This photo popped up in Ryan’s phone the other day. This is from 3 years ago. Emilee would be 6 and Matthew would be 12. Probably a school fundraiser night at Culver’s.
That’s it for 2021! Bring on 2022!
After a relaxing at home after Christmas, it was time for another party! Our friends the Beashore’s invited us over to celebrate the New Year with them. We ate lots of pizza and snacks for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent playing games and visiting.
They taught us a fun game they play every New Years Eve called Saran Wrap. I actually don’t know what they call it but that is what I am calling it. The kids all get in a line around the table oldest to youngest. The youngest gets to start with the ball. The ball is a bunch of little candies, gum, giftcards, coins, cash, anything you want rolled up in the saran wrap every few feet. When you start the person with the ball unwraps as fast as they can while the next person is rolling a dice. If they roll a three or a six they ball is passed to them. Anything you unwrap you get to keep. As soon as the ball is passed the next person starts rolling the dice and the new person unwraps. It keeps going until it is completely unwrapped. Then you can trade or bargain or keep whatever you got when you are done. It was a fun idea. I am sure our kids will want to carry it on next year and make it a tradition of ours too.
The other games we played were Taboo, ping pong, pop a shot, darts, occulus games, and dancing and boxing games on the play station. At midnight we cheered and lit off a few fireworks and confetti canons. It was a fun evening.
On our way home we saw that Grandpa and Grandma’s lights were still on so we stopped for a few minutes to say hi and tell them happy new years. Then we went home and went to bed!!
One of the gifts that our family got was a game called, Awkward Family Photos. We have played it a few times and it has some pretty funny pictures.
The Sunday after Christmas, Dad wanted to take a family photo of everyone before we changed out of our church clothes. It quickly evolved into taking our own awkward family photos. The first picture is the only one we didn’t intend to be awkward.
Countless times throughout the year anyone of our children is known to sleep through their alarm, purposefully not set an alarm, or have to be dragged from their bed kicking and screaming that they are tired and don’t want to wake up for one reason or another.
However, for the last ten years without fail or deviation of even one minute on Christmas morning, without an alarm, they all pop up like daisies at the predetermined earliest allowed to wake up time of 6:30am. Let that be an example of what the human brain can do with the right motivation.
This year was no different, they all woke up and then came in to get Ryan and I. Grandma and Grandpa Terry also came over to open presents with us at 6:30. Once the adults are in the living room and ready with their cameras the kids can come down and see the presents and stockings from Santa. Stockings are fair game and anything found in them can be immediately opened or eaten. Once everyone has had a few minutes to look through their stocking we take turn opening Santa presents one at a time. Once those are opened everyone starts opening presents at the same time. The wrapping paper goes in a general large pile and occasionally someone will take a break from unwrapping and stuff it in a trash bag. If Grandpa is there and you need a knife or scissors he loves to whip the one out of his pocket he carries with him at all times. If Grandpa isn’t present Ryan will whip out his pocket knife that he carries one day a year for a few hours on Christmas morning.
It was a very happy, blessed, fun Christmas morning for everyone this year. Once everything was opened we started breakfast. This years options were a breakfast casserole or all the favorite high sugar cold cereals. Grandma and Grandpa stayed a few more hours while we checked out our new stuff, did puzzles, watched a movie, listened to Christmas music, took a nap, or enjoyed relaxing.
We were on our own for Christmas this year. My family did our Christmas get together in October in Florida. Ryan’s family was spending it with the other half of their families.
Roger and Rhonda were planning on going to Texas but then changed their minds and stayed here. We invited them and the McDonald family over. We have done Christmas with them before and it has been a few years.
We decided to go and see the new spider man movie in the theatre. Emilee didn’t want to go so she hung out with Grandma. Matthew and Allison invited Campbell and Caylin. It was 40 minutes late starting because there were projector issues but once that got figured out we all enjoyed the movie.
We had a yummy ham dinner together. Ryan smoked the ham, Rhonda and Roger made the rolls, I did potatoes, corn and green bean casserole, and Lori brought coconut cream pie. It was a delicious festive dinner.
