Thankful Post 19

I could write a book about my sister-in-law, Terri. After all of the pictures I posted, it might just turn out that way. I considered holding off on posting about her until after this weekend, as she and Michael will be visiting for Thanksgiving, but the inspiration was kicking in.

As the story goes, I met Terri the evening before her wedding. I found her to be pretty jet-setty (I still do-lucky duck!) and so it was hard to catch up with either of them until we moved out West.
Perhaps we bonded after realizing we could beat the boys in doubles tennis. Honestly, Terri keeps track of the points and I move from place to place as she tells me. Our real tactic is getting the boys to start arguing with each other. Once they start bickering, we know victory will soon follow.
(gosh, I really need to get back to playing some tennis! I am actually wearing running shorts!)

Michael and Terri have always enjoyed traveling and learning something while on vacation. They even decided to learn how to sail so that they could vacation on the open water. I have not been sailing with them, but Thomas loves it. I am just impressed with all of the amazing things that they set out to do together, yet they are also relaxed and independent enough to do many things off on their own. Lessons to learn from.

Terri and I love the holidays. Here she is trying on some homemade lip gloss made by our SIL Suzie. One Christmas when we were all visiting CA, she cross-stitched our names onto stockings. I made the mistake of saying aloud how cool that was, because Terri then bought me three cross-stitch kits and taskmastered me into completing one. I have to say that the other two still remain in the packaging (sorry, Terri!) She has some really practical crafty skills, like sewing (which she also tried to teach me and that shirt remains in my closet unfinished), cross-stitching, scrapbooking, DVD making, etc. I love crafts, so I am very happy to drag along to Michael's and JoAnn's whenever we visit. Terri also checks both of my boys' baby scrapbooks for up-to-the-minute updates on each visit to AZ. Which reminds me...

Color is also important to Terri, especially in the home and on the walls. Her house is painted with a beautiful yellow and blue, another room has orange...you get the idea. She isn't shy with color. My husband, on the other hand would paint our entire house white from top to bottom, so Terri has tried to get Thomas to branch out a bit. When Jesse, Tew, Tom and I painted the nursery, Terri was very concerned about the colors. We used a sage green and sky blue. This is Terri's initial first look at the nursery. Later, she tried to have Tom paint one of the main room dividers red. Never happened, but I did paint our bedroom red. We recently painted it back to taupe and white. Boooring, but we have our reasons.

Thomas and I love our traditional meetups with Mike and Terri in their cute Sierra Madre town. They live in the best little town, with a great walk (and workout-lots of hills!) into the downtown with great shops, restaurants, etc and everyone sitting outside like an actual community! We love it! So, we make the trek out usually after school ends and for our now traditional Fourth of July parade. This photo was taken by a passerby at the parade and she did cut out the boys, but for some reason I love that it is all four of us looking shaded and happy.
Terri and Michael have also invited us on several excursions, including Las Vegas (below) and Mexico. Honestly, the Mexico one was a riot because Tom lost his birth certificate and we had him going that he might get left in Mexico without presenting it. He actually had his mom fax the certificate to him. And the border never asked for it. I was under the impression that I was along for my Spanish-speaking skills, which honestly came into play ONCE. Most of the Mexicans appeared to speak better English than I do. We also discovered that the street vendors like to stalk Terri because she'll talk with although she doesn't usually buy anything. She had quite a following!

My sister in laws-one of my favorite photos. They just look so happy and cute. Terri has generously arranged trips for pedicures and spa days - one of my personal favorite gathering activities!
Terri could probably wear shorts and flip-flops in most weather. I am surprised she is in sneakers here, because much of the time she is barefooted. Then there is Tom in a lightweight sweater and me in a winter coat. In California. Quite a trio.

We both have a love of warm weather. Here I think Terri is showing the temperature for the East Coasters on one of our holidays. Terri keeps cool by going swimming in very cold water at her school and at her home, if Michael hasn't warmed up the pool too much. I am personally with Michael on the warmer water temps.

