Hinckley Blog

These pictures are a little late in coming, but I wanted to post about the Yale 2 Baby Shower for Jenni! It was at the Pinegar's house and Maren Durham did the favors (sugar cookies on a stick). It was so cute! Also, Jenni retired from her job as a dental assistant for the last 7 years. Way to go Jenni! Below is the retirement party at Hires Big H.

The state flag of New Mexico is flying on the flagpole today at East High School, home of the Wildcats! The faculty parking lot is filled with trailers and trucks, and the signs direct extras to park in the student lot. It's High School Musical III: Senior Year!



As we drove home this evening from running some errands, we stopped by the school to see what was happening. There were a couple of dozen local kids in bright colored costumes or all black - depending on their role. They told us they were dancers - those in colorful costumes were upfront, those in black were "background dancers." A group of them were on the sidewalk playing Phase 10 and waiting for a call - and they had been waiting most of the day. They get $100 for every day that they are there for 12 hours! Nice work if you can get it.

The neighbor ladies were complaining a little about the noise of the trucks and equipment going each night until 2:00 a.m., but they were willing to come up with a teaspoon of peanut butter to help a young dancer get some chewing gum out of his hair.

Not to give away the end, but you will notice from the banner hanging in front of the school that the Wildcats win back to back championships.

Opens in theaters on October 24. Go Wildcats/Leopards!

From the Wall Street Journal.

This week the Wall Street Journal gave information on the arrest of former officers at Bear Stearns, more details on the problems of regional banks, and even information about the flooding in Iowa and Missouri. But it also advised me of Emmylou Harris' new CD, "All I Intended to Be."

When I first saw Emmylou Harris perform in the Seventies, she had already released "Profile," her best-of album. She was touring with her own bus, and performed with the Hot Band at the Lowell Showboat on the Flat River in Lowell, Michigan, just a 15 minute drive from our home in Ada. It was a great concert!

Over the years she has continued to experiment with a variety of sounds and styles, but the country-folk of those early albums has always been her signature sound, and her latest release harks back to those roots. She partners with old friends: Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Glen D. Hardin (on keyborards), Mike Auldridge (on dobro). And the result is quintessential Emmylou. Check it out on iTunes or Amazon.

Born June 13, 2008, in Salt Lake City
First son of Joseph Benjamin and Jennifer Koelliker Hinckley
9 lbs 4 oz
21 1/2 inches

Owen Bitner Hinckley, minutes after birth.

The annual NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) conference was held in San Diego this week, and as part of the activities Nike sponsored a 5K race Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. I am happy to report that both mother and I ran - and finished - the race before having breakfast and going to a day of meetings. The race was well organized, and ran a loop along the yacht club just behind the Grand Hyatt hotel. It was a cool morning, perfect for a race. I was very happy with a time of 26:01 - an 8:30 pace! Considerably faster than I have done for some time...



This was a busy conference for me as I was a member of the conference committee this year. In addition to helping organize several of the presentations, I moderated a discussion group on Tuesday morning, then did a presentation on Tuesday afternoon. By all measures it was a successful conference - 1700 attendees from 46 states and several foreign countries.

It was a tearful parting from Ellie on Saturday afternoon at the Cincy airport, and an uneventful flight as we embarked on Phase II of our "real vacation" - visiting Lizzie and JT in New York.

We took a cab in from Kennedy to 1 West Street, teamed up with the Davis', and headed up to the Theater District for Mary Poppins. Lizzie had come across the best secret in New York - "partial view seats" at a deeply discounted price. But the partial view means sitting in your private box at the front of the theater! The show was great fun - supercalifragilisticexpealidocious, as they say. See Lizzie's blog for more on this.

On Sunday we attended the Union Square 2nd Ward and had a great time. We visited with ward member Murray Green who was our home teacher 35 years ago. Much has changed since we lived here: this ward alone has had 30 babies born in the past twelve months! The aisles in the chapel were crowded with Maclaren strollers - it looked more like a ward of young families than anything else. During priesthood and relief society they announced they needed about 20 apartments who could house 5 five people each on their floor for stake youth conference next month! After Church, Al Woodhouse gave us a ride home - he was the bishop of the Manhattan 2nd Ward when I was in the bishopric of the Manhattan Ward 35 years ago! Al has lived in the same apartment in TriBeCa for 30 years - the joys of rent control!

Lizzie prepared a lovely dinner of baked shrimp with tomatoes and feta cheese. Afterwards, we took an evening walk along the harbor and the Hudson. A nice neighborhood.

Monday morning we went for a run along the Hudson in Battery Park City. We then met up with Sami and her friend Lisa Midgley for lunch at the Shake Shack at Madison Square, followed by visits to a variety of locales, finishing at Max Brenner's Chocolate. We then met back up at Lizzie's for dinner on the roof (catered by Zaytuna's), capped off with cupcakes from Crumb's.

Wednesday was breakfast at Sarabeth's followed by a session at the Manhattan Temple. We then met Sami and Lisa for lunch at Grey's Papaya and dessert at Grom Gelato. Then it was back to Ocean at 1 West Street to pack our bags and head for the airport. The good news is that Lizzie came with us.

Kathleen and I made the trek to Cincinnati on Wednesday to visit the Lesans. Holly and Ellie picked us up at the airport in their Ford Taurus, and we drove to beautiful, suburban Loveland. Ellie remembered us - a witness to the fact that we have not visibly aged in past 5 months (at least beyond the point of recognition). We made ourselves at home on Fox Chase Drive and had a wonderful visit.

On Thursday we took Ellie to the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, a very interesting little piece of history. We then went to the local farm to purchase eggs (laid this morning), salad greens, and asparagus (all harvested today). That evening Holly prepared a dinner that would have made Michael Pollan proud. We then visited with the Lesans (RCL II and Jan), and the Jensens while eating Holly's homemade strawberry shortcake.

Friday was a