janae – Page 2 – Terry Family Shenanigans

Grandpa Brent

My moms dad was not feeling well and went to the doctors to figure out what was going on towards the end of November last year. It wasn’t good news. He had a very aggressive form of leukemia. They said he probably had 4-6 months left. They had a few options for treatment but the doctors said that none of them would prolong his life more than a few months. To make the treatments even harder my grandpa was starting to have some dementia and would often forget he had cancer and not want to cooperate with tests and other things he needed to do.

They decided to choose the treatment option that was by were they lived so he could stay at home. They did the first treatment right around Christmas and he seemed to respond really well. The doctors said they would keep giving him the treatments every four weeks until they weren’t effective anymore. He had a good Christmas and New Years. All of his kids and other friends and family came to see him. When he went in for the second treatment they checked the cancer and it was exponentially worse. His symptoms had been getting worse quickly as well as his dementia. They doctors said there wasn’t any point in doing more treatments. So they went home and got hospice set up at the house and kept him as comfortable as they could.

Grandpa Brent (wearing a hat with his Brand on it) and Grandma June.

I talked with him on the phone a few times. He seemed to know me most of the time. He was more talkative if I talked about things 10-15 years ago that we did. So he would tell me about going out to check on the cows and tell me how the farm was doing. On January 31, 2023 he passed away.

I was able to go out for his funeral. Everyone was there except the rest of my family, and my brother John and his family. Most of them live there already or no more than three hours away. Sherri and her family and my parents and I had the farthest to travel. I stayed at my grandmas house with my parents and my aunt Peggy and her daughter Sam. My sweet grandma can probably count the number of nights she has been without my grandpa since they got married on one hand. She seemed pretty lost. She spent as much time as she could at the funeral home sitting with my grandpa’s body. My sister DeAnna and I were talking and we both said we remember grandma saying since we were tiny that if Grandpa died first she was just going to crawl in the casket with him and let them bury them both. Since he passed away she hasn’t been sleeping more than 1-3 hours a night. She told Sherri she doesn’t know how to think on her own without him. It will take a bit for her to get used to her new normal.

My Granparents house and a few other pictures from their house that remind me of them.

There is a lot of drama in my moms family. The Call’s are a strong willed, determined, opinionated, sometimes prideful bunch. The last 15 years or so has had a lot of family drama and divisions in it. There were a few people that were pretty worried about how things would go at the funeral. There was some stupid petty stuff that happened but for the most part it was ‘behind the scenes’ and other than unnecessary stress on my Grandma the preparations and funeral went pretty smoothly.

When the viewing started the night before the funeral my Grandma could barely keep herself composed and sometimes didn’t. Before it even officially started there was a line of people out the room down the hall and to the exit door of the church. It stayed like that until 30 minutes after it officially ended. I think it really helped my Grandma to realize how many people loved her and my Grandpa and came to share their grief with her. They lived in Grant Idaho for over 50 years. My grandpa was pretty active in the community and church so he was a part of a lot of peoples lives. I saw several people that I remembered or new from visiting there in the Summers when I was growing up. Other than one of my uncles showing up high as a kite on something with his obnoxious ‘friend’ it was uneventful. There were several people there with the potential to cause a scene so it was a relief to just have the one.

The next day at the funeral there was another long line waiting to talk with her that even with the funeral home people ending it so they could start the funeral on time went 20 minutes over. It was a nice funeral. My grandma kept her head down and couldn’t look at anyone but she said she liked what was said and thought it went well. I learned a lot of things that my grandpa did and participated in that I didn’t know. It was also fun to hear the things people shared that I remembered or new he loved or did. He tried to be a good example and leader for his family and community. He was a doer and a go getter. He had an amazing drive and work ethic.

