Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - December 21, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

While we expected some early updates over the holidays; three in a row to start with wasn’t our plan – just how things are working out.  We had a lot of fun last night with Cassie, Michael, and all of the teens and kids staying with them from dinnertime that included Pizzeria pizza through the babysitting, video gaming, Christmassy crafts and games, movies, and music play time until we eventually got some sleep that didn’t include any co-ed napping.  We helped with a lot of the work; played when we could; and managed a bit of cuddle time too – though that was usually also while holding a next-gen kid or two! ;^)

After not getting much sleep; we needed to be up early today; Tai Chi was indoors and only a short workout due to next-gen kid needs; and then we worked through until we went to church helping with cooking, cleaning, and getting everyone ready for the service and Sunday school.  Having another nap by then would have been nice, but not an option; and Ehlana and I were part of the teen group helping with the morning service music – a teaser for the show tonight.

We came home from church with Mom and Dad; had a quick lunch; and then headed back to the church to set up for the evening showcase.  That work included the sanctuary sets and also the reception hall for both overflow seating and the social hour that will follow the show.  While we took care of sound checks too, we didn’t do another rehearsal – we’re saving our voices for tonight to be at our best.  That brings us up to now and we’re home again to get cleaned up and ready for both the show and the buffet dinner we’ll be at with our family at the Inn.  They went with special times today so that they can close early-enough to get everyone working there to the church on time too – including some of the teens in the showcase; so we need to move this along and go meet up with Mom, Dad, and our dinner dates.  We do want to mention that Mom and Dad have been busy today too with Dad getting work done in the office while Mom did some more pre-cooking for the holiday with some help from our grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Cassie and Michael didn’t come over too, but then they might have needed an afternoon nap after their night with all of the kids!  Okay, they actually still helped with Jake’s and Rebecca’s kids this afternoon, but we don’t need to let facts get in the way of the jokes.

We are happy now; so let’s keep the world news update short – even though there has been a lot going on over the weekend.  Unfortunately, none of that news is good.  Our military has stolen another oil tanker near Venezuela; taking stupid risks that continue to damage our national reputation; the war in Ukraine continues to go horribly-wrong for Ukraine while the leaders let it happen with no care for their own people; and the Middle East is still a mess with a flare-up in Syria thanks to the bombing attacks on the country from our military in retaliation for the three Americans that were killed earlier in the past week.  There are more incidents of unrest and conflict in countries around the world, and as people get more desperate; that trend is sure to continue.  Let’s stop there before we do get into a rant that we don’t have time for now and wrap this up.

The Christmas music video pick for today isn’t one that we’ll be singing at church tonight, but it is a favorite because we loved it when it came out as part of a Christmas song competition hosted by one of our favorite online content creators – Peter Hollens.  This version of the song won that contest, so while we loved many of the entries we’ve heard; this one is our favorite and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!

 

 

 

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - December 20, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

We had a lot of fun last night with Mom, Dad, our friends, and family that all gathered at our house for a dinner and play evening.  There was more video gaming in the lounge than we’d originally planned thanks to Zack, Eli, and some of the guys hanging out with us, but there were Christmas movies in the living room; games in the dining room and sunroom; and next-gen kids play time too.  Ehlana and I helped with the younger kids during dinner and with some of the play time, but we hosted our friends most of the time; and had fun with them through until most of our guests headed for their homes.  Only Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, and Aaron stayed overnight, and it was past-midnight before we were on our own in the lounge, but we still stayed up later for another movie and the co-ed cuddle and chat time before we got around to the nap time.

The late night didn’t keep us from getting up at normal time for Tai Chi, and while it was cold out; we still opted for a workout by the river; followed that with a hot breakfast; and then got to work.  Today, we didn’t do that with our friends – they had other plans for the day with work at home or elsewhere.  Mom and Dad kept us busy, and thanks to the forecast for Christmas; some of our chores were outdoors because we needed to clean up some bikes and canoes.  Yes, we might even get to do some canoeing on Christmas because the current forecast is for temperatures in the sixties and seventies!  That will work for us – even if it also means not having a white Christmas.  Ehlana and I have kept busy all day with the chores and some pre-cooking help; and now we’re packing overnight bags before we head over to Cassie and Michael’s house for the rest of the day.

They are hosting a night with teens and kids and next-gen babysitting that we’re going to help out with while most of our favorite parents and adults go to Sheldon’s Pub for a Christmas party – along with dinner at the Inn for some of them.  Cassie and Michael will visit the pub too for a while, but are taking this turn with the kids too and helping with a bunch of kid-free nights – including for our parents.

The rest of our story for today can wait for the next report, but we need to get going now and help Cassie and Michael with the incoming kids’ arrivals.  We’ll save the world news update for a weekend report too; so that just leaves one holiday journal job before we wrap this up and head out.

The countdown really seems to be on to Christmas Day now; and we’re thinking about that while choosing our daily Christmas video picks from among the hundreds of favorites we have – not to mention the thousands of options available online from artists great and small!  Tonight we are picking another song that we first heard through Cassie and Michael; and we hope that you’ll enjoy the holiday entertainment too – regardless of when you’re reading these journals in our near or distant future!

