Merry Christmas from the Blackhams (2002)

In 2002, the Blackham Bunch consisted of Gray and Jen and three little boys. Like Shane & Alicia, Blackhams sent out some handmade cards with a write up of the family info and activities. Cute pictures of the boys in front of the Christmas tree, paired with an earlier photo of them in some classic costumes (made for the original Blackham Boys: Grayson, Kolby and Clayton back in the 1970s).

The cover of the card was a drawing by little Callahan ...

... and the back

The home address would stay the same for the next 20+ years, but the email address and phone number shifted as technology switched things up. 

... and one more look at those cute Blackham Boys!

Merry Christmas From Shane & Alicia (2002)

(this will be backdated to Dec 2002)

Shane and Alicia got married in 2001, so 2002 was Christmas #2. They mailed out cute handmade cards for the holiday season. Also included was an annual recap, which is shown below ...

Easter 2002

Easter was on March 31 this year ... looks like we were missing Wendy's family, and Derek was gone on his mission. But with Scott, Chris and Jen's kids, it was a pretty big group of cousins. There was the traditional "Grandpa and a few other adults take all the kids on a walk, while the others hide the eggs."  Jen was ready with buckets and baskets and away the kids went ...

... after the eggs were gathered, it was time to open them up and see what was inside.

While candy is always appreciated, little toys are a hit too. One of the fun items this year were the little tubes of "b'loonies" ... squeeze a little goop from the tube to the tip of the small straw, blow, and you get a little balloon ... for a few moments anyway, until it pops and collapses.

If you want more Easter ... there is more on the Blackham Blog (Blackham Easter 2002).

2001 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2001 and Happy New YearM erry Christmas 2001 and Happy New Year 

Dear Friends and Family, 

Here’s an update of the Westra Clan during the past year: 

• Scott and Amy Westra: McKenna was baptized last Feb. Alyssa turned 6 in Feb., Kellen turned 5 in October, and Kemery turned 3 in Aug. Scott is the Ward Mission Leader and Amy is the Primary Chorister. They live in Draper. Scott works at Workman’s Compensation Fund of Utah.
• Chris and Sandy Westra: Conner was 9 in May, Kadan turned 7 in June, and Corin turned 4 in June. They are expecting a new baby this coming May! They moved into their new home in Gunnison, Utah, in October. Chris works at the Gunnison Prison as a Substance Abuse Counselor. Chris is teaching in Elder’s Quorum and Sandy hasn’t got a job in their new ward yet, but we’re sure they won’t let her rest long! 
• Wendy and Rick Jensen: Janika will turn 6 in Dec., Jase will turn 4 in Dec., and Jared will be 2 next March. Rick is teaching Seminary at the Tuacahn Theater of the Arts and Wendy is teaching an evening class of American Sign Language at Dixie College. Wendy is in the Primary Presidency and Rick is Choir Director and in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency. 
• Jeni and Grayson Blackham: Landon turned 6 in September, Callahan will be 3 in February, and Keaton turned 1 in August. Grayson works for Hamlet Homebuilders and is serving as a Counselor in the Bishopric. Jeni teaches in R.S. and does a lot with her hobby of scrapbooking.
• Shane and Alicia Westra: Shane married Alicia Green on May 9 of this year and they are very happy in their new marriage! Shane works at Onyx Graphics and Alicia is attending the U. of U. Shane is in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency and Alicia teaches the 9 year-olds in Primary.
• Derek Westra: Derek finished his Freshman year at BYU in April. He flew to the MTC in Brazil on July 3, and is now happily serving in the Campinas, Brazil Mission. 

LaMar and Margie: We are truly empty-nesters now with Shane and Derek gone. But we still seem to be plenty busy! It looks like LaMar will be taking early-retirement the end of December. LaMar is still serving as the Stake Family Search Director. Margie is still the ward Family History Director and mans the Family History Center at our Stake Building Wed. mornings and still does volunteer work at the Cottonwood Hospital Surgical Center on Fridays. We help our ward members do their genealogy during S.S. hour each week. 

We hope you are all healthy and happy and that the coming year will be full of blessings and joy for you and your families. 

Love,
Margie and LaMar Westra

Derek ~ Missionary Prep

 This will be backdated to July 2001

Pre-mission photoshoot for Derek ... similar to Shane's, with picture poses around the house and yard. Originally, I only found about five "photoshoot" photos. Then I went out to the folks and glanced though some boxes and saw a bag of pictures - new ones I hadn't seen in Dropbox. So I grabbed them, scanned them, and redid my collage to feature more photos!

Inside ... and out! Showcasing Mom and Dad's lovely yard!

Honestly, this one might be my favorite!

Derek had turned 19 on May 5, 2001. He was finishing up his first year at BYU,  when his mission call arrived at the house. Derek had shared this memory ...