At the gravesite after it was dedicated my Grandma requested that The Rose be played. It was one of my grandpa’s favorite songs. It was very sweet and touching. I think my Grandma would have sat there all day if they would let her. Eventually everyone left and my Grandma was taken back to the church for lunch. After the lunch everyone dispersed to their own homes. My sisters and I were at my Grandmas a bit before they left. She slept a lot in her chair which was good. She needed any sleep she could get. She doesn’t like to be alone but doesn’t want to move out of her home or have someone move in with her. She decided to go with my mom to Florida for awhile for a change of scenery and to think about what she wants to do going forward. I hope it is good for her and she can start to heal and rally a little while she is there.

After the viewing my cousin Jarom offered his office for all the cousins to get together and hangout for a while. I was back and forth on going but ended up going. I feel a little bit out of place in the family as to were I fit. I was the oldest grandchild by several years. When I had other cousins come along they were my siblings age so I didn’t really play with them. I babysat them sometimes but I didn’t have a cousin I hung out with. Since I was the only grandchild for a while I hung out with my aunts most of the time. The two youngest are 9 and 11 years older than me. So that is who I spent most of my time with but as everyone has gotten older I have been reminded by some of them that I am a grandchild not a sibling…in case I forgot I guess. So I ended up having that realization while I was at the cousin dinner and was able to verbalize to myself what I was feeling all weekend. It was still a good time and now that most of them are older and have families the gap is a little smaller and we have more in common now. My Great Grandpa had a pocket watch that he wanted passed down from Grandfather to the oldest Grandson that would be carrying on the Call name. My cousin Jarom had been holding the watch for his son Levi that will some day pass it onto his Grandson. They brought the watch and passed it around and let everyone see it. It still works, and has a elk etched on the back and the chain has the two (one has been lost) ivory elk teeth (I also learned that elk have two teeth that are ivory) from an elk my great grandpa shot.

I flew home the day after the funeral. I arrived just in time to see the fireworks go off from the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. It was good to see my family and spend some time with my Grandma, I am glad to be home.

One of my cousins spouses put a book together for my Grandma with memories from the grandkids about Grandpa. Here is what I put in it;

Over the past few days I have seen some happy memories posted of Grandpa on Facebook. Several of them mentioned things that I have memories of too. Checking cows. Summer and Winter days at the cabin. Burnt cookies, and watching movies (The Man From Snowy River most of the time). I also remember the dairy barn, milking cows, checking baby calves, ‘short’ drives to the farm that turned into spending the whole day at the farm. Checking and changing water. Helping with potato harvest. Water skiing, family reunions, The Playmill, snowmobiling. Driving to the store and getting ‘lost’ in Yellowstone for hours on end.

I learned to never get in a vehicle with Grandpa without a few snacks because it was never ‘just a quick’ drive. From the time I was a teenager one of the things he would often tell me on our drives was to always keep a quarter with me so I could always call him if I needed to. About the time I was going to college he was telling me again and I told him I hadn’t seen a pay phone for years. He just looked at me and said, “Well, figure it out.” I laughed and told him I will always think of him when I see a quarter, and I do.

One of the earliest memories I have of Grandpa Brent is ‘hide the beanies.’ I am not going to explain more. If you know you know. (To further explain this. When I was little 3 maybe 4 I was often taking a bath before bed about the time that Grandpa would come home from working) If he heard us splashing around in the tub he would make a big deal about covering his eyes as he walked by to his bedroom so he didn’t have to see any naked beanies in the bathtub. He would say, “I’m walking by hide all the beanies. I don’t want to see any beanies!!” It always made my sisters and I giggle.)

I have pictures opening up Christmas presents at Grandpa’s house when I am way to young to remember. We lived close for a short time when I was young and then it was anywhere from 4-20 hour car rides to come visit depending on where we lived. When we would arrive Grandma would come running from the garden or wherever she was at to give us all hugs. If it wasn’t dark Grandpa would still be working out at the farm and we would see him when he got home. He loved to give me a hug in his dirty coveralls. Sometimes I would help him take his boots off. I still remember the smell of dirt and grease on him. I would always tell him he cleaned up pretty nice when we would go to church. I remember the smell of his cologne and leather boots and belt.

