Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 7, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 14^th Anniversary, Amy and Jared Spencer!

Our top news of the day is obviously our travel day from home to Halifax, Nova Scotia; we arrived by early afternoon; and we’ve had our first work stop between the airport and hotel.  Before we get to that news; let’s cover the rest of the story from yesterday.

The anniversary dinner was short for us after the work and kid-control help; our ball practices went well while we also got teased about missing the next couple of games while we’re away on this trip.  Our four best friends came with us to Cassie and Michael’s for the night; we hopped into the river to cool down and wash off the worst of the dirt from the play time; and then we had a visit with a small gang of parents and grandparents to spend a last bit of time with them before heading out this morning.  Showers were required after that; we helped with a round of laundry and last bit of clean-up around the house; and then we – the teens – wrapped up our Monday with a co-ed sofa sleepover.

We were all up very early; loaded into two vehicles for the drive to the airport with Mom giving four of us a ride while Cassie and Michael left their car in long-term parking – as usual.  There wasn’t Tai Chi anywhere; we took drinks and bakery treats along for the drive and breakfast; and our flight took off around six o’clock.  There was only one stop along the way to Halifax, so that worked for us; and we kept entertained on both flights.  Cassie and Michael had an extended passenger van rented and ready for us in Halifax; we cleared customs quickly without any issues; and we’ve already mentioned the first work stop.  Cassie and Michael had a tour and meeting with a fisheries company that has both boats and processing operations.  The six teens in our group have little or no experience with oceanic fishing or that kind of food processing, so the tour was awesome; and the scenery around the Halifax Harbor is amazing!

We’re currently on the way to our hotel and doing this update now because we still have a lot on the schedule for after we get checked in for the night – including a work dinner and another site visit this evening for a charity project.  The rest of that news can wait for our next update, and we’ll be at the hotel soon; so let’s do a quick world news report and then we’ll get back to the real life adventures.

The top news of the day is the start of the NATO summit in Turkey, and while there has been talk of peace; nobody believes that is actually happening when there is more talk of war in both the Middle East and Ukraine; and the President of Ukraine is there begging for more weapons and other aide to keep fighting with Russia.  While that meeting is going on, there have been more mass drone and missile strikes against both Russia and the Ukraine that are meant to affect the NATO meetings – and nothing will change because nobody wants to actually end the war.  We’ll hope that NATO doesn’t agree to expand the war in Ukraine, but it looks as though more support for Ukraine will be sent; and the battles will continue.

Let’s stop there, since Ethan and I want to stay happy and spend our time sharing our light with everyone around us in Halifax and Canada.  We’ll keep you posted on how that goes for us too, so stay tuned for that; and we’ll resume our amazing travel fun right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 6, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 13^th Anniversary, Uncle Mark and Aunt Grace!

Their special day wasn’t an official reason for his family’s visit to Witch Falls, but they’ve had fun with the story while linking the number thirteen with our magical hometown.  Before we get to the anniversary fun news; let’s cover the rest of our news of the day-so-far.

Aiden and I started our day with Tai Chi by the river with Cassie and Michael.  Ethan and Naomi chose to exercise on their own; and we did our own things for breakfast too.  Aiden went to the bakery for the rest of the morning while Ethan, Naomi, and I went to the lab; we all worked until lunchtime; and then we met up at our house for that meal; went for a swim; and then we split up to pack for our trip.

Ethan and I are ready to haul our luggage over to Cassie and Michael’s house now, and this update is early because we’ll be busy for the rest of the day with the anniversary dinner party, our ball practices, and our sleepover at Cassie and Michael’s house because we’ll be up early for the drive to the airport.  The rest of our news can wait for our next update; and that one will likely be live from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!

We need to get going soon; so let’s go with a quick world news update.  For the Ukraine war, western leaders are denying a notable frontlines victory for Russia, but we were disgusted by reports that the Ukrainian leaders have refused to accept the bodies of their soldiers that have been killed in the battle for that key city.  There is no excuse for that decision; and it only hurts the loved ones of those fallen soldiers.  We do understand the callous reason for that refusal because if they accepted the dead; they’d also be on the hook for death benefits for the families; so it is much cheaper to list them as missing in action and pay nothing at all – including salaries.  The only news we want to mention from the Middle East is the funeral over the weekend for the Ayatollah; and that is because there were tens of millions of mourners and a large contingent of representatives from around the world.  We are not expecting that to lead to imminent peace, but we hope that our western leaders will see what was happening and think twice before resuming the fighting at a time when we are gaining far more enemies than friends on the world stage.

