public confession

A man stood before his church this evening. He opened his heart and let his guilt be exposed before his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend, his friends and some strangers. His girlfriend is pregnant and his sin is exposed. The reaction of the church was complete grace. The church leaders surrounded him with hugs and prayers of forgiveness. His family embraced him with complete acceptance. His confession allowed for this. The blood of Christ allowed for this. He didn't keep his sin hidden. Their child will be well regarded in this church community. The child's parents will be well looked after and they won't be looked down upon because he made himself vulnerable.

What would have happened in my church back home. No mention. Maybe a visit from some concerned people. I don't think a confession would have happened, let alone publicly. It would be winked at. There's no healing in this. There's no community in this. People would have been gracious, but I think the hidden sin's effect would stick. Public confession, at least in a small community, carries with it the healing power. The larger the group, the greater the healing, the vaporization of shame. It was literally one of the most beautiful moments I have experienced in church.

We're Cool

Just so everybody knows, we were not, nor shall we be in the path of Hurricane Stan. But thanks for your concern. School was cancelled nationwide for two days though. Gave me a chance to go up to Fray Bartolome, about a 3.5 hour drive from Tactic. Limestone mountains, green ridges, and palm trees dotted the way there. Les, Rita, and Vicky interviewed some teachers there.



I've been teaching guitar pretty steadily to a few students. Discovered that guitar strings are less than half the cost they are in Canada. These kids are really tenacious, they'll be playing C#M7 in no time.



Hey Carl, would this be considered as desecrating a basketball?

If I could do anything I wanted to today...

I would not change a single thing.

I meant to post this yesterday. I got up and made some coffee for me and a guest. Edited some old footage to help clear my hard drive. Played with my son. Brought my PowerBook to an internet cafe as Impact Ministries interent connection was down and downloaded 4 days of emails. Walked through town to pick up a video cassette, 2 mousetraps (ratoneras), yogurt, and cheese.Had a meeting with Les, Rita, Amber, and Michelle. Gave Walter an English lesson. Helped Amber make supper. Attended the youth meeting at the school with a couple dozen youth and teachers from the school where each person shared either a song or an instrumental or a verse and word from God. It was really, really good. Some real soul. Then I came home and Skyped with Mom and sent a few emails out, now that we're back online.

Today, it's raining gently. I taught the Cuarto Primera class English and I have another couple classes later this morning. Blaise has slept 2 whole nights straight this week. He's a little man and he loves it when I blow into his face. He takes a quick breath and then smiles wide and sometimes laughs.

We attended Vicki's birthday party on Monday night. It was a surprise. When she entered, Hector and Hector David lit firecrackers, lots of them. The feast consisted of baked potatoes, beans, tortillas, salsa, bbq chicken, bbq steak, bbq sausage, and cake with delicious pineapple melon juice to drink. It was a good time. Though I understand a lot, it's still too difficult to engage in group discussions, so I stick to one on one conversations where I can stumble through sentences under more grace.

Avocados - 25 cents each

... and they're green and ripe! Ripe when they're green!!!

I'm learning Spanish pretty well. I figure by Christmas time I'll be quite fluent. This immersion thing is as good as theory declares it to be. I have an English protogé, my neighbour/friend/coworker Walter. We're having lots of fun laughing about the b-v interchangeability and -ed extensions. My English students at school have taught me a lot too. When playing hangman, they put spaces for what they say is an English word (it's English class, so I've placed natural restrictions on the game - no Spanish words) and it ends up being a local town name Paranaagulisijuaquorira or something like that. My marker dude was hung. I've also been commissioned to produce the graduation video - lots of fun to participate in here.



I've set up my office, my temporary office I should say as I will have to clear out when a short term team comes here to stay for a week at a time. It's great! I've got a closet for all my mini DV tapes, books, discs, RCA cables, tools, games, and frisbee. My desk is a slightly warped 6' X 3' table and on it... iMac, PowerBook, iPod, speakers, 3 external HD, miniDV camera, cell phone, and digital camera. Pretty sweet. It's almost like Carl's spread!