I remember a light blue car, maybe a Buick. The interior was covered in matching light blue velvet. There was an ABBA cassette in it and he and Grandma would play Chiquitita over and over for me when we were driving. It is still one of my favorite songs.

Sometimes Grandpa would try to convince you to do something by betting you that you couldn’t. Sometimes I took the bait, other times we would just agree to disagree. One of my visits he brought home a Big Judd’s burger and challenged me that I couldn’t eat the whole thing. I did and topped it off with an ice cream sandwich. For the next 10 years he introduced me as the grandchild that could eat a whole Big Judd Cheeseburger.

It was nice to go to college at Ricks/BYUI for a few years and get to see both Grandma and Grandpa more often. I would come do my laundry and spend the day at Grandma’s and usually stay long enough to eat dinner if I didn’t get there early enough to see him before he left. One year he took me to get new tires on my car for winter. He teased me about how often I had to eat (apparently 3-4 times a day is high maintenance) but I was always welcome to join them for dinner whenever I wanted.

I remember dancing with Grandpa at my wedding reception. Shortly after I was married and living in Kansas I came home from work for a lunch break and heard a knock at the door. Grandma and Grandpa were standing at our front door, driving around the country to who knows where and decided to stop by for a minute. It was a pretty awesome surprise.

I have four generation pictures with each of my kids and Grandma and Grandpa. I will always treasure them. I love you Grandpa Brent. I’m glad I got to talk with you one last time a few weeks ago. Thank you for all the memories and talks. I didn’t always do what you said but I liked to listen and spend time with you. I will miss you and miss giving you a hug and kissing your scruffy cheek.

Until we meet again.

Love always, Janae

Something We Never Expected

This is the third year of doing the Primary Program for Sacrament meeting. The first year was COVID and we just did a video. The last two years have been more traditional versions. The kids learn the songs all year and we help them come up with their parts about a month before the program. We practice everyone’s parts and singing together the two weeks before we do it for the whole congregation. We had a Saturday practice the day before this year as well. The kids were doing great and excited to show their parents and the people they invited.

Once it was time to start the kids came up front and found their spots and things were going along great. About 15 minutes in I noticed a rustling of noise starting and kids seemed to be losing their focus a bit. I was trying to figure out what was going on and I saw one of the boys point at something. I look up to where he is pointing and there are two baby mice running along the ledge of the light facet around the room. Once one of them noticed it took about 20 seconds for word to spread to all the kids on the stage. Our music leader was able to get there attention and the teachers up with the kids on the stand helped them refocus. We continued on with their program.

The mice were not done exploring though. They were jumping and skipping along the edge. The audience also started to notice and we lost several of them because they ran out crying. One of the mice got a little to crazy and fell from the ledge right down the wall. He was at the back of the room and started working his way up the pews on the floor. We lost a few more audience members. I was in the very front row and could tell my Sunbeam class teacher was not ok with a mouse getting anywhere near her. She was sitting by her husband and he was trying to help her relax. At one point when the people right behind me gave a little jump indicating the mouse had reached their pew she stood up to exit. Her husband put his arm around her shoulder and helped her stay in her seat. The mouse then moved up past me and was headed towards the ramp to get up on the stand. The poor Sunbeam teacher was at the top of the ramp and I new if it got any closer to her she lose her composure completely and no amount of coaxing from her husband or myself would calm her down. So I stood up and walked over to the baby mouse-his ears were bigger than his body- and kicked him under the door. I was very grateful he went out the door instead of up my leg. By this time a few people had gotten a bucket or two and were waiting for it to come out in the hall to catch it. I am now known as the legendary primary president that saved the primary program by literally booting a mouse out the door. Apparently I did it very calmly and people were impressed. I was just glad it was not a snake.

