Ehlana's and Ethan's journals - September 6, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 6^th Birthday, Colin Sinclair!

Happy 26^th Birthday, Hu Lee!

We are not going to make a big deal out of our championship games last night, but Ethan and I each helped our teams to wins; we had fun with our teammates; and then we moved on to the campfire and camping night in our back yard with a gang of cousins and friends.  Naomi and the Holiday Harmonies provided most of the musical entertainment that the teens and some adults danced to; some of the boys took care of the scary stories that were next-gen-kids friendly; and then we eventually got the younger kids off to sleep in our tents; stayed up too-late with a late swim and teen chat time by the river; and eventually had naps until we needed to get up for Tai Chi by the river.

Ethan and I were busy this morning from that workout, and we had time constraints because we needed to be at the park early for the set-up for the church service.  We still managed to help with the younger kids; get most of our camper gang fed; and got ready for the day and to the park on-time.  The rest of the teen praise team and teens helping with the skits and readings were there to help with the set-up; the service was amazing and we loved sharing our music with the thousands of people that showed up for the service – including an amazing number of campers from the area campgrounds.  Pastor John’s message was beautiful and heartfelt; we wrapped up with three praise songs; and then we needed to stay behind to pack up our gear and help to return it to homes or the church.

We missed out on most of the family lunch and the start of the co-ed game, but we caught up eventually; and joined in on the fun.  ‘Our’ team was not playing in the big game, but we cheered for Palmer’s Pride over Sheldon’s Stampede.  It was a good game even with the usual co-ed entertainment that added a bit of comedy to go with the baseball action; and Palmer’s won.  Thanks to the continuing awesome weather, the play time that followed included the game booths, frozen treats, and swim time in the river – which is why we’re here at home getting cleaned up and changed before heading back to the park for dinner and the family dance.  We’ll be hosting a second camping night after the dance; so this was our best time for writing this update too.  That also is all of our own news, but we should add that we weren’t in on either of the bid-chats that others had for those birthdays while busy elsewhere.  Cassie and Michael led the chat with Lee and May; Adam and Leanne did the same for the call with Colin and his parents and sister; and we hope that they have an awesome day too.  We need to get back to the park; so let’s wrap this up with the world news as we know it so far today.

There is no sign of peace in the Middle East while the switch for that is still supposedly turned toward Ukraine and Russia.  Oil tankers and other ships are being targeted and hit in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz by both sides; retaliations happen daily; and the risks of escalation are high.  The costs to global shipping capacity must be rising too; and we do not know how many ships have been lost either to be repaired or from being sunk or damaged beyond repair.  That will eventually be a problem; since there has to be some limit where the system will have problems when there aren’t enough ships to handle the transportation needs and then there will be supply chain delays that could become devastating – especially when it comes to food shipments.  In this case, we mean that for all of the ships being hit in the Black Sea and elsewhere because of the Ukraine war.  Add in all of the recent government piracy; and the entire situation is a mess.

While media reports of ceasefires in Ukraine continue to get air time, Russia’s pause in airstrikes on Kiev really just leaves them with lots of other targets to hit instead; and the fighting on the front lines rolls on and continues to look dire for the Ukrainian forces as their forces are being surrounded in multiple locations.  We also want to mention a story we’ve seen about just how many Ukrainian locomotives have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks.  Five hundred train engines must already be enough to seriously-disrupt the last transportation system left in the country for mass transit and large-scale cargo hauling; and the entire system could eventually collapse if Russia keeps targeting the trains to shut down supply lines to the front lines.

Okay, we are out of time; so that’s all for today.  Stay tuned; and we’ll have a holiday weekend wrap-up report for you sometime tomorrow night.