Terri was the first family member we talked to when we began announcing that we were having our first child. She was off the charts excited and immediately decided on her official name as "Fun Aunt Terri". Ian called her "Aunt Grandma" for awhile, but we got that straightened out.
The only problem with "Fun" Aunt Terri, was that she was WAY too good at putting the boys to sleep. Hand her a baby and she would sing them to sleep in seconds with her "Cutest Boy" renditions. She was a little worried that she would become "Boring Aunt Terri" but we changed it to "Soothing Aunt Terri" instead.

One of the funniest stories about Terri and Ian was her first official offer to babysit for us so we could have a date. She flew in and laid out the rules. We had exactly 2 1/2 hours for dinner. Okay. Ian had a baby swing and we made sure he was changed, fed and out the door we went. Terri was sitting the glider right next to Ian, reading a book while he swang. We returned before our curfew to find Terri and Ian in the exact same spot, as if they hadn't moved. Turns out they hadn't. Ian fell asleep and never woke up once. Terri told us that she poked him a few times to make sure he was breathing and alive. And that is really all we ask for is that the sitters keep 'em alive! So after finding babysitting a piece of cake, she and Michael have given us several other reprieves, including watching Ian for Jesse and Tewlyn's wedding (apparently they were trading downtime-first Michael had Ian for an hour, then Terri, eventually they were passing Ian off every 15 minutes-so much for piece of cake).
As a skydiver, one of the first gifts Terri gave Ian was a "Future Skydiver" outfit. She proudly showed him how to "catch some air" and prepared him early on for an eventful future.

And when Connor came along, the outfit was passed down and Terri continued her tutelage. I am afraid Connor will take it heart, as he already has no fear of heights or falling. Shows her good teaching skills! (and yes, this is two different babies, though they look shockingly similar!)
Terri is a terrific FUN aunt (yes, she did graduate to Fun Aunt Terri!) and we are so happy that she and Michael are able to be a big part of Ian and Connor's life. She teaches the boys the finer points of life---once in the grocery store, she told Ian how great chocolate ice cream was and if Mom doesn't buy it, scream really loud. Roll on the floor if you have to.

Michael and Terri even flew out for Ian's first soccer games and she color-coordinated her pom-poms for the 45 minute event! That is true spirit.
One of our Christmases together...I even see Linus, our old cat in there. Terri really tried to bring Linus from the Dark Side, but it never happened. Her cat Samuel is such a character and really sweet.

This year, I have Christmas decorating on my Thanksgiving weekend list so that Terri and Michael can help. Terri is a big fan of Christmas music, so we'll get the music going, hot cocoa for Ian and Thomas, and have some fun. Terri likes to help me set up my houses and she is very good at organizing and decorating.
Game night is one of our must-do activities for every visit. Terri has to be the funniest opponent I have ever played. With Pictionary and Cranium, once she is giggling, she cannot even draw. She also has a really great method....if Michael doesn't guess the picture, she redraws it-exactly the same way she did before and begins emphatically circling things. It is way too funny, I am laughing as I write this. We actually kept one of her drawings on our refrigerator for awhile.
A few years back, we began our cookie baking/decorating tradition. It was such fun given all the calamities, that we continue to try new cookie ideas each year, although we don't seem to improve very much. We have more laughs over this, so I am really looking forward to this weekend's annual cookie bake.
Yes, as Terri mentioned in her blog, last Thanksgiving was a lot of fun but the aftermath left no one unscathed. I see now why I ended up with the Thanksgiving duties this year. I thought it was just my turn.
Although she did say she was making an appetizer, so I'll keep that in mind if we have repeat performances this year.
Terri is one of my best friends and I enjoy every visit and always look forward to the next. She brings a happiness and light-hearted approach to life and you cannot help but smile and enjoy the company. She is a well-rounded person, who is generous to everyone-loved ones, strangers, students. When she started blogging, it was great fun to be the blogging mentor.....but she really took off with it and has built her own blog community because in her writing, she is what she is in real life and she shows loyalty to her friends near and far. I am thankful she is telling her stories so that I can get to know her even better. She is truly one of my favorite people!