Ethan and Ehlana:
Naomi and I had a lot of fun with her parents last night – and we didn’t have Zack and Eli with us because they may have been ‘encouraged’ to have their sleepover at Zack’s house with some other buddies while we got to have a break. We helped her Dad cook dinner; enjoyed that meal with her Mom too once she got home from the salon; and then the teens in the house took care of the clean-up before we all watched Christmas movies; did a bit of gift wrapping; and talked about school and work and holiday plans now that we’re down to less than a week to our Christmas break. Naomi’s parents eventually headed off to bed after the second movie; Naomi and I had fun with our alone time that included co-ed cuddling and more that I won’t be writing about here; and wrapped up our day with some quality co-ed nap time.
Ehlana and Aiden had a similar night – though they had Hailey and Leah with them; and they added in some board game play instead of two movies. Aiden’s parents also went to bed earlier; Hailey and Leah gave them more alone time; and they might have had more fun that I also won’t be writing about here! We didn’t get together for Tai Chi this morning – it was cold out all day; but we did each exercise indoors and we all had hot breakfasts that the teens and tweens cooked and cleaned for ahead of meeting up at church for the morning service and Sunday school. We had fun with everything while there; split up for lunches at our own homes; and then we were back at the church for a full rehearsal of the Christmas show the teens will be doing next Sunday evening. We still have a teen praise team practice on Tuesday too, but this rehearsal included all of the teens involved for both the music and acting – along with everyone helping with the props and costumes and sets.
While we had fun with our friends doing that; Ehlana and I still wanted to do some work in the lab or archives; so we headed over there from the church; worked until around seven-thirty with some time phasing used to get more done; and then we came home for a late dinner that Mom saved for us. Dad was still working in the office then and getting ready for his week in the city; so we shared stories with Mom while we ate and cleaned up; had a shorter visit with Dad; and then Mom sent us upstairs for an early bedtime after a long, busy weekend. Bath or Jacuzzi time worked for us then; and now we’re winding down with the usual bedtime computer checks and twin chat time.
There have been a lot of stories in the news this weekend, including war reports from Ukraine and elsewhere, but tonight we’ll focus on three shootings that are getting a lot of attention. The largest is from Australia where two gunmen targeted a Jewish holiday celebration at a beach; killing or wounding dozens of people. The second incident was here in our country at Brown University where a shooter has killed two and injured at least nine people – and possibly as many as twenty. Finally, while the third story is from a war zone; the legacy media is spinning the story about two American soldiers and one American civilian being killed by ISIS fighters in Syria while avoiding the fact that the new Syrian leader was and likely still is an ISIS commander. Our point for picking out these stories to write about, though, is that ground-level unrest is exploding around the world – and these incidents really are just a few of many stories we’re seeing from around the world. There are powder kegs everywhere just waiting for something to set them off in big or small ways; and there is no way to predict when or where that will happen.
Mom does want us to get to sleep early; so let’s stop there. We want to be up early to see Dad and Anna Marie off to Crystal Springs; so let’s finish this up with our Christmas music video pick of the day. Ehlana is teasing me that I should claim ‘credit’ for choosing this song, but she knows that it is a favorite of hers – and Naomi’s too; and they would also concede that it isn’t just Asher’s voice that they like a lot! Aiden and I will survive the disappointment from not being top-ten – or twenty-five – on their hottest guys lists, but while you, future reader, have fun with that line of thought; enjoy the song and we’re out of here and off to dreamland.
Snow Globe Wonderland – Asher Angel
Until next time, live with love, fellow Magi of the Light!
