"Previously on "Sister Wives"..." "I don't know if I need to go away for a week on a camping trip out by myself." "I don't know." "Janelle:" "You're sitting here with all these possibilities, you don't know what to choose." "Meri, you can choose them all." "You know, I'm really all about supporting Meri, but it's really important that Meri's back at Thanksgiving." "It's very, very important to me for the sake of the children that we hold a continuity." "Meri:" "Janelle and I have plans to go today to go visit with Nancy." "Personally, I'm still wanting to run from the storm." "'Cause I don't understand what is going on in her mind that makes her shut down." "I'm learning about myself that it sometimes takes me a few minutes to form my words a little bit." "I'll start with praying for faith that it can work out." "And next..." "Christine:" "Everybody's coming home today." "We're all very excited." "Mom. [ Squeals ]" "Honestly, I think one of the reasons this Thanksgiving is so unique is because Hunter's been away from home for a long time." "Meri:" "Thanksgiving is just a week away, and Janelle had told me that she wanted to decorate for Thanksgiving and wanted me to help her." "So, here's the deal." "If we do this, I can't do it all on my own." "Also, I can sort of feel myself disengaging a little bit." "It sort of feels like it's becoming a little bit more Meri's project." "Why are we switching that?" "Why don't we keep the space and make it so everybody can get around the table easier?" "Because this is more like one big table rather than a banquet room." "Meri, I " " I -- okay." "Christine told me to." "Sometimes it's easier for me to not have Kody mad at me." "♪♪" "Meri:" "I believe in living this lifestyle." "It just makes each of us better." "Janelle:" "I think we have something really awesome." "I wouldn't want anything else." "Christine:" "I like sister wives." "I wanted the family." "I didn't just want the man." "Robyn:" "Seems like destiny, like we should have all been together from day one." "Kody:" "Love should be multiplied, not divided." "♪♪" "Meri:" "Thanksgiving is just a week away, and Janelle had told me that she wanted to decorate for Thanksgiving and wanted me to help her." "We just recently finished our first therapy session." "We didn't get too deep and heavy, but I thought it went well." "It was actually kind of cool." "Janelle came up with this idea that she wanted to have..." "Me and her do the table decorations." "I'm like, "okay." "I'm game."" "We're gonna have close to 70 people this year for Thanksgiving." "It's all family." "And that is gonna mean little mini centerpieces throughout the whole thing or something." "So it seems like a simple project, but when you multiply it by our traditional 70 people that we have for dinner, it becomes a really big job." "Meri:" "Janelle and I had a discussion, and we decided that we would each come up with some ideas, you know, so we can show each other what it is that we want to do the table settings." "So she is gonna be coming over and show me some of what she's got," "I'm gonna show her what I've picked up, and we'll go from there." "No doubt about it." "We're going to have different ideas on..." "Look and style, and it's just a matter of if we can come to an agreement on something, so..." "Janelle and I have always had kind of a stress between us." "I think it just comes from different personalities, going through things when she first married Kody and, you know, those first few years." "We just didn't know how to handle things, so we've finally both decided that we want to do something about it." "When Janelle and I did our first therapy session with Nancy, it was just awkward and uncomfortable." "Meri has this real gift of knowing exactly what she wants, and she can speak it." "So I need to not take that directness as offensive." "Well, and I think, you know, in a situation like this," "I need to learn to be able to communicate your way, too." "We do still have our issues." "We have a good sister-wife relationship, but we don't have a deep friendship relationship." "♪♪" "I am going to hang our lights from the commitment celebration from a couple of years ago, 'cause I want Hunter to get a big surprise when he comes home and sees the lights on." "We're actually putting more of an emphasis on Thanksgiving this year." "Hunter's coming home." "All the kids are coming home for Thanksgiving." "We don't know if all the kids can come home for Christmas or not." "So, what I'll end up doing is taking my cables and running them all across, and I think I can do it pretty fast." "He's so funny." "He's like, "I can do it in a day."" ""Three hours, guys."" ""I can do it in three hours 'cause the things are all in place."" "He always says that." "He always acts like it's this really easy thing." "We just smile." "Here's the cables, I think, 'cause they're heavy." "[ Gasps ] No cables." "Oh, no." "That's a problem." "I don't know where the cables are." "He's