The French family was still with us for Christmas Eve. The Ross Terry family joined us and we had a New Year’s Eve party at our house. Matthew went and did his own thing with friends but returned just a few minutes after midnight and ended the night with us.
Ryan smoked some pizza’s for us, and we had way to many snacks and and treats to munch on. Allison put together some minute to win it games. We rotated through them all then the winner of each team challenged each other to win the final championship. Jovee put together a scavenger hunt that was boys versus girls. Leah put together a Jeopardy game for us to play. It was pretty fun and she did a great job at the questions. It was challenging for the adults and the kids. Before the adults played their own game and the kids did their own things we had a glow in the dark dance party. It was fun! I like dancing in the dark, you can dance however you want and enjoy yourself without worrying about looking like a goof ball. Most of the dads watched and cheered us on but everyone else got our glow in the dark dance moves on.
We all had sparkling cider and watched the ball drop in New York at midnight. A lot of crappy things happened in 2020 (pandemic, riots, earthquakes, fires, killer hornets so name a few) but it wasn’t all bad. There were a lot of good happy moments too and despite a global pandemic we were able to see most of our family between Thanksgiving and New Years. Nothing magically changed when it became 2021 at midnight but it is nice to have a new year to start fresh with and make the most of. Here’s to a great year in 2021!!
Christmas Eve was a big family dinner at the Terry Homestead (AKA Grandpa and Grandma Terry’s). The highlights of the meal for me were ham and rolls and corn and pies. We read the Christmas story and watched a new church video about the Nativity. We sang a few songs and the kids opened their new Christmas pajamas to sleep in.
Christmas Eve right before bed
We slept and woke up in our own home then returned to Grandma’s to open a few more presents with them. Ross made some coffee cake for breakfast (its actually cinnamon flavor not coffee, but it is meant to eat with coffee so it is called coffee cake). The rest of the day was spent playing with the new toys, eating left overs, and enjoying each others company.
In the past we had told the kids they couldn’t wake us up before 6:30. Every year without fail and the help of NO alarm clock they have woken up on the dot at 6:30 ready to open presents. We hadn’t reviewed this protocol with the kids the night before, everyone was pretty tired and we thought we would wake up when they did and let them sleep in a bit if they did. I woke up on my own at 6:25 and all was quiet. I laid in bed enjoying the morning coziness. (Have you ever noticed in the morning when it is time to get out of bed, all of the sudden your bed gets more warm and cozy?! It is like it is begging you to stay in it.) At 6:29 I was thinking maybe I could read a book or something for a bit but just like past years at 6:30 one of the kids popped up out of bed and all three of them were in our room dragging us out before the clock hit 6:31.
Christmas morning!
Allison got a new book case for her room that she wanted and a beam to practice her gymnastics on at home from Santa. She got some cute new clothes, and good smelling girly pampering things. Ryan and I were stumped on what to give her then decided to do an indoor skydiving experience for her. She was very thrilled.
Matthew got an xbox that can handle all his games and updates from Santa. He got a wallet and a few new sweatshirts. He debated for a while to ask Ryan and I for new air pods. In January of 2020 he bought his own with his own money and by March they were lost. He and I both searched the house and couldn’t find them and they haven’t turned up since. He said if he asked for them he knew his old ones would turn up but he decided to ask for new ones. That is what we gave him and when he opened them and the case with a clip so he didn’t lose them he was very happy and said “Watch, my lost ones will turn up within a week.” Fast forward about three days, we had everyone over at our house for dinner and games. Uncle Jake was in the study and when he stood up he felt something on the back of the couch. He found a pair of air pods. He showed Allison and she said they were Matthew’s. The next morning I found them on the counter and called Matthew to come take care of them and ask why they weren’t in his case with the clip. When he walks into the kitchen he is wearing his air pods in his ears, so the ones I was holding were the long lost air pods. So after looking for a year, three days after buying new ones, Jake found the original air pods and Matthew’s prediction of finding the old ones within a week came true. Aaaahhh! Allison and I are now sharing the old ones and Matthew has the new ones he got for Christmas.
Emilee got a new bike and a toy horse trailer from Santa. She was thrilled and rode it around the block many times despite the freezing cold temperatures. Ryan and I gave her several ‘little toys’ because she loves playing with little tiny objects. She was also hoping the family would get some virtual reality goggles to play games with and we did so she was very excited to try play with them too.
Ryan got some accessories for his smoker (and his smoker). I got a 9mm hand gun and a bunch of passes to the range. I take my conceal carry course in February.
The kids and I went to the store and they all did some shopping for each other and any friends or family they wanted to. Matthew got his girlfriend, Emilee, and me a present. Emilee got grandma a present. Allison got everyone that would be there Christmas morning a gift. She is a sweet girl and gift giving is one of her love languages. She lit up watching people open their gifts from her and they were all thoughtful gifts.
It was a fun magical day as Christmas is supposed to be.
The month of December went by very fast as usual. I used to have a list of things we did but then I started feeling like everything was a more stressful and we were just trying to cram everything in. I like for December to be open for whatever comes up and whatever we decide to do to enjoy the holiday season.