There are so many other stories that we could comment on and probably shouldn’t – so let’s include a couple of them just for fun!  We didn’t cover this over the weekend, but one of President Trump’s speeches caught our attention thanks to his comments about how communism is one of the biggest threats to our country as we celebrate two-hundred and fifty years.  That trope has been dangled in front of the masses for about as long as there has been communism; and we’ve been assured that it has been defeated a handful of times now too.  For the record, Ethan and I would not place communism anywhere on our list of most-serious dangers to our country and world, but we would include many of our current world leaders!  There was a report out of Ireland about their current turn at the European Union council presidency that has us wondering why any country would want to do that; since they are expecting that leadership term to cost them three-hundred million Euros of taxpayer money!  With a population of around five and a quarter million people, that is a lot of money; and we could think of better uses other than parties and conferences for useless politicians and their cling-ons.  We think that’s true for a large part of all things politick; and we admit to being biased on this topic.

We’re also going to be late if we don’t get going; so that’s all for this report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 5, 2026

 

Ehlana and Aiden; Ethan and Naomi:

Congratulations, Diana and Kris Robinson – it’s a boy!

Welcome to your new hometown family, Andrew Robinson!

There will be stories for Drew’s birth, but we don’t think that the teens are responsible for sending Diana into labor during the church service at the park; and he’s a bit young yet for wanting to arrive in time for one of the buffets at the Inn!  We can report that food was sent to the clinic for the happy and tired parents; and Uncle Adam was the doctor on-call while Uncle Mark was busy with his visiting family.  We were not involved in the baby delivery services; so that’s all we have for that news.

As for our own adventures since the last report; the noon co-ed ball game was very wet with several delays and the game was shortened by an inning too as time ran out for the next games of the day.  Our Witch Falls Wild team earned their first win of the season over Sheldon’s Stampede, but the thirteen-to-nine score had more to do with the weather than amazing ball play.  Cassie and Miranda won the cheer squad title for the day too, but to be honest, that was mostly because the Stampede’s squad missed more of the game while trying to stay dry!  There was better weather for Zack and the Bakery Brigade game against Connor’s Commandos, but we didn’t watch much of that game and the crowds were definitely smaller as most park visitors wanted to enjoy the break from the rain and enjoy the play and food opportunities.  The Brigade won the game by a score of ten-to-eight; we caught the end of the game while being rounded up for the family-and-friends’ dinner; and we were put to work getting the food from the booths while others took care of the next-gen kids.  We stayed dry for that meal; there was a bit of rain during the dance; and then we had another weather break that allowed everyone to enjoy the fireworks show.

A bit of extra money and effort went into the fireworks for the two-hundred and fiftieth holiday, but we won’t suggest that our celebration rivaled the big city displays anywhere else in the country.  It was perfect for our little home, though, and the co-ed cuddle time for many of us was a bonus!  Rain was expected soon after the show; so everyone packed up quickly and headed out.  Ethan and I only had Naomi and Aiden with us when we came home with Mom, Dad, and our own weekend guests; we helped with all of the work including starting loads of laundry; and then we wrapped up our Fourth of July with more quality co-ed cuddle time, some teen chat fun, and music videos instead of a movie that we didn’t want to concentrate on at all after a very long day.  We still stayed up too-late; and only had time for a nap before needing to be up early again this morning.

Tai Chi was by the river and the rain had moved on by then; breakfast needed to be quick and easy for the teens in the house; and then we hurried to the park to set up for the church service.  We had time for warm-ups; moved on to entertaining the early arrivals with extra music they could sing along with; and then the service was awesome – including our musical contributions, the skits, readings, and Pastor John’s message.  We were on the crew to pack up after the service; we were the last to get home for lunch; and then our top afternoon adventure today was a trip to the Ridge River Ranch.  Our family had an entire block of trail rides and a corral adventure booked; we ended up with the group that included Mom and Dad but not Cassie and Michael; and Uncle Adam missed the ride because of the call to the clinic for delivery services!