[note to zaakistan.como fans: new pictures posted. Got connected to ftp with the help of Dave in Calgary, our network administrator by proxy]

Birthday Blessings

I just returned home in the rain (fortunately I live next door) from a youth meeting. This week celebrated the September birthdays of some kids in the group. After eating pizza and visiting with people jamming in a corner and after a 30 minute time of open worship and prayer and after a story about El Spiritus Sanctus, girls gathered around their girl friends who had birthdays this month and likewise for the boys. They prayed for eachother without being shy about their devotion to their friends. It was really beautiful.

Elsewhere in our exhilarating lives... I've taught some elementary classes and one of the teachers named Walter (he also leads the youth group) English and I've taught a couple guitar lessons... in Spanish. Brutally funny. I have 17 guitar students divided in 3 groups. We've also moved to the back room of our house, with the help of Rolando, so that we aren't so close to the main road where big trucks barrel down early in the morning and in the afternoon. Mind you, as I write this at 9pm, there is a group of about 12 youth beside the back of our apartment enjoying a lively discussion which I know is keeping Amber awake (I think Amber needs sleep callouses so that she will be able to sleep through explosions and floodlights, this way I'll be able to read in bed before The End comes). We have closets in this room too which is fab.

Amber and I were treated to lunch by Rita, Les and Vicky. It's so good to know that we'll be spending so much time with these people of vision, rather than just a quick visit.

God's presence sure is great.

[note to those zaakistan.com fans: I'm having severe difficulties connecting to my website via ftp, so I'll post pictures and such when this devastating issue is resolved. Hang in there! Life without regular updates will prevail, I think.]

fwd-rwd

Bought a Nokia 1108 phone today in Coban. Bought two, same color for Amber and I. Paid Visa and was able to call Alberta directly from Guatemala immediately - no wait, no hassle, no contract.

Bought tree ripened bananas for 1 Quetzal (approx CAN$0.15). Bought six, same color for Amber and I. Paid cash and was able to walk home immediately with them within 3 minutes - no gas, no crosswalks, no rip-off.

Praise God we're here and we're so glad that we are!

Well zaakistan.com visitors, after months and months of planning and prayer and excitement and stress here and there and a lot of packing and a trip to Calgary and 2 flights and a great rest in the capital and a 3 hour drive from Guatemala City: we're here in our new home with an internet connection and beds (lots of them!) and a roof over our heads to keep us dry (lots of rain). We've here for about 90 minutes already. We're thankful and jubilant right now.

I've got our 5 large luggage pieces and 2 smaller ones to unpack, so I'll tell the detailed story of our journey in the future, perhaps, if there's nothing else exciting happening in the next couple days, so stay posted. Send us an email if you want.

Blaise has started to laugh in the past 24 hours. Very cute laugh and he's so big. He's in his swinging bed right now and he seems much lower than Tuesday night when he last slept in it.

5 weeks, now 3

Oh man. This has been a whirlwind summer. I haven't had time to think of the next 3 weeks.

So we had a great time in Montreal. Groovy place! I miss it even now. Tennis is the rain. Food that I've never heard of before. Quick friends. Gosh.

And then to Acadie. Grande-Memere could make Blaise smile so easily. Pepere turned 55. We visited a vinyard and Cap d'Or and Kevin and Pam and Peter and Shari and Jeff and Marta and Jean-Pierre and Sherry. Such a rich life there. And stars. Canoed a bit too.

We fly to Guatemala on the 23rd of Sept. I have to check online to see if my flight is still good as a bunch of flights are being cancelled due to this supposed fuel shortage. But, man, too many logistics to think of to really think of what life will be like there.

Is anyone else out there listening to Arcade Fire?

Now we're trying to pack in as much visiting with friends and family as possible and figure out which 280 lbs of our possessions we will bring to our new home. Check out www.zaakistan.com/guatemala/support.html for more details about our move.

Amber's funny today. Especially funny I should say.

Vacation Midpoint

Exhale. Inhale.

Amber is in Montreal with my baby boy. I'll be joining them and visiting my good friends on Thursday. Until them, I'm holding up in Red Deer at mom's.

