Easter 2018 ...

Easter was April 1, 2018. Originally, I wasn't going to blog this year (or 2017). There wasn't a Westra gathering for the holiday either year. No egg hunt in the Westra backyard, fuzzy ear pictures or stickers on faces.  But then I thought, perhaps I'll note WHY there wasn't one ... just to keep the record straight. And there are a few photos after all ...

In 2018, Shane's family was in Cali... and Shane was in Amsterdam. Jensen's weren't going to make it up this year. The numbers had been dwindling, with only a few littles to look for eggs. Mom/Margie sent out a couple emails ...

March 23 ... Since Easter weekend is General Conference weekend this year, with no time to party between meetings, I guess we should skip this year's Easter get together and plan a family get-together here the 1st Sun. in May or last Sunday in April to celebrate the May birthdays. We could do April 29 or May 6. We only have D & D's 3 little girls to hunt eggs. All our little ones are growing up! New Haven moved the neighborhood Easter egg hunt to tomorrow instead of Easter weekend because of conference.

March 25... When we mentioned not having the Easter get-together here because of conference, Rick wrote and invited us to come there for Easter/Conf. weekend, and said they were off Fri. and Mon. So we decided to do that and will leave Thursday morning and return home Tues. morning.  We needed to be to church by 8:15 this morning for choir since they were having the Easter program today and singing. It was mainly a missionary farewell for a girl in our ward, but the choir sang a beautiful number, the piano guy did a cello solo, his 7-year- old son sang a solo, and we had our "ward orchestra." It consisted of 12 people---6 adults, 3 teens, and 3 younger children. Mostly violins. We really have a musical ward. A couple other violinists were out of town.

A few days later Wendy wrote ...

Mom and Dad arrived Thursday night and so I brought Dad to Josh's soccer game with me. The score was 2-0 and Josh scored both goals and so he was pretty happy about that. This is only rec soccer -- Josh really wants to try out for competitive soccer. He is a good little player and so I think he would do well in it. Rick and I were asked to interpret for a big musical production down here Friday night (The Lamb of God) and so that was a bit stressful trying to hurry and pull that together. Friday morning the post office called and said that Jared's call was here!! Rick and I were interpreting that night and one of Jared's best friends was working until 10:00 and so he set the mission opening for 10:30. He had about 25 people there. Saturday we all slept in. This is the first year we didn't bring our kids to the city Easter egg hunt. We just had our own hunt!! We really enjoyed General Conference today. Rick and my Dad and Jared went to the Priesthood Session at the church and then went to Carl's Jr. I think that will be a good change to combine the High Priests with the Elder's Quorum.The older girls hid eggs for Josh and Jenna and Jenna's friends, Clarissa and Audrey. We had a nice Easter. The kids got their Easter baskets this morning and then Rick and Jared made our traditional "Conference Crepes." They were even better than usual now since Jared works at the Crepery and was able to share his knowledge. We really enjoyed conference this weekend and were touched by the amazing spirit felt during the talks and music! All of the kids took notes -- even Jenna! During the break the kids dyed Easter eggs. Tonight we had a delicious turkey dinner and then Grandma and Grandpa played games with the kids while Rick and I skyped Janika and tried to figure out a time to go up North to meet Brandon's parents.

Here's a few photos from the other families ...

The Blackham family takes Easter pictures! ;) 

Email from Jen:

Hope everyone had a good Easter. I've gone a little overboard on the "nests" this year, making many batches of them. Really only Cooper, Cal and I like them, but we LOVE them. Not sure why I only make them at Easter. The ducks started laying just in time for Easter! True "hunts" each morning to see if I can find any. Coop accidentally colored his hand ... don't mix silly putty and playdough (he was trying to make the putty a bit softer)! The orange color did NOT want to come off!

Christmas Eve 2017

For Christmas this year, the Westra clan got a nice, updated family photo! We had the annual picture from Father's Day, but as almost everyone was in attendance (missing a couple missionaries) it was fun to get a family photo in Mom and Dad's Havenmoor home. This picture would end up enlarged and on the wall a little later on.

The photo above was the end result ... here's few photos leading up to that final shot.

(and a few candids as Grayson's phone was snapping away)

Everyone is looking a little to the right ... because Alicia's camera was the important one!

Gray's phone was a little to the left ;) 

We had our traditional Christmas Eve meal of soups (Taco soup, Chicken Noodle Soup,  Lasagna Soup) bread sticks and gluten free Brazilian cheese rolls, chips and crackers and a cheese ball and lots of yummy treats! The kids played the traditional candy bar game and we watched the annual slide show.

In addition to the usual gift exchange, Blackhams brought a bunch of pots and pans. They were switching to an induction oven and almost all of the old cookware would no longer work. So the other families got to pick and choose a few pieces if they wanted ... including the huge stockpot that Jen had brought her chicken noodle soup in. Poor Jen, she HAD to get new pots and pans in addition to the new stove.