While that ride was our play highlight of the day, I went with Aiden to the bakery after we got home and cleaned up; we helped out there until closing; and then went to the last buffet of the day at the Inn with his family.  Our family was there for that same buffet, but Ethan and Naomi were with her family – and the Ayres clan; so we didn’t hang out together for more than a couple of cameo visits.  I went home with Aiden too and Ethan’s with Naomi tonight; so this update is being written and the Drapers’ home while Ethan and Naomi are here via vid-chat and a telepathic link.  Aiden’s parents needed to head for bed soon after we got here, so Aiden and I watched a movie; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.  I am going to pretend that I don’t know that Naomi isn’t ready to let Ethan head off to sleep quite yet, but then her parents stayed up later; so they haven’t had much alone time yet.  Since some of us are tired, though, let’s do the world news report; and then wrap this up.

There were not any major holiday attacks yesterday, so that is a good news story for a change; and we are happy about that – especially when that also means that our favorite Dark Magi haters left us alone too.  We wish that good news could be reported out of Ukraine or the Middle East, but the fighting is escalating and expanding in Ukraine and Russia; and there are no signs that Israel has any intention of backing off from Lebanon, Syria, or anywhere else.  None of the leaders are showing any serious consideration for all of the people being killed, injured, and having their lives and property destroyed; and we’re heading beyond any hope of recovery in some places – especially where there are no people left to rebuild at all.

We do not want to wrap up this holiday weekend on that note; so let’s switch to happier thoughts.  None of our weekend guests headed home today, but many of them will be leaving tomorrow – except for Mark’s family and a few Johnson clan kids that will be staying for the week.  We aren’t going to be here for most of that visit because we head out on Tuesday with Cassie and Michael for their work trip to Canada.  Sophia and Aaron are coming with us too; and we are going to have an amazing work and explore adventure!  We’ll miss out on a lot of fun here at home too – including Brianna’s birthday on Wednesday, but that’s normal for Cassie and Michael now; and we’re just going to experience that from their side of those stories.  That does mean that we’ll need to pack tomorrow and we’re staying the night with them ahead of the early drive to the airport; so we are going to be busy again tomorrow.

Before we move on, let’s mention that Jayden was not planning on staying for a vacation this summer – he has a summer job with his Dad’s company; a current girlfriend; and no interest in staying here instead – not even for some extra time with Kaitlyn and Jeremy.  Summer jobs are an issue for more of our Johnson clan cousins too; so it is only the younger ones that are here and staying for one or two weeks.  They’d want to hang out with our younger cousins anyway, and we’d be working our own summer jobs if here; so this summer visit would have been very different for us anyway.  We’ll still pick the adventures with Cassie and Michael, and that’s a happy thought to end this update on; so that’s all for tonight.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 4, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 250^th birthday, America!

Happy Un-Independence Day, Mom and Cassie!

This is actually a rare morning update because Ethan and I stopped in at home to get changed after the parade and we need to head back to the park for the noon co-ed ball game and the rest of the holiday fun at the park.  The parade wasn’t a lot different from normal for the milestone celebration, and we got rained on a bit too, but we had fun too.  Ethan was with Naomi and the teen praise team for the parade while Aiden and I were with the school band, so that was different for us; and we got teased a bit too for the twin split-up that also doesn’t happen very often.  The weather this morning has been a mix of warm and wet, and the forecast is for more of the same through the rest of the day; so the holiday fun could get interesting depending on when the rain rolls through.  We’ll save those stories for our next report, but before we get back to our holiday adventures; let’s cover the rest of our news since the last update.

The family barbeque dinner at the Ayres’ home was amazing; and then we moved on to win our respective ball games last night.  Ethan and the Locusts won their game over the Wasps by a score of sixteen-to-eight – even without their favorite cheerleaders; and Naomi, Sophia, and I led our Glacier team held on for an eight-to-seven win over the Polar Vortex.

After the games, Ethan and I led our gang of teens home for our play and sleepover plans; some of us needed to hit the showers before moving on the video gaming and movies in the lounge and living room; and then we stayed up as late as expected with all of the teen fun that did not include any co-ed naps.  While Naomi, Sophia, and I had some fun teasing some of the visiting girls about their appreciation for our boyfriends, we can’t fault them for their taste in guys; and actually like Uncle Mark’s nieces too.  All of his nieces and nephews are smart and confident; and most of them expect to have futures in medicine to follow the family tradition.  We don’t think about that much for Caleb and Faith – or Zack and Brianna, but then that has a lot to do with not being able to picture Zack as a future doctor without laughing!