On July 25 we moved out of Spruce Grove and into my mom's house in Red Deer where we'll be storing our stuff during our stay in Guatemala. Then on the 27th, we shot up to Smithers to visit Amber's relatives and we were treated to some delectables and great company and the Kispiox Music Festival. Aunties Emily and Jessica, Grandma, Greatgrandma and Greatgrandpa and a host of great aunts and uncles fell in love with Blaise. After a week we drove to Squamish to see Aunt Salome and the gang at her house. I climbed the Chief with Sal and Ron and Ride. We spent a day in North Vancouver with Amber's relatives and had a piece of a 51 lb salmon Uncle Sam caught in the Queen Charlottes. Good stuff. We motored through the Washington desert to Moscow Idaho to visit Remy and Bethany and their 2 kids and the Joneses. Some sweet garden veggies - oooh the zucchini. Amber and I used our won stay at the Lizard Creek Lodge in Fernie (see my early April blog) where we ??? SLEPT!! and the luxury - 2 bathrooms, 3 beds, dishwasher, fireplace. Blaise took 2 baths.

I'm well rested now. Ready to go again. Mom was pretty pleased to see Blaise again though.

sleep, oh precious sleep

Blaise was born yesterday and I'm so, so joyful. But I can not rest. every gurgle and whimper wakes me. I've slept about 3 1/2 hours since Amber went into labour - or 5 1/2 hours since 9 am Tuesday - now 5 am Thursday.

Our goals for today: change our sheets and

I forgot the other goal. I am driving grandma Judy to the airport now. buy.

Wow, everyone was totally right about being tired for the rest of my life. It sort of hurts.

Blaise is gorgeous though. Wow, no cry will upset me, just gets me to find the source of his discomfort. I love fatherhood. Wow, and Amber is amazing. This is such a rush.

July 10 - due date.

Amber to Zaak: Maybe if you read to my tummy, he'll want to come out and see the pictures.

Amber imitating Zaak: Amber's holding my baby hostage.

Amber singing: I need you baby.

Amber lamenting: I'm tired of being pregnant.

Single Friends

Last night, Amber and I were photographed by Justin. This guy is awesome. Why he isn't beating women away with a stick? Photographer. Musician. Chef. Graphic Artist. Racquetballer. Eastern Canadian. Valedictorian. Generous.

This is one shot he took last night.


So many great guys: Alan, Kurt, Brian, Kris, Ty, Kevin, Mati, Shane, Karel, Gary, Landon, etc...

Cupid. I could be cupid if I weren't so hairy. We have diapers, but they are pretty small (newborn to 6 months).

So many fabulous ladies too.

I sang a Caedmon's Call song at a awareness concert for eating disorders back in 2002.

Table for Two:

Danny and Ispent another late night over pancakes
Talkin' 'bout soccer and how every man's just the same.
We made speculation on the who's and the when's of our futures
And how everyone's lonely but still we just couldn't complain.

And how we just hate being alone.
Could I have missed my only chance,
And now I'm just wasting my time
By lookin' around

But ya know I know better, I'm not gonna worry 'bout nothin'.
Cause if the birds and the flowers survive, then I'll make it okay.
If given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window.
See which one keeps me up all night and into the day.

Because I'm so scared of being alone
That I forgot what house i live in.
But it's not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call.

Well this day's been crazy but everything's happened on schedule,
from the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt.
'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden,
And You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt.

And You know the plans that You have for me
And You can't plan the end and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace,
Just to get me to sleep

I got stuck in a DVD vortex

Went to town-killer tonight to see if there were any good headphones there, there weren't. But Wal-Mart has this three foot deep bin full of $7.88 DVDs. Of course, when you're as addicted as I am to owning all good films on DVD, you must see every title. I realized and pondered my own addictive behaviour as I pawed through Police Academy 5 - Operation Miami and Presumed Innocent DVDs. Of course I did see every title except for about 10 in a corner just to satisfy myself, to prove to myself for the time being that I was able to stop at anytime. I didn't look up to see if anyone was watching me.

I got the strap from my principal

I told my grade 11 math students I would write a blog post for them tonight.

Tonight they were awarded for their accomplishments in academia, athleticism, and encouragement. Many many well deserving kids. I congratulated many parents on their children's accomplishments. Though, the entire notion of recognition alongside others who are not awarded... tough call. I think of kids who are strong in areas of their life that aren't categories for awards. Yet there are some kids that do stand out - who are stepping out in their gifting - pretty cool to see these characters and what they can accomplish. Last Thursday, Nik showed the films the grade 9-12 students produced. I was thoroughly impressed at the level of skill and intuition that these students have. In some ways, their skills dwarf mine and then I get discouraged and set aside my own projects. Alas! Whatever. I'll continue film editing and producing till I die, even if my films don't receive recognition.

