Long-time sweethearts Sarah and Daniel McNamara live at Kerry with their daughters Sylvia, 3, and Eleanor, 1, and their 13-year-old Golden Retriever Lyla.
Sarah, 34, and Dan, 36, were married in 2010 and they’ve been together for nearly two decades – since 2003.
They met via the old video shop Sarah’s mum, Di Lydiard, had in Beaudesert Fair Shopping Centre. Dan was a regular customer, got a job there and the rest is history.
They bought their place at Kerry – a house Dan’s parents built – nine years ago.
There, they’ve nurtured a home filled with love, memories and the energetic, curious running around of two little girls learning about the world.
The Beaudesert Bulletin sat down with the McNamaras to hear their thoughts on family.
Here’s what they had to say:
What does family mean to you?
Sylvia: “I’m the big sister. We’ve got to eat all our vegetables and then we get bigger. Sometimes I snatch things when Eleanor is playing with them and then I get a bit sad and then I give the things back. That’s sharing, that’s what big sisters do.”
Sarah: “We both have small nuclear families and we’re both only children. We’re really lucky to have a lot of support from our parents with our own children. We’ve got some dear friends who are like family, too. So, Sylvia and Eleanor have lots of unofficial aunts and uncles who we love a lot. We’re close with our cousins and their little ones.”
Dan: “Family is everything. Everybody is more fulfilled by having a strong family base, whether it’s actual biological family or a friendship family or strong work cohort family.”
Sarah: “We’ve got our really good friends from BAMS Theatre, too, and we call them our ‘Bamily’. We don’t see everybody as much as we like because it’s really hard to do shows with small children. But it’s a season and they’re only little once.”
Becoming Family is about celebrating families of all descriptions. If you’d like us to feature your family, or tip us off about a great Becoming Family story, please get in touch via news@beaudesertbulletin.com.au