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

We are going to start this update with the sports report; since that has been our focus for most of our holiday weekend-so-far.  The Maple Valley fans did not have much love for us last night as our team rolled to a convincing forty-seven to six victory.  Naomi would want me to mention that too-many of those Maple Valley girls liked her boyfriend a bit too much as he quietly led the way for our team with three touchdowns.  Aiden and Aaron had the other two touchdowns for our team; and then Coach Robinson had them kick four field goals through to the end of the game to avoid running up the score on Maple Valley.  Our cheer squad routines were still a hit with the crowd despite the bad day for local football; Naomi got to drive us home; and then our favorite boys eventually caught up with us after getting back with the team.  We had fun with our co-ed cuddle and nap time; and I will not reveal names for the teens in the lounge that fell asleep before we even got held-way into the movie! ;^)

Ethan and I loved sharing that time with our friends and favorite cuddle buddies; Tai Chi by the river this morning was great; and then we had a hot breakfast before moving on to some chores while we had time before the first ‘family’ ball game of the day.  That was Brianna and Faith’s game, and while we didn’t get to watch all of it; Brianna pitched another no-hitter to lead her Rebels team to a nine-to-zero championship win over the Patriots.  We can only wish that our games will go that way tonight, but we’ll have to give you that news tomorrow; since we’re taking care of our computer checks and this report while we have a bit of time before dinner and those evening games.  Along with the baseball, Ethan and I had to help with the work around our lunch break that we had at the park too while catching the end of Brianna’s game and the start of Leah and Hailey’s match.  That battle ended up being a win for the Mist over the Sapphire Storm, but it was closer; and Leah and Hailey needed to help their team to get the late lead and then keep it.  By then, the decision had been made to have a camping night for the kids and teens; we took time out from the baseball action to help with getting tents set up in our back yard; and then we’ve had more play time with family and friends because we didn’t have a mid-afternoon game to cheer for – though Zack, Eli, and some of their teammates went to the park to support their friends playing on the two teams that did make it to the big game in their division.  The weather is still amazing with the high near one-hundred; so we did a lot of swimming, a bit of canoeing, and helped with keeping the next-gen kids entertained.  Now we’re taking this little break while multi-tasking grabbing our camping gear and getting changed for our games tonight before we need to go and help with the barbeque dinner work or more kid-control fun.  We are having an awesome weekend so far; hope that will continue; and will share those stories with you in our next update.  For now, we need to get back to work and play time now; so here’s our micro world news report; and then we’ll get out of here and back to the holiday adventures still in-progress!

The top story so far today is again the peace talks for the Ukraine war; ‘our’ envoys are currently in Moscow; and President Putin has announced a three-day pause in the attacks on Kiev.  While we’re sure that is welcome news for the people living in that city; we expect that it is just more political theatre; and it won’t matter if any deals are announced when the odds of western countries or Ukraine upholding their side of any deal has proven to be zero for decades now!  Let’s add that the focus on the Ukraine war allows Israel to do more bad things to their neighbors without as much scrutiny; so this back-and-forth switching between wars only leads to escalations in the other one.  We really don’t want to spend any time on the bad news, and it would be amazing to find out over the next few days that we can be proven wrong and peace will break out around the world; so let’s go with that delusional happy thought; wrap this up; and Ethan and I will try our best to keep all of the happiness going here at home – especially for our friends and teammates during our championship games!

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

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

 

Ehlana, Naomi, and Sophia:

