Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park

Just west of Calgary is this very new provincial park. We had never been until last weekend. I can say that I really appreciate the beauty that the prairies and foothills possess. The multitude of grasses. The expansive sky. The trembling aspen. The Rocky Mountain frame.

Calgary Reads Big Book Sale

This is our family's fourth time attending the frenetic Calgary Reads Big Book Sale in the 7 years living in Calgary and I think it will need to become an annual tradition. I met my family there after work. They spent the day downtown already for the Children's Festival.

I have to be very careful not to binge purchase as there are so many books I would love to have on my book shelves. I even put 2 selected books back making my count 11. All were $3 each except my collectible Tolstoy volume which was $8.



For me:

• Something Beautiful for God: The Classic Account of Mother Teresa's Journey into Compassion (Malcolm Muggeridge)
• Thoughts and Meditations (Kahlil Gibran)
• Glimpsing the Face of God: The Search for Meaning in the Universe (Alistair McGrath)
• Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John & the Praying Imagination (Eugene H Peterson)
• Can You Hear Me? Tuning in to the God who Speaks (Brad Jersak)
• Becoming Human (Jean Vanier)
• The Imitation fo Christ (Thomas À Kempis)
• Stories and Legends (Leo Tolstoy)
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Jean-Dominique Bauby)
• Life After God (Douglas Coupland)
• I Am America (and So Can You!) (Stephen Colbert)

I'm sure you can discern my penchant for books on Christian Spirituality.

My family got in on the action too. Blaise was wiped out from the day so he only had the energy to hunt down three books. He is by far the family's most prolific reader. I think he passed me in number of books read before he turned 8. My son carefully picked out 2 books by Jean Little, a reknown Canadian author and one by Gary Paulson, author of a book he recently read and loved called Hatchet.



Acadia is also careful. She's into Bible stories (like her papa) and dogs (not like her papa or her mama).



Amber cost us the least. I think she should have gotten more books. She uses the library better than me.

Travelling to Northern BC

Every year. Every year since I've met my wife*, I have made the trek north to Smithers, Hazelton, Kispiox, etc., BC to visit her mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends.

It's a very long drive. Interestingly, it's essentially the same distance from Edmonton as it currently is from Calgary: 1,150 kms. While it would only take light under 0.004 seconds to travel that distance, it takes us 12 hours.



12 hours in our little Toyota Matrix. The kids sleep, eat, read, eat, play on the iPad, ask for snacks, tell me to turn down the music, and eat.



The first 4 hours take us through world class national parks Banff and Jasper. I never tire of driving Highway 93 through the Columbia Ice Fields.



Everytime I've driven Highway 93 at this time of year it has been covered in a thick pack of snow. This year it was bone dry allowing us to make good time. And it didn't muck up our undercarriage.



Amber reserved us rooms at the Hostels International in Jasper, which is just outside of Jasper. The common area is beautiful and peaceful. I played card games with three guys I met after Amber and the kids went to bed. During that time however, there was a group of 8 guys who were very loud and very rude.

We had a private room. My kids were tickled to sleep in a bunk bed. I had a hard time getting to sleep with all the comings and goings and loud conversations and dance music (?!).



The next morning, I drove to McBride, BC where we stop to pee. We pass Mount Robson, the highest mountain in British Columbia, on this leg. Amber drove the next 2 hours to Prince George. She got to drive through the blizzard. The weather can be different every 2 hours as you cross through different mountain ranges.



We stopped to stretch our legs less than an hour from Smithers at the little highwayside park in Houston. They boast the largest fly fishing pole.





Then we enjoy the warm hospitality of our hosts and the cool mountain air and bits and pieces of northern life.



















*Almost every year. Every year minus 3, so just 15 times.

vapors

276 years ago a certain François "le jeune" Robichaud (my 6th great grandfather or 8 generations back) marries Marie LeBorgne de Belleisle, a woman of noble French lineage, but also the great-grand-daughter of the Madokawondo, Chief of the Penobscot Tribe. François and Marie escaped the Great Dispersion of Acadians in 1755 with 5 young children. Their son settled on the east coast of New Brunswick where the Robichaud family remains today.

15 generations earlier, one of Marie's ancestors is Louis IX, a Capetian King of France who ruled France for half of the 13th century. Louis IX led the 7th and 8th Crusades. During the 7th, he was taken prisoner by the Egyptians but was ransomed for 1/3 of France's annual income. He died of dysentry in Carthage after landing their to begin the 8th Crusade. He's the St. Louis by the way.

7 generations of French Kings earlier, Robert "The Pious" II marries Constance of Arles (my 30th generation ancestor) in 1001, his third wife. Their marriage is stormy and Robert is urged by friends to repudiate her. Robert even tries to get a third divorce so he can go back to his second wife, a first cousin - this is refused by the pope. Constance continually encourages her 3 sons to challenge their father for more power which caused a lot of family strife. Eventually they challenged her and she yielded.