 

Christmas Miracle – George Canyon

 

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - December 19, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

We’ve had a Christmassy play day at school and were set free early; so we’re getting this update out of the way before we get started on our Christmas break and host a dinner and play evening with our friends and a co-ed sleepover after that with our four best friends.  There weren’t really classes today for us – our teachers combined shortened class time; we watched a Christmas movie this morning; and had an extended lunch with music, Pizzeria pizza, and holiday treats and drinks.  The early escape time was great; and now we need to get ready for our incoming guests – including helping Mom with dinner prep work.  Dad is going to be home early too – in time for dinner; and we’re expecting to have a lot of fun for the rest of the day.

Those stories can wait, though, and we’re skipping the world news report too; so that just leaves one item on our journal to-do list before we wrap this up and move on.

Our Christmas video pick of the day isn’t very well-known, but it is a song that Cassie and Michael heard, loved, and shared with us; and we like it a lot too.  While we get started on our Christmas break, we hope that you’ll enjoy the music; and the rest of our story for today can wait for our next report!

 

What It’s All About – Farmer’s Daughter

 

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - December 18, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

The top local story of the day is the school Christmas concert.  We spent the morning getting ready for the show – including helping with the gym set-up; and then we did our parts to entertain our family and friends.  Along with some music help with some of the classes, we played with the school band; and Naomi and the Holiday Harmonies played one song too – one of the songs from our Christmas E.P. that was also available for sale at the school for the day – along with some other songs recorded by other teens and even a special offer of class productions.  We had lots of family support; but didn’t get to spend much time with them at the school because we worked after the show with the pack-up.

We were on our own for dinner with Mom – the school work is done and we even have most of our holiday homework finished already too; we helped with the cooking and clean-up; and then we headed to the Inn for the special Christmas game night.  Naomi, Aiden, Sophia, and Aaron all met up with us there; we had fun with the games without winning a title this week; and cheered for Mom and Miranda when they did win the senior title.  The Christmas theme added to the fun; we enjoyed the holiday treats – many of them from the bakery; and then we headed home with a side trip to take Silkie for a walk and see Naomi and Aiden home.  While we were tempted to have another co-ed sleepover, we decided to save up for the holiday break; and we are expecting to have a lot of sleepovers over Christmas.

Once we were home with Mom again, we only had a bit of chat time including a vid-chat with Dad and then it was bath or Jacuzzi time; and now Ehlana and I are winding down with the usual computing and twin chat time.

Since this has been such a happy day, we are not going to get into any major world news commentary.  There really hasn’t been any ‘real’ news to write about today anyway.  Yes, the daily barrage of news never ends, but most of it from the usual gang of political leaders deliver smoke and mirrors of nothingness while avoiding the hard choices that could actually change the world for the better.  The never-ending talk is all pointless; and we’re going to take a break from the fiction while silently hoping for changes that seem to be impossible when nobody with true power is willing to change.

To wrap this up, our Christmas song pick of the day is one of our ‘church’ favorites, so enjoy this version; and we’ll get some sleep so we’ll be ready for the start of our Christmas break adventures!

 

One Small Child – CBC Christmas Special 2008

 

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!

Ethan's and Ehlana's Journals - December 17, 2025

 

Ethan and Ehlana:

We’ve been very busy since our last update.  Dinner at Naomi’s was great; we had a good last practice for the teen praise team for the show on Sunday evening; and then the co-ed sleepover was awesome too.  We had some music fun; watched a Christmas movie; and enjoyed the teen chat time.  We stayed up too late too, but the fun was worth it.  Tai Chi this morning was indoors, but it warmed up into the fifties this afternoon; and we enjoyed some outdoor time with our friends – a bit of biking and hanging out at the park.  That was after our school day – though we really just had a play day with holiday fun this morning and then we spent the afternoon at the church for the seniors’ Christmas luncheon.  We were there with the school band and also played two Naomi and the Holiday Harmonies songs; and enjoyed sharing our talents with some of our favorite seniors.

We finished up the music play time and had the band gear back at the school in time for the end of the school day; did the biking and outdoor play time thing after that; and then Ehlana and I hosted our four best friends for dinner, studying, and music play time.  Mom was home from the city by lunchtime; we helped her out with a pasta and sides dinner – including the clean-up; and then our evening play time included a group Magi lesson along with the studying and music practice.  We had fun with all of that; went out for a walk with Silkie while seeing Naomi and Aiden to their homes; and have been winding down toward nap time since then with the usual computer checks and twin chat.  It is getting late again; so let’s keep the world news update short and then we’ll call it a night.

There isn’t really any news from Ukraine or the Middle East, but President Trump is apparently planning on an oil embargo against Venezuela – and economic act of war that would be dangerous if Venezuela had the military power to fight back.  They don’t, but our country and military look like a bully, and if we actually enforce that embargo; it will only hurt the normal people of Venezuela and likely affect global oil prices.  Seizing tankers is flat-out theft; and that will just continue to erode global trust in our country if there is any trust left at all.

That’s enough for today.  Our Christmas music video pick of the day has been a favorite for a while now; and we hope that you’ll enjoy it too while we move on and get some sleep.  Tomorrow is going to be another busy day; so we’ll get as much sleep as we can to be ready for the next blasts of holiday adventures.

 

Only Hope – Gardiner Sisters

 

Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!