After the short naps we eventually had early this morning; we were up for Tai Chi by the river; breakfast was a blast of work and food fun as we juggled getting everyone fed and ready for the day and then headed to the school to get ready for the parade.  Ethan and I split up for that for obvious reasons; had our respective warm-ups; and there was one blast of showers before the parade started that left us a bit damp as we eventually hit the road and the parade route.  We’ve already mentioned the rain during the parade, but we were prepared for that.  Ethan and Naomi had the bigger challenge to keep electronics dry, but then everyone in the school band will need to clean their instruments after they got wet while we played our way through the rain.  For the record, we did not change up our music list for anything rain-related, but that would have been fun if we had tried that kind of mash-up like we’ve done for our football team cheer squad!

That brings us up to now, and we really do need to get going; so let’s wrap this up.  Instead of offering a limited world news report; let’s save that for a weekend update.  Ditto that for holiday celebrations stories from around our country that we hope will all be happy without any horror stories.  While we get out of here, I am also now going to hope that I didn’t jinx anything with that last comment – especially here at home!  Stay tuned; and we’ll have all of those stories for you sometime tomorrow.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - July 3, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Afternoon updates will continue through the weekend, and for tonight, that is because Ethan and I are going to be hosting a gang of teens after the family barbeque that the Ayres are hosting and our ball games tonight.  We need to get to that dinner soon; so let’s get to the rest of our news since the last report.

The barbeque dinner yesterday was great; we ended up keeping the next-gen kids entertained before, during, and after the meal; there was some park play time and a river swim between dinner and the outdoor movies; and then we kept the fun going with those shows and the late-night teen chat time by the river that we stayed up too-late for until we eventually got around to the nap time.  Naomi would want me to mention that Uncle Mark’s nieces appreciated her boyfriend a bit too much last night – and today-so-far, and that is definitely true, but then they liked Aiden, Aaron, and Jayden too; so Ethan wasn’t the only guy that they found interesting.  I’ll also mention that all of the Everett clan teens received a lot of attention in return from the local guys and girls; not all of our friends included in that group are single; and one or more of them could be in trouble if they aren’t careful! ;^)

Ethan does not need to worry about that, but I’ll add that he got extra attention from those girls during our Tai Chi workout this morning; and I don’t need to mention similar attention directed at the girls in our group because the boys slept in and weren’t awake for that workout if not with us for the exercising.  That breakfast was a major event; we were ordered to pack up the campground due to the rain forecast for tonight; and then the rest of our day since then has been a mix of work and play.  The work was all about helping the parents with meals and other entertainment for Ethan and me – though Aiden also did some work at the bakery; and Naomi helped her father and Aunt Deborah too.  There was still lots of time for biking the trails, park play, and swimming and canoeing; so we’ve had fun so far today too.

As mentioned, the Ayres are hosting the family-and-friends’ barbeque dinner; most of our weekend guests are either already here or on the way; and we are going to be busy for the rest of the day.  Ethan and I both have ball games tonight; they are both at the park ball diamonds; and then thanks to the weather forecast; sleepovers are being split up at multiple homes.  Leah is hosting a group of girls; Zack is doing the same for the boys with all-night gaming planned; and Ethan and I are hosting a gang of teens.  Co-ed sleepovers might not be an option for us tonight, but we’ll let you know how that goes for us; and we are expecting to be up late again tonight whatever we decide to do.

Instead of offering another war report for our world news; let’s take a day off from that; and look elsewhere for some less-serious stories.  We can only be amazed by reports and commentary out of Europe during a deadly heat wave when some leaders suggest that air conditioning is not a viable solution due to environmental concerns!  Those views do not extend to changing the lifestyles for the rich and powerful while forcing bad policies on everyone else.  Take that story and compare it to the push for massive, power-sucking data centers that definitely do require extreme cooling; and the hypocrisy is stunning.  Feel free to have fun imagining that scenario where humans are left to deal with extreme heat – or cold – while the computers and robots ‘live’ in comfort!

The last commentary we’ll offer for this afternoon is about China.  As usual, western media and leaders do their very best to declare the worst about China and war-monger over Taiwan and the South China Sea, but while we know that China has challenges that are currently compounded by the war in the Middle East; Ethan and I continue to watch in amazement as the Chinese people continue to lead the way in technology development and building the most-modern and advanced infrastructure in the world.  That includes developments and partnerships around the world that also annoy American and European leaders, but we don’t share that opinion when China’s projects offer modern advantages to those countries and people without the same risks that come with pretty much every ‘western’ offers of support that almost-always have exploitation hidden behind the aid.

That’s all we have time for now, and we really need to go now; so we’re out of here and back to the real world fun.

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