November – Terry Family Shenanigans

The Thanksgiving Family Reunion

It has been a few years since my entire family has been together. Last Christmas we decided that we would all get together for Thanksgiving. We were debating on having it at Sherri’s house or ours. After a little discussion, Sherri said that she would, “rather host a holiday that wasn’t about food because its not really her thing and it might not live up to everyone’s expectations.” It would have been just fine at Sherri’s but that tipped the scale to have it at our house. So the plan was set for 5 families, 6 couples, 11 adults (we will count Matthew as an adult now), 12 kids, and one baby, for a grand total of 24 people to gather together for a Thanksgiving Holiday Family Reunion. Matthew moved to the workout room, the girls moved to the basement living room and that left a room for each married couple. A few kids slept with their parents in their rooms but most of the kids slept in the basement living room and had a big sleep over together each night.

The Cazier’s arrived Sunday before Thanksgiving. My parents and the French’s arrived on Monday evening, and my brother and his family came Wednesday evening. Ryan and I had to work Monday and Tuesday so my family entertained themselves during the day. They played lots of games and ping pong. DeAnna organized a baptism temple trip for everyone that wanted to go on Tuesday. That was a good experience for the cousins that got to go together.

The rest of the week we spent hanging out and having fun together. We did our traditional white elephant party. The kids had one and then the adults had one. They were both lots of fun. DeAnna and Emilee ended up with matching white elephants. Allison was the amazing entertainer of all the cousins. She organized several group games and contests. She prepared the giant living room sleep over each night. One of her biggest hits was a dance party in our basement. She strung lights along the walls in our cave (that is our unfinished area under the garage. Someday it will be an epic entertaining room.) and then made each person an invitation and person ticket. Once the doors opened they had to get a secret password from Grandpa Jones and then they could give the password to get into the dance and dance their hearts out. It was a pretty cool party.

Thanksgiving morning several us were getting ready for our Thanksgiving feast. Sherri recruited Allison and Tyler to help her make an obstacle course for anyone that wanted to do it. They did it relay style so when one person finished an obstacle the next person would go until a team one. When they were all obstacled out anyone that wanted to run in the family Turkey Trot ran a mile route that Sherri had mapped out through out neighborhood. The Cazier boys finished in a pretty impressive time. Tyler, Nathan and Michael can have a nice track or cross country career in their future if they want to! It was a VERY cold day so I was impressed with any of them that went outside to participate in the outdoor activities.

Everyone had lots of Thanksgiving food. It was a delicious feast. After we ate a lot of us took our post meal nap and then woke up and ate pie for dessert. It was a fun day. The whole week was fun. We went to a few movies, put puzzles together, played lots of games, visited and enjoyed each others company. My mom helped me put up my Christmas tree too. We were up until about 1am on Friday morning. Everyone was leaving the next day so we were playing until we were exhausted. We all went to bed healthy but between then and morning almost half of us came down with a stomach bug. We were so close to a sick free get together. It was brief but violent and by the time it was done a little more than half of us had it. A little bit of a sour note to end on but I had a great week and I am glad we could all get together. I think everyone else thought so too.

We were lucky to get two of these gems in the White Elephant party.

Of course we updated our family picture since we were all together. It has been maybe 5 or 6 years since we have done that. We are blessed with a great family. I wish we were all closer and could see each other more often but I am grateful for the times we get to get together.

My dad does a good job at taking lots of pictures when we get together. He was the official photographer for Thanksgiving. Aubry and KJ participated in the kid white elephant but there pictures were accidentally videos so I couldn’t get them to upload. Aubry got a cheeseburger mug and KJ got a toothbrush ornament.

Wrestling

Allison decided to do wrestling again this year. In October she went to the middle school after school and helped there for a few weeks. It helped her get a little extra conditioning in too. Then in November her high school season started. It is a lot of hard work. I think she will do good at it though if she wants to. She made varsity. Campbell is on varsity too and helps us get Allison to and from practices a lot which is awesome. It is fun to watch her wrestle, even though she tries to get us not to come most of the time. We still attend and love watching her. She won one of her three matches at her first meet.

