Ehlana, Ethan, Naomi, and Aiden:
Happy 43rd Birthday, Philip Seager!
Happy 2nd Birthday, Stacey Bassett!
Today is the first Sunday in Advent, so before we get to the rest of the weekend news; let’s start with mentioning that we had an awesome morning at church; and the teen-led Thanksgiving holiday weekend service is even better when the Advent celebration kicks off too. Naomi and Aaron helped out more with the service too; and their contributions were more-personal for us – as well as a hit with the congregation. We were definitely in the Christmas spirit all morning, and on that note; let’s get to the rest of our weekend report!
There is so much that we could write about tonight as we wind down to nap time and the end of our amazing holiday break, but maybe we should mostly just write about some of the people we’ve loved to spend time with instead. That would take a long time to include everyone for some of the entertainment highlights – like the Christmas tree farm adventure, but let’s just get started and see where our thoughts and writing take us!
Since Naomi and Aiden are with us tonight so that Ethan’s future in-laws are getting a kid-free night for her father’s birthday; let’s begin by mentioning that Ethan and I know that everything about our lives are more-amazing thanks to our partners and best friends. We also haven’t written about it yet, but we’ve also spent some time with their families – though in Naomi’s case; it was usually her family spending time with ours. Aiden’s parents and Liz’s Mom had to work a lot too with holiday sales being so important for the bakery and salon, but we’ve had fun when we can – even if that was only cameo moments. We haven’t spent as-much time with Sophia and Aaron, but they’ve been busy with their families too; so we had to share them a lot.
Ditto that for Cassie and Michael, since we shared them with his family and their weekend guests. That’s been a change this weekend too with them hosting Jaimie and Kaitlyn and their boyfriends, but then they’ve shared them too – including last night when Kaitlyn, Jeremy, and Jayden stayed with us so that they could spend time with the grandparents, Mom, and Dad. While we’re still on the topic of Cassie and Michael, though, let’s also mention that Dawn is with them while here, and while we haven’t spent much time with Dawn; we did at least get to hang out with them for a while at the Christmas tree farm; and can report that she is loving her job and the opportunities she is getting to travel the world – even if that is mostly hauling cargo without much time so far for sightseeing. We’re glad that she is getting a lot of experience; since that is going to come in handy for our future plans! ;^)
Moving along, let’s focus on the Christmas tree farm stories for a while. We really did have a major gang with us for that trip; and that included at least some members from many of our favorite hometown families as well as our guests. All of the trucks that were brought along were needed for all of the Christmas trees we collectively bought; and some of the minivans were fairly-loaded with decorations and treats from the Christmas store too. In addition to the hayrides, the farm owners are also beginning to add in other entertainment options; and they are obviously working toward having Christmas-themed fun along the same lines as what the pumpkin patch does for Halloween. The parents booked a full wagon for our group; so we got to pick out trees together; and then we split up while visiting the store and getting in on some of the other games and activities. The four of us spent some time helping with kid control when needed, but parents and grandparents wanted to be with the younger kids a lot too; so we were free to enjoy a lot of play time too. We also helped out with tree deliveries after getting home again – including the trees for Naomi’s and Aiden’s homes; and we also set some trees up outdoors to wait for going home with their visiting families today – where doing that was an option.
Our home was one of the locations for tree decorating on Saturday night – part of the entertainment that went with our cousins’ visit with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We had fun with that; and still stayed up a bit too-late when we hung out in the lounge for a couple of hours once the adults in the house headed for their beds. Let’s also add that Kaitlyn and Jeremy opted for a co-ed sofa sleepover in the lounge – which is why I was in my room and Jayden stayed with Ethan.
Ethan went over to Naomi’s house this morning for her father’s birthday breakfast, but I stayed and helped out here at home; and we had fun too. We’ve already covered the church news; and we followed that service up with helping many of our guests to pack up and get ready for the trips home before heading to the Inn for the noon buffet. In addition to the family time we also shared some more birthday fun with Naomi’s Dad – though he’s actually gotten two birthday buffets; since Liz took him to the last buffet along with family and some friends after the stores closed for the day. Okay, Ethan and Naomi had that bonus too, but Aiden and I stayed with Mom and Dad to help Miranda out; since all of the buffets were fully-booked this weekend. We didn’t need the extra food either, but I don’t want to sound like Aunt Grace for that; so let’s move on again.
We do still have two sets of grandparents here with us tonight, but they’ll be leaving for Arizona again in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa; and they’ve gone to bed early because they need to leave early for their flight. Once the rest of our collective guests had headed out; we were drafted for chores at various homes and cottages; that kept us busy all afternoon; and then the four of us were split up for those different dinner plans. Aiden and I only had Mom and Dad with us for that meal because the Rice and Proctor grandparents were either with Violet, Dillon, and their kids or the Everetts. That bit of quiet time worked for us – and that’s true for this wind-down time we’re enjoying that includes multi-tasking a movie, cuddling, and chatting about the weekend and all of the busy that is really going to just keep going through the rest of the year.
Before we wrap this up, though, we really should do a world news update. We haven’t been happy with any of the new issues this weekend. There has been a flare-up of new fighting in Syria that will just make things worse in the region; protests in Georgia – the country – have us feeling concerned for May and Lee – and the potential for that country to become yet another war zone being instigated by western powers including our country; and the fighting in Ukraine gets uglier with no serious end in sight while nobody in power has any concern for all of the death and destruction. The list of troubles around the world seems to be growing every day, so for tonight; let’s only add that there are more conflicts and political upheaval happening in Africa; tensions remain high in much of the Middle East and the Asian-Pacific; and we can’t even count the political idiocies everywhere. I will offer one news story getting attention today – the Australian government passing a social media ban for all kids and teens under the age of sixteen. We don’t use social media – unless you want to count our town intranet messaging, but most teens and a lot of kids do; and we seriously-doubt that making social media illegal for kids is a good idea in a world where technology is such a huge part of our lives and will continue to be that way. We’d suggest that a better solution would be to teach kids how to think for themselves and how to discern truths and lies, but we are talking about governments here; and know they don’t actually want that when their goals are all about controlling the masses and protecting their own self-interests for power and money.
That’s enough bad news for one day. It’s time to wrap this up and enjoy a last bit of quiet cuddle time before we get around to our co-ed sofa sleepover. While we do that, the First of December also marks the start of our annual Christmas video picks of the day, and since it is the start of Advent too; our song choice is a new favorite that is all about the true reason for the season. Enjoy the journal wrap-up music; and we’ll be back again tomorrow night!
Because of Bethlehem – Matthew West
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