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, and the Westra party ran from about 3:30-6:30. 

2017 Christmas Letter

It's the annual Westra Christmas email ... check out the PDF in Dropbox for a closer look.

Merry Christmas from Shane & Alicia (2017)

 

A simple but oh so cute card featuring Shane & Alicia's family in 2017. 

Merry Christmas!

Remember Romper Room?

 

Original Article HERE

“Romper bomper stomper doo…Tell me tell me tell me do…

Magic Mirror please tell me today…Did all my friends have fun at play?”

If you grew up in the 1960s or 1970s in Utah, odds are that you know exactly where that quote comes from. Romper Room was a popular children’s television show that aired on KSL from 1953 to 1981, and preschoolers around the state gathered around the TV every afternoon to see if Miss Julie would call their names at the end of the show. 

Romper Room was a national franchise that ran shows across the country from 1953 to 1994. Each station had its own host. Utah’s KSL had three hosts over the years. Edna Anderson-Taylor, was "Miss Julie;" she hosted the show for 17 years, from 1964 to 1981. Local children appeared on the show, six at a time. Every week, three children "graduated" from the on-air classroom and three new kids joined. Romper Room encouraged kids to be "Good Do-Bees" who were polite, kind and helpful. There were segments where the kids were encouraged to move around, dance and play with musical instruments.

At the end of the show, Miss Julie would get her "Magic Mirror." She’d hold it up and say, "Romper bomper stomper doo...Tell me tell me tell me do...Magic Mirror please tell me today...Did all my friends have fun at play?" Then, she’d read off several names, saying, "I see Tommy...and Michelle...and oh, look! There’s Travis and Melissa…" Preschoolers all over Utah would wait with bated breath to see if she would read their name.

Jen remembers Romper Room ... how many of the other Westra siblings do? Derek probably doesn't, as the show ended in 1981 and he wasn't born until 1982.

What shows do you remember from childhood? Sesame Street? Mr. Rogers? What shows will the next generation (the Westra grandkids) have as their TV memories, and how different will those memories be from the oldest grandkids (Conner, Kaden, McKenna, Alyssa, Kellin, Landon, Janika) to the youngest set (Jenna, Calder, Ani, Layla, Noelle) and how do the parent's perception of these productions differ from that of the kids (Sesame Street had some pretty clever things that only adults would catch, like the "Beatles" being actual bugs, singing about the "Letter B" ... it was fun to see some of these fun additions). 

Some thoughts from Mom/Margie ~

I remember when out of high school or business college, I interviewed for a job at KSL with "Miss Julie" of Romper Room. I didn't get hired.

I remember Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Bill Nye the Science Guy (he shows up as the father in his role also as Bill Nye the Science Guy) of the gal computer specialist on the TV show "Blind Spot." Funny connection for them to put in.

I heard a reference to the old "the Electric Company" on the news a couple of days ago. The journalist was talking about educating people about the vaccine, so they weren't afraid to take it. He said we need

some Electric Company episodes about it. The show taught kids about things, but with the flash bam effects to hold their interest.

Kaptain Kangaroo.

I used to copy a lot of educational shows on VHS tapes for Chris's kids, who couldn't get TV. Reading Rainbow shows. And there was another one teaching good morals, with little bible stories or maybe it was fables--can't remember the name.

Later past our kids was Blue's clues, Magic School Bus, Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Summer 2017

There were some fun family times as Shane and Alicia's family came in from California, and Wendy brought some of the kids to see their cousins. After those two traveled so far, Blackhams even came all the way out from West Jordan!

First, there was a family party on Sunday, July 16. Grayson made pulled pork and it was tacos and sliders for dinner. Chris had been in the hospital for surgery on his colon/complications and barely got out (and felt well enough) to come. There don't seem to be any pictures from the party, but there's a little video of the crazy Blackham boys below.

On Tuesday, Wendy and Alicia went out to West Jordan to join Jen for Zumba.

Then the cousins met at the pool ...

 Not all, but quite a few cousins!

Josh didn't want to go swimming,
but stayed and played with some classic Westra toys.

The "Days of 47" Float Preview Party was going on at the Expo Center in Sandy. It's a great way to see all the floats up close and in air-conditioned comfort. Three of the families went to that. Jen even got the older boys (Landon and Callahan) to come and join the fun.  Cooper really wasn't as miserable as he looks in every photo, he was just NOT in a picture-taking mood ... and now that fact is preserved forever!

A couple of the families and Grandpa went to hike Timpanogos ... 

The Westra Women who were available had a lunch date ... Red Robin, YUM!

Wendy's kids had some s'mores in the Westra backyard, 

while Alicia practiced her photography skills.

As promised ... pictures and video of the crazy Blackham Boys! The left photos are from the July Sunday gathering (the cave and the jumping over the flowerbed). The jumpROPE was actually a little later, a September birthday gathering with extended family ... but again, NO photos! Only some video of five little Blackham Boys jumping rope (I snagged a couple still shots from the video). I guess everyone was having too good of a time to take out their phones/cameras for pictures.