Constance's great-grand-father, Louis "The Blind" King of Provence and for a short time the Holy Roman Emperor (901-905) is betrothed to Anna, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI "The Wise." This is a diplomatic move made to consolidate power in southern Italy. It didn't work very well as Louis is blinded in a battle trying to maintain control over Italy who wasn't keen on serving him because he couldn't stem Magyar attacks.

Anna's mother is of noble Armenian descent. Leo VI, Anna's father, was the son of Eudokia Ingerina and either one of two different men: Michael III who had Eudokia as a mistress or Basil I who married her afterwards and had Michael killed. And thus ends this particular line due to the uncertain lineage. We do know that Eudokia's family was iconoclastic and therefore hated by Michael's mother. Her parents were Ingr, a Varangian guard, and Martiniake.

Doll Bed for a Little Mama

My daughter Acadia drew her cousin's name in the Christmas gift draw. We decided that we (I) would build her a little bed for a doll and we could paint it together. I bought and cut the wood necessary for two little cribs and kept one set for Acadia as a gift. We assembled the first one for my niece and immediately Acadia began using it with her doll, Emma. We found her one afternoon curled up next to her doll with just the lights from the Christmas tree.



Acadia chose pink to paint her cousin's bed and she did a great job painting it. We painted some purple stars on the head and foot boards.



Christmas morning, my niece put her doll right into the new bed. Acadia got 5 pieces of cut wood tied together with a bow. I could see she was glad to have her own now that she was giving up the one she used most of December.



Together we assembled, puttied, sanded, then painted hers pink too. Acadia chose a font for the word LOVE and requested a couple hearts for the footboard. I painted the words and hearts with a tiny paintbrush.

This project/gift reminded me of a Christmas gift my father made for me when I was 5 or 6. He made a couple wooden trucks. Sadly, these burned in a house fire a year or two later. They were really quite nice as he is a real craftsman.

30 Months of Co-Living

We are into the middle of our third year at the RobiRoost where we share a 5 bedroom house with another family of 4 (their last name also begins with Robi...). It was meant to be a single year of co-living in transition between our former homes and the anticipated cohousing project we were all a part of. When the project was delayed and then abandoned, both our families were left in a bit of a quandary and so we moved to a different house and continued our home sharing.

Our families live remarkably well together. We share essential tastes in food, drink, activities, movies, beliefs, and lifestyle. There is a mutual care and respect for each other. We trust each other. We play together. Look after each other's children for date nights. We built and then enjoyed a beer advent calendar (more on this soon). This arrangement has given us some relief from the disappointment of losing our cohousing dream as we have built in community.

My children will certainly have a defined memory of these surrogate siblings and parents. They get tucked in once a week by either Jasen or Heather. They play Lego and superhero and house and watch morning cartoons on the weekend with their housemates.



We decided to celebrate our big family Christmas by going out for some food and then walking around Commonwealth Park to see the holiday lights. It was nice to relax together in this way. For me it demonstrated that getting together is not as special as it used to be. We've crossed a familiarity barrier that few people cross beyond the nuclear family. It's uncharted territory. I joke with my work colleagues about having a sister-wife and brother husband because I haven't found an easier way to explain who they are.

This fine family has inspired, encouraged, nourished, shared, commiserated with, challenged and blessed ours. I hope we have been able to do the same for them as they have become very special to us.

Cheers to 30 months together!

Historical Tour of Romance

I asked Amber out just over 17 years ago. She accepted my invitation to go for a hot drink at Kavaccinos in Lacombe and our relationship sprouted, budded and blossomed from that night in September. We decided to take the kids to this coffee shop and share some memories.

I was super nervous to ask her out. So nervous that I had to go to Lakeview Hall twice in the attempt - the first time she was in the lobby with a group of people which completely unnerved me. the second time I phoned the wrong Amber from the dorm lobby (I didn't know her last name) first and then finally got her on the phone. I borrowed my sister's car and took her out. I had no idea then what kind of joy would come from this euphoric date.

The coffee and food were better than I remember. Spending time with Amber gets sweeter everyday though.



We met at CUC which is changing its name from Canadian University College to Burman University (a move I fully endorse). I was on the welcoming team of upperclassmen when Amber arrived as a freshman. She caught my eye when she joined my jellybean group where we played a dumb name game. I emerged from Freshmen Orientation completely smitten. I had to ask her out just to put my mind at ease so I could continue with my studies.



After our initial date, we went on walks around the lakes at CUC. We took the kids down the hill behind the dorm to the path beside Lake Barnett.



Our first kiss was on one of these walks. I ended up kissing Amber's teeth because she was smiling so big. We've managed to improve on that one since.



One of the moments when I have sensed God's presence most profoundly was in the week or two following the beginning of our relationship. I was on my way to early morning classes walking up College Avenue when I was overwhelmed with how God had blessed me with this remarkable companion.