so optimistic." "[ Laughter ]" "That's what we love about him, his optimism." "Oh." "Ha." "I got cables." "So, Kody says three hours, and I definitely say nine hours." "We have a bet going." "Nine hours would take a couple of days, right?" "'Cause in my head, it's gonna be a couple of days." "Yeah, it's gonna take three or four days, easy." "♪♪" "Janelle:" "Mer." "Meri:" "Hey." "Janelle:" "So, Meri and I had recently seen Nancy, and it was a pretty awkward start." "But I'm hopeful about the progress that we can make." "Our first real test is gonna be this Thanksgiving centerpiece project that we wanted to do together, so we'll see how that goes." "Wow." "Wow!" "You come empty-handed." "Well, yeah, I..." "I thought you were supposed to " "I thought the plan was we had ideas." "Oh, I thought we were planning." "When I walked into Meri's," "I was just surprised how much she bought already." "I'm like, "wow." "I thought we were still in the planning stages."" "I mean, and she's got dishes and she's got everything." "She's already got it." "So, the dishes, we need to figure out, like, how you want to do the place settings." "See, I like mixing it up." "I love it mixed up." "I love it." "Okay." "So, here's what " " I'm " "I'm really..." "Challenged when it comes to this artsy craftsy stuff, so I need you to, like " "I need to come over and paint with you." "So, here's the deal." "If we do this, we have -- what did we figure?" " 70, 75 that we need to do?" "Yeah." "So I can't do it all on my own." "So if you want to help, or I wonder if we even want to get some of the girls to come and help do them." "Yeah, I want to be really hands-on." "I want to help." "Part of me " "I'm swimming a little bit, 'cause part of me," "I really wanted to be more in on the planning part." "But I'm conflicted because I like what she's chosen." "But I'm kind of like -- it sort of feels like the project's getting away from me now, like it's becoming a little bit more Meri's project." "And with it," "I think they look better on the light rather than the dark." "Also, I can sort of feel myself disengaging a little bit from the project." "'Cause I'm like, "okay." "Well, it's done."" "So, are you good with this?" "Yeah." "I have to " "I have to adjust, 'cause..." "Well, what -- what were you thinking?" "No, this is good." "No, I really didn't know what to do." "That's why I partnered up with you, 'cause I know what I want, but I don't know how to make it happen." "Janelle really has been a self-proclaimed..." "Not a decorator." "I think with her just coming over and seeing all this stuff that I have, it really is just overwhelming to her." "I would've made it so much harder, I think, than it is, so..." "Um..." "Okay." "Awesome." "Okay, cool." "Thanks." "Okay, see ya." "Janelle:" "Here's the thing." "Meri and I are getting along very well so far doing this project, so I'm just gonna go with the flow here." "The biggest thing that I'm anticipating is differences of opinion in what the final product looks like." "I mean, I think we are set on colors, and I think we've set that we want candles." "The rest is still a big, nebulous mystery." "♪♪" "Christine:" "I think -- this is going really fast." "I'm thinking hour and a half to hook all of the things in, moving the ladder." "Untangling the cables, I think, is what's gonna be our downfall." "But my hope is that it'll be absolutely, stunningly beautiful, and when Hunter sees it, it's gonna mean so much to him, just that it's gonna look more like home." "So, Hunter is at the air force academy prep school." "He's been away from home for four months." "He's missed home so much." "Christine:" "And to him, family is the most important thing." "The more that he's moved away from home, the more important family has become." "We're all gonna be crying like babies and so excited to see him, and he's gonna see the lights up, and..." "It's just gonna be so beautiful." "Connecting the homes is really my m.o." "We are one family." "It's not only a physically connecting all the houses together with the lights." "It's also connecting all the family together, because we are one family." "It's like your dream." "It's symbolic." "I'm dealing with a mess here." "This is crazy what's happened here." "This is all just -- it's just sort of unraveling." "It's not even tangled." "It just unraveled weird." "We've run into a problem." "It's taken a half-hour to unwind these two other cables." "Yeah, they're all twisted together, and then when you start to unwind it, it just keeps coiling." "Tangling is slowing us down terribly, and I thought I had rolled them up perfectly." "I thought I had done this right." "Well, I'm gonna go up with one side, and I'm gonna pull some through and then go up there and see what that -- that -- what the hell?" "What is that?" "Why is it doing that?" "I had hoped that I would be done with these cables, all 10 of them, tonight, and we've only got 6 of them done." "And it's dark." "There's no way we're