their little apartment as well! All because of some gingersnaps!