When we are getting ready to do a program, I try and think of all the different situations that could come up and how to handle them so I am prepared for anything 80 kids from 3-11 might throw at me. I never thought of mice showing up and running around. Once the mouse was out of the room, things settled down a little and the kids finished their program and did a great job. Afterwards when we talked about it they thought it was so great they sang and said their parts so well that even the mice came to watch.

We Have A Third Driver!

We have been keeping an eye out for a good car for Matthew to use. Right now a used car is worth a lot more than it actually is worth so it is hard to find a decent reliable car for a decent price. Kenny said he would find us one, he is a mechanic so he knows a lot more about cars than we do. He found us one and Ryan and I decided to make a weekend of it to go out to Florida and bring it home. We flew out on Labor Day weekend. We spent a few hours in Tampa and had lunch with my parents and the French’s. Then we began our trek home.

Halfway through its final drive from Florida to Kansas, unbeknownst to us, it would never complete a drive again without some mechanical issues.

It felt like we were in college again, going on a trip and not knowing if we would make it in our 2011 well used Hyundai Sonata. About 20 minutes into our drive the check engine light came on. We called Kenny and he said if it wasn’t flashing and it seemed to be driving ok then we could keep going. So we did. The first night we stopped in Atlanta Georgia. The next day we drove a couple hours to Nashville Tennessee. Ryan had been there for work before and thought it was a fun place. I have wanted to go but never been. Once we got there we checked into a hotel right across from the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. We spent the rest of the day exploring Nashville.

We went through the museum which was ok. I like country music but I am not a crazy fan of anyone in particular. We also went on a tour of Studio C. It is one of the original recording studios from the 1940’s. It was pretty cool. Hundreds of singers had recorded there over the years. Including Elvis Presley. The last part of the tour was in a room that he recorded a lot of his hits in. They told us about a typical recording session with him and his band. There was a broken cabinet that Elvis kicked one night and a panel came off. The piano was original too. I thought is was a cool tour. The rest of the evening we wandered around and did a little shopping. I wanted to find some cowboy boots but didn’t have any luck. It is a very friendly town. Of course at night there is endless live music to listen to. It was pretty awesome. It was all kinds of music too, not just country. There was a lot of talent.

The next morning we drove the rest of the way home. We dropped the car off at the mechanic we use to figure out why the engine light was on. I scheduled a detail for it because it was pretty gross inside and we looked forward to having a third car and driver to get people all the places we seem to need to go.

Fast forward six weeks and we found ourselves trading the Sonata in for a newer car that actually works. After getting it back from the mechanic, we found ourselves in a very frustrating and irritating cycle of getting the car from the mechanic, paying a couple hundred dollars to fix something then bringing it home to have it break again within two days and be taken in for another week to be fixed. It would randomly die sometimes. One of those times Matthew was backing out of our driveway and it died. He had no power steering or breaks and our driveway is a hill so he continued to roll when died. He rolled right into our neighbors nanny’s car. That was kind of the last straw for me. It is stressful enough to put your son who has basically no driving experience in a car and send him off on his own. To send him in a car I didn’t trust and proved many times it could create dangerous situations was nerve racking. On top of that, we were in the process of selling our house (more on that later) and by November 1st Matthew would be the girls and his ride to and from school so we had to have a working reliable safe car for him.

The car Matthew rolled into when his died unexpectedly. It looks like it isn’t that bad but that stupid dent cost more than $5000 to fix.

I decided to go through a dealership. I know I pay more money that way but if something goes crazy wrong I know where to go and have some sort of warranty and accountability with it, unlike a private seller. After some research I found a 2015 Honda Accord. They were willing to take the Sonata for more then a few other car places had offered me for it so that was nice. I did not want to sell it privately or have it sitting around reminding me how stupid it was, I didn’t have the time or patience for that. Two birds with one stone. We didn’t tell Matthew because we didn’t know if we were actually going to find a car or not. It was a nice surprise for him. He loves it and it has been so helpful for him to be able to get himself places and sometimes the girls. Game changer.

