Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - April 20, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 12^th Birthday, Julian Green!

Happy 26^th Birthday, Brock Benton!

Our day hasn’t been birthday-rated awesome, but we have had a good, busy blast of fun and adventure while enjoying the nice weather when we could do that.  Tai Chi was by the river; we had a standard weekday breakfast with Mom and Dad; and then our school time included a test, bonus outdoor time this afternoon, and some lunchtime football that the guys played and the girls watched.  While on that thought, I’ll mention that Cassie and Rowen used to play football with Michael and Tim, but Naomi and I are not all that interested in playing the game too – though we do that now and then when not trying to get any attention from others.  No, we are not too ‘girly’ for sports – we just prefer other games like baseball and volleyball.

Naomi and I were definitely involved in the biking after school; and we have some talent for extreme biking.  We don’t get too crazy about showing off, since that would annoy some of the guys in our group of friends, but we have fun with the tricks we do; and get the chance to do more than we should now and then when we only have our best friends nearby for that kind of excitement.  Moving on, we had fun with the biking on the trails and around the park; came home for dinner with Mom and Dad; and then we cleaned up and headed to the lab to work-play there for the evening with our books or beakers.  Time phasing allowed us to get more done; I finished two successful experiments; and Ethan worked on a study plan compilation that brought together all of the archive data that can be used now for teaching everything we know so far about telekinesis.  Yes, that is a major topic and the book he’s put together is large, but Ethan also has it set up in chapters from beginner lessons to advanced levels that only Magi Masters would be able to learn.

We worked until around eleven o’clock; came home and had a quick visit with Mom and Dad; and then we moved on to bath or Jacuzzi time.  As semi-usual, I took longer for my tub time; Ethan has done more of the computer checks for the world news; and he kept me in the loop telepathically.  Cassie and Michael have spent the day working in Seattle, and while most people might think that they’d be working with tech companies; our family businesses mostly deal with transportation systems on the coasts of our country to co-ordinate international shipping with continental rail and inter-modal supply chains.  Yes, that’s a bit boring to us, but then our friends would say the same about my lab work and Ethan’s archives!

As for the world news, we are still waiting to see what will happen next in the Iran war; the bluster and threats continued today; and we expect to find out within the next few days whether the bombing will resume and whether there will be any escalations.  The odds of a deal are very small, but not zero; so we’ll try to keep the hope alive despite the noise of the war drums beating.  The fighting in Ukraine rolls on too; and tensions remain high as spring arrives and risks are high for new action along the front lines.  We won’t predict that this will be the decisive year for a war that is now in year five, but we really hope that the leaders involved will eventually choose to stop the death and destruction instead of risk more escalations.

Instead of offering more of that kind of news; we’re going to wrap up with a comet story.  There have been several stories already this year, but Comet Panstars is going to be passing nearby in the next week or so; and it is unique because our planet is going to pass through the comet tail.  No, we are not predicting a catastrophe – this isn’t a movie or book; but we are sure that the visuals are going to be very cool!  Stay tuned for more on that story; since we will cover it again when we get to see that event – weather permitting.

Now we’re tired and need to get some sleep; so that’s all we have for this update.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - April 19, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

This has been a good day, but not really newsworthy.  The babysitting last night kept us busy and entertained with our respective ‘jobs’ with the next-gen kids; my co-ed sleepover here with Aiden and Ethan’s night with Naomi ended up being quiet because we all fell asleep not long after getting the alone time.  Aiden and I were with Mom and Dad for Tai Chi by the river and breakfast while Ethan and Naomi did their own workout in her back yard and then had that morning meal with her family.  Church and Sunday school were good and comparatively-quiet; Ethan and I had lunch with Mom and Dad; and then we opted for a work-play afternoon at the lab or archives.  Dad had work to do this afternoon anyway, and while it was nice out with sun and a high around seventy; we really wanted to work with our books or beakers today while our friends opted for family time at home or the bakery.  We were home for dinner; took care of the clean-up; and then we’ve had a quiet evening that included a Magi lesson; some television watching; and a quiet wind down toward an early end to our day.  Bath or Jacuzzi time followed the family time; and now we’re getting ready to sleep soon with the usual twin chat and computer checks.

