Summer updates: Family Reunion

In the beginning of July we were able to go to Oliver BC, in the Okanagan Valley and attend our Ness Family Reunion. We had a great time visiting with lots of family, there were lots of cousins that the kids hadn't met, and getting to enjoy time with cousins that they already love.  There were quite a lot of kids there.  The kids all really enjoyed the face painting and maze that were there.  We played games and got to have balloon animals made. It was such a great time for the kids, which means that the parents enjoyed it as well!

I loved Macartneys request to be a vampire bat.

Amber and I testing out our hoola skills.  Mine were pretty low, Amber was pretty good!

Thatcher was a great Frankenstein!

Gainor Family tug-of-war, girls against boys!

Paul was so great, there were many people that didn't see too much of him as he spent his time patiently waiting with napping kids while I visited for a few days straight.

Our troop!

The Wigg bunches!



We enjoyed a great vacation.  We ate lots of cherries, played in the pool, went to church together, played with cousins and just had a great time.  There were a few evenings that we stayed out visiting and catching up late into the evening.  It was so great!

The 30's will be the best!

We were so thankful to many of our great friends who joined us to celebrate my turning 30!! I know that it was so long ago now, but for the purpose of journalling our lives, I can't miss this big day.  We ate great food and did my favorite thing, sit around and chat with many of my favorite people.  It was such great fun.  It was so great to have friends from all different places in our lives and they all seemed to know someone else as well.  It is a small world!   

Matt and Erin Olsen

 



Dalin Doney and Barry Moore



Kevin Strom and Patrick and Lindsay Law

 

Scott and Melissa Mostert

 Kelly Moore with one of the sweet little Strom twins and Jacquie Strom their mom.

Tami Doney enjoying the other sweet babe.  Sorry if we missed anyone in the pictures.  We were just so grateful for those who could travel way out to see us.  Especially after we had been away for a year, it was very welcoming to see you all again!

Here is my cake.  It was lemon cake with raspberry and lemon curd filling.  I have been into fruit and cake lately, especially lemon.  It was yummy!  Hooray, I am 30!  I have been excited to reach this milestone.  I figure that I am more justified in my life of having 4 children as I get older.  I am happy to be where I am!  I am in my 30's, how exciting!

My Little Man!

Here is my little man- getting so big!!
I love this picture of Marshall attacking Dawsyns face.  This is so much like a baby, with those sharp little fingernails, to need to grab hold tight.  He grabs faces, tries to stick his fingers in your mouth, he pinches and bruises my arms.  Babies are just so funny with their need to grab and pinch.  Dawsyn probably deserves being pinched as well with her wrestling Marshall with her hugs!





They just love their little brother so much!

He crawled underneath the chair and then could not get himself back out.

All of these babies in their cribs!

Kyndal is playing babysitter, in charge of all these babies.

Out for a picnic at the Bird Sanctuary.  It was such a fun day.  We were watching in the pond a small rodent that we worked to figure out what it was.  It ended up being a muskrat but it was so fun to try and narrow down what we thought it was, from beaver to otter.  It was a great learning experience and entertaining to watch it.  We then came home and learned more about muskrats.

 

Learning and Growing!

It has been interesting to me lately as I understand more of myself, my personality, my strengths and weaknesses, to then look at how I deal as a parent and cope with my kids personalities. In so many ways we are so much alike. Some of our weaknesses are so similar which makes it so difficult to teach those things that I am not good at.

I have a few quotes from conference that are very helpful to me. One is "the greatest challenge of mortality is to be a worthy and responsible parent." Another is "we learn far more from our children then ever we did from our parents." These are really helping me to keep perspective in each stage and challenge as well as to recognize the things that I need to work on in myself before I can try to expect that of my children.

It is such a journey of learning for all of us and obviously will be even more for me then for them. My learning curve as a parent is so steep, they keep changing and doing different things. Even when something works, it usually doesn't last all that long. I am trying to enjoy where we are at and not focus on all of the improvements that need to be made. We are making progress slowly and surely. That is what we need to celebrate.  This is why our new family motto has become

"We are ALL Learning."  We have skipped the parenting 101.  This is our course-Parenting 501!!

My Sweet Joy!

My sweet Kyndal Joy!

I like to do these updates of each kid. I feel like I want to do my journalling of what they are like and doing at each phase.

Kyndal sure loves her pet hamster.  She has learned a lot about responsibility from her as well.  Without complaining she will take care of feeding and watering.  So that is really great.  Without much complaining she will clean out her cage.  So that is lots of progress from when she didn't want to do any part of it.  She is really growing up in so many ways.

Daddy and Kyndal have really been working hard on building their relationship.  She is really becoming Daddy's girl.  Their need for that time with Dad seems to increase as they get older. 

This is such a Kyndal look.  She has really perfected the art of giving looks.  This one is mostly curious and interested but she has some looks that could catch you on fire.  Like she has lasers out of those eyes.  She even growls if she is really mad.  We are always working on better expressing ourselves with words rather then growls.

I really think that tree climbing is one of the best things of summer.  We have spent so much time outside in the trees this summer.

 We made our great swing, which was enjoyed and then broke and we get to move on to a new project and game. 

I love these pictures of our little Gainor clan!  The just love to wrestle and climb and play with Daddy!  It is so much fun!! 

We sure have great kids!  I love to have times that I appreciate how wonderful they are.  When they play so well together, or say things that help me to see that they are learning.  When I can look back and remember how little they were and how big they are getting.  That they are coming so far.  I get to see that we are all learning along this journey together.  Even though we all make lots of mistakes we are making progress, which we need to celebrate, or even recognize, more often.  I am so happy for where I am in my life, I know that it is the right place.  I am grateful to have my family, who I love and help me to grow so much.  I feel so very blessed and these are my greatest blessing!