doing more." "Yeah." "It's just dark." "You know, so tomorrow, we're just back to the cables, just finish these cables off." "Hopefully, we're able to finish the last 4 in 10 minutes." "And then get some of the lights up." "And then start putting lights up." "When she first saw the cans -- bless her heart -- she almost said something, and she caught herself." "Oh, heavens." "If you can't get it done right, just get it done stupid." "[ Laughs ] Just get it done." "♪♪" "Janelle:" "So, it's about a week away from Thanksgiving, and Meri and I have decided that we wanted to work on this project together, you know, doing a nice centerpiece and table settings for our Thanksgiving dinner." "Today, we're gonna get the girls over to help us build the centerpieces." "I spray-painted the cans, and Meri and I are gonna now try to finish the flower part of the arrangement with the little girls' help." "It's so funny, 'cause when we first started this project," "I'm thinking, "let's just do these cute little place mats and these place decorations."" "And then when you multiply it by how many people we're having for dinner, yes, we do have to make 70 -- 70 -- napkin rings " "7-0 -- 70." "I really, honestly, can't even visualize how we put these together." "So Meri's just gonna have to tell me what to do, 'cause I " " I don't know." "I don't know how you do this." "Hello." "Janelle:" "Hey, come in." "Are the kids coming?" "They're coming, yeah." "Gonna go back and get a couple more boxes." "It's kind of like I'm excited." "I'm glad we're moving forward with this pit in my stomach of being unsettled." "I feel like it's like we're going back to the old pattern of I'm just kind of told what to do on a project." "Early on, to keep the peace, whenever we would do a project together, as a family or even with Christine," "I'd be like, "look, just tell me what to do."" "And I see it, and I know it's something that I have chosen to do over the years, but I don't " "I don't necessarily want it to be like that for this project." "But I can see me slipping back into that." "I'm just executing -- I'm executing the instructions." "Oh, man, Meri." "I only got two coats of paint on." "They're not nearly as cool-looking as..." "These cans were my first spray-painting..." "Experiment." "And they're a little messy." "They're kind of uneven, and there's some drips on them." "When she first saw the cans -- bless her heart -- she almost said something, and she caught herself." "And hats off to her, because if the situation were reversed," "I don't know if I would be so gracious." "I mean, it's a one-time..." "They're fine." "This is something that, in years past," "I would not have..." "Probably let go." "I would've either gone and done it myself or made some comment to her about it." "And I know that that has been one of my failures in our relationship is making something external more important than just the two of us." "♪♪" "You know, it's our second day working on the cables." "You know, we've got 6 of the 10 already hung up." "I've got four more." "And then we'll hook them in the middle, and hopefully, we'll get done fast enough to start hanging the lights." "We really want this to be a special experience for the kids, especially for Hunter, who's been away from home at school for like five months." "Kody:" "Well, you know what we can do." "We can probably run all these out into the middle of the road." "So what we do is, everybody go grab one, and let's pull them out." "♪♪" "[ Grunts ]" "This is going fast." "All right." "So, we're cranking through this, but as I start calculating this more and more," "I'm realizing that hanging the cables was the easy part." "I need you to lift the cable that's going around the tree." "Okay." "Kind of get it in there and lift it up so that it's above." "In fact, let's extend it now." "[ Ladder bangs ] Oh!" "Paedon:" "Wind!" "It's windy, and, you know, it's just that time of that season." "And it makes it unsafe when we're talking about getting on top of ladders and houses." "Do you want sandbags on the ladder?" "No, you'll stand on the ladder." "Okay." "Now that all the cables are hung, we have to connect them in the center." "This part is challenging 'cause they're tight, and the ring is really, really small." "And then do the one from Meri's, that one." "Nope." "Now I need the..." "The..." "Well, I guess I could do..." "Meri's?" "Yeah, Meri's." "Right." "I'm going, getting off." "As you connect each cable, it pulls it tight and raises the distance from where you're at." "So as you get each cable on, it goes up a little higher." "Now I'm to the point where I have to go up higher in order to lock them in -- in high wind." "This is so fun." "It is a good thing I'm the only wife watching this and not Janelle and Robyn because they would've shut this down." "And me, I'm more like," ""just positive energy, positive energy, positive energy."" "Oh, my gosh." "Kody..." "Got it." "I just -- sometimes when you're in a