The weekend world news has been erratic again with everything from peace talks that aren’t really going anywhere to cargo and tanker ships being fired on and-or seized by both ‘our’ navy and the Iranian military.  It is tough to tell whether much shipping traffic is actually getting through the Strait of Hormuz, but it is definitely looking more-likely that the bombing and possibly a ground invasion into Iran is imminent.  That choice by our leaders isn’t any better now than it was two weeks ago; and we are sure that the consequences for the world will continue to be horrific if President Trump leads us down that road.

Tensions are on the rise for the Ukraine war too, and in addition to more bombing on both sides; Russia is sending out strong warnings against the countries that are facilitating the drone attacks into Russia – including allowing Ukrainian access to airspace for the drones and facilities for Ukrainian companies to build their drones in other countries.  We’ll hope that the war there won’t escalate too, but the leaders involved there are just as foolish and seem intent on destroying the entire region.

That’s enough for today.  Ethan and I need to catch up on our sleep; so we’re going to do that starting right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - April 18, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 59^th Birthday, Jacob Stone!

I am so glad that I am writing the updates this year; since Ethan would never mention that Michael’s father is still one of the hottest men in our town; and definitely does not look like he is just a year shy of sixty!  No, he doesn’t look like Jake’s slightly-older brother, but that’s because they both look younger than they are.  We don’t want to scare future Magi readers, but I’ll add that Miranda looks much-younger than she is too; and people that do not know them wouldn’t believe that they have three kids in their twenties and thirties along with a handful of grandkids!  Ethan definitely does not want me to comment on the party they’ll be having tonight – though we can’t write about kid-free nights because they get them most of the time except for sleepovers with those grandkids! ;^)

As for our day-so-far; we’ll start with the rest of the story from last night.  While Mom waited for Dad to get home from Crystal Springs and looked forward to a kid-free night that we also won’t write about; Ethan and I met up with our friends at Sophia’s house; we got to bike for a bit over an hour before the rain risk had us hurrying back to her house; and then we had a good night from making dinner for the teens and parents in the house to the music, movies, and co-ed cuddle and nap times.  Sophia and Aiden had extra friends with us for the food and evening, but only had their four best friends stay overnight.

The rain and storms were past by morning, so while it had cooled down a lot; we still went outdoors for a chilly Tai Chi workout by the river.  That was fun; so was the breakfast that the teens in the house cooked and cleaned up from; and then we split up to get to work or chores plans for the day.  That’s what we’ve been doing all day, and now that we have chores at Cassie and Michael’s house too; we’ve been busy with that work all day.  While we’re thinking about Cassie and Michael, we should mention that Faith is currently taking care of Mandy; and our favorite family cat likes staying with her a lot – though she’ll take turns at our house and with the Carringtons too while Cassie and Michael are away.  Cassie and Michael are doing sightseeing today in the Seattle area, but they are also going to have dinner with some of Uncle Mark’s family while in the area; and one of our charities will be doing some work with the medical centers and hospitals his family works with that will help low-income families get access to higher-end medical treatments and mental health care.

Our work for the day isn’t finished, but the chores are done; and now we’re getting ready to head out for some babysitting while Mom and Dad will be busy with Jacob’s birthday dinner and party.  We will not be there for that meal because we’re going to be taking care of next gen kids at two different homes.  Aiden will be with me at Violet and Dillon’s house; and Ethan and Naomi will be babysitting at the Palmers.  We need to get to that now, but we’ll be split up for the rest of the night too because I’ll host Aiden here for our co-ed sleepover while Ethan is going to stay with Naomi and her family.  We’ll have those stories for you tomorrow night and we’re going to skip the world news and do a weekend update for that; so that’s all we have for this report.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - April 17, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We are probably becoming cynics, but this early update is starting with the top world news stories of the day – and we are all supposed to believe that there is good news from the Middle East.  Israel and Lebanon are declaring a ceasefire – though there are still reports of fighting and bombings; and the Strait of Hormuz is supposed to be completely open for business – though the ceasefire between Iran and the United States still seems to be very tentative.  Maybe the fighting will stop – we’ll wait to see whether that actually happens or not, but the actual problems of the region remain without resolution; and the war has already led to hundreds of billions of dollars in damage that will drag on the world economy for months and years.

