6 months already

Today Owen is 6 months! We can't believe he is that old already. On Friday the 13th in June Owen was born at a whopping size of 9lbs 4oz and 21 1/2 inches long and hair that has yet to lay flat!


This is Owen and his namesake on his blessing day when we was just a few weeks old


Owen has just been getting bigger and bigger and so have his smiles!


This is his new favorite toy, Christmas came about a week early for Owen!


He is even getting big enough to sit up by himself

Comic Relief During Finals

Enjoy.

Christmas Tree Shopping

Since we weren't able to head down to Scipio for the annual Koelliker Christmas tree cutting this year, we had to take matters into our own hands and where did we head?...Home Depot! We found our tree in under an hour, tied it to the top of the car, and got it in the house! We love the fresh smell it is bringing into the house!

Thanksgiving

This weekend we hit the road and drove 10 hours to see our family in Ohio. It was a long drive, but it was completely worth every minute! We were able to see family we hadn't seen in almost a year, and have an amazing Thanksgiving feast!
The kids and I made some rolls on Thursday morning, I was grateful Eliza and Ellie were there to help, Eliza was good at telling me which rolls looked good enough to eat and which ones didn't quite make the cut!

This is all of the Hinckley cousins except for the Bowler girls which were very much missed! You can tell how happy everyone was to be taking the picture!


Owen and uncle Spencer



This is Owen after he opened his Christmas pillowcase gift from Ashton. It is a Hinckley family tradition to have a Christmas pillowcase- we still have Joseph's pillowcase in our keepsakes from when he was a little boy.

This is Owen in the car on our way home, he did such a good job- so hopefully he will be OK on the trip back to Utah!

UTES!!

I mean there isn't much too say, except that Owen was really happy I put this red outfit on him today, and when Joseph changed him into a blue shirt when I was gone, Owen was happy I changed him back before the game started! What a cute ute!

November in Kansas

I have often been asked how I get Owen's hair to go like that, and from this picture I can honestly say I do not know. Last night after Owen's bath I didn't get to it quick enough and this is what happened- the rooster tail in the front. Owen's hair is pretty cute for now, but I hope some day it lays down flat!



Owen loves crossing his ankles! Whenever we lay him down he crosses his ankles, it is so cute!

Conflict of Interest, 2008

Tonight is election night in America. This is the most historic election of our nation's history; the winner will either be the first African-American president or the oldest first-term president and first female vice-president.

But tonight is also the first home game for the KU's National Championship basketball team. They will play Washburn University in an exhibition game in which they are almost guaranteed a meaningless victory (just to remind you, this is a pre-season exhibition game).

We don't have cable and the only station that our bunny-ears can pick up in any sort of viewable clarity is the local NBC station. So Jenni and I sat down to settle in for an evening of NBC's election special anchored by Brian Williams and wait for the results to come in. Brian Williams came on during NBC Nightly News' regular time before they cut back to local programing for the local news and then promised to come back to NBC's New York studio for the rest of the evening. You can imagine our surprise when the Topeka news anchor then reported, "We will not be going back to NBC's election coverage tonight until after the end of the KU men's basketball game. Stay tuned until then for election results."

Our jaws dropped. Instead of showing the national news coverage of this historic election, they are going to broadcast the basketball game. I'm sure that many local residents were relieved to hear that they could still see the game. After all, this is the birthplace of basketball and the roots run deep.

Luckily, we were able to pick up the ABC station after some fiddling with the antenna. The good news is that if the election results aren't going our way, there's a great basketball game on the other station to cheer us up.

The Little Pumpkin

       Trick or Treat!







Our ward had a trunk or treat and Owen loved it.

Legal Wisdom

Halfway through the first semester, here's a sampling of what I've learned:

1.   "An obsessed law student is the most boring of God's creatures." -Dean Agrawal.
This may be true, but obsessed law students have the best outlines.

2.   "The ambiguity of the law is your job security." -Prof. Keller.
And therefore lawyers (and legislatures) have no incentive to make the law clear and concrete. The Bluebook, however, is the unchanging anchor that holds legal citations firm in the unpredictable waves of American jurisprudence (at least until a new edition comes out).  