project, you just finish it." "Oh, heavens." "Oh." "If you can't get it done right, just get it done stupid." "[ Laughs ]" "Just get it done." "[ Breathes deeply ]" "I'm not -- I'm not tall enough." "Oh, dear." "Kody:" "It's really not very safe." "Robyn and Janelle are gonna freak out." "It is probably breaking the sister-wife code that I'm not stopping this right now." "Meri:" "She's just kind of, like, puttering around, kind of checking stuff out." "My personality is, "okay, I've got a job to do." "I just need to get in and just do it."" "♪♪" "Kody:" "So, you know, it's our second day working on the cables, and winter just hit us with these winds." "Christine:" "It's pretty windy where we live, and it makes it unsafe when we're talking about getting on top of ladders and houses." "I'm not -- I'm not tall enough." "Oh, dear." "Okay, Paedon, don't bend the rungs." "Go to the other side." "Your feet, Christine, wide." "I'm gonna stand on the very top of it." "Christine:" "Oh, my holy -- okay." "whoo-hoo." "It's a little windy." "You'll be fine." "Well, you're not supposed to step on the top one, but I'm having to in order to go up high enough to reach this." "Don't say things like that." "You'll be fine." "Okay." "Next cable." "After I've got a couple cables on, you know, they'll hold my weight." "I stabilize myself on the cable." "So I'm holding the cable to keep myself stable." "It's really not very safe." "Robyn and Janelle are gonna freak out." "It is probably breaking the sister-wife code that I'm not stopping this right now." "♪♪" "So, when we were putting the cable -- all the cables together in the center ring, you know, we've got that 12-foot ladder, and it has that thing on the top that says, "don't stand up here."" "Well, of course, Kody is..." "Standing on the top of that?" "Mm-hmm." "In the wind." "We can't have this wiggle in the wind." "Wide feet all the way to the end." "You know, this is just like Kody." "It's just his absolute goal to bring the family together." "[ Grunting ]" "There we go." "That was it." "Nice." "Okay." "Upon clipping in the very last cable," "I am sitting there going, "wow, this was really stupid." "This is pretty risky." "We need a taller ladder to do this next year." "Here, grab that." "Move over there." "I think that the lights hung create a very special ambiance." "I think it's very poetic that it connects all the houses, and I just love that Kody's making such a push for it." "He really wants to do it." "He's a little optimistic about his time, but I think it's awesome that he's doing it." "[ Chuckles ]" "Meri:" "All right, kids." "Those are napkin rings, and we're going to decorate them." "And then we're also going to make little decorations like that, with those cans that Janelle painted." "You know, I imagine Meri and Janelle working together, they're gonna have a couple of hiccups." "They haven't done things like this together before." "I think the biggest challenge that Meri and Janelle will have is they execute situations differently." "They do." "They attack it in a different way." "I agree." "That's gonna be the biggest thing that they're up against, how they're gonna get it done." "Yeah, how the job gets done." "You can put ribbon on it, or you can not, or you can..." "Girl:" "Oh, ribbon, ribbon!" "Just do flowers." "You can do it however you want." "Kody:" "To be honest with you, their biggest challenge in decorating is probably that Meri will have a definite idea of what she wants, and Janelle won't have any idea of what she wants." "I think it's, in a sense, it's about understanding each other and being empathetic to that." "Meri?" "Meri:" "Yes." "Love it." "Perfect." "Perfect." "You know, I really still feel like, for whatever reason," "I still " " I feel a little " " I still feel disconnected from it." "And that could just be my personality." "Oh, wow." "That didn't really work very well." "The glue doesn't go on that ribbon very well." "I really think..." "That..." "This is just such a new thing to Janelle, and so she's just kind of, like, puttering around, kind of checking stuff out, and, you know..." "My personality is, "okay, I've got a job to do." "I just need to get in and just do it."" "The fine -- the fine line between burning yourself and getting something to stick." "You know?" "Um, there's not one." "It just is what it is." "You just burn yourself." "It's a sacrifice you make?" "And you come out of it with numb fingers." "[ Chuckles ]" "You know, this is just the very beginning of this new..." "Possibility of this new relationship that Janelle and I are trying to work out." "It's baby steps." "It's not something that's gonna change, you know, in a week or a month and maybe not even a year." "I don't even know." "It's just a process, and..." "We're just taking it step by step." "Kody:" "Hmm." "Michelle's already included in the family." "You don't have a stocking for Kody?" "I didn't -- you didn't get a stocking?" "No, it didn't even dawn on me." "Are