The new car. Matthew said he will probably name it but he hasn’t decided on one yet.

Sister Trip 2022-San Antonio, Texas

It has been to long since Sherri, DeAnna and I had one of our Sister Trips. We met in Florida a year or so ago but before that it was San Francisco. We try and pick a place that none of us have been before so we can expand our travel. We had one planned in April of 2020 to New York but COVID ruined that one. It has been tricky between one of us being pregnant or nursing but 2 of 3 of us are done with that phase of our lives for sure, so our trips should be able to get a little more regular.

We all flew to San Antonio on a Friday. My plane actually went to Tampa for a layover so Sherri and I flew the last part of my flight together. DeAnna got there first and picked us up. Sherri had found a nice hotel on the River Walk so we headed there first and checked in. We chatted for a few hours in our hotel then headed out to find dinner and explore. It was a great weekend. It always goes by to fast

We ate lots of yummy food and between relaxing at the pool, pedicures and visiting in our hotel we got a lot of fun activities in.

River Walk. As I mentioned, our hotel was right on the River Walk so we wandered around and explored that in the evenings. We did a boat tour, sampled lots of the ice cream, and ate at some great restaurants. Every trip we go on someone ends up having the same shoes or shirt or something as another person. You can see that DeAnna and I ended up bringing the same shirt this time.

We all have the pants Sherri is wearing but she is the only one that wore them on the trip.

We went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. It was probably one of the biggest caves I have ever been in. It was the hottest cave I have ever been in too. Texas is just a different level of hot. Later this same night we went to Chicken and Pickle per DeAnna’s request. Of course their indoor courts were booked so we had the privilege of playing pickle ball outside for 30 minutes. Sherri and I played on a team against DeAnna. She still beat us. We were all drenched in sweat when we were done.

Of course we went to the Alamo while we were there too.

We always finish our trip with a selfie at the airport.

20th Anniversary

Ryan and I hit our 20th wedding anniversary this year. For our 10th anniversary we did a Caribbean cruise and we decided on that trip that for our 20th we wanted to do a European cruise and see Greece. About 2 years ago we booked it. We were planning to leave from Venice and see Greece, France, Rome and Barcelona. About two months before our cruise they emailed us and told us that our boat was being relocated to the Caribbean. We were welcome to stay on the cruise but it would not be in Europe obviously. We decided to cancel and Ryan did the research and planned out the trip for us instead. It was a lot more work and research for him. I didn’t do much, he did it all, and he did an amazing job. He had our flights, taxis and any other transportation we needed booked and ready to go for each place we went.

We already had a flight to Venice so we kept it and that was our first stop for a few days. Then we went to Santorini Greece, Mykonos Greece, and finished in Athens Greece. We were gone for 12 days. Ryan’s parents watched the kids for us. It was an amazing trip. It was both of our first time in Europe. We ate wonderful food, saw amazing places, met great people, stayed at beautiful hotels, and had an experience of a lifetime. It was incredible.

I decided to make a photo book on Shutterfly to show the pictures better so I wrote the details of our trip in that too. I will still include a few of my favorite pictures here in my blog though. So the short version here is we had a great time and we are excited to plan another trip to Europe sometime to see more of it!

Spot The Difference

Can you see what is different in the picture? A few weeks ago I went in for my regular eye check up and over the last few months I have started having occasional floaters in my left eye. So he dilated just my left eye. I have had both my eyes done before but never one. It was a little weird, and it freaked people out too.

I also learned that I now have a mole in the back of my left eye. I didn’t know that you could get moles in your eye but just like on the rest of your body they can develop over time. It is not the cause of my floaters (the kind I have are just caused from aging) just something he saw when he was looking. Getting older is just a bucket of fun. He did say that most people have to get readers when they turn 40 and my eyesight is just as good as it was last year, so it is nice to be bucking that trend for now.