Tonight I got recognized for leaving - I got a brand new maple leaf guitar strap - which I need, I've been using my mandolin strap on my acoustic the past 7 years. Keith, my principal presented it to me. Great stuff. Ken, one of the fathers, prayed for me, that I would be blessed with clarity in hearing God in the coming years while we will be in Guatemala.

-- I promised to post their names as well (in alphabetical order to avoid the notion of favoritism): Aimee Angele, Andrew, Brittney, Danielle, Diana, Jennifer, Krista, and Shara-Rae.

(incidentally - the spell checker for blogger doesn't recognize the word "blog")

The Man & The Dude Dichotomy

Nik called me The Man on Saturday night. I'd rather be The Dude. Alan calls me dude. Not really anyone else. Nik rationalizes that I am The Man because I am a teacher, an authority figure. I'll be a father soon and that makes me The Man too. But I feel more like The Dude. I don't buy into The Educational System but... well, I have to do something and I love the exuberance of youth and I love learning and sharing the experience. Lebowski - he's The Dude, but I don't buy into everything he stands for either, well, maybe I do, have to watch the movie again.



Been reading J-J Rousseau's "Emile." Nice stuff. He figures babies should be bathed in warm water, but slowly weaned off of it and ultimately bathed in cold water to build their strength and tolerance. Lots of good stuff though. I'm stirred by his statements of father as the teacher of the child and as soon as we shirk that responsibility and attempt to pass it to someone else, we mislead the child and lead him down a path of darkness. No one else can teach the child. I'm honestly glad to have been taught by my father. He took a real interest in teaching me about society, history, geography, sports, music, politics, and spirituality. He's a good Man. I want to be a good Man too, with hints of Dude.

Love, White Balls, and Queen Elizabeth II

Ah! People in love.

We spent a good portion of Saturday with our newly engaged friends Sabrina and Trent. Sabrina's sister Myra was married in a tiny ceremony back in October and her reception was held on Sunday. The sisters were nice and emotional during the toast. I recall my sister's wedding - I had a good cry then (nothing against Dean, just lots of emotion). And then there's the baby coming of our little one. I can hardly go a few minutes without stifling squeals of anticipation. We asked our friends Sarah and Tim how they were able to tear their eyes away from their baby after it was born. They said it's still a struggle 8 months later.



Jason is a golfer. So the morning of his wedding reception, he amassed his family and friends to play 18 holes. The only golf I had ever played was miniature golf and one hole my senior year of high school in P.E. I was partnered up with Trent and Clive, both experienced, and both patient. Par for the course is 72. I managed 75 over par. I have a much deeper respect for golfers and currently I hold no aspirations to become one - though it was a lot of fun - I just don't think I have enough cash to shell out for broken windows and lost golf balls.



I saw Ralph
I saw the Premier
I saw the Queen in her royal rain gear.

Cold. Rainy. Cut short. She didn't say anything. The warm mini doughnuts were great. The presentations were cool. Almost passed out at the park-n-ride bus lot with all the diesel fumes.

Distant Thunder

7-10 band is coming together nicely. Our spring concert is May 26. Our primary cut is a piece called Distant Thunder of the Sacred Forest. Lots of rhythms, in fact I had to pull 2 wind musicians to play percussion. It sounded great today.

We had our summer tires put on today. It's been raining 2 days now. I think it's about 70% safe to proclaim that winter is over here.

The Great CD Sale of 2005

I was 15 when I bought my first CD. I was attending school in Halifax and on one of our Thursday night mall excursions I bought the "Crossroads" Soundtrack - a blues album by Ry Cooder.

I was 16 when I bought my first CD Player. By this time I had joined Columbia House for the first time and purchased about 20 CDs. I bought a 5 CD carousel CD player component with the high hopes of buying the amp and speakers and VCR in coming years and having my own entertainment system. I listened to my fledgeling collection with headphones in the dormroom lounge on that big machine as I wasn't permitted to listen to music in my restricted dorm room.