I was at BYU when my call came. It came a week early and I wasn't expecting it. I got home at the end of the day and my roommates said "your mom has called like five times." :) Mom had never called before so I was worried something was wrong! I was told that my mission call was here and that I'd better get home to open it. I didn't have a car, so I had to wait for my friend Blake to get home (this was before cell-phones). 

Blake drove me back and I just opened it late at night with Mom and Dad, Shane and Alicia and Blake. I remember being slightly disappointed when I saw Brazil. At the time (for some reason) I was hoping to go to Asia, or be called to a sign-language mission (I was taking ASL at BYU). I was very excited for Brazil within about 30 minutes though. I do recall strongly wishing I had been called to a different Brazilian city though. There was something about saying "Campinas" to everyone who asked, and having them say "is it really pronounced just like that?" that I didn't like. :)

The openhouse after the farewell ...

Departure day was July 3, 2001. 

We got some more family photos the day he headed out.

Adeus Elder Westra!

He's off!

 

Easter 2001

Easter 2001 ... Easter Sunday was on April 15th. The Westra party was on a Sunday this year (Landon and Callahan are in their church clothes, and these pictures come after Easter morning in the negatives). Looks like we were missing both Chris and Wendy's families this year. Just Jen and Scott still provide a pretty good group of grandkids, even if it is only half of them. The classic plastic Westra buckets were used for the hunt. Eggs up high on the ledge. Looks like Scott really wants those eggs - he's hoisting Kemery up, up, up!

After the eggs, everyone dogpile on Uncle Derek! While you can ...

Uncle Derek would be leaving on his mission in July. 

Shane and Alicia would be getting married in just a few weeks!

The EARS were introduced in 1996.

Here they appear again. Still on a Blackham Boy.

You can check out more of the Blackham Easter 2001 on their family blog.

The Easter Bunny came to the house! The Easter Bunny is pink!

Jen was very into scrapbooking at this time.

She made this page featuring the funny photo of Uncle Shane.

2000 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2000 and Happy New Year! 

Dear Family and Friends, 

It’s hard to believe that another year has flown by already! We hope it has been a good one for you. It has been for us. Zion is growing—2 new grandchildren, bringing our total to 13 (9 boys, 4 girls).

• Scott and Amy Westra: Live in Draper. Scott is a CPA, still working at Worker’s Compensation Fund of Utah. Three daughters and one son: McKenna, 7 ½; Alyssa, 5 ½ ; Kellen, 4; and Kemery, 2. Scott is a Stake Missionary and Amy is Primary Chorister. Amy helps at school a lot and in PTA.
• Chris and Sandy Westra: Live in Fayette, Utah, where Chris works as a Substance Abuse Counselor at Gunnison Prison. Their three sons are Conner, 8 ½ (who was baptized in a warm spring in the area—a beautiful setting--a tradition in the town); Kadan, 6 ½ , and Corin 3 ½. Chris is Elder’s Quorum President and Sandy is teaching Primary. They are going to build a new home in Gunnison come Spring. 
• Wendy and Rick Jensen: Live in St. George area (Ivins). Rick teaches Seminary at the Tuacahn School of the Arts. Wendy teaches sign language (ASL) at Dixie College 2 evenings a week and does some free-lance interpreting. Rick teaches occasional computer classes at Dixie College and for an internet company. Rick is in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency and is Choir Director and Wendy is in the Primary Presidency. They have a daughter Janika, age 5, and a son Jase, age 3, and a new son Jared born March 8. 
• Jeni and Grayson Blackham: Live in West Jordan. Grayson is a General Contractor,  building with Hamlet Homes.  Gray is a Counselor in the Bishopric. A new son, Keaton, born Aug. 31 joins big brothers Landon, 5, and Callahan, 1 ½. Jen is still totally immersed in her hobby of Scrapbooking! She’s very creative and has won several contests with the cute pages she creates. She also writes columns for an on-line scrapbooking magazine and is on Provo Craft’s scrapbooking “Dream Team” and teaches classes for a Craft Store. She has been using her singing talent a lot lately in various wards and programs. 
• Shane: is 24 ½ and became engaged this month to Alicia Green from Sandy. They will be married in the Salt Lake Temple on Wed. May 9. He is working at Onyx Graphics in Quality Assurance (Computer work). He is Executive Secretary to the Bishopric in his Singles ward and in a temple sealing group. 
• Derek: is 18 ½ and a Freshman at BYU. He took a trip to New York and will going on his mission when he turns 19 in May. 

LaMar and Margie: LaMar is still working at Unisys, but hopes to retire before too long. He is still serving as the Stake Family Search Director. Margie is the ward Family History Coordinator and mans the FHC in our stake center on Wednesday mornings and volunteers at the Cottonwood Hospital Surgical Center Friday mornings 

We hope all of you have a wonderful and healthy and happy year 2001! Write and tell us all about your growing families and what you are all doing. We love hearing from you! Or you can e-mail us at:
westra@softcom.net 

Gospel Topics and Missionary Helps Homepage: www.softcom.net/users/westra/Margie.htm

Sincerely, 

The Westras