Ethan and I have a limited amount of time right now because we want to bike with our friends before the rain and thunderstorms arrive; we’re only here at home to pack overnight bags; and then we’ll be out of here and off to that play time and a co-ed night that Sophia is hosting.  The rest of our day included Tai Chi by the river and a hot breakfast with Mom; our academic adventures included extra outdoor time thanks to the nice weather; and now we’re going to enjoy the weather while we still can because the rain is going to move in sometime within the next few hours.

The rest of our story for today can wait for tomorrow, but before we wrap this up; we should at least mention that this is a travel day for Cassie and Michael as they head to Seattle for the next few days.  They’re going to have a play weekend on the west coast; and then get back to work on Monday.  We haven’t talked with them today because it was still early in Salt Lake City when we headed to school this morning, but we’re sure they’ll have fun while we’re doing our own thing here at home.  Stay tuned for our next update; and we’ll get back to those adventures with our family and friends right now.

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - April 16, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 31^st Birthday, Dillon!

The family-and-friends’ birthday dinner party was the top news of our day.  Naomi and Aiden were with us to help with the pre-dinner work and next-gen kid control; we all helped with the kids through the meal; and then we took them along to game night at the Inn after the clean-up.  We had fun with all of the work and play; Dillon’s had a good day too; and we won’t comment on the kid-free night he’ll be sharing with Violet – including some pub time with their friends while his parents have their kids for the night.

That’s really all we have for our own news today.  The academic adventures weren’t newsworthy – though we did have fun with project work time and a test this morning.  The weather was decent with a high around eighty this afternoon, but we didn’t have extra outdoor time at school; so we only enjoyed the outdoor time at lunch and during walks between homes, school, and the Inn.  We took Silkie for a walk after the game night fun while walking Naomi and Aiden to their homes.

Since we’d already had a long, busy day by then, Mom didn’t let us do any work in the office tonight or even a short Magi lesson.  Bath or Jacuzzi time was up next after we got home from that last walk; and now we’re winding down fast toward nap time.  Cassie and Michael have been working in Salt Lake City today; and they’ll be moving on to Seattle tomorrow and staying there for a few days including a play weekend.  Their work so far is a bit different than normal work trips, but that is mostly because many of our family business and charity partnerships in our own country have been developed differently – mostly because Mom started with those partnerships when she first began to take control of her inheritances when she was twenty-one.  Their meetings and site visits are easy-going and casual – though they will have higher stakes deals to work on for some of their stops in places like Chicago and New York City, but even those plans won’t be as-challenging as their international deals.

That brings us to the world news update.  We’re not sure what to include tonight; since fact and fiction from our world leaders blur the lines for what we can believe or distrust.  For example, one story is about Israel and Lebanon agreeing to a ceasefire, but details are sketchy; and Hezbollah appears to be out of the loop for those negotiations.  Since they are the actual fighters in that conflict; that ceasefire will be worthless if they are not part of the deal.  The Strait of Hormuz blockade is supposedly continuing, but ships are passing through and Iran apparently continues to get tolls paid for those passages.  Talk of extending the ceasefire with Iran roll on at the same time that our leaders are threatening a resumption of the war and bombing; so we doubt that peace is actually imminent.

Finally, in Ukraine, Russia has resumed bombing military and energy targets across Ukraine, they have suggested that targets in other countries might be added to the list because those countries are aiding Ukrainian military; and Ukraine has targeted more Russian oil tankers.  That last part is bad news for the already-stressed energy markets of the world; and the Russian retaliations are likely far-worse for the Ukrainian people.

Okay, that’s enough for tonight.  We’re tired and ready to get some sleep so we will starting right now.

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