Easter 2017

Easter 2017 was on April 16. No family party this year. Why? Mom and Dad (Margie and Lamar) had been on a trip to California to visit Shane&Alicia's family (blog post coming at some point) and just barely got back for the holiday. I suppose we still COULD have had it, but the family had just recently had an impromptu get-together (Red Robin, Yum) April 8th, 2017 and there would be group gatherings in June and July, so no official Westra Easter, backyard egg hunt or funny photos with fluffy bunny ears.

Mom wrote: March 15, 2017.  Normally we would be hosting our Easter brunch and egg hunt right now. Our yard looks beautiful for Easter. We had a wonderful time with Shane and Alicia and the kids. They took us many places to see the sights. We are going to Easter dinner tomorrow at Chris and Kim's.

To include some pictures on this post ... here's what the siblings shared (emails, end of year calendar contributions, etc).

I glanced through social media (Instagram) but didn't find any other Easter pictures from this year. 

From Jen:

Our Easter was quite low-key ... some years it's almost been like Christmas, but there wasn't much this year. Without the Westra party (prepping the eggs usually has me shopping and getting everything out at least a week in advance). I meant to pull the plush ears out ... but they are up in the shed now, and it felt like too much work for just our boys. So just some candy and a couple small toys for the little boys. A new "rubic" type cube that's been driving Keaton and Landon crazy (it's got no colors, it's mirrored, and the "squares" aren't all the same size either). We missed Callahan Easter morning, as he was in Idaho for a basketball tournament (they won it). The Reeses eggs are a favorite with the older boys (and me) ... I actually prefer the ratio of chocolate to PB filling over the regular cups. Cal and Keaton really like the Cadbury mini eggs ... those are ones so many people rave about, but they just don't tempt me. Just plain chocolate with a candy coating ... we love the FavorREDs jelly beans ... all shades of red. Red IS the best. I made our annual meringue nests once, and made some sugar cookie eggs that we decorated (we didn't get around to hard boiling and dying actual eggs).

From Wendy:

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. The girls had fun at their Young Women's activity dyeing eggs with plants, flowers, and roots. It was Josh's birthday Sunday, and since it is Easter weekend, we had an Easter-themed party. The kids dyed eggs and had an egg bash, went on an Easter egg hunt, ate lunch (hot-dogs and chips), opened presents, and ate cake and ice-cream. Jaiden made the cake and Janelle and Josh filled over one hundred eggs with candy for the easter egg hunt. To make the hunt more challenging Jared used the Westra trick and wrapped duct tape around some of the eggs and threw them up on high windows or other hard to reach areas. Happy Birthday to Josh and Happy Easter!! Josh was born on Easter Sunday 11 years ago! This is the first time his birthday has fallen on Easter Sunday again! Our kids hit the jackpot at an "invitation only" Easter Egg hunt Saturday morning sponsored by one of our realtors. They excitedly gathered up eggs, candy, toys, and prizes! They even agreed to take a picture with the Easter Bunny, even though these bunny costumes are always a bit creepy. Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt and Jared and Janika decided to put two snails in one of the eggs for a trick. Janelle was the lucky person who got the magic egg and we got a pretty funny video! Click here to see it: https://youtu.be/qE5lMtPuv-w

Red Robin ... YUM

Shane and Adria were in town from California ... doing a little visiting, then flying out and taking the folks with them back for a California visit. But while they were here, we had a group get-together. We were able to get seated in the back room and had it almost all to ourselves. Landon had just returned from his mission in February, so it was the first time he'd been able to see many in the extended family. Keaton was so cute entertaining D&D's girls with snapchat filters ...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JenB (@jenblackham) on Apr 9, 2017 at 2:50pm PDT

... and the classic picture of Dad in Mom's glasses! He had to see to pay the bill!

Marching Up Mt. Olympus (Chris/Kaden & Dad)

 On Wednesday, March 15, 2017, Chris sent out an invitation for a hike ...

Kadan and Dad (Grandpa) and I are hiking up the Mt. Olympus trail tomorrow. We will meet at Dad's house at 2:15 or at the trailhead on Wasatch Blvd. at 2:30. On the chance that any of you can come, you are all invited. Kadan and I will be hiking until about 5:00. Dad may turn back earlier if he needs to. The first part of the hike will be hot and exposed, and we will get up into the snow eventually. We probably won't make the summit in that time frame, but we will have a good time. There are usually rock climbers at Pete's rock near the trailhead, if Amy wants to come practice her rappelling skills. No catching allowed.

We will have awards for the fastest hiker, the best looking hiker, the oldest hiker, and the skinniest hiker. All winners will be able to attend Camden's percussion concert that evening at Riverview Junior High.

No one else was able to make it, so it was just the three guys going up (and down). There was a follow-up email with the pictures attached, but no other details of the day. Didn't the guys know there would be a blog post about it some day? A future hike to Timp in the summer would get a few more people involved.

Here's the recap Chris sent in his next email update ...

Kadan was off school for Spring Break and came up Wednesday. Thursday he and I drove to Salt Lake to go on a hike with Grandpa. We picked him up and then drove up to the Mt. Olympus trail, starting about 2:20. We planned to hike until about 5:00, so we would have time to get ready for Camden’s Percussion Concert that evening. It was a super nice day, and there were lots of other hikers. I left them after a while, and started running. I got about 3/4 of the way to the top, maybe 4/5 of the way. I was up pretty high and getting into the snow. I met one group coming down and they made it to the top, and said it was pretty slick. Their shoes and the lower part of their pants were wet, and I really didn’t want to run down with wet shoes. So I turned around and headed down, and met Kadan and Grandpa a short ways after the stream. I hiked with them for a while, and then explored the Bonneville Shore Line trail and took a loop on that to the bottom. 18,000 steps by the end of the day. 243 floors.

