Goodbye, Ruby.

We sold my old friend Ruby last week. She treated us very well for the past 5 years.





It was sad to see her go, but I was comforted by having a large wad of cash in my hands.



Ah, Benjamin Franklin. Let's hope our friendship never ends.

I'm not scared!

My Mom (and probably others out there) hates that I publish football stuff here, so here's an entry to clear out all those mean things I said about provo. Peter with Jr. Asparagus. Ah - so cute:

The Contest!

So it's media days for the Mountain West Conference football teams. This is the official start to the discussion and speculation and hype about the upcoming season. Teams have now revealed their official season slogans. Utah's is "Tailgates and Touchdowns." Nice - very solid, traditional football slogan that seems to have been thought up by an assistant coach at the last minute. That is how it should be.

But BYU-Provo didn't get that memo. The ad committee down south has been wowing us with slogans dealing with either some return to glory or with some gospel principle. We decided to have a contest to help them choose this year's slogan.

Here are the entries submitted by Dave, Tom, Josh, and I. Feel free to submit your own suggestion in the comments or to vote on a winner:

In the tradition vein:

1) "Byu-Provo Football - proudly dancing the Haka since 2006"

2) "Byu-Provo Football - just like "Remember the Titans" only without the good coaches, black people, pretty girls, and championships but with all the dancing and gay stuff"

3) "Byu-Provo - the world's whitest Haka"

4) "Byu-Provo - if we had a black player, we'd do a step show"

5) "Byu-Provo - the highest of standards*"

*Honor code will not actually be enforced against student athletes

6) "Byu-Provo - crybaby free since 2006"

7) "Byu-provo - Hottest ticket in town, except for tickets to Trafalgar. But when Trafalgar is closed--which is often--come catch a game!"

8) "Byu-provo football - No running game, pretty receivers, and holding penalties. You betcha!"


Ok, so those were mostly poking fun at Provo's quirks. But these last few entries are surprisingly close to the actual slogans of the past. For each, imagine a backdrop of today's football stars looking valiant and true superimposed over a shadowy watermark of past football heroes (you know, like Robbie Boscoe). At the bottom is a quote:

9) "And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were men destined to win football games." Byu-Provo Football 2007.

10) "Byu-Provo 2007 - a chosen generation"

11) "Byu-Provo - the trump of God. Rise and Shout"


and finally,


12) "Byu-Provo: We're the good Mormons."

Peter loves Aunt Jenny!

Jen came down from DC to see Pete last weekend. We all had a good time. Since Jenny was missing out on Gettysburg, we took her to Durham's own little piece of the Civil War - Bennett Place. This is where Johnson surrendered the troops to Sherman to effectively end the war. Appomatox was joke - Bennett Place is the real surrender spot. Unfortunately, the place no longer exists, but they have made a replica. And, built in to the replica is the original Bennett chimney!!!



Little Reb' Pete likes being in the South:



You can see the replica surrender house in the background here:



We had lots of fun with Jenny. We had boba tea from a Vietnamese place (it's not real tea you finger pointers), we relaxed and played with the baby, and we went to dinner at a cool yuppie-Mexican place we know. Jenny had the best turkey quesadillas with red mole sauce ever. I had the tlacoyos. What's a tlacoyo? I don't know, but it looks a lot like a taco. Jenny took some pictures but hasn't been able to send them yet. Here's one I took of her with Pete:



Time passed way too quickly, and Jen really had just one day with us. Now her summer fun is over, and it's time to get ready for school.

Doctor in the House?

So I had my PhD defense last week. I now possess an advanced degree. Tulane will be happy to hear that. I got all dressed up (for me, that means tucking in a shirt), played with Peter for luck, and went to school:



The defense is an hour talk about my research. I gave it in Room 119:



Amanda and Peter came to the defense



And so did Mary, our neighbor



I talked and talked



And then there was cake and soda and champagne



My friends were there



Drs Beale and Venakides got to hold Pete:





And I got to make a dent in the ceiling with a cork. It was my first time for this, so I was excited.



Thanks Dr. Beale!



Later, Amanda gave me a graduation present. I have always wanted a fancy pocket watch. I don't know why, I just like them. I am not good at close up photos. I think the camera can do them well, but I don't want to read the manual. It has "MJN PhD" engraved on it. Inside, it is shiny mother of pearl:

Peter's dress

It's time for bed.

When it's bed time Pete puts on his little dress.

This is the only dress you'll ever see him in.


If you look close you can see
the little fat rolls on his legs, soooo cute!

BIG FOOT!

He loves to suck on his fingers,
but his fist is usually what he finds.

Getting ready for bed is fun!
Here comes mommy.

I love you a bushel and a peck!


Lights out, time to go to sleepy town.

Good night.

The red sweater returns!

It would be a real shame if ya'll didn't get to see
the rest of the pictures of our sweet Pete in his
UofU sweater. A fellow U fan knitted it for him.



Here he looks like a little professor.
Hmm ... I think the answer to all our problems
can be found in the number 42.

Oh soooo relaxed.

This little guy looks like a real bruiser here.
Ya think he'll be a linebacker?

"Don't cross me!"


Peter what are you looking at?

Hey, stop playing possum Peter. You can't fool me.
Well I guess he's really out.
See ya'll next time.

A Day in the Park

Time for a walk in the park.
Peter likes to be in his snuggli when we go for walks.
He doesn't like his buggy so much anymore.
I think it's because he likes to be up where he
can see all the action.

Pete is lookin' good in his sun hat.

We decided to take the picnic blanket with us today.
Peter likes to look up at the sky and all the big trees on campus.

Don't those eyes just melt your heart.

Peter really likes to be outside.
Whenever he is fussy, I just take him out
and he calms down right away.

That's one happy kid!

This is Peters first time feeling grass.

I'm so lucky I get to play all day with Peter.
We sure have FUN!


We like just kickn' it.

Forever Blowing Bubbles

Oh no, what's my mom up to now??

It sure is a pretty day, what a beautiful blue sky.

Hmmm ... she keeps pointing that camera at me,
I guess I'll do something amazing!

Prepare to be amazed .....

I love blowing bubbles!



Now can we go play, please?



Now that's more like it!

Sweet Dreams

No it's not an angel, but real close. It's sweet Pete.
Now a days Peter sleeps from 9 or 10 pm to 4 or 5 am,
wakes up to eat and then back to sleep 'til 7 am.
This has been really nice for Mike and I.
The only catch is, there are little if no naps during the daylight hours.
This little guy sure has a lot of energy.


Ahhhh ...

Ready to play!!!

170 pages!

Are you having trouble sleeping? Here's my thesis. I turned it in today. I still will have some final changes, and I have to add an acknowledgments section, but it is mostly done.

You can download your own copy here:

http://www.math.duke.edu/~jefe/

All we need is just a little patience

I have about 1000 really good photos of Pete to post, but they are all on tux4, the one computer in the department that is currently down. Our tech guy is out of town. Until he gets back, you'll have to make due with just this one:



Thanks Kellie for the beautiful red sweater. Red seems to be the kid's color.