Grandma’s Funeral

I was able to go out to Utah for my Grandma’s funeral. It was a really nice weekend. My parents and Sherri were able to come as well and we all stayed with DeAnna. Friday evening there was a viewing. Except for my brother I think all of my extended family was there. My cousins Erin, Lisa, and Melissa made photo boards and displays of her life. Grandma looked very nice. A lot of my dad’s cousins and aunt and uncles were there too. After the viewing a lot of us practiced a song, Come Unto Me, written by Grandma to sing the next day at her funeral. My Grandpa sat on a chair by Grandma and talked with people as they came to see her. When he got there he put his hand on her chest and looked at her for a while then said, “Well Dear, you are cold and dead.” I think he was just being matter of fact, not funny or morbid.

Great Aunt Elain, mom and Lynette (Elain’s daughter)

The next morning we had the family prayer before the funeral. All seven of her children spoke at the service. They did a great job. The whole family sang her song, Families are Fun to Belong To. Some of us sang her song, Come Unto Me, and the closing song was a recording of her playing Danny Boy on her trumpet. She was an amazing woman. So kind, talented, and loving. My aunt Mary said that heaven had one of its best trumpeters back and she was probably already playing with the angels. I think she is too.

It was pretty chilly so the graveside service at the cemetery was brief. After my dad dedicated the grave, Grandpa was ready to go. There was a very nice lunch at the church. Her daughters sang another song of hers, To Mother. After the luncheon some people went home, a lot of us went to Grandpa’s house and visited and hung out together. He was exhausted and it had been a busy few weeks for him since Grandma had passed away so eventually he took a little nap. We had popcorn with raisins in it as a snack- one of his favorites. It was a very nice weekend. I enjoyed seeing family that I haven’t seen for a few years. Grandma will be greatly missed. She lived a great life and left an amazing legacy. There is an empty spot now that she isn’t with us physically anymore.

Tickled My Funny Bone

The other day when I was wasting time on the internet watching funny videos I came across that joke. It comes from one of first You Tube videos that ever went viral-the guy sang the song “Maya He, Mayo Ho, Maya Ahah”. That is probably not the actual name of the song but is how it is remembered. It made me chuckle. I decided to try it on a few people. It did not work so well for me. These are some of the responses I got.

January 2022

This January was a typical January. Not a lot going on. A good month to rest after all the holidays and re-group and plan for the upcoming year. It is a long slow month. I don’t mind though.

Ryan’s work did there usual January Christmas party for the company and their spouses. This year was a little different though because it was also the 10 year anniversary of the company starting. Ryan has been with them since they started so he made a little party planning committee and they put together a fun night for everyone. It was at a hotel in Lawrence Kansas. They had meetings Thursday and Friday and then Friday evening all the spouses came and joined for the party. They had a dinner followed by a casino night. They gave you fake money to play with and you won tickets with your money that you could bid on a bunch of prizes at the end. They did a good job. It was a fun night. Everyone stayed the night in the hotel and went home the next morning. I am glad he works at a company he enjoys and works with good people.

That is about the only event worth reporting in January. February came with a couple good snow storms this year. Ryan’s parents went to Idaho for a while to see Becky and her new baby boy Kaden. We took care of their house for them while they were gone. Ryan told the kids to go over and shovel his driveway. I am a sucker and they talked me into driving them over. Then they found his snow blower and asked if they could use that. I pulled it out and it was easy enough to use so I started using it and told them to shovel. At some point the new phone in my pocket that was less than two weeks old wiggled its way out of my pocket and fell on the ground. The snow hid it and the next time I came around I snow blowed it right up. I thought I had hit a heavy part of snow for a second and then didn’t think much about it. Matthew was standing at the top of the drive way in front of me and noticed a black object flying through the air land at his feet. He looked to see what it was and picked up my phone. It was no longer straight but had a nice arch to it. The phone did not survive its run through the snow blower. The case however came out with barely a scratch on it. I was pretty annoyed. I got to spend three hours of my day to go buy a second new phone. I got the special one for the price of two deal this time.

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!