Ethan and Ehlana:
The holiday weekend is winding down; our guests are either home or close to being there; and it’s time for us to play catch-up on our weekend news!
The major sleepover for cousins and friends at our house came together as the Johnson clan arrived throughout the day. The other parents didn’t have a problem with letting Mom, Dad, Cassie, and Michael host most of the kids; since that gave them a chance to catch up with each other for an evening without getting in the way of family Christmas plans. Cassie and Michael also helped out with Jake’s and Rebecca’s kids while their parents were busy at the Inn or Pizzeria or farm – though they were picked up and taken home instead of staying for the sleepover. The video games, Christmas movies, and the rest of the play time all added up to an awesome night; and the co-ed sofa sleepover in the lounge mostly happened by accident this time because Ehlana’s bed was full thanks to Brianna, Faith, Silkie, and Mandy; so Naomi and Ehlana had to sleep in the lounge instead – and decided to keep their favorite cuddle buddies with them! ;^)
We mentioned that breakfast on Saturday was a wild adventure, and while it was still cold outside; that didn’t keep us from the annual shopping adventures. That was more-fun with the Galleria as part of that experience, but picking up the Santa-approved cookies and reindeer treats was a must – along with family bakery orders; and we visited all of our favorite stores before heading home again. The outdoor play time that we did have in the afternoon was too-cold, and while there is snow on the ground, the high winds that came along with the snow and deep freeze blew it around so much that there are lots of snow-free zones and others where it piled up. That did allow for some snow play too, but the cold kept that fun short; and we were happy to return indoors for most of the afternoon.
The Johnson clan was split up for the Christmas Eve dinner – mostly because that meal needed to happen quickly so that we could all get to the church on time for the evening service. Naomi, Aiden, Ehlana, and I needed to be there early, so we ended up eating first and then getting a ride ahead of everyone else to be there for our warm-ups along with the praise team and the rest of the music contributors that included a song from members of the teen praise team and a quartet of musicians from the school band that provided enhanced instrumentation for the praise team.
The Christmas Eve service was even more special for us thanks to getting to share our two songs with our family, friends, and community. Pastor John’s Christmas message was as amazing as always, and we seriously-doubt that feeling will change even if we get to hear it a hundred times or more! We loved everything else about the service too; the ‘birthday party’ in the reception hall was fairly-short and still fun; and then we headed for our homes because none of us wanted to mess up right at the last minute with Santa already in the air and making his rounds of the earth! ;^)
Since the Johnson clan Christmas was going to keep the Carringtons busy in the morning; they stopped in to our house on the way home to exchange gifts with us – and with Grandpa Shawn and Grandma Aileen. That blast of Christmas cheer needed to be quick too, but we loved that slightly-extended cameo moment before we were left on our own with Mom, Dad, Cassie, and Michael. That was a bit of a surprise, since we need to share Cassie and Michael with his family too, but a happy one; and we enjoyed that bonus time together before we all headed for our beds for the night – but not really.
Ehlana and I were allowed to take our gifts downstairs first; and then we missed out on the rest of the fun around the tree because we really, really wanted to be sleeping before Santa got to our house! That had nothing to do with why we were up early on Christmas morning – that happened because Mom decided to have some fun with us; and she pounced on us for wake-up calls at five-thirty! That was really awesome; Cassie and Michael enjoyed their early wake-up call too; and by the time we got downstairs; Dad had hot drinks and bakery treats ready for us to take with us into the living room before we started in on checking out stockings and opening gifts.
On a sidebar, we are happy to pretend not to know why Dad’s wake-up call was happier than for the rest of us; and the smiles on the faces of both of our parents strongly-suggested that Magi-powered fatigue healing was required for them to be at full-power without much real sleep!
Moving along, we don’t want to offer gift details because that isn’t what Christmas is about for us, but we did love our gifts too; and loved giving gifts to some of our favorite people.
The early wake-up call worked for Cassie and Michael because they were able to share with us; get ready for the day; and hurry over to Jake and Stephanie’s house for a Stone family breakfast and more Christmas fun. Mom, Dad, Ehlana, and I were okay with a quieter breakfast, we enjoyed that meal; took care of the clean-up; and then Ehlana and I headed out for Christmas morning visits and gift exchanges with Naomi and Aiden at their homes. We needed to fit that in then because Aiden was going to be busy with the Draper family Christmas for a lot of the rest of the day, and while we would see Naomi for parts of the Johnson clan Christmas; her Seager grandparents were also hosting a family dinner – partly because the collective grandparents and parents decided not to do a Johnson-Ayres-Seager Christmas when that required meals at several homes. Okay, that happened anyway, but while we all have fun when we’ve done those dinners with randomized guests at each house; that wasn’t what the majority wanted to do this year – and that’s okay. We were invited to Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s for their big meal, but we did a little Proctor luncheon with our grandparents, Cassie, and Michael because Cassie and Michael were with his family for the rest of the day. That was great; and then we had a lot of fun for the rest of the day at the Carrington’s. We played for most of the afternoon – including with Naomi when she was visiting between Ayres’ and Seager’s Christmas meals; the major meal was a wild adventure; and then Ethan and I were among the draftees for the post-dinner clean-up. We’d suggest that we miss getting grouped with the kids and avoiding that work, but to be honest, by then, we were glad for a break from some of our younger cousins; and enjoyed the kitchen fun – though not as much as some of the couples in the room did!
Moving on – again, we stayed and watched a movie after the work was done, and I had more-fun with that because Naomi returned and did that with us – with me. I walked her home after that; Aunt Leanne whistled at us for the back porch goodnight hug and kiss; and I got teased about it too while meeting up with Mom, Dad, and Ehlana for the walk home to our house. We were ready to wind down our day by then, but we took care of a few chores first; and then we crashed for the night before Cassie and Michael got home.
That brings us up to today – a bonus day off for all of our weekend guests. Packing up and heading for their homes was a priority for many of them, but there was post-Christmas shopping; meals at the Inn – either the buffet breakfast or the first buffet sitting of the day at noon; and some outdoor play time for the kids and teens. Ehlana and I had a quiet start to the day with Tai Chi for six and an easy-meal breakfast because we all wanted to save up for that noon buffet. We joined in on the shopping with a partial group of the Johnson clan plus Naomi and Aiden; and we were all at the Inn for that noon buffet. Cassie and Michael did that with us, but then they also moved on to the Pizzeria after that to help Rebecca with what she expected would be a light day because of the special holiday buffets.
We didn’t have to work, but still helped out with getting some vehicles packed up around the play time with our cousins that also doubled as kid control for some of the youngest cousins until their parents were ready to hit the road. The McEwans were all among the last to head out – mostly because they wanted to spend extra time with Christina and her little family.
Naomi and Aiden headed for home or bakery by the time we needed to be home for dinner with Mom and Dad, and we didn’t make plans for another sleepover mostly because the Seagers and Drapers wanted to actually see their eldest children at least a few times while we’re off from school! We’re okay with a quiet night. Dad had work to do tonight; we didn’t get in the way of that for long with another light, easy meal; and our evening included a Magi lesson with Mom; some music fun; and bath or Jacuzzi time. Cassie and Michael are home now, but we’re all tired; so we really only did a bedtime chat with them – and with Mom and Dad – in the office before coming back up to our rooms.
Sleeping is an option now, and we feel better now that we’ve caught up with our Christmas weekend news; so that’s all for this report; and we’re out of here!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