One of the things we decided on doing was the 12 days of Christmas for the sister missionaries in our ward. We found a nativity with twelve pieces and left them a piece every night with a scripture and then a small gift to go with it. It was fun and we often went to look at Christmas lights before or after we dropped of their gift. Some of the little gifts we gave them we saw them wearing at church like a head band, a Christmas mask, and a scarf. The girls thought that was great to have a secret. The missionaries were usually not home when we dropped off the items each night so that did take a little fun out of it. We didn’t have to worry about being caught. I also wonder if one or two of the gift was taken before they came home… it was still fun though. Another Sister in our ward put together a 12 days of Christmas for a family that recently lost their mom. We were able to get one of the days for that. When we dropped off our two turtle doves gift, they were home walking all around the house and even had the front door open with just the storm door closed, and a dog to help alert them to people coming up to the house. The kids loved staking the house out, making an approach plan and successfully leaving the gifts without being caught. Allison was decided on being the runner since Matthew was recently in his cast and couldn’t get anywhere fast. They lived close to a corner so we parked around the corner, Allison put the package on the porch, ding dong ditched them and ran faster than we have ever seen her run in her life. It was great fun.
We had several nights of making hot chocolate and taking it to drink in the car while we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and listened to Christmas music. I think we managed it without any arguing or melt downs this year, which is a FIRST. I think in general there were a lot more lights and decorations up this year, and earlier than usual as well. My opinion is that after all the crap of 2020 people wanted a little extra Christmas cheer. There were a lot more people driving around looking at lights as well. One neighborhood had a two hour wait to get into to see their lights.
We made neighbor and friend treats. Usually we do chocolate dipped pretzels but this year we made a box of whoppers look like a reindeer and put a poem on it that said it was reindeer droppings. I also sent out Christmas cards that the kids helped me address and mail.
Our house was decked out for Christmas, I loved reading a book with my hot chocolate by the fire place with all the Christmas lights on, we listened to Christmas music ALL the time and Allison and I played as much Christmas music on the piano as we could. We focused on having secret people within our family each week to do nice things for. My mom started that tradition in our family growing up. With each kind deed we put a straw in a manger to make soft for baby Jesus on Christmas.
Ryan decided that he wanted an electric smoker for Christmas. He also decided that he was going to have Santa deliver it early so he could practice smoking a few things before Christmas, then by Christmas he would be good enough to cook for the family when they all came.
We did our Christmas puzzle while watching Christmas movies. Christmas is a good time to do puzzles, also while drinking hot chocolate with the fireplace going.
Since we have been married we switch between the Terry family and the Jones family for Christmas and Thanksgiving. My family has switched to having a Christmas in July when it is easier and more fun to travel and having our get togethers then. This year was a Terry Christmas. Obviously Ross and Ryan already live here. Becky and her family came the week before, and Rachelle’s family decided to stay in Texas this year.
It was a very fun week before Christmas. We had lots of family dinners. Ryan tried his smoker many times and each time got better and better. The cousins had fun playing with each other all day everyday. Grandma handed out way to much candy. Ross baked and cooked all kinds of yummy food. Many board games were played, crafts were made, gatherings were had and movies were watched. I didn’t get nearly enough pictures.
A few days after Christmas my sister Sherri and her family joined the festivities. They love KC BBQ so we made sure we went to one of their favorites- Q39 for dinner one night. We also tried out the pizza oven in the smoker and had several good rounds of pizza. The week between Christmas and New Years had a good snow storm. We got about 4-5 inches of perfect packing snow. Aubry being a Florida native, was a little hesitant at first but once she got out in it spent as much time as she could in the snow. We had a couple snowmen, a wall for protection during snow ball fights, and Allison had a pretty legit igloo going before the snow started to melt. Ryan resurrected our Nintendo 64 and Sherri and I relived our glory days of playing Tetris Attack from decades ago. I can’t believe I am old enough to say ‘decades ago’. I won on occasion but Sherri pretty much kicked everyone’s butt. Matthew and Allison were very glad that video games have come a long ways since Nintendo 64 but still had fun playing the game.
We spent one of the afternoons at Dave and Buster’s with the French family. We all found a game or two that we were hooked on and spent our token allotment on. Ryan dropped balls into a hoop and won the jackpot, I liked a musical ping pong game, Allison loved the Deal or No Deal, Matthew liked the ship spinning wheel and hit a jack pot on it, and Emilee loved the motorcycle racing games. The French family was well rounded and helped all of us find our favorite games. When we were all done and turned our tickets in for prizes we had balls, stuffed animals, silly straws and a ridiculous amount of stupid candy. We followed it up with lunch at another favorite, a Mexican restaurant called K-machos.
Sherri and I were able to spend part of a day getting our nails done and doing some shopping. Neither one of us was interested in clothes shopping so we went to a makeup store, grabbed lunch and then stopped at Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.