I was caught once. Having missed supper because of guitar lessons one Wednesday evening, I decided to boil some water on the iron in the common bathrom to make some noodles. Since it was taking so long, I thought I should use the time wisely and listent to music while waiting for bubbles to appear. I fetched my friends discman and with earbuds in place continued to warm the water. Suddenly, at about 50 degrees, Mike Philips, our dorm dad, burst into the bathroom looking for one of the guys. He was shocked - and very dismayed - that I was using the iron in such a dangeresque fashion that he didn't consciously notice that I was listening to music illegally. After yielding the pot of warm water and unplugging the iron. I slipped into Mark and Jeff's room, my heart racing. I shared my harrowing tale with the guys - all of them relieved that I hadn't blown the cover of underground music listening, especially the owner of the discman. Suddenly, again, Mike came into Mark and Jeff's room with a private question for me. Once he cooled down about the iron, the image of the earbuds in my ears flashed in his mind and he wanted to confirm that it was true. I apologized over some warmed up left-overs. The discman was confiscated.

I joined Columbia House 6 more times under variations of my own name or household members. And BMG Music Club 4 times. And CDHQ 2 times. Their catalogs ceased to be very appealing, so I resorted to music store bargain bins. Once money wasn't a real issue (after university), I was able to buy an album when I felt like it, irregardless of the price - unless it was full price of course. As of late, I have purchased a lot of my music online from Amazon or Chapters. The Giant Flea Market on 111th Ave is another of my music haunts.

Music defines eras.

Best of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen: first broken heart
Achtung Baby - U2: grade 11, awakening my own tastes in music
Automatic for the People - R.E.M.: doing math homework my senior year of highschool
Picture Perfect Morning - Edie Brickell: summer touring BC with Papa and Salomé
You Must Ask the Heart - Jonathan Richman: sitting in my little cabin on Carlos, MH
Jesus Freak - DC Talk: first summer working at Foothills Camp
Amplified Heart - Everything but the Girl: falling in love with Amber
Clandestino: Esperando La Ultima Ola... - Manu Chao: bop bop bopping at CUC and Edmonton
We Were Born in a Flame - Sam Roberts: driving in Montreal
Birds of My Neighborhood - Innocence Mission: reflecting in Spruce Grove

A favorite passtime on weekends or lazy cold winter evenings was ordering the CDs into different categorical sets in the CD shelving: by artist, by year, by sleeve color, by distributor, by genre, by country of origin, by date of acquisition... hours.

One early morning when I was praying in the Marshall Islands, away from all my possessions (except one mix tape I made for a friend before leaving and never sent), I asked God if there was anything I held closer to my heart than Him. My CD collection came immediately to mind. After stuggling with sadness and confusion, I gave my collection to God. He has blessed it greatly since that time.

I have digitized all of my albums and so, before leaving Canada with 773 hours of mp3's and AAC files backed up on DVD-R and hard drive, I am ready to part with these dear historical documents. These labours of love. These heart pacers. These questions and answers. My CDs, all of them, are up for sale. If sales go well, Amber and I will have another $3000 for our move to Guatemala in September of this year.

View the MENU of 490 albums and email me with your preferences.

keep groovin

Smoke, Country Music, and #506

Amber and I vacationed the last three days of spring break in the Rocky Mountains. We started our trek in Jasper, taking in the bitter winds and brown scenery along with the royal peaks. We checked out some of the sights and then continued south along highway 93 with poor driving conditions. There was snow. And there was ice. But best of all, there were mountains, mountains it felt like no one else had ever seen. Awe, they rocked. I got to take lots of photos with my NIKON camera.

We rounded out our vacation by visiting Lake Louise and Banff and then hiking out to Siffleur Falls. We spent both of our nights at The Crossing (full commendation) at Saskatchewan River Crossing. They had a great deal for the weekend and a draw for a 3-night stay at Lizard Creek Lodge in Fernie, BC - apparently a 4 1/2 diamond superduper place. So, Saturday night they have this draw, but they have other little draws before it - for T-shirts and the like - and they make these draws every 30 minutes. Amber refused to go to the Tavern because of the smoke and her responsibility as the carrier of the future's most brilliant and gorgeous child, so I get to hang around by myself. They announced the winner of the joke telling contest - a joke I will never repeat, I have a better one, too bad I didn't know about the contest, I would have won for sure - and then I wait. Well, there wasn't much to do. My room number was #506 and I just basically sat there wondering if my number was even on one of the BINGO balls they were drawing from. The atmosphere music sharply changed after 4 classic songs ("Mr. Jones" and the like) to heavy country music - to which I am not at all familiar, nor of which am I partial. It did not cease. Of course there was smoke too. And no hockey on the TV - it wasn't even on. I watched the bartender tend. I watched the drinkers drink. I watched the pool players shoot. I sat and watched. The second draw and the third and fourth were not #506. I was resigned to the fact that I would be there until midnight. But then a funny thing happened - the man doing the drawing announced that the final draw would take place in about 20 minutes. Well, it was only 10:20 pm, so my evening was already looking up.