you serious?" "!" "[ Laughter ]" "You said pink and blue?" "You're splitting this room in half?" "Mm-hmm." "Okay." "I think Robyn's insane." "I think it's a stupid idea." "I think it sounds confusing as can be." "♪♪" "It's the day before Thanksgiving, and today, we're doing some prep cooking for Thanksgiving." "Christine:" "Everybody's coming home today." "We're all very excited." "Mykelti's coming in, Mariah," "Hunter's gonna be later on tonight, Maddie's coming." "Everybody's coming home." "Mykelti:" "Mom?" "[ Squeals ]" "Got a big crowd coming." "Christine:" "This is the best part of Thanksgiving, that everybody's coming home." "This is a really big deal." "We're all very excited." "Oh, my sister!" "[ Both laugh ]" "Oh, I missed you." "This year has not been without its difficulties for our family, and we've been through some tough stuff." "But I'm really glad now that we're here at the holidays and everybody's home together, that everybody is here, including Meri, and I was concerned." "And I think it's just made this holiday even more sweeter with the kids all home and us all here together." "Oh, this is fun." "Hmm." "Michelle's already included in the family." "I'm wondering if Janelle's making plans for Michelle." "Michelle is Logan's girlfriend." "They've been dating about nine months." "And it just seemed right to get her a stocking." "Funny thing here." "We've got Brynn, the dog..." "And mom." "We don't have a dad." "You don't have a stocking for Kody?" "You didn't get a stocking for him?" "No, it didn't even dawn on me." "Are you serious?" "!" "[ Laughter ]" "I thought, "well, he has them at the other houses."" "I've seen these great ones at your house." "Does yours say "mom"?" "Does yours say "mom"?" "Yeah. [ Laughter ]" "Yeah, my son's girlfriend gets a stocking, but I don't even get a stocking." "This is one of those things that if I had done it, if the roles were reversed," "I would never, never get forgiveness." "It's true." "That's true." "I would've been really mad." "I'm just a sire, not a father." "[ Laughter ]" "But, boy, our kids have turned out great, so thanks." "[ Laughter ]" "You know what?" "On that one, I got to give her a high five." "[ Laughter ]" "♪♪" "Madison:" "Let's grab our stuff." "Caleb:" "And get the luggage." "We got to grab our luggage." "Living in billings is different than I expected it would be, but it's good." "It's different 'cause it's quieter than with my chaotic family." "Kody:" "How's it going, guys?" "Hey, Caleb, how are you?" "Wedding prep -- we have a date." "I feel like it can't come fast enough, but then it's coming way too fast, so then I'm like, "oh, my gosh." "I have to plan so much."" "You know, we just had that vacation to Alaska a few months ago." "Not everybody was able to go." "But this Thanksgiving, everybody is here, the whole family." "But it might be the last Thanksgiving that we're all together." "It could be the last holiday that we all manage to get together, 'cause a lot will change over the next little bit." "A lot of the kids have taken very adult steps this year, and it seems like this is the first year that it seems like they've really been away, engaged in their lives." "Even Logan has been so busy." "He's not hardly home anymore." "The strangest thing about so many kids going off to college is that I am still having children." "You know, this year, I have Maddie getting married, and we also have a new baby coming." "In a big family, there are overlaps like that." "And in plural families, it happens all the time." "Yeah, plural families, it's more common, maybe." "Yeah." "Plural families, it's all sorts of fun." "♪♪" "Today, we're kind of just working on the nursery." "Even though we're all really busy for Thanksgiving," "I really just want to get the baby's room done before I'm too big to move, so it's coming along nicely." "You said pink and blue?" "You're splitting this room in half?" "Mm-hmm." "Okay." "Pink side for girl, blue side for boy." "Yeah, it's gonna be all -- did you just make a face?" "I just made a face." "[ Chuckles ]" "Initially, it's a strange idea, dividing the room in half." "Technically, I think it's the only thing that works, as long as Solomon's comfortable with that." "Robyn:" "Oh, you're fine." "Hi." "What's going on?" "Are you leaving the bed in here and just leaving the cradle in and just making it all...?" "Oh, yeah." "Yeah, this is -- that is Solly's bed." "This is Solly's room, too." "It's getting split right down the middle." "It's gonna probably drive you crazy." "No, you're not." "Yes, I am. [ Laughs ]" "Huh." "Interesting." "Wonder how that's gonna work." "Yeah, this is -- this is really -- like, this is nice." "Yeah." "Yeah, I think it's really clever." "It's kind of the equivalent of that blue tape you have to put down the line when you have kids sharing a room that don't like each other." "Knock-knock." "I'm so excited to look at your nursery." "Let's look in -- you have a nursery." "So, we're splitting