It is game day; and this update is coming to you live from the minivan that Naomi is driving while Mom is her driver-trainer; and Sophia and I are along for the ride to Maple Valley!  Since this is a girls-only report; our day started out differently for each of us – though if I include Mom; two of us started the day with Tai Chi by the river with Dad and Ethan.  Sophia might have started her day with a co-ed cuddle buddy; and Naomi did her Tai Chi workout with the Carringtons because they happened to be outside at the same time.  We did our own breakfasts with family or a boyfriend in one case; and then we met up at the school for our cheer squad practice.  We were busy with that until lunchtime; we had that meal with our favorite boys during their lunch break time with the team; and then Sophia had to do some other things this afternoon while Naomi came home with me and we played on, in, and near the river with some cousins and friends.  Ethan and Aiden joined us after they were set free early to have a rest break before needing to catch their bus to Maple Valley; we spent most of that time in the river; and then Naomi and I still had a bit of time after the boys returned to the school for that bus ride before we needed to meet up with Sophia and Mom invited Naomi to do the driving.  That brings us up to now, and the news from the game and the rest of our day will have to wait for tomorrow, but before we wrap up our home town news; we should mention that we are missing out on all of the family fun related to the incoming weekend guests.  Mom and Dad aren’t hosting anyone this weekend, but the cottages are in-use by Uncle Blaine, Aunt Alison, and Jayden at their cottage; Chris and Sadie in Mom and Dad’s cottage; and our grandparents are hosting Grandpa Duncan and Aunt Mercy at their house.  The rest of the Rice clan is away this weekend; and so are most of the Johnson clan families.  The exceptions for them include Rob, Trish, and their kids – and they are staying with the Ayres while Tory, Kyle, and their kids are spending the weekend with Christina and the Palmers.  Everyone else opted to stay home or make other plans, but then it is getting harder for everyone to juggle so many different family commitments and their own busy lives to get everyone together on any one weekend.  We’ll save the rest of the family news for our next few updates, and while we still have time before we’ll be in Maple Valley; I’ll just wind this down with a quick world news report.

Peace talks were the top story today for the Ukraine war with reports of another trip for America’s favorite envoys that have no official job with the government yet manage to spend a lot of money getting nothing done!  They are going to visit Ukraine and Russia with the latest peace deal plan that we are sure will be rejected by one or both sides; and then we’ll go back to the war-in-progress that won’t stop while this is happening anyway.  While that is going on, tensions remain high in the Middle East; President Trump is again threatening civilization-ending attacks on Iran; and peace is definitely not on the table for that war – today.  A person could get whiplash trying to keep up with the political games and flip-flops.  As we head into the holiday weekend; we’re simply going to hope that none of our leaders do something to blow up the world while we’re busy trying to have fun with our families and friends.

That’s all for today.  Stay tuned; since we are going to have a lot of fun with the game tonight; the co-ed sleepover we’re going to have after the game win or lose; and all of the rest of our holiday adventures from championship games tomorrow to the party in the park on Sunday and through to the holiday Monday shopping and buffet at the Inn fun!

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

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

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Day four of our last week of the summer has been fun, but we’ve done a fair bit of work too; so we’re tired tonight and need to get some extra sleep to be ready for Friday, the football game, and the holiday weekend.  Tai Chi by the river and breakfast with Mom and Dad were, as always, and quiet and happy way to start the day; football and cheer squad practices went well; and then Naomi and I worked on yard chores after lunch; Ethan and Aiden joined in after their football practice wrapped up; and we had everything done by the time we wrapped up for a late dinner that Mom and Dad hosted for us – and for a small gang of aunts, uncles, cousins, and other friends.  We wrapped that up by a bit after eight – including the clean-up; our guests all headed out to their homes; and Ethan and I moved straight on to bath or Jacuzzi time without any Magi lessons or office work.  That brings us up to now; so let’s do the world news report and then we are going to go and get that extra nap time.

We’re going to focus on the Ukraine war stories tonight because there were so many strange and crazy reports related to the conflict.  First up, there is a story about a resignation of the Estonian Defense Minister over wasting seventy-million dollars and ‘faulty’ ammunition for Ukraine.  There are rumors that the true story is that the man got scammed out of the seventy-million dollars that he paid to a shell company in Italy for a deposit on weapons for Ukraine only to have the company ‘disappear’ with that deposit.  Either way, this is yet another indication that our world leaders are not very bright!