I have some serious junk food habits to break and a lot of exercising to do after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
There were a lot of other things that happened that I am not recalling at the moment, but the main thing I want to remember is it was a wonderful holiday season. With the exception of the Lee family we were able to have all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in our home at some point or another. There were a lot great memories and fun times had, meals shared and relationships grown. At some point or another when we were putting decorations away and taking down lights all the kids and Ryan and I talked about how much fun we had over the last few weeks and how awesome it was to see so much of our family. Not a bad ending for the year of social distancing.
I was making dinner and cooking something on the stove. I looked up and saw a little message for me on the microwave. Allison left it for me. Sweet girl. It made my day.
Last December when we went on a cruise with the kids for Christmas, Ryan booked a cruise for just the two of us for this December. When COVID hit in March we were not even concerned about it affecting our cruise. When school started we thought surely we would still be going on our cruise in December. The beginning of November we were told the cruise had been canceled. We rescheduled it for April 2021 and are hoping that will happen.
Even though our cruise was canceled, Ryan decided he still wanted to go on a trip for a few days with just the two of us. Ryan is awesome to vacation with. He takes care of everything. I really just have to show up. He arranges the travel, hotels, car if we need it and does the research to see what to do and where to eat. I love it. The best part of vacation for me is just being able to show up and not have to plan anything.
He came up with a train ride to St Louis. We were thinking of a few other locations but a lot of places are still pretty shut down with COVID so we went with St Louis. We have wanted to try a train ride and see if it is something the kids would enjoy. So Thursday morning we drove downtown to Union Station and got on our train. About six hours later we arrived in the St Louis Union Station. It was nice to be able to talk and walk around and not have to be driving ourselves. It is a lot like a plane but more space and less restrictive on moving around. We stayed at the Hilton Union Station Hotel. It was a pretty awesome giant old stone building. Lots of cool architecture. They had it decorated gorgeous for Christmas and in the evenings they had laser light shows about every 30 minutes to watch. We met some long time friends for dinner one night, otherwise we just hung our around the hotel area. There were lots of restaurants, and a Ferris Wheel. We went through the aquarium and went to a movie. The Aquarium was small but nice. They had several petting/feeding areas that were not crowded at all so we got to take our time. The picture with our hand in the water is some kind of fish that eat all the dead skin off your hand when you put it in the water. It felt very creepy and weird but I made myself do it. There was one other person in the movie theater with us. I haven’t gone to a movie since January. I miss going to the theater. There wasn’t a lot of people around but there was still small crowds. Lots of little kids running around in their PJ’s on their way to see Santa.
It was a great long weekend. We had no schedule. It was very relaxing. We rode the train back Saturday afternoon. The kids spent one night at the Terry Grandparents, and one at their cousins. They were waiting for us when we got home that night.
KC Union Station
This picture is for Allison, she hates it when we kiss.
Since baseball ended for Fall, Matthew has been gearing up for basketball season. Ryan signed him up for a private club. He could go play pick up games whenever, there was skill clinics daily and then he was put on an eighth grade team and could play in tournaments most weekends. Matthew was hoping to get up to speed with his skills and then start improving before school basketball started. His plan was going well until this past week, I picked him up after practice and he was limping and said he hurt his ankle when he did a layup and came down and landed on someone.
We took him home, iced it, elevated it gave him a large dose of Tylenol, wrapped it and he went to bed. The next morning he was not able to move it at all without a lot of pain. Ryan took him to the doctor and they did an x-ray. He had broken two ankle bones and fractured his tibia. They put a boot on his foot for him to wear until Monday then we will go and get a permanent cast. The fracture in his tibia is close to his growth plate that is wide open so he has been given strict instructions to stay completely off of it for two weeks so he doesn’t make the fracture worse. Then he has another 8-12 weeks in a cast after that and then physical therapy. Luckily he does not need surgery. Basketball season is gone and baseball conditioning will be well underway before he is back at it though.
After getting all that information from the doctor, the main take away Matthew focused on was the doctor saying his growth plates are wide open and he is getting ready to have a big growth spurt. He is very excited about that.
Emilee and one of her besties Reese both turned 8 this year and they have wanted to get baptized together. They have known each other since birth and they are two peas in a pod. Their due dates were just a few days apart but Emilee decided to come a few weeks early. Technically we were not supposed to combine baptisms still because of stupid COVID but I am currently the Primary President for our church so I bent the rules a bit. We did keep it to grandparents and immediate family only for attendance so it was still pretty small.
They were baptized the day after Thanksgiving while everyone was here. My parents and Roger came in person, everyone else watched from home over zoom. Emilee was a little nervous in the morning about it but as soon as she saw Reese she was giddy and excited about it.
Reese was baptized first, then Emilee, then they switched for their confirmations. Emilee’s Grandpa Jones and Reese’s Grandma May gave the talks and they each picked a song and someone to say a prayer. It was a really sweet baptism. It was a little bitter sweet having our youngest kiddo get baptized. We don’t really have little kids anymore.
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.
Ryan the gamer
Janae the hostess (has a mouthful of oreos so couldn’t smile)
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.
November 2012
November 2020
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!
Matthew is wearing shorts, not just socks😁.
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!