the room." "We've got boy side and girl side, and -- you're splitting the room in half?" "I think Robyn's insane." "I think it's a stupid idea." "[ Laughter ]" "I think it sounds confusing as can be." "Sorry." "Love you." "Room idea." "Everybody's mocking my idea." "I'm not mocking your idea." "I am!" "Where is this going, Robyn?" "Yeah, but it can go out right now." "Just set it -- just take it out of the way." "That's all you need to do." "Splitting a room in half, not your normal thing." "♪♪" "Nothing in our lives is normal." "We're about to have our 18th child." "You know, we've got a daughter who's about to get married." "♪♪" "Look at -- mine's awesome." "♪♪" "So, I think, like, the whole idea -- yeah, you got it." "You're smart." "Thank you." "I've had a few children." "[ Laughs ]" "There's this constant sort of readjustment, reassessment in our lives that nothing really stays the same." "We're constantly different." "Girl:" "Isn't it so cute?" "It's baby sister room." "Whose side is this side?" "Whose is it?" "Whose side is this room?" "Solomon:" "Mine?" "Is it yours?" "Yeah." "You can tell, huh?" "Whose side is this side?" "Baby sister's?" "Is that okay?" "Yeah." "Are you okay sharing rooms?" "Yeah." "So you got a blue curtain, and you -- oh, look at your new bedspread." "Do you like it?" "Yeah." "Is it okay?" "Are you okay sharing with sister?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Good." "I was worried." "Mom can't even talk." "She's about to cry." "Janelle:" "I'm pretty " "I'm pretty emotionally overcome with Hunter being home." "Kody:" "What the heck?" "!" "It's a big deal!" "I wasn't getting any response from everybody." ""Hey, guys, you know, come on." "I worked really hard here."" "♪♪" "Janelle:" "Okay, so, Logan has actually texted me." "He's done with his classes, so he's gonna swing by and pick up Hunter." "Oh, okay." "And it's gonna be a surprise." "Does Hunter know that he's picking him up?" "No, no, so it'll be a complete surprise." "Logan is picking Hunter up at the airport, so the plan is to get Hunter home, get everybody in Christine's house, have dinner, and then turn the lights on and go outside to see it." "I want to say this one time, so everybody has to stop talking and listen." "Okay." "When Hunter comes, we're gonna meet and greet, and everybody's gonna say, "hi, la-di-da, I love you,"" "that type of stuff." "I need 10 minutes of that, 'cause I want to say hi to Hunter, as well, and then I'm gonna run and turn the lights on." "Then I'm gonna invite everybody to come out and see the lights." "Okay?" "We finally got all the lights hung." "It only took nine hours." "Kody thought it would take three." "I thought it would take nine hours." "You won." "We all won!" "It looks awesome." "Well, okay, yeah, we all won." "Honestly, we all won." "It looks absolutely awesome." "All right, you guys, they are 15 minutes out." "Okay?" "I am so excited to see him." "It's crazy." "Like, crazy excited." "It's just been way too long." "I can't wait to see him." "It'll be really neat to have him home and have everybody home." "It's a big deal, so I want to make sure it's perfect." "And so I think we're all doing everything that we can just to make sure that it's just as perfect as we can make it." "Thanksgiving has always been one of my very favorite holidays." "This year in particular, we're coming out of some recent drama." "The family's still, like, trying to figure out how to heal." "I think with all of us here together at Thanksgiving will be a good step toward that." "Logan:" "So, it's really special for Hunter particularly to come home for Thanksgiving because he hasn't got the chance to visit, so it's actually been a lot longer that we haven't seen him than we have seen all the other adults who are in college." "Young man:" "Oh!" "All:" "Hunter!" "[ Indistinct shouting ]" "Hi, Hunter!" "Bring it in, everybody." "Everybody can have a hug." "Hi, guys." "Christine:" "When Hunter first walked into the door, honestly, I'd never even got to see him for like 10 minutes 'cause he was mauled by all of the children." "It was so cute." "Everyone's like, "Hunter!"" "Janelle:" "You know, I'm pretty " "I'm pretty emotionally overcome with Hunter being home." "Mom, it's okay." "So I'm just trying to hold it all together." "Good to see you, son." "Hi, dad." "Christine:" "Standing back in the periphery is sometimes a little bit easier when you want to hold it together." "I haven't met you yet, so it's nice to meet you." "It's good to meet you, too, Hunter." "So, school's going really good." "I'm at the air force prep." "I've been selected for a leadership position." "I enjoy it." "I can't complain." "I'm gonna go turn the lights on right now." "Okay." "Here's the thing." "While Hunter was getting mobbed by the kids, it made it really easy for me to go out and turn the lights on, the cul-de-sac." "What I'm hoping that everybody gets out of the lights is this experience of the family, the connection." "Each