Ethan and Ehlana:
Cassie and Michael are home!
That’s our top news of the day; and we are recently-home from welcoming them back at their house – along with Mom, Dad, the Carringtons, Miranda, Jacob, Naomi, Aiden, Rowen, and Tim! That might sound like a lot, but we took it easy on them and could have easily filled their house with family and friends! ;^)
While our favorite world travelers had a very long, tiring travel day that started before midnight when they checked out of their hotel in Lima and headed for the airport; our adventures included the co-ed sleepover part of our Friday night with Naomi and Aiden. Tai Chi by the river this morning was chilly; Mom and Dad supplied a hot breakfast; and then we got to work on chores that included work at Cassie and Michael’s house to get the place ready for their return. We went over there an hour before they got home too to turn up the heat and get snacks and drinks ready for their homecoming; so our only breaks in our work today happened at lunch and dinner – or while transitioning between homes and yards. We can also add that Mom was one of the parents that focused on pre-cooking for the holiday weekend again today, and while this is an away holiday for the Proctor clan; we’re helping out with the work for the Johnson family. We won’t have any weekend guests, but do expect to have kids at our house for at least one night – or more; if you include the tween nights we want to have with our friends!
Moving along, the family-and-friends’ dinner and cooking night was a blast even with the work in the kitchen and the help we supplied for kid control when needed. Zack and Eli were actually pretty good – possibly because they were warned not to mess up when so much needed to get done this weekend. Other than joining everyone for dinner, all of the younger boys mostly played video games in the play room on the third floor. Aiden and I did more kid control than Ehlana and Naomi, but they helped with more cooking and cleaning; and are still sure that they got the better deal! The cooking part of the night wrapped up by eleven o’clock; Mom and Dad had four tweens with them when we went home; and we’ll add that Sophia and Aaron weren’t with us because they were busy with her family instead. That was true for our chores day too – though we did cross paths a couple of times while busy with our own work; and know that they’ve had a good weekend so far too. Let’s also mention that Jessica and Patrick are home for their Thanksgiving break; so we’ll need to share Sophia and Aaron with them too – though we’ve heard that Jessica and Patrick will be helping out at the computer store some of the time while here. Jaimie and Micah are home too, and we had a cameo visit with them last night after they got home and again once today when they stopped in to see Mom and Dad, but they’ve been busy with other obligations; and we probably won’t get to spend much time with them before they head for Granite Park on Wednesday. We’ve skipped mentioning that Dad got home from the city fairly-early last night, but he still missed dinner and had to settle for leftovers and taste-testing some of the cooking-in-progress once he caught up with us at the Carringtons’ home. He was also ready to crash and nap by the time we got back to our house; so the four tweens in the house were on our own soon-after getting there; we watched a Christmas movie; and didn’t get to sleep before Cassie and Michael were in the air and on their way north from Lima.
That brings us up to the visit with Cassie and Michael tonight. After the first rounds of hugs and kisses; we took care of getting their luggage into the house; they took time to get changed after being in their travel clothes for most of a day; and then we sat around trading stories and having fun being together again for a couple of hours. We didn’t want to keep them up late, so the parents called it a night and we headed out early-enough that they could get some sleep and be ready for a busy first full day at home that for Cassie and Michael is going to start with a Stone family breakfast at Jake and Stephanie’s house before church. Let’s not think about that too much, since we’d all like to be there for that special meal! Instead of going there, though, we are just going to be happy that Cassie and Michael are home, happy, and safe; move on; and take all of that happy with us into dreamland. While our day didn’t include anything earth-shaking in the news department, we did get a lot done today; we’re pretty much ready for the holiday weekend; and we can hardly wait for the adventures to continue tomorrow! Stay tuned, since this is going to be another best-ever kind of holiday season and rest of the year for us – and for all of our favorite people!
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
