Author: Janae

We were originally supposed to be going on a cruise the beginning of December so we were focused on that and we didn’t have any clear cut plans for Thanksgiving this year. Then not much to our surprise our cruise was canceled because of COVID. We decided to focus on our Thanksgiving plans instead, we talked about just staying here, going to Utah, Florida, or joining someone else. In the end Kenny and Sherri suggested they come see us. They were supposed to go on the cruise with us and wanted to get out of Florida and have a little winter weather. So they decided to come. When my parents heard they decided to join us as well, so I figured I should invite everyone from my family so no one felt left out. In the end everyone ended up coming except Kenny and Sherri and Aubry. Sherri is pregnant and still gets pretty sick so traveling is awful for her, and Kenny came down with most likely COVID and felt crappy too. So it was a bummer that the people that started the party ended up not coming but the rest of us had a fun time for them.

We had 19 chairs, 11 kids, 8 adults, 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, 2 tables, 1 dog and a guinea pig ‘in a pear tree’. It was a house full, I don’t think it felt like it though. The weather was nice so the kids could jump on the trampoline and play outside. They had the basement to play in as well and had some pretty good games of foosball going most of the time. I don’t remember any fights or tears, I think siblings and cousins got a long great and if there was a minor skirmish there was a dozen other kids to go play with instead. John and Ryan usually had some three hour game going. The rest of us hung out, played our own games, watched a movie, visited, and there was always some food to cook or dishes to do.

We went with the traditional Thanksgiving plans for dinner. We invited Ryan’s parents to join us but they decided to stay home because Rhonda wasn’t feeling well, but Roger cooked our turkey for us with his trash can convection oven sounds gross but is delicious method. I made rolls, and lemon, chocolate, and banana pie ahead of time. Then on Thursday we made the sides, veggies, and potatoes and gravy and had a very delicious meal for Thanksgiving. I made or bought a few meals that were frozen and just ready to cook for the rest of the weekend so we didn’t spend all our time in the kitchen.

I had a stroke of genius and put my dad in charge of taking the pictures for the weekend. He loves to take pictures and I love to have pictures but always forget so I gave my camera to him and now have 200+ pictures of our weekend. They are a little heavy on the dog side but everyone else got some good shots. We got a good group shot of everyone too.

Some of the favorite pass times were Among Us, On the Dot, foosball, Catch Phrase, Celebrity, and a few episodes of the Masked Singer. Friday night we told the kids if they stayed in the basement and played they could stay up late and the adults had our traditional white elephant party. Ryan picked his own present and ended up with a new Gerber knife. I ended up with a motion sensor toilet light for middle of the night pee-ers. Someone left a tacky bowl with candy so old my kids wouldn’t even eat it as a bonus gift but over all, most people were satisfied with their gifts to the degree that if they couldn’t find a use for them, someone they new could have it. Roger and Rhonda now have a motion activated glowing toilet that they think is the handiest thing ever.

The Cazier’s and Jones families left Saturday morning. We relaxed with Grandma and Grandpa the rest of the day. Allison and Grandpa enjoyed a few Pink Panther movies together, then my mom and Allison and I went to Hobby Lobby and got new decorations for my Christmas tree and put them up.

My parents flew out early Sunday morning. I did take a nap Sunday afternoon, but I wasn’t exhausted or worn out from the weekend. It was fun to see my family and be social and enjoy everyone’s company. I even enjoyed having a dog to sneak food to and pet for a few days. If the French family had made it, that would have been icing on the cake. Next time hopefully.

My dad took a face shot of everyone. Here is the line up of 2020 Thanksgiving Attendees.

First up is a flash back from 2012. Ryan had this picture pop up on his Facebook feed and he sent it to me. This is our little family the day after Emilee was born. This is the first time Allison and Matthew saw her. Pictures are so awesome. Literally a frozen piece of time that you can look back at and remember forever. They remind you of all kinds of other moments at the same time also. This was a fun day. Those days were physically exhausting but sweet and gone to fast. The picture next to the hospital one is fast forward eight years to Emilee mucking up horse stalls. Ryan was waiting in his car for her to come out because he was cold and it was almost thirty minutes past time for her lesson to be over. He went into get her and she was just helping get the barn shut down for the evening. The girl will go to any lengths at home-including going to bed at 5:30 in the evening to avoid chores but will happily freeze her bum off to shovel poop and dirt because it belongs to a horse.

The girls and I were comparing our genetics the other day. Being able to roll or wave your tongue (I have since learned it is called a clover leaf tongue) is a genetic trait. All of us can roll our tongues, the girls can make the clover (Matthew can do both as well), I can’t. A lot of people in my family can also roll their tongue but no one else can do the clover. The girls don’t share any DNA with Ryan’s side of the family because he is adopted but I don’t think any of them can do it either. Ryan can not do either one. So most likely it comes through my side of the family, I just got the rolling but not the clover gene, or my tongue has not reached its full genetic potential. Fascinating stuff here!!

In addition to a report on our tongue rolling skills, I have some more exciting news!! Allison found my bells in the closet and got them out the other day. She has been playing them a lot. She really likes Christmas music so there have been a few very good performances with the bells the past few weeks. Emilee and Matthew will join in sometimes but Leah and Allison have been the main players. When they get together they practice a few songs and then perform them for everyone. My hopes of a Terry Family Bell Choir have been renewed! I was a little ambitious in getting it started years. Now everyone is old enough to play and most of the time I would say half of us are willing to participate without coaxing. The other half can be bribed to play for 5-10minutes. Woohoo!

The past several years when I have asked the kids if they want to go see Santa at the Bass Pro shop, Matthew has rolled his eyes, Allison said “meh” , Emilee tears up and asks if she has to talk out loud or touch Santa, and Ryan says, “I don’t think the kids really care.” This year events unfolded a little differently so my girls were happy to go and I got a cute picture of them with Santa. First, their cousins invited them which makes everything more fun. Second, their brothers stayed home so there wasn’t a constant stream of snarky comments from them. Third, “thanks to COVID” instead of talking to Santa and sitting on his lap, there is a giant clear plastic screen between you and Santa and you get to ‘touch fingers’ through the screen then sit in front of the screen and take a picture. The screen makes it pretty hard to hear so most people just leave a letter or mime what they want to Santa, or just skip the talking part all together. It sounds ridiculous but my girls loved it, and honestly I think Santa loves it too. He seemed more authentically jolly then in past years.

I was thinking of waiting to put decorations up for Christmas after Thanksgiving but I didn’t make it. After all the stupid COVID crap this year I think I needed Christmas to come a little earlier than usual. If I remember right I have put my decorations up mid November for three years in a row so maybe it is just my new normal. This year I don’t think I am alone though, Christmas lights and decorations started appearing several weeks earlier around town and our neighborhood then they usually do. I have spent many a night reading a book snuggled up by my fireplace with just the Christmas lights on. My mom helped me redo my tree decorations when she was here for Thanksgiving. I’m feeling the red this year so I went to a red and white and I LOVE IT!

Allison had one of her big 5th grade projects this past month. They have to pick a Native American tribe to research and write a report on and then build an example of their homes. She picked the Anasazi Tribe. Allison is very detailed and willing to focus as much time on a project as she needs when she gets focused. She had a vision in mind and didn’t care how long it took to make it happen. She did this ALL on her own and did a great job. Her report was VERY THOUROUGH and researched too. It took a few conversations and showing her emails from her teacher for verification to convince her she didn’t need three separate sources to verify ANY fact she put in her report. There are some time management skills that need some polishing with that girl-she will not be rushed- but her creativity, attention to detail, and building skills are pretty great!