house is connected through these lights, and this is our shining light on a hill." "This is what makes it special is the connection that we have as a family, that we're together." "Hey, everybody, all right." "I got a surprise for everybody." "Everybody come outside, fast." "Come look." "Do you want to see the surprise, Solly?" "All right, go fast." "Come on!" "Hut, hut, hut, hut, hut!" "Look at the lights!" "Okay, Meri!" "Let's go." "Come on, Meri!" "Come on, Meri!" "Let's go, Meri!" "Come on, come on!" "Kody:" "Look at it!" "We got Christmas lights up!" "Cool, huh?" "[ Chatter ]" "What the heck?" "!" "It's a big deal!" "I spent days putting these in again." "I couldn't " " I wasn't getting any response from everybody." "'Cause everybody wanted to talk to everybody." "Yeah, so the family was together, and that's what really mattered." "And I wanted this big symbolism, you know, of our houses and everything like that, the connection with us." "And, "hey, guys, you know, come on," "I worked really hard here."" "Everybody can run from house to house and not need a night light to help them." "'Cause it shines right into each entrance." "It was funny." "I kind of went like this." ""Hunter, dad did this for your homecoming."" "He's like, "oh, yeah, cool," and he kept talking." "[ Laughter ]" "Okay, everybody go in the house now." "We're gonna eat." "I'm hungry." "Let's go!" "I never got any response from the lights, but you know what?" "It's -- it's more of the kin thing that everybody's gonna really appreciate, just not right now all at once." "Hunter:" "I love being home, and especially 'cause the two times that I've been home, all the older siblings are able to be home, too, so, it's been nice." "Is this the first time we've all been together?" "This is the first time we've been together in a long time." "It was really weird coming back, 'cause it was just, I'd been gone for a while." "I love you." "Oh, I love you, too, truly." "Rrr!" "Nothing had changed." "It was just -- it was so much different than what I'd been used to." "You get in, like, the mode of how you do things in your schedule at school." "Exactly." "And then you come back home, and it's like..." "Everything's just -- especially with our family." "It's just crazy all the time." "I love you, sol." "So, tomorrow, we'll have Thanksgiving, and we'll have a really nice time, all of us together." "30 pounds of spuds and 50 pounds of turkey." "Seriously, it's a Thanksgiving feast." "Meri, I " "Christine told me to." "Sometimes it's easier for me to not have Kody mad at me." "♪♪" "Kody:" "So, it's Thanksgiving day, and we are getting ready for Thanksgiving." "We have a lot of people here." "I think we're ending up with about 68 people." "It's a big group." "Remember, though, that a lot of those are kids and our family." "Our family's 1/3 of that." "Thanksgiving morning." "I've got all my nieces and nephews here." "We're working on breakfast right now." "I've already got the turkeys in the oven." "I think that we're gonna be able to fit everybody." "Whether or not it will be comfortable and we'll be able to move is another thing." "But we'll move out all of my furniture and move in several long tables that are the same size, and we're just gonna row them down." "It's gonna look like a cafeteria." "Kody:" "Meri and Janelle are working on some really nice centerpieces." "We got tablecloths." "It's not gonna look like a cafeteria." "[ Laughs ] I hope." "Christine:" "So, about 6:30, and just starting on the Thanksgiving baking." "Thanksgiving morning, I always get up about 6:00, get the turkeys all prepped and ready and get them in the oven by about 7:00." "I made two turkeys, did all the gravy." "We've got a couple chocolate pies going, and we have three cheesecakes." "I'm making four pumpkin pies and the big green salad." "Meri:" "I did like 20 pounds of the russet potatoes and then 10 pounds of the red potatoes." "30 pounds of spuds and 50 pounds of turkey." "And 250 rolls." "Seriously, it's a Thanksgiving feast." "Hey, Christine." "Christine:" "Yep." "I'd like to report that we fit comfortably 10 people to a table." "So that's 70 -- are there 70 chairs?" "Yeah." "Well, when we set up the tables initially, and in my mind, in our mind, we set it up with a walking space in between so there'd be more maneuverability and stuff." "So, yes, I did agree with you at first." "Can I make these tables go right together so we have less tables?" "Because they're butted right next to each other." "You want a really long table?" "I would prefer a long table myself." "And then Meri had the point of putting them together, and it was -- I guess you probably sold me on the more elegant and refined of the long table." "So it would still be 20 people at a table, right?" "Kody:" "I'm sorry." "Four, four..." "Why are we switching that?" "Why don't we keep the space and make it so everybody can get around the table easier?" "Because this is more like one big table rather than a banquet