3.   "The word 'chicken' standing alone is ambiguous." -Judge Friendly.
I swear I did not make that up.

4.   After two-and-a-half lectures on the Rule Against Perpetuities in property class, Prof. DeLaTorre gave us this comfort: "The good news is that in Lucas v. Hamm, the court said that this rule was so complicated that an attorney could not possibly be held liable for malpractice for not understanding it. The bad news is that no other court has ever held similarly. Worse news: you need to know it for the final."

Halloween Party

This week we had a Halloween party at our friends house, you can tell Owen was a little tired as he rested his head on Jack's shoulder. It's fun having so many kids around for Owen to be friends with!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we decided to go to the pumpkin patch! Lots of our friends had gone and said that it was a "must-do" Lawrence fall activity. It was fun to go and get a few pumpkins and take some fun fall pictures.

October in Kansas

Here are just a few pictures of what life is like in Kansas. Mostly we just take pictures of Owen every chance we get!

The other morning we found that Owen had scooted into the corner and trapped himself in between the amp and the basket of blankets.

My sister Amy came for a visit over the weekend- it was so nice to see her and Owen loved seeing her again as you can see.
The last couple of days have been rainy and cold so we've had to stay inside, so I just took a couple of pictures of Owen. The doctor said Owen's head circumference is only in the 7th percentile but from these shots I think his head looks pretty big! Maybe next time I should suggest they measure around his round cheeks and that would up his percentages!



Then yesterday Owen got a package from Grammie and Pops to help us get ready for Halloween! Thanks for the book Owen loved it!

"Someone told me it's all happening...

                                                                                              ...at the zoo."

"It's a light and tumble journey

From the east side to the park;

Just a fine and fancy ramble

To the zoo."

I had that old Paul Simon song stuck in my head today as we drove to Topeka to take Owen to the zoo with some friends (listen to the song on the playlist). It's not a very glamorous zoo, but since it was Owen's first time, he didn't really mind. It was just the right size to be able to circle the zoo before the baby falls asleep. The weather was wonderful and it was the perfect Saturday afternoon activity; much better than being glued to my chair on the 4th floor of the law library.

We tried to explain to Owen that the African animals come from the same place where his Koelliker grandparents are right now, but he was more interested in eating his hands than looking at the giraffes. 

Owen's Latest

This is another one for the grandparents. Owen is ticklish. 

Grandparents 24 hour visit

A week ago my parents stopped in Kansas on their way from South Africa onto Utah. We loved being able to see them if only for about 24 hours. We had just enough time to do a little shopping downtown, go to dinner, and play with Owen- which is all Grandpa and Grandma Koelliker really wanted to do! It was hard to say good bye, but we will see them again in April!

Where did he get that lower lip?

His namesake, of course.

September in Kansas

This September, the best month of the year, has been full of football, birthdays, and relaxing Saturday evenings. Here are just a few pictures from the last couple of weeks in Kansas.

Happy Birthday to me! (This picture was taken early in the morning- obviously)

This is Owen just looking a little sad- it's hard when he looks so cute even when he cries!

This weekend we went over to Clinton Lake, it is close by where we live, it was fun to just walk around- but it made me want to go waterskiing, maybe next year!

Buddy Mondlock Returns to Greyhaven

Buddy Mondlock is coming to my parent's cabin this Saturday for a house concert. He came a few years ago and had such a great concert, he's back on the schedule. Buddy's songs have been performed and recorded by David Wilcox, Nancy Griffith, and Joan Baez, just to name a few. But there's nothing like hearing the songs from the one who wrote them. Find details and directions here.

Next up on the calendar for Greyhaven House Concerts: Chuck Pyle, the Zen Cowboy, on October 17.

Wish we could be there, but I'll be briefing cases.

Any response, Kirk?

Two weeks ago, Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN's College Football Gameday) said that BYU was "ranked way too high." When asked about his prediction for the BYU-UCLA game this weekend, Kirk said that UCLA is the better team by far. He went further and stated that what the UCLA head coach has done is "just magic." He said that UCLA is better at every position and there was "no doubt" the Bruins would come out with the victory.

As it turned out, BYU handed UCLA their worst loss in 80 years; 59-0.

Well, Kirk. Do you have anything to say for yourself?