Before I found the emails memory**, I asked Chris about the photo and this was his present day (2020) recollection ... "I remember it was a fun hike, and very warm for March. It was one of my last strong Mountain runs before I got so weak in April and then diagnosed with cancer, with three surgeries over the summer. "

 ... and here's a picture of after the percussion concert (with a few more attendees). 

... not quite as physically demanding as hiking Mt. Olympus!

** The WestraWriteOn blog is a collection of correspondence between the Westra family from years past. Be sure to check it out too. Chris's entire letter from this week in 2017  is included here. 

It's a New Year - 2017

 This will be backdated to January 1, 2017

It was a late start to the Grandparents and Games New Years at the Blackham home. Gray had snagged tickets to the Jazz game, and he and the boys didn't get home until 9:00. Normally, that seems super late,  but on New Years, when the plan is to stay up until midnight, it isn't so bad. 

Callahan and Keaton were off with friends, but the two little boys, the folks and Gray and Jen played some Speed Rummikub (several games ... because Grandma said we couldn't quit until she won a game, and that took a while), then a few rounds of Scattergories and then it was time for the countdown. There were a couple games of Progressive Rummy after midnight, but everyone called it quits before finishing (as the game, with seven hands can take a while). Colton and Cooper didn't seem to have any trouble staying awake this year. 

Christmas Eve 2016

 

Christmas Eve was on a Saturday in 2016. It started off with the traditional soups and breadsticks, with a cheeseball/crackers and lots of desserts after dinner. Then everyone gathered around the TV for the annual slideshow and passing out the family calendars.

Then the CANDY BAR game ... always fun (maybe a few tears)

Here's a little video clip ...

https://youtu.be/HkCpiwRWaok

What were the rules? Did they change? Should have kept the camera going!

Then - there was the nativity. It had been a few years since the kids had costumed up. The Blackham family had been doing some cleaning up and weren't sure they had a spot to store the big bin anymore. Jen had dropped the box of costumes off to the folk's house a few weeks before Christmas ... on the condition that she didn't have to take it back home afterward. *Ü*

Some of the bigger "kids" filled in needed spots. 

Derek was the star of the show. Literally.

Another Westra Christmas Eve in the books ... and now on the blog.

2016 Christmas Letter

The original 2016 PDF is available in Dropbox.

Jenna's Baptism

Wendy is very good at keeping up her family's blog, The Jensen Journal. There, promptly posted, are Jenna's Baptism Photoshoot  and  Jenna's Baptism.  Checking out old emails, there was some additional information in a Jensen Family Update (included below). 

Thanks to Mom and Dad (Margie/Lamar) for always saving programs. 

Grandma and Grandpa (Margie/LaMar) and Chris and Kim made it down to support.

Wendy later wrote (October 9, 2016): 

Everything went smoothly for the baptism. The talks were short and sweet and the musical number was really nice. It was nice having mom and dad and Chris and Kim there. Jenna's primary teachers came, which was nice, and the other members of my primary presidency came. We also had a couple from the deaf branch come with their son who is Jenna's age and so I had arranged for an interpreter to come interpret for them. Several of Jenna's friends came. Rick gave a beautiful confirmation blessing. We had ice-cream sundaes over at our house after. Chris made some gluten free muffins which the kids enjoyed and he and Kim played Rummikub with Mom and Dad and the kids. They loved it! I worked on journal and pictures from the baptism.

Sunday morning it was busy, curling Jenna's hair and getting a turkey dinner prepared and ready for after church. The Bishop called Jenna up to give her a Book of Mormon and have her share her testimony. 

Wendy had Jenna record her thoughts about her baptism:

When the Bishop interviewed me last week he was asking me some questions and I was answering them. He said, "Are you going to bear your testimony?" And I said, "Yes." That night Sister Potter and Sister Williams and Sister Steel came over to talk to me about my baptism and gave me a baptism towel. Before my baptism we went to Chuck-A-Rama with Grandma and Grandpa and our family and Uncle Chris and Kim. We got our food and I got a slurpee with cherry and banana in it and then I got another slurpee with cherry, banana, and blue raspberry and I mixed the banana and blue raspberry together and it made a green slurpee.

At the Baptism they talked about Baptism and the Holy Ghost. Adria Guerisoli was getting baptized too. When I got into the water the baptism clothes just stuck to me and Dad and me put our arms in the place and then he said the stuff and then he dunked me into the water and then I kinda felt the spirit and then I went to the bathroom and mom said, "We need to re-do your hair," and me and Jaiden and Janelle were like, "It doesn't matter, mom!"

We went and did the blessing and Brother Cloward shaked my hand and then Grandpa hugged me and I was like, "Who is that?" And then I looked and thought "Whew, it's Grandpa!" My ears were really itchy when they were saying it. Clarissa gave me a lot of gummy bears and it said "Bear the name of Jesus Christ, Bear One Another's Burdens, and Bear Testimony." Sister Broberg (her primary teacher) gave me a letter and a pen that said, "I promise" on it. Then we went outside and took pictures and then we came over to our house and had ice-cream. Grandma Westra gave me a baptism book that you could write in.