We had such a blast down at Payne Lake Lodge this past weekend for our Neil Harker family reunion. It is hard to believe that our family has grown to 28! (11 of whom are 4 and under!!) It has been a few years of incredible blessings as the babies have arrived, even in twos- Matty and Royall's twins Rhett and Harland just turned one and started walking, and Matt and Karen's Tommy and Laura are two months old now and truly miracles.
We arrived Friday evening, in time for Leah Lorna to take family pictures. It was a little crazy, with the kids so excited to see each other, but also hungry for supper and tired from the drive to the Lodge. They were really good sports and we got some good shots of everyone. It is definitely time for a new family picture on the wall, so it will be fun to see the group shots Leah did. Karen and Royall did an amazing job of organizing the reunion so that everyone had assignments for a meal and various activities. There was just enough planned events and down time, and the meals all turned out great! Lissa did a huge pot of oatmeal for Sat. breakfast with all the toppings. Everyone loved it.
Saturday we spent in Waterton- skipping rocks by the lake, having lunch, and playing at the splash park. When nap time arrived for some, they went back to the Lodge and the rest of us had free time in Waterton. Neil and I went for a walk down by Emerald Bay, had ice cream at the Big Scoop, and then drove up to the Prince of Wales to relax in the beautiful lobby. (I had a little nap on Neil's shoulder)
(Me, rejuvenated after my little snooze)
One of the favourite activities at the lodge was canoeing in the little pond. We all had fun paddling about in the water.
Jenna organized a talent show for later in the afternoon, and everyone participated in that. One of the biggest hits was Neil doing his "broken wrist" trick.
Monday we cleaned up, packed up, and drove down the road to Hillspring for the Canada Day Parade. It was a perfect parade for a bunch of little ones- short and sweet, with horses, firemen, and lots of candy!
We all loved it!
It is a precious thing to have a family who appreciate each other, help each other, and love being together. It takes a certain amount of tolerance, forgiveness, and patience on everyone's part and I am grateful to have the amazing children and grandchildren I do. And above all the father and grandfather of them all my sweetheart Neil.
All 13 grandchildren! Precious every one.
