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| Photo by Larissa at Lovely Roots Photography |
It's that time of year again so here's a little update from the Ginther family.
2022 could best be defined as emerging from (or maybe recovering from) the Covid bubble in our household.
We rang in the new year at Big Shell as a family. Our kids have no idea how fortunate they are to play with their cousins at auntie and uncle's cabin and we are so thankful for this privilege and time together.
We decided to brave international travel with a wonderful family trip to Mexico in February. In fact, now that the kids are 9 and 7, we can confidently call trips VACATIONS again. What a delightful stage!
Speaking of April happenings, we were hoping to greet Easter on the west coast...
but Nathan finally succumbed to Covid and graciously relaxed at home alone for a week while we enjoyed the beautiful Victoria weather on a wonderful girls' trip with Granny Armstrong.
Back in Saskatchewan, spring brought new fun like track and field and outdoor time.
Emily had a blast with her soccer team and Gabby continues to grow in her impressive gymnastics skills. You can usually find her hanging around...
The girls love school and we are so thankful for great French Immersion teachers and a positive school environment for them as they learn this year in grades 2 and 4.
We spent an amazing summer exploring Saskatchewan. Emily loved overnight camp and Gabby and her friends rocked day camp!
We made lots of memories with friends camping around the province.
We also got in every body of water we found. Nathan's boat (and any other floating device) was a hit once more.
The highlight of our summer as a family was the kids' first backcountry camping trip at the beautiful Gem Lakes. The weather was absolutely perfect and the time with friends was the best.
What an introduction to northern Saskatchewan, not far from where the Armstrong family lived in Smeaton just a few decades ago.
While Nathan and the kids spent the most time outside in the yard, playing and making it beautiful...
Abbie made sure to get some outdoor time too by taking her kayak on a trip from Outlook to Saskatoon with friends and bringing it along wherever we travelled.
She trained outside with her sister Emma for as long as the season would allow. From a duathlon, to a sprint triathlon, to a half marathon to the Frank Dunn Triathlon, it is such a blessing to be able to move our bodies and take in the beauty of the place we call home.
The kids' highlights this summer included time at the lake...
and the Cat Café in Saskatoon. You win some, you lose some.
This fall brought some fitness challenges for Emily as she completed three more cross country races with her friends and teammates.
Emily continues to devour books, show deep thoughtfulness to everyone around her, and to excel at swimming.
She has developed a love for creative writing, laser tag (!), and sewing with Granny. It's good to keep a variety of interests.
Gabby is determined to catch up on the reading front and basically any other area she puts her mind to. She is funny and kind and loves her friends and little cousins.
While gymnastics keeps her busy, she's also improved her swimming skills and loves to work on memorizing her verses and keeping up with the homework for the kids' weekly club at our church.
We didn't travel too far this summer but we were fortunate to have lots of family stop on by Warman and area.
One of our biggest blessings is relationships with incredible grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles all around us.
The support of family and friends is a key reason in making our lives here in Saskatchewan... especially in the -40 months.
This fall, Nathan and Abbie were able to travel to Washington state for a wedding and catch up with both friends and family we haven't seen for far too long.
We already had the passports out so we tagged along with Nathan on a work trip to San Diego this October and took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere and expansive beaches.
Not only did we get some quality cousin time in...
We got a quick visit in with the Californian Carrido family!
One big change going forward into 2023 is that Abbie is stepping back from her roles in Belong Lifestyle, the community and clothing shop she and her friend Deena founded, which has continued to grow and thrive, thanks to the incredible support of women in the Saskatoon area.
She is so thankful for the relationships developed, the experiences grown, and most of all, the friendships created. You can read more about that here if you are interested. While we don't know what the future holds this year professionally for Abbie, she is staying busy between the girls' activities and a small editing business she finally formalized after years of fun helping friends, colleagues and family make sense of their thoughts on paper, from job and award applications to academic revision and social media marketing.
Nathan continues to love working in Saskatoon and he operates alongside another highly skilled colorectal surgeon who happens to be one of his best friends.
We are thankful for the whole Gill family who have become part of our circle, as well as for Nathan's opportunity to contribute to the health care system here at home.
This season as we count our many blessings, we are keenly aware of the privileges we have and our responsibility to each other. This coming year as a family, we are focusing on being good stewards of what we've been given and spending our time, money, and energy on what matters most.
Paul talks in the Bible about having treasure in jars of clay. We are the jars of clay; our health, our current country, and our financial circumstances will all change but God's promises don't and they outlast this season, no matter where you find yourself today. This is the treasure and this is the important gift, a relationship with a God who comes down to us, who is always good, and who offers love and peace to all of us broken vessels, even in uncertain times.
We're sending you love this Christmas as we reflect on this season of fulfilled promises, hope that seems impossible until it isn't, and overarching love. We hope to hear from you and see you in the new year as we start 2023 together.
Love,
The Ginther Family,
Nathan, Abbie, Emily, & Gabby
"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ...But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us... So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
-Parts of 2 Corinthians 4
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