Ethan and Ehlana:
Memorial Day is an opportunity to reflect
on the past and consider the present and future in that context; and we’re sure
that our political leaders either won’t actually do that or change nothing even
if they do spend even a moment in reflection.
We would all be better-off if that happened and our world leaders
learned a thing or two from history – in a good way; won’t hold our breath that
it’ll happen; and continue to do our little parts through the family business
to help out wherever we can.
A lot happened today, but instead of
spending a lot of time on that; we’ll keep our own story brief; and focus more
on news for our family guests. The
buffet at the Inn last night was a highlight, and for us, the top news was that
we ended up having that meal with Aiden or Naomi and their families
respectively. That included members of
the Ayres’ clan for me while Ehlana was entirely hanging out with kids and
teens from both sides of Aiden’s family.
That didn’t mean no interaction with our own family – it was simply more
like the way we all interact with our friends and neighbors when gathered
together at the Inn or elsewhere. That’s
already getting too-long; so let’s move along.
That dinner was great; we headed home with
our parents and gang of teen and tween campers; and our evening was quiet
because we didn’t do a campfire or other event as we all wanted to wind down
and have an early night ahead of the Memorial Day events. We still had some group hang out time by the
river; split up into our tents by a bit after dark; and we – and Naomi and
Aiden – enjoyed an hour or so of quiet cuddle and chat time before we crashed
and napped for the rest of the night.
Today began with Tai Chi by the river for eight; the bigger, but simpler
breakfast with all of our campers; and then we eventually walked over to Witch
Falls Road in time to watch the parade.
The parade and service at the cemetery were similar to all of our previous
experiences; we were split up again for the family history tours that we went
on with the Seagers or Drapers; and then we were back into the busy for a while
when we went home; helped out with getting ready for the picnic at the park;
and then headed over there with our day-camp gear and food donations for the
picnic. We were set free to play and
provide some kid-control for our younger cousins; helped out with getting them
fed at lunch; and then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with our families
and friends. The weather has been
awesome today, but even though nobody wanted to end the picnic fun, most of our
guests still needed to hit the roads for their homes in decent time ahead of
the return to work or school in the morning.
We helped out with all of the work that
went into getting everything home from the park; loading vehicles, and making
the rounds to say goodbye to everyone as they headed out of town. After that, it was time to get to work on
weekend clean-up chores; that kept us busy through the evening with a break for
a snack-dinner and mixing in work in the office. Bath or Jacuzzi time just ended for us; and
now we’re doing our usual bedtime computing and twin chat fun. That’s pretty much all of our news for today;
so let’s get started on the family news for the weekend.
Happy 2nd Anniversary, Lucas and
Rebecca!
We’ll go with that first because Cassie and
Michael have been involved in quietly celebrating that special occasion –
though that was very muted in respect for Memorial Day. Being very-new parents likely mattered too;
and that’s definitely why they are not getting a kid-free night. Cassie and Michael were at dinner with the
Nortons and Stones tonight; and we shared them with Michael’s family during
most of the day. While we’re thinking
about Michael’s family, we’ll also mention that none of his Stone family
members have come to meet their son, and it’s clear that the only way they will
make that happen will be with a trip to visit them in Garden City. We wish that was different, but it isn’t; so
we’ll hope that we’ll see that situation change sometime in the future.
There won’t be any way to cover all of the
family news tonight; so let’s cover some of our favorites. First up, Dawn was here this weekend; split
her time between us and Jillian and Julian; and had a lot of fun with what
might be the only break she’ll get this summer because she’ll be working all
summer for a regional cargo airline – a job that she got thanks to college
professor connections. We’re glad that
her dreams are coming true; though it also means that we won’t see her very
often anymore. That isn’t true for her
big brother, Chris, and his wife, Sadie.
They’re actually starting a two-week vacation now; they’ll come back
from it; and then have until after the Fourth of July weekend to get their new
office in Woodvale ready – a branch office for Uncle Blaine’s company that they
are now experienced-enough to run with just a bit of help from the family for
the start-up costs. We’ll have more on
their transition to business owners; and will only add that they are very
excited and happy with the impending move to Woodvale.
Tied to that news are life changes for
Martin and Kimberly. They’ve just
graduated; will be settling in Woodvale too; and Kimberly will be starting a
new job teaching while Martin will be self-employed and continue his
already-successful video game app development adventures. We know that Dawn won’t end up in her home
town too; so maybe there’s a connection to Woodvale for the boys that isn’t the
same for the girls! ;^)
This update is already getting a bit long;
so let’s try to stick to some general comments.
While Violet and Dillon are the only cousins for the Proctor-Rice clan
to have kids; they’re members of a bigger group with the young adult couples in
the Johnson-McEwan clans. While Violet
and Dillon are leading the way for the next generation for our family; Uncle
Adam’s cousins with the youngest kids are nearing the tail-end of the cycle for
their generation. That feels a bit
strange when there are both cousins older than us and also babies and pregnant
cousins, but it is usually a lot of fun too; and the tween cousins – including us
– we get to have lots of babysitting opportunities through to at least when we
head off to college! Those young couples
love sharing the experiences of parenting; they play together a bit more than
with the older kids or non-parent adults; and they’re basically a new group
within the family that our own parents have ‘graduated’ from now that they have
adult ‘kids’ as well as Ehlana and me.
We’re definitely overdue for commenting on
our favorite grandparents. That can get
very entertaining as we add a new generation – especially for the grandparents
that are adding one or more ‘greats’ onto the titles. Dad and Uncle Adam enjoyed some fun with
first cousins that are now also grandparents, but in reality, the newest
grandparents in our family haven’t changed to the point where they hang out
with their own parents, uncles, and aunts.
As our family is growing, the family events get more complicated; so we
end up spending more time with near-age cousins and less with everyone
else. That may change depending on what
we’re all doing as we head into the future, but we’ll see how that goes; since
it is impossible to spend quality time with everyone when all of our extended
families get together for holiday weekends.
Finally, we didn’t have everyone here this
weekend, but most were; and Jonathan and Savannah were the most-obvious
exception. They didn’t want to come all
the way here for a couple of days plus travel time, so while they will likely
be here for at least one visit this summer; they’ll work that in around a
vacation and visit with Jonathan’s families.
Okay, that’s enough for one update. We need to get some sleep and be ready for
the school week; so we’re out of here and off to dreamland soon.
Until next time, this little blast from
your near or distant past is written for you with love from Ethan and Ehlana
Proctor – twin junior Magi Masters of the Light!
