Ethan and Ehlana:
Another awesome day; another early update!
After our last little report, we got right to the fun with our friends, and while there was some work too; we kept ourselves entertained with that too. Adding Sophia and Aaron to our little gang for the first night of our Christmas break made everything a bit better – though their own families apparently have mixed feelings about that. Jessica and Ryan were both working last night and today anyway, and so was Sophia’s father; so we’re really just helping them out! Thanks to the early school day, we had extra time to play, but we didn’t end up being the only people to have a short school or work day – which is why Dad and Anna Marie got home from Crystal Springs in time for him to join us for dinner. The Proctors got in from Granite Park in decent time too, but we didn’t visit with them until after dinner; since they’re staying with Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace. Actually, amend that a bit because Grandpa Duncan and Grandma Mercy are with us – along with the Rice clan parents and grandparents while Cassie and Michael have Chris, Martin, and their wives staying with them – mostly so that they’ll be close to Violet, Dillon, and their kids.
Moving along, we helped with the work on either side of dinner-for-eight; our weekend guests arrived shortly-after that work was done; and then the fun kicked up a few notches – even with the work involved in hauling luggage and boxes of gifts into the house and up to second-floor bedrooms. Our house ended up being family-central with pretty much everyone in the Proctor-Rice clan coming over for at least a cameo visit or more. There are too-many stories to cover here from everyone; so let’s just mention a few highlights. First up, Kaitlyn and Jeremy were together again from the moment she arrived because he was waiting for her at the Everett’s home – along with Jaimie and Micah. While Jaimie and Kaitlyn are officially staying with the Everetts; they’ll also be with their boyfriends and at different homes while here. Jayden was added to our sleepover gang of tweens for last night too, and since we didn’t want him to be a fifth wheel all night; Ehlana and Naomi invited Susan Connor too; and we ended up with eight tweens instead of six.
The lounge was kid and teen central while our cousins were in the house. Zack and Eli led the video gaming, and that worked for us; since they didn’t spend all of that time trying to annoy everyone with pranks or practical jokes. We split our time between the third floor and hanging out with the adults in the living room and kitchen and sunroom, and while there was entertainment in the background ranging from Christmas music to football; it was the chat time that everyone loved the most last night. We also have a busy schedule for the weekend, so after a long work, school, and-or travel day; nobody wanted to stay up late and party – or at least that was the main excuse used to split up and head for other homes by around ten o’clock. Violet and Dillon went with the ‘get-the-kids-to-bed’ reason and were first to leave, and they had help with getting their little angels home and to bed, but then it wasn’t much longer before everyone else that wasn’t spending the night headed out too. We – the tweens – helped with the clean-up of the lounge and main floor – though Susan went with Jayden for a quick round trip to pick up an overnight bag first. The parents and grandparents in the house took over the living room for a wind-down chat before bedtime; and the lounge was tween central with co-ed cuddling and Christmas movies – or not, depending on your personal opinion of movies like Die Hard and Nightmare Before Christmas! We had a blast; stayed up too-late; and the nap time was short for the four of us that got up in time for Tai Chi that we took outdoors and by the river because we could! We also helped with making breakfast while taking turns getting ready for the day; that meal was fun thanks to sharing it with three sets of grandparents; and then there was another round of work to clean up before we headed out for a shopping adventure.
This year is a bit different because of Christmas Eve day being on a Sunday. While stores will be open tomorrow afternoon, today was expected to be the bigger shopping day, and the Olde Bakery also had their Santa-approved treats and reindeer food available today too instead of just on Christmas Eve Day. Add in the forecast for a lot of rain tomorrow, and you can guess at how busy the stores were today. Everyone in our family joined in on the shopping for at least a while – even if they had other plans for the day with friends or other parts of their families. Okay, we mostly mean future in-law families for Jaimie and Kaitlyn for that last part, but Violet and Dillon have a lot going on this weekend with his side of the family; and that’s true for many of our aunts, uncles, and cousins. We can’t cover every story, though, so let’s get back to our own story. We shopped with our favorite tweens and had cameo moments with our cousins, some friends, and most of the parents and grandparents. We spent a fair bit of time in the Galleria stores; found out that our Christmas album is still number one for local artists at Spinners and the studio; and we’ll enjoy that while it lasts – which will likely be until the sales go to zero after Christmas – at least until next Christmas.
We shopped until close to lunch time; all of our friends needed to be elsewhere for that meal; and we helped Mom and Dad with the work on either side of lunch that they hosted for about a quarter of our family while the Everetts and Cassie and Michael had the rest of our familial gang split between them. It warmed up into the high-fifties, so the kids and tweens were set free to play this afternoon. Biking and playing at the park or on the trails was popular, but there was also a football scrimmage at the park that Jayden and I were drafted for along with our fathers, Michael, and others; we won our game; and we don’t need to comment on my potential as a future high school or college football star. Ehlana and I didn’t get to spend much time with Naomi and Aiden this afternoon, but they are going to hang out with us again tonight; and might stay with us overnight again too – though that hasn’t been decided yet.
We’ll let you know how that goes for us, but either way, we’re going with the afternoon report because we might not have time for it later. Mom needs us to help with making dinner soon too; so that’s enough for today – especially since you can just flip digital pages in our future to get the next update on the adventures we’ll be sharing with our favorite people between now and then. While we go and do that, our Christmas music video pick for today is a favorite original from Peter Hollens; and the version is by a husband and wife duo that is awesome and deserves to be enjoyed and remembered!
December Song – Scott and Ryceejo
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
