I Have Been Asked to Decide for Myself

Sarah and I have been given the weekend to decide whether we want to stay or go. They've offered for me to stay but they haven't decided whether or not they will pay for us to relocate back to the States when we want to go back (probably about a year from now). If we leave now the government will pay for the relocation, but if we stay for another year or so either the company or us personally will have to foot the bill, which is at least 6 months worth of salary by my estimation. So I think our decision is made when the company tells us if they can afford to relocate us about a year from now. If they can commit to paying for the relocation we will probably stay, but if they cannot we'll have to head back to the States now. We should know enough by Monday or Tuesday to make the decision. Please pray that God would give us wisdom.

There's also some uncertainty as to how long the company will actually be able to stay in business. We have work to do for next couple months, but there are no sure things beyond that right now, even though things apparently look good. So if we do end up staying on, it could possibly only be for another couple of months.

Here's most of the team I've spent the past year and a half working with:









I'd like to wish everyone the best for the future! You've been a great lot of people to work with, and I'll definitely miss those of you who've had to leave.

Happenings At Last

The announcement was just made that GCA is downsizing from 44 to 20 people and will be in existence at least a couple more months. They are currently letting people know individually whether they will be let go or kept on. Will I stay or will I go now?

Fun E. and the Good Times

Here's Alex last night. I was trying out some new lighting. I like his cheeks. They are rounder than round.



He tired of the photographing before I did.



One of our friends told me a story, complete with a visual aid, a couple weeks ago. Here is a paraphrase of that story, told in the first person.

As I was rushing out the door this afternoon for church I quickly grabbed some lip balm (Chapstick) out of the medicine cabinet. I've been sick with a cold for the past week and my lips have been very sore and dry. Soon after I got to church and sat down I pulled out the lip balm and applied it with great liberality. The lip balm went back in my pocket. After a few seconds I noticed a slight tingling feeling in my lips, which quickly started turning into a fiery burning sensation. As the burning intensified I realized that something was not right. I pulled out the stick of lip balm (the stick in this image looks similar to the one my friend had):



and to my horror the label on the stick read "Wart Remover." By this point my lips were becoming numb, so I motioned to the woman next to me, leapt from my seat and ran to the nearest bathroom where I washed my lips until they no longer felt like they were going to melt off of my face.

Just to add...

So to continue on this ridiculous topic! I have story. When I was 3 our family moved to Germany for a year due to my dad's work. At one point my parents went to Paris to visit some friends without us kids. I was left in the care of my friend Tomas's parents. I distinctly remember going to the bathroom at their house and afterwards being asked whether I had 'gone #1 or #2'. I was appalled that they had asked me or even wanted to know.

That's it.

Sarah

The Bitterness of Defeat

I'm not really bitter at all. I think our offering should have won, but then of course it was our offering. Our opinion is that the benefits of the competition's offering which won it the contract may disappear once the project starts to run its course. So there is some disappointment, but I ain't got no guile for nobody.

The plan is for our company to get more work. If they are able to we will stick around until we want to leave of our own accord. If not, well then "she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes."

Alex is getting pretty talkative these days. Here's a little excerpt of my very own "Dookey Song" and Lex's response.



I grew up in the Cooper household telling of my need to pass a bowel movement by announcing that "I need to go dookey." Sarah grew up calling bowel movements "BMs" and never announced them to anyone. While Sarah is about as far from pretentious as you can get, she does not like the word dookey. I think it's hilarious. I'm afraid banal humor goes a long way with me. I've never laughed harder in my life than at the scene in "Moonlight in Escanaba." If you have ever seen it, you know the one of which I speak. But I digress. Actually, my original story was not really going anywhere anyway. I can wrap it up pretty well by saying that I can really get Sarah's goat by talking with Alex at great lengths about his going dookey in his diaper. Hence the dookey song in that video.

The Spaniards Have Won

You can read about it here. It was leaked last night and officially announced this morning. The lower cost and quicker schedule of the Spanish ships won out over the superior capability and higher benefit to Australian industry of the Gibbs & Cox, Inc. design.

I'm not sure yet what all this will mean for our family, but we've been assured we've got plenty of work to do for the next few weeks at least.

It's Been a While

Sorry we haven't posted on here in a while. Sarah was supposed to, but for some reason she's been kind of busy. : )

Both my parents and Sarah's parents now have video cameras and Skype, so we got to do some live video chatting over the weekend. It was a lot of fun, Alex was definitely the center of attention.

We're supposed to get a decision out of the government this week sometime on which Air Warfare Destroyer design they're going with. As of now it appears it's anyone's guess on who will win. It does seem the competitors are scrambling to make it appear they can give the Australian Navy what it wants, which could be an indication that lower cost, less risk and faster delivery won't win out over capability and Australian industry involvement. We shall see (hopefully sooner than later). I've got a few bucks riding on the decision being announced on Thursday or Friday, and the pot is up over a hundred now.

Here's where I spend about 45 hours a week:



Here's what one of my coworkers spends over an hour a day on:

The Cutest Yet

I think this one is the cutest yet. I gave him a bath last night, and he was just going nuts afterwards. Being a father is pretty much the best thing ever, equal with being a husband, and just below being a son of God. I suppose having such an incredible father in God and such an amazing wife in Sarah make being a father the superlative thing that it is.

We took some family portraits out back yesterday. I put about 20 of them up on Flickr, but here's a couple just in case you're too lazy or not interested enough to head over there. Notice the sweater vest, which has been brought back into the world of style by none other than my friend Joe Stratton. Also notice the gorgeous young lady and handsome young lad.

The Afterbath

He just keeps on getting cuter, but he's losing his hair fast!

We are loving being parents. We have a three day weekend coming up here due to the Queen's b-day. We'll let you know what befalls us all.

Happy Birthday Coop!

Today is Brian's birthday. So of course he stayed up late last night doing the dishes - what a man. Leave him a message if you like :)

I would like to just say how awesome he has been as a husband and as a father. Many of you know that Coop was excited about having kids and he continues to be excited. He plays with Alex and changes all his diapers when he gets home from work. He helps me with housework and even lets me get some extra sleep on the weekends. He has been a godly leader in my life and I am excited to see how he will teach our children about the Lord.

You've had a great 25years Coopis, may God bless you with a whole lot more. :) I love you.

The Week

We have had quite a week around here. Or maybe not. We've been trying to figure out how to minimize Alex's reflux. He's been sleeping fairly well (very well compared to many babies we know). He's talking to us more and more, making new sounds and laughing at us, or maybe with us. We're always amused by his impatient little squawks. He's starting to suck on his right hand.

Sarah has been doing a lot of baking tonight. Our friend Chris Back, who has been struggling with cancer for the last four years, died on Thursday night last week. The baked goods are for his funeral tomorrow morning. We had the privalege of getting to know Chris and his wife Ali a little bit in the past few months, and we are looking forward to seeing Chris in heaven and getting to know Ali better now.

I have been very busy at work. The government will soon make a decision between the Spanish (Existing) and American (Evolved) designs, hopefully by the end of July. If you're interested do a google news search for "air warfare destroyer", "gibbs & cox", "peter croser" or "kevin moak".

I hope you're enjoying the videos. As usual I have been putting plenty of photos up on Flickr, but I haven't been putting many up on here due to the videos. So if you want photos go to Flickr.