The next stories are tied together because the leaders in both countries are trying hard to link them without any proof actually good-enough to show anyone to back up their claims.  Germany ‘found’ an explosives-laden drone at one of the airports a few weeks ago that they now claim was a failed attack on the Ukrainian military cargo jet that just happened to be right next to the drone.  The German government isn’t showing any proof; insist that everyone just take their word for it; and suspend all logic when it seems far more-likely that the drone was brought there on that cargo jet; set up next to it; and then left to be found by airport personnel.  The tie-in story is about a drone-making factory in Poland where there was a major fire; and now the Polish leaders are claiming that Russia is sending sabotage teams into Europe to attack factories building weapons for Ukraine.  While we aren’t suggesting that it is impossible that Russia could do that; it is much-easier for us to believe that Ukrainian forces would do that to create false flag events – and they definitely are suspected in other attacks that included incidents at a few refineries that had continued to process Russia oil and gas.  Germany and Poland are now leading the way to fight more-directly with Russia; and that would really be more insanity!

Finally, for the Ukraine war, Norway pirated another Russian ship at the request of Ukraine – this time an Arctic science research ship.  We can only wait to see how long it will be before Russia gets fed up with the piracy and retaliates against those countries involved in robbing their companies and people.  As for the actual war and fighting, it continues to go badly for Ukraine; and they are getting more-explicit with their threats to Russia civilian airports and passenger and cargo jets.  That is insane too; and we hope they don’t go down that road and then face even more-dire consequences.

Nothing has changed in the Middle East; President Trump is looking more-insane every day; and the attacks continue on both sides – even when that is only going after ships in the strait or gulf – and yes, our navy is hitting oil tankers too.  We have no idea how many ships can be disabled or sunk before that will become a problem for global shipping capacity, but that could become a problem in the future.

Let’s stop there.  We really are tired and need the extra sleep, so we are out of here; and off to some quality nap time right now!

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

Ehlana's and Ethan's Journals - September 2, 2026

 

Ehlana and Ethan:

Happy 59^th Birthday, Miranda!

We’ve offered our best wishes, and Mom and Dad went to Miranda’s birthday dinner party, but we’ve been too-busy today to get in on that fun too!

The hot summer weather continued today and is still looking great for the holiday weekend too; so all of our outdoor time from Tai Chi by the river to our football and cheer squad practices were better thanks to the great weather!  My day included some afternoon work-play at the lab while Ethan was with the team all afternoon; and then we met up with some friends for a quick dinner at the riverside tables next to the Pizzeria before we needed to get to the church for the teen praise team practice.  That’s our last one ahead of the holiday weekend service; we’re ready for it; and we headed for our homes by around nine o’clock.  Ethan and I did another walk with Silkie while seeing Naomi and Aiden to their homes; met up with Mom and Dad when they got back from the birthday party; and only did a Magi lesson with Mom before moving on to bath or Jacuzzi time.  That’ been a bit of a repeat to last night; and we could practically say the same for the world news of the day.

War is or isn’t on again between Iran and the United States depending on who is making the claims; there are strikes happening on both sides regardless of what they choose to call it; and the local people are paying the prices.  Iran is reporting that one of the American strikes hit a family wedding; and there were a handful of fatalities and dozens of wounded civilians.  ‘Our’ side isn’t responding to that, but it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve bombed weddings; since we’ve done that in other countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq.  While that is going on, ships are not getting through the straits in the region; and the supply chain stresses continue to worsen.  Add in new attacks from Israel into Lebanon; and the powder keg is really just waiting to explode again.

As the Middle East continues to get more of the political and media attention; Ukraine is on fire day and night; and escalation there is still possible again after the Ukraine President threatened attacks on Russian civilian airlines and airports.  Trying that would just be another huge mistake – especially if they actually succeeded in bringing down passenger jets.  This war has long-since become a disaster for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and every day it continues will just make the final reckoning worse for them.

I don’t want to offer another rant tonight; so that’s all for this report.  We’ve had another good day; we’re glad that Miranda’s birthday has been great too; and now we’re going to call it a night and get some sleep – so we’re out of here!

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