The Blackham Boys were a little JUMPY when going to the Westra's house this summer!

The Westra kids have memories of running down the side hill at Grandma and Grandpa Norman's house, swinging around the pole at the bottom of the stairs and daring each other to go down the laundry chute ... the Westra grandkids will have memories of Grandpa's cave, jump rope, the pond , the pool and more!

Here's a little bit from Mom ...

We had an enjoyable week with Shane's family here--they arrived Fri. afternoon, July 14. Wendy and her 3 youngest came straight from their annual "Father's Day Flee" which was at Bryce Canyon this year. The cousins had so much fun together and went swimming every day but Sunday. We played games and watched shows . We had a nice family dinner here last Sunday so everyone could see each other and visit.

Shane's family left Friday about 4 and were invited to a barbecue at a friend's home, then went on to Elko to sleep over and then arrived to their place in Calif. Sat. evening.

Wendy and kids headed to Ogden Fri. afternoon to stay over a night at Grandma Jensen's, meeting Rick and Janelle & her friend there. Then Rick and Wendy and Janelle & friend were heading up to BYU-I where Rick is an EFY Session Director and the girls are attending EFY.

Janika finished 2 weeks as EFY Counselor at the Y and headed up to Ogden Sat. morning to take the 3 youngest kids back to St. George where she and Jared will tend them for the week. Janika was so tired that Wendy had her stop at our place and nap for an hour before the long drive. Janika said being an EFY Counselor is so fun. She works two weeks on and then one week off. During her off week she works a 40-hour work week doing housekeeping at a Veteran's home for Seniors. Busy girl! She has done EFY 3 weeks at BYU, Wyoming, and Atlanta, Georgia so far.  A lady in our ward said she had 2 granddaughters attending EFY this past week at BYU-----I wonder if they might have been in Janika's group.

Shane is flying back here Wed. evening for business meetings at his old work place Work Front at Thanksgiving Point. He will sleep at our place 2 nights and use our truck. Then fly home Fri. for Alicia's birthday.

We are going to visit Chris tomorrow night.

Father's Day 2017

... I wrote in my journal that we got Dad a cordless vacuum this year ;) 

Ummmm, not having a lot of other memories, writing in retrospect.

Wendy had done a post on her blog, so a little more information from her ... 

We really enjoyed the party at Scott and Amy's. It is always fun to see and visit with everyone! The girls really missed Adria and Rella since their family couldn't come from California (because Adria had Girls' Camp) but they had fun playing with their other cousins. The food was awesome!! Grayson has really gotten into smoking meat lately and cooked a delicious, tender brisket! The marinated chicken was extra good too. Loved all of the extras too -- Mexican corn on the cob, Brazilian Cheese Rolls and so forth. Janika teases me that I always describe my meals in my journal, so I will stop gushing about the food, ha ha!  We had to do the family picture with my camera since Alicia wasn't there, so the quality and resolution isn't as good, but it still turned out cute!

Thanks to gmail saving old emails ... I was able to locate Scott's emailed invitation and a few responses.

From Scott:

Family:

We will be hosting our annual Father’s Day Barbeque on Sunday, June 18th at 6:00 pm. Amy and I will actually be attending this year which will really ramp up the fun! I will be grilling some hot dogs, hamburgers and maybe chicken but the Blackham’s may want to show off Grayson’s smoking skills, which would not offend us. We will also have some beans and can fire up the cotton candy machine after dinner.

 Be thinking about what you would each like to contribute in terms of food, games, entertainment and/or sparkling conversation. Please let the group know what you are bringing so we don’t miss anything important or double up on side dishes or entrees. Anyone bringing Mexican street corn or Brazilian cheese rolls will receive priority parking and first choice in patio seating.

The time between 7:09:00 pm and 7:09:20 pm has been reserved for family photos, however, we plan to digitally record the entire event for posterity into Mom’s Dropbox account as well as live stream it over Youtube. Full size cut-outs of those on missions or otherwise absent will be welcome.

We will grandfather Roxy’s attendance as she joined the family prior to our pet prohibition but regrettably, any and all ducks, chickens, cats, geese, bees, goldfish, mosquito fish or other animals, insects, fowl or fish should remain at home.

Please let us know who will be or won’t be attending so that we can be sure to have enough food, plates, security, etc.

From Grayson:

While disappointed with attendance ban, particularly as it relates to waterfowl, the Blackhams would love to offer my meager smoking skills with the one request as to which item would be most enjoyed: Ribs, Brisket,  Pulled pork (sammies). I'm certain someone will inquire as to why we can't have all three but for the sake my rising cholesterol levels I need to stop somewhere. I think Amazon carries a new multi-color version of Lipitor that looks like Skittles.  We'll put a bowl amongst the buffet.