We sang some Christmas songs together, read and acted out the Christmas story, Emilee read a book, and there were several piano, cello, and clarinet musical numbers played. It was a great evening with friends and family. After we were all done hanging out and visiting everyone went home we opened our matching pajamas and took our Christmas eve family picture. Then we hurried off to bed so Santa could come!
It was a very wonderful day. I love Christmas time. The Christmas Spirit permeates everything and everyone is happier and friendlier and you take the time to appreciate family and friends. I am grateful for the birth of the Savior and His life. It isn’t just a nice story. He is real. I know because of Him and what he did for each of us we can have eternal families and be together forever. I am grateful for the atonement to repent and improve ourselves. I am grateful for my family, and the very blessed life we have and all the amazing friends and family we have in our lives.
December was a fun, busy, wonderful month! We usually put our decorations up the day after Thanksgiving but I did it right after Halloween this year- and I don’t regret it! 😁 We paused the Christmas festivities and were thankful and grateful at Thanksgiving then we were right back to the Christmas spirit!
We tried to focus on service this month so we did something each weekend to do service. We brought Grandpa along with us as much as we could.
The first week we did The Giving Machine at Crown Center. Each Christmas season our church does a #LightTheWorld. They have a few vending machines called Giving Machines that they have in a few places around the country. You can go and punch the number in for the item you want and just like a vending machine it drops the card to the bottom but instead of taking something you leave it there and they distribute whatever people donate to the different charities. There was local charities for food, clothes, and blankets or a safe place to stay. There were also world wide charities you could donate a chicken or water or things like that. This year we got to have a giving machine in Kansas City. They placed it in Crown Center, it is an area downtown that lots of people visit and do festive things for the holidays. We were all really excited to go and see it and pick a few things to donate. We did a few of the festivities while we were there too. We walked through the train and light exhibit, ate lunch at Spin City Pizza together, and some of us window shopped while the rest of us went ice skating. We of course visited the giving machine and donated some chickens, an acre of sweet potatoes, some food, blankets, and a goat. The kids loved it!
The other weekends we volunteered at the Johnson County Christmas Bureau. We were supposed to be there for 4 hours but we were only there for about 30 minutes and they told us they were done for the night. We told the kids it still counts for service and we will volunteer again next year and hopefully have better luck. We made a lot treats and then delivered them to friends and neighbors the following weekend. We also tried to volunteer at Harvesters food bank but they changed their age requirement to a minimum 16 years.
Allison had two gymnastic meets within the past month. One was here in Olathe, the other was in Columbia Missouri. We drove there and back in one day. She didn’t say this but I think she loved having a travel meet that took the entire day like her brother has travel for baseball sometimes. She did great at both meets. Her best event was the beam at our home meet and the bars at the Columbia meet-she nailed her kip. She also added a few back hand springs to her floor routine and did great at those too.
We did a lot of puzzles this month too. Something about Christmas makes me want to put puzzles together. If it is a Christmas puzzle even better! Matthew was my most frequent helper but everyone joined me at some point for a bit. We would watch a Christmas show, or listen to Christmas music and drink some hot chocolate while we puzzled away.
Allison had a Christmas concert for orchestra. She did great. I had a hard time getting a picture of her because she was behind another kid but it was a well done concert and they sounded great. Her favorite part was going to dinner with Caylin afterwards.
My Grandma had Thanksgiving with her family that visited her and came to her for Thanksgiving in Utah. She has some good days and bad days and can’t do very much anymore. She was having a good day on Thanksgiving and she told her son Jared she wanted to go outside on a walk and have some fun. He obliged her. Even when she hurts a lot and is 89 years old she still has a great sense of humor and loves being around her family as much as possible.
It has been a few years since we had the entire family together for Ryan’s side of the family. It happened at Thanksgiving! The Bourne’s made it from Idaho, the Lee’s arrived from Texas, and the Ross and Ryan Terry’s made the trek across town and down the street.