Birthday Wrap Up 2024

Starting in June and continuing with one person in our family each month until September we have a birthday to celebrate. Emilee wraps up our families birthdays each year in November. This year was her 12th birthday. It was on a Sunday which is not the greatest day to have a birthday. She thought of ways to celebrate all week to get the most out of it. She had friends come play, got an early birthday present, had a family over on Sunday for dinner. We made individual pizza’s on the grill and had a double stacked cookie cake to blow out her candles. She got some Palm Pals and parts to her Harry Potter Lego castle for her gifts. It took us a while but when we were all home on a week night we went to K-Macho’s for another birthday dinner. We love having Emilee in our family and it was fun to celebrate her!

November…it was…then it wasn’t.

The title for this post is referring to our house. Once things got underway with building it, November 1st was the finish date we were hoping for. Well, it was six months before that but our ‘realistic’ finish date was November 1st. Or I would have settled for any day in November. Our year lease on our rental ended and it would have been a smooth transition to get into our house before the holidays and get settled. However, do due weather, deliveries, availability and everyone not making building my house their top priority 😜 November 1st came and went…along with every other day in November and we did not move into our new house. There was a lot more leg work for me to arrange staying in our rental month to month and getting renter insurance renewed and other never ending menial tasks but we didn’t really have a better option so I did it. Grumpily.

Emilee finished off the family birthdays for the 2023 year in November. She turned 11 years old. This will be her last year in elementary school, she starts Young Women in church in January, and she is still growing like a weed.

She wanted to have a family dinner at a place that throws rolls at you. It is called Lambert’s and it is 4 hours away at Table Rock Lake. We convinced her to go with Texas Road House because they have delicious rolls, and we tossed them to her when she wanted one. ALL the Olathe family was able to make it (except Grandma Terry but we ate cake with her later). Texas Road House doesn’t take reservations and we had a party of 11. They thought splitting our group in half and putting us at opposite sides of the restaurant was the best idea. Even when we pointed out the giant open table next to the one they sat us at that we would have all fit at. So we had an adult and kids table which I think everyone was pretty happy with. Sunday we had cake and ice cream at grandma and grandpa’s house. She wanted dolls and legos for her birthday. It was a successful birthday weekend!

The house wasn’t done in November but it was close enough that the girls could start seeing how they wanted to do their rooms. Emilee wanted to have a wall with triangles all over it with her favorite colors so we did that. I had to reach the tall areas but she did as much of it herself as she could. It turned out very cute! Allison was going to do a blue accent wall in her room but after trying a few samples she decided to go all white.

Emilee was one of the student of the months for November. The school changed it to something a little different this year. They call it “Showing Strength of Character” and they have a few different qualities they are focusing on for the year. It is basically student of the month though. We were very proud of her for being a good student and a good person. She also performed in her last Veteran’s Day Performance for her school as well. Emilee loves to sing and sings a lot at home or church but she does not like school performances-especially if they involve singing. We always give her a hard time because she looks like she wants to disappear when she is up there singing.

https://youtu.be/-fVVLxGqtdU (Veteran’s Day Performance)

Ryan was promoted this year to VP of Sales in his company. He has worked very hard and we are very proud of him. He is awesome. Shortly after his promotion, he moved to a new office. He asked me to come help him organize it so we went and did that one Saturday afternoon. Here are the before and after pictures. He still needs a plant and another picture or two but it looks good!

This year was a Terry Thanksgiving. We ate at Grandma and Grandpa Terry’s house and Becky and Jake and their family came from Idaho. My parents were going to be in Oklahoma with my brother for Christmas because he was having a new baby so they decided to join us for Thanksgiving. We were hoping to be in the new house by then but it didn’t happen so they squished in with us at our rental for the week. We played games and watched movies together. Grandma and Allison made lots of yummy treats. It was pretty cold so we didn’t do to much outside. We were able to fins a few of our holiday puzzles and put them together. We love doing puzzles in November and December. Right before we ate Thanksgiving dinner the cousins that were there decided to put on a Thanksgiving performance for us. Allison and Leah helped organize them and they all did a great job sharing their parts. Here is a link for the video.

https://youtu.be/p6NRBpi_0-E (Terry and Bourne Cousins Thanksgiving Program 2021)

Thanksgiving

This year was a quieter Thanksgiving. It was a great Thanksgiving. We switch off families each year, it was my families turn. Sometimes we have a get together sometimes we don’t. Everyone ended up doing their own thing this year. We stayed here in Olathe. Roger and Rhonda were here too so we ate with them. Roger did the turkey, Rhonda did the rolls and pies, I did the rest of the sides. It was a delicious meal followed by good visiting, naps, games, and leftovers. The rest of the weekend was low key too. It isn’t very often that we have nothing going on and can just relax and enjoy hanging out together. We played games, did a little Christmas shopping, put up Christmas decorations, and made some holiday treats.

