Release the Bracken!!!

So...after a hundred or more names Bracken made the cut and it seems to fit.  And when the Bracken was released we learned to clean up after ourselves.  No more sandals at the door, no more notebooks next to the computer on the floor, and so on. Now if we  can just convince her to poop and pee outside!

~Stephen

It's A Girl!!!!

This black puddle of fluff is our new little girl!! We just got her today, she's almost 8 weeks old. Her dad was a HUGE Golden Retriever, her mom was a black lab, and she is a chunky girl who takes after her dad so it looks like she'll be pretty big and gorgeous! We have a couple names floating around, Page seems to be the best possibility right now. Not Paige, Page as in the Page Sandstone. Yes, that was Stephen's idea. Any name ideas would be welcome! She explored the house, chewed on her toys, discovered this corner and fell asleep. We're going to have to do something about that cord.... More pictures to come!

Our Trip!!!

Time to tell about our trip from Tulsa to Provo!! I am ashamed, I did not document nearly as well as I had planned to....our camera ran out of batteries right after breakfast. I didn't realize until the second day that HEY! Stephen got an IPAD from his conference....and those nifty things have CAMERAS!!!! Argh.  Anyway. The first day of driving was relatively uneventful, except for an extremely cranky Joe. Our boys are such awesome travelers, you have no idea. THey only watched ONE movie in the whole twelve hours of driving the first day! Mostly they played with their pillow pets, wooden "Transformers" and toy jets they picked out from Cracker Barrel the day before. And maps, they LOVE maps. I wanted to take a picture of every state sign as we left, but...twas not to be. Sigh. Anyway, uneventful day, UNTIL we got to our hotel, which was GORGEOUS and in a GORGEOUS location!!! I must admit, I am becoming a little spoiled about hotels. No Super 8's for me, thank you very much!!

It's just a Quality Inn, but its a niiiiiiice one. :) Here's the view from our window!!

So we settled in and headed down to the pool! (Must have pool) Joe of course broke it in by slipping and bonking his head. His head is like a magnet for hard objects. I think all his nerve endings are numb...anyway, Daddy lectured them about running around the pool. Five minutes later....Screams erupt. STEPHEN had slipped, fallen, whacked his chin and bitten through both sides of his tongue! Funny thing is, it was so LOUD when he screamed that he covered his ears! So he is pouring blood from mouth and chin, I wrap a towel around his face and take him upstairs, trying to calm him down. Those of you who know Stephen know, he isn't the most.....stalwart of little boys. In fact, he's a bit of a drama queen. He just wouldn't stop screaming!! So I tried to calm him, and finally he wails, "I'm going to DIE, I've never SEEN so much blood!!!"

After assuring him that he was NOT going to die, he calmed right down. Had a nice big hole in his chin, Daddy patched it like a pro, and a perfectly calm little boy was now THRILLED to have a scar that would match Daddy's. Again, I wish I had remembered the Ipad camera....Sigh. Well, here's all patched up the next morning.

The next morning was wonderful. After living in the 115 degree Tulsa weather, that 70 degree Colorado morning was positively celestial!! We kept the windows down as much as possible and just soaked it all in. Again, more uneventfulness until we got to our apartment....which was FILTHY!! Dirt, leaves, bugs, lint...everywhere. We had to re-clean our entire apartment before we could move in. But now we are about 95% done moving in, and LOVING our new apartment! More adventures to follow!

Should I take the job or not?

Well, I just finished up my internship with SM Energy in Tulsa.  I went to Denver to present my work.  The presentation went well and all the "higher ups" were all impressed.  I just got a call from the Midland office to offer employment.  They haven't given me the actual offer yet.  I will head down there this week to see what Midland is like and get the official offer.

What a crazy time in our lives!  Some very important questions: Do I take the job in case I don't get another?, Do I wait for better opportunities (not in Midland)?, Do I go on for a PhD?...   I guess time will tell.  I'll have to wait for more pieces to the puzzle!

-Stephen