Rhonda had a few weeks to recover from chemo before everyone arrived. She was feeling a little bit better. It was a happy vibe that we were all together and she was healthy and done with cancer.
We were able to get the traditional mani/pedi trip in for the moms that wanted to go. Some of our daughters are now old enough to want to join us. It is getting hard to find a salon that can take us all at the same time!
There were many games played, feasts made and devoured, visiting and movie watching in abundance. The grandkids all loved seeing each other again and picked up right where they left off. That is the wonderful thing about cousins. A group of us went to see the new Disney movie Encanto together and another group of us went to iFly indoor skydiving. Lauren and I took turns playing the piano a lot. The picture of her playing and everyone on their device listening soon became everyone napping.
Grandma and Grandpa wanted a family picture of everyone so we made it happen. Lauren was our photographer. The other nine adults were her helper and advice givers. She tolerated us pretty well. I think we got some good pictures too.
It was a fun, happy, successful Terry Family Thanksgiving!
In an earlier post, I eluded to something that I was going to do for myself for my 40th birthday. Well, I did it! A lady at work mentioned she was getting her eyebrows done-microblading. I was talking with her about it and decided that I wanted to get mine done as well. So I had a consult and booked the appointment. I basically got a tattoo on my face!
Ryan happened to call me on my way home from the consult appointment and asked me what I was doing. I told him I had just gotten a consult for a tattoo…on my face. After a pause he asked me if I was serious and when I told him I was he said, “Well, this is the first I am hearing about this so why don’t you wait a month or so to make sure it is really something you want to do.” I laughed and told him that it was microblading for my eyebrows and explained what that was. He was relieved to know I wasn’t having a tear drop or the kids names put across my forehead. LOL!
I had my appointment and got it done a few weeks ago. They are still changing a little bit color-wise. It takes about 4 weeks for them to heal completely. Then I go in and have a touch up appointment and get any little spots fixed that I need. It took a little getting used to, I was a little nervous because the first two weeks they are really dark and seemed pretty harsh but I am really liking them now. They are supposed to last 1-3 years. Then I would need to get them redone because they fade.
I saw a patient at work the other day that got a lip tattoo when she was 18 that was only supposed to last 6 months (it said bitch👀😂🤦♀️) . When I met her it had been 20+ years! I am really glad I like them in case they end up being permanent! I will have fancy eyebrows when I am 90.
Here it the before and after that the person who did them took. You can see the completely healed after pics in any future pictures of myself!
Emi turned nine this month! Nine years since that little girl joined us two weeks early and and scared me to death by not making a peep when she was born. Once the doctors were convinced she was ok just content then gave her to me and she snuggled right back into a ball on my tummy like she had been for the last nine months but now was in the outside world.
She is a fun, joyful girl. She loves to play, work is always for later. She has been asking for a horse for the past few months. I told her that she wouldn’t be getting a horse for her birthday but she could pick a fun non-living present and still have a great birthday. She said, “That’s fine, I’ll just ask Santa for the horse next month for Christmas.” 🤦♀️
She voted to have spaghetti and three kinds of ice cream for her birthday dinner. She had a horse riding lesson the day of her birthday which couldn’t have worked out better. After her lesson Reese came home with us and ate dinner and they played the rest of the evening.
She decided to have a sleep over with a few of her friends to celebrate that weekend. There was six girls total including Emilee. Two of them stayed late instead of sleeping over and it felt like no less than 10 girls at all times. Emilee thought it was a fun successful party which is what counts. Grandma Terry let her pick a few crafts that the girls could do. She had a painting project, an ornament project and a diamond dots project. They were all a big hit. They had pizza for dinner and watched Space Jam while eating as much popcorn as they could. Emilee voted for ice cream only instead of cake and wanted one candle. After all that they opened presents and then played games and entertained themselves until 12:30 in the morning. I know because I was in the next room waiting for them to fall asleep. The next morning while we ate pancakes they talked about how awesome it was that they stayed up all night long.
Yes, those are my Christmas decorations in the background of the pictures. We needed some Christmas early this year!