Allison and I were making hot chocolate mixing spoons to hand out to people. She found a mold for teeth while we were doing it and made some pretty realistic looking chocolate dentures.

As usual once Thanksgiving is here the holiday season takes off and there are parties, events, service opportunities, and holiday traditions to do almost every night. It is a wonderful time of year.

Emilee Hits Double Digits

The youngest child in our family had her golden birthday, which is also her first double digit birthday this year. Ten years old! So crazy to think she has been with us for 10 years. I remember her first night with us. She joined us a little before 5 in the morning and didn’t make a peep. I was very worried but the doctors assured me she was fine and healthy. Then she snuggled into a ball and slept on my stomach where she spent the first nine months of her life, just now on the outside instead of inside.

She wanted to have a party with some friends for her 10th birthday. With the move from our home to our rental I was a little off the ball and didn’t get something booked in time for her birthday. We managed to figure something out though. She invited her besties Reese, Cambrie, Millie, and Jovee to have pizza followed by laser tag and a ropes course up in the air at Main Event. Matthew and his girlfriend Campbell came with me to help supervise and make sure everyone was having fun. After that we all piled into the car and came back to our house. We had ice cream cake, opened presents and played games until it was time for pick up. It was a successful 10th birthday.

She wanted to wear dangly earrings for her birthday.

Shortly after her birthday Emilee had her first piano recital. She has been playing for about a year now. She goes through periods of willingness and enthusiasm to play. I am encouraging her to stick with it long enough to get to the point she really gets it and can play things on her own. I think she will really like it. She had been planning on playing a song from Wicked for her recital. I guess her teacher had told her to switch songs the last week to one she was more comfortable with. I didn’t know though so I had her practice the Wicked song and she never practiced the original. So she played it for the first time in over a week at her recital. 🤦‍♀️ She still did fine and it was a good experience for her. She is learning she can do hard things. She is now playing Christmas music which has re-excited her to play more. I think if I can get her through one more year she will be hooked and realize it is fun.

November was also Emilee’s 4th grade musical performance. She has never been a fan of these yearly performances. Matthew was fine with whatever was assigned to him. Allison always wanted the biggest part and went all out on her costume. Emilee tries to tell me she is sick the day of everyone. She always turns down a speaking part and will not dress up. Since she is tall she is usually on the back row. This year she was next to a very enthusiastic boy that was all in for all the song actions. Emilee tried to melt into the person on the other side of her and looked like she was wishing to be anywhere but where she was at. Since she didn’t want a speaking part her teacher had her play the xylophone for one of the songs. She did her best to look miserable the whole time. When she saw me recording her she couldn’t help a little smile sneak out. Such a funny girl.

Allison Wraps Up Wrestling

Allison ended up deciding she liked wrestling. It is a really quick and intense season but she liked it. She won her very first match of the season then had a bit of a rough patch then finished the season by winning her weight division in her last match. She is planning on wrestling next year too.

As she was finishing wrestling she was also getting ready for her first gymnastic meet of the season. The season always starts off with the Chalk Up Meet. She started off pretty good. Her scores were Beam: 8.4 Floor: 8.8 Bars: 8.05 Vault: 8.8.

Allison is going to try out for the play next semester. I am so impressed and proud that she is willing to try so many different things. She is our social little butterfly. She is a good friend too. One of her friends had to put her dog down so Allison and another friend in their group got a little gift for her and surprised her by dropping it off with a little song and dance they made up. They did a good job cheering her up.

She doesn’t like to draw attention to it but Allison has a big loving heart. I was watching her the other day. She is a beautiful, caring, loving, talented, artistic, smart girl. She is becoming a kind young women. I am excited to see how she continues to grow and develop and what she decides to do with her life. She has a bright future ahead of her.

Grandma Jones’ Thanksgiving

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.

Thanksgiving 2021

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.

Kris, Jake and Ross were all directing from the sidelines too but they saw me right before I took the picture and played it cool.

It was a fun, happy, successful Terry Family Thanksgiving!

Matthew thought ‘nice casual’ meant wearing sweat pants instead of shorts with his hoodie.

My Mid Life Crisis

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!