room that would have all these separate little things going on." "Meri, I " " I-- okay." "Christine told me to." "♪♪" "Sometimes it's easier for me to not have Kody mad at me, so I'll do anything to make him not mad at me." "I really like the ambiance that a long table provides." "I think it provides a special sense of elegance, to be completely honest with you." "So, I just owned that it was my decision, as well." "'Cause you were backing up your sister wife." "Yes, I was." "You know what's actually good is," "I don't have a lot of dishes for six separate tables, but I do have enough dishes for three tables." "That actually works better for me if we can have the three tables, too." "Okay." "And like one per table." "Christine really does handle" "Kody's disagreement with something much better than I do." "I take things way too serious, and Christine will just throw it back in his face, and they can do that well together." "He and I don't do that well together." "There's also another component here, too, is that I think as sister wives, to be completely honest, we really do our best to watch each other's backs, as well." "And so there will be times where we will step in." "You know, just to defend the other one." "I think that it doesn't matter." "This is why they're doing it." "I'm gonna show up to eat." "Kody, you really like the ambiance we had with the long table." "All right." "You were so excited to have your whole family sitting at one table." "All right, I just -- okay." "I'm gonna go." "It's just -- mm." "You know what?" "I'm washing my hands of this one." "I'm letting them own it and do it." "Okay?" "They're not gonna listen to me." "I'm just " "I made my argument, I made my point, I'm done." "You guys do it." "Christine:" "This is so beautiful!" "It's looking so awesome." "It's nice to have a pretty table." "You know, so, we're getting out the table decorations, and the project that Meri and I did together didn't go off..." "Without a hitch." "But I'm pretty impressed with how this is starting to look." "Meri was the one who finally put the final look together because I -- I checked out a little bit." "To be honest, I really do enjoy decorating." "And I don't have a whole lot of experience." "None." "But that's okay." "I mean, we did this project together, and I think it turned out good." "When you guys start talking about going shopping together," "I was like, "where's something to hold on to?"" "We were all shocked." ""What is going on?" "I'm in the twilight zone or something."" "And then you guys were all gung-ho, and I was like, "you know, I think that's really cool that they're gonna go and do something that's really not the norm for the two of them." "And I think we learned a lot." "It wasn't a very -- it wasn't a bad experience, but I think we learned a lot." "And you guys are very, very different in the way you approach things, and so of course it's gonna be a little bit awkward first time around." "♪♪" "All the plural families that we know celebrate Thanksgiving." "Yeah, Thanksgiving is a very American holiday." "Actually, some plural families, a husband will actually have to eat Thanksgiving dinner five or six times..." "I know." "...because he goes from house to house to house and because they're not operating as one big family." "Because of our culture of our family, we celebrate it all together." "I am so grateful, because I know a lot of families that do it separate like that." "Hey, everyone!" "Can I have your attention?" "You're more than welcome to sit wherever you want." "There was barely enough room, but there was room enough for everybody." "Janelle:" "So now know kind of the maximum crowd that we can hold in our houses." "Yeah." "Hey, listen." "Very exciting to have all you here for Thanksgiving." "This is a very nice layout." "Thank you, ladies, for this setup, all the food that's been cooked." "It's very nice." "We've just got a lot to be grateful for." "It's been a really big year." "We were able to adopt Aurora, Dayton, and Breanna." "We have Caleb and Maddie getting engaged." "We've got all these kids in college." "We've got all this opportunity." "We've got a beautiful home, and we've got baby sister here, who, as far as we can tell, is healthy and doing well." "And I'm like, man, this is a great world to live in, great country." "Thank you, god." "♪♪" "Next time on "Sister Wives"..." "What's up?" "I'm going to Utah, and I wonder if I can take Solomon with me." "He's just been really weird lately..." "Um, at night." "So is that a no?" "♪♪" "How's it going?" "How are you?" "I feel like I need to tread just a little bit lightly with Mariah right now." "There's kind of a little bit of a distance between us." "She ruined our relationship, and she wants me to fix it." "I just kind of wanted to see if you wanted to talk about anything." "This is not my fault that this happened, and she's trying to get me to be the one that forgives her." "And I don't forgive her, at least not yet."