full circle

One happy little guy on the day of his long-awaited Fredericton Birthday Party!

Happy day-after-(Canadian)-Thanksgiving! I am writing this a whole day later than usual, but it is for a very good reason - we only just got back home yesterday evening.  You see, we are finally (finally!) living close enough to Fredericton that we can just pop home for a long weekend with relative ease.  This is particularly significant for Thanksgiving weekend, as it always falls within the range of Linden's birthday.  So for the first time ever, we were able to give Linden what Juniper gets practically every year: a Fredericton family birthday party.  And what a party it was! Clearly, we have a big family, who appreciates a good old-fashioned celebration. Here's a highlights reel:

Linden had been in consultations with my mom about the cake for weeks.  Here is the decorating committee.

The finished product.  Clearly, it is some awesome dinos hanging out in the forest. Linden was clearly pleased with the result.

Balloons are integral to any good celebration.  Especially when you have mastered the art of both blowing AND tying the balloon by yourself. 

Sigh.  This is currently the reality of asking Linden to smile for a picture.  At least Brad looks handsome.

David and Jess showed up! This, of course, brought up reminiscences of how both Liz and Clark used to babysit David when he was just a baby.  Such a strange coincidence! 

Some rope shenanigans

Linden and the Eddy boys, right before they jumped on a plane for the Jays game in Toronto.  Looks like they were good luck!

Look at those good looking ladies!

The most awe-inspiring present: a handmade wooden sword from Matt and family.  This is the first play weapon to enter our house, but I think with some ground rules and discussions, it will be a very well-loved item.

The next day, we got to visit Jane and Mike in their new house, which included holding darling baby Lily...

... and getting kisses from Poppy!

We also had Thanksgiving dinner, hosted by Deborah and Yvon.  Here, Bob and Linden look over some drawings Linden had made earlier in the day.

After supper:  all four Richards siblings...

... and two sets of grandparents!

And now, let me back-track a bit.  So, anyone who read the blog last week (or saw Clark's Facebook post), already knows that I recently came back from a trip to St. John's, Newfoundland. Though it is incredibly rare that I take off for a little solo trip, this one had an important purpose: I was FINALLY defending my PhD Thesis.  This was one long, long, long endeavour, drawn out by things like - oh - having a couple of babies, and moving a ridiculous amount of times.  But, shy of actually getting my diploma in hand, I am now DONE. The defence itself was not nearly as nerve-wracking as it could have been - there were not very many people there (my supervisor and two of my examiners, for instance, had to Skype in), and it was over in less than 3 hours. It was, in fact, pretty awesome to just spend a designated chunk of time talking about my work with some people who had read my dissertation cover-to-cover: a rare opportunity indeed!

Post defence, with Holly (who was on my committee), and Jillian (one of my examiners)

On Clark's very wise and generous suggestion, I specifically booked my plane ticket to spend a couple of solid days enjoying St. John's post-defence, as a little celebratory treat. Therefore, not only did I complete my large and scary task, I also had a marvelous, relaxing weekend.  This was in part, of course, due to the fact that I was back in a city that I had grown to love in my short time living there. St. John's is a pretty special part of the world, and I have nothing but incredibly fond memories of my almost-3 years there.  But I left a little over a decade ago (?!?), and have never been able to go back and truly visit.  This was, then, a pretty awesome opportunity.

Nothing compares to the Newfoundland coastline

Even better, however, was the fact that my aunt Janie is currently living in St. John's.  This meant that I had a homey place to stay, and partner-in-crime for all the adventures I wanted to get up to.  Truly, I couldn't have asked for a better hostess.  Do you know some of the things Janie most enjoys doing? Spending time at the pottery studio, playing music, and taking nice, long hikes. I honestly couldn't have asked for three better ways to spend the weekend.  And though my time in St. John's was bookended by foggy, cold, rainy weather, the three main days that I was there were perhaps the most glorious I had ever seen.  Sunny, crisp, fresh, GORGEOUS days.  I even took myself on a hike up and down Signal Hill on the morning of my defence!  I can't imagine a better way to clear your head and fill your soul with joy and goodness before a big event.  And guess what Janie and I did in the evening after my defence was done?  We went to the big arena in town, and watched... Jerry Seinfeld.  I kid you not.  He just happened to be giving a show that night in St. John's, and Janie got us tickets.  How cool is that? 

A bird's-eye-view of the city from atop Signal Hill

Anyway, other than my return flight being delayed by over FIVE hours, I had a pretty magical time. The circumstances are all different now than when I had previously lived in St. John's, of course, but at its core, the goodness of the city remains the same.  I have included a very large (but severely culled, I assure you) collection of photos from the weekend: they may not be as fascinating to you as they were to me, but I couldn't resist snapping shots of all the beauty:

The view from Janie's deck, on my very foggy, rainy first day there.

The morning of my defence: look at the sun sparkling on the ocean!

Cabot Tower, after climbing to the very top of Signal Hill

The armoury, as seen from the top of the hill.  Oh, how I've missed that particular hike!

Coming back down the hill. 

An old, familiar sign - and just steps away from Janie's house!

Janie's favourite point - and one I had never been to.  It was glorious.

That coastline!

Cool mushrooms in the forest. I couldn't resist.

Another fungus!

The view from a hike around Long Lake.  Not a bad way to get to the grocery store!

At the beginning of a Flat Rock hiking adventure

The waterfalls in all their glory

The beautiful and ghostly "tree bones", as I call them

The stratification is pretty impressive, even for a non-geologist

Janie, resting before climbing yet another very steep set of stairs 

The blueberries were still out!  We picked for awhile atop Red Head.

And finally, I'll leave you with a few random shots that have no particular place in the narrative of the last couple of weeks, but still warrant inclusion:

On a particularly still, sunny day in Shubie Park 

Shaggy Manes in my parents' yard

The view from one of my favourite places to walk in Fredericton 

Fairy gathering spot?

Alright.  I do believe that is enough by way of photos for one week.  It has been a very full... oh, last couple of months, to be sure.  But as the title of this post suggests, I really feels as though our lives have come full circle in that time.  I started my graduate life in St. John's over a decade ago, and was just able to return and finish it.  We began our family, and Clark's serious oceanographic career path in Nova Scotia, and are only just now able to come back and finally settle into what we started so long ago. It feels good to finish what you start, and to be granted to opportunity and ability to begin anew.  But perhaps I'll just take a wee little break first!