The minutes ticked away, or rather they smeared away. The music dimmed to match the lighting and the draw guy stepped forward. I was sitting back in the corner by now, watching a man get beaten badly by a woman at pool. A guy at the bar from Grande Prairie did a drum roll on the counter and the ball was chosen - #506. I was perhaps visibly shaken, but probably not. I meandered to the front to the applause of strangers, clutching my keys and grinning euphorically. I presented my #506 room key and accepted the winning handshake.

Moments later, I burst into our room to see Amber comfortably watching an episode of Law and Order. I presented her with the news and events surrounding the news. Amber was pleased, and surprised. I was relieved and very anxious to use the bathroom.

As Years Roll By

Hey, I'm 29 now. I had a weird lumpy thing in my throat beginning the night of my party and it stuck in there for 2 more days. It's gone now. Amber got a bunch of friends over here for the party, in total about 20 guests. Lots of games and a terrific playlist of music and foodstuffs. I had a great time.



Amber is LARGE (26 weeks). The little one rearranges the furniture often and we often sit and feel it for lengthy periods instead of reading or TV or talking. It's already taking control of the home.



Amber and I got our income tax return and paid the balance on every form of debt we have, the primary one being my student loan. So, at the moment, we are completely debt free. I almost feel like going into debt again to celebrate!

Squirming About

Junior has been moving alot the past week. With my hand, I can feel it boxing and kicking tons. We watched it this afternoon. It was yawning and wiggling around a lot, so we saw lots of angles. Apparently it's a handsome devil, my teeth and Amber's hairline. The due date has been bumped up to June 30.

The Worst High School Play in the World

Way up high. I remember the feeling when "The Wiz" ended and family and friends surrounded us on stage and everyone was laughing and taking pictures. It was the same tonight. The kids did a bang up job. Kudos to Nic (director) and that sexy pregnant prop mistress. I played guitar during intermission posing as a metalhead troubador; Greensleeves intermingled with Iron Man and Stairway.

Capture.

It's beginning. I'm tackling the monstrosity of producing a documentary. The bike trip is too important not to edit well and share with others. My goal is to submit it to a film festival this fall. I have completed 5 of 9 interviews so far and I've captured all of the video footage from the trip itself. I'm logging the interviews now - Zaak, Saison and Landon are done so far. I still have to get interviews from Amber, Will, Jessica, and Eric.

Yet to tackle - title, music, theme, animation, EDITING, exporting, submissions

Biggest worry - the resolution of the footage is 740 X 460. My computer monitor is 1024 X 768. So, I'm not expecting this to look good, I do hope the film will be interesting enough to overcome the grossness of the look.

I'm 17 today

I was baptised 17 years ago today by Pastor Laverne Schlehuber at the College Heights Church at CUC, AB. Coincidentally, I discovered my baptismal certificate today. I didn't even know I had one. It was tucked into one of my mom's photo albums that I've borrowed to scan some old photos.

I find that I know less about Christianity now than I did when I was 11. The more I learn of the modern church and about the behaviour of Christians, I recognize the huge dichotomy between Jesus Christ and the people (in general) who call themselves disciples. Though, I look back on the last 17 years and I discover that my freedom has grown, my walk with Jesus has come to some startling intersections and that God has put some true Christians in my path to urge me on in faith.

We are going to have a baby.

Amber's pregnant! We found out in October and my family has been able to keep it a secret, whereas Amber's family... Regardless, it has been an exciting experience letting people know. We heard the heartbeat on December 21 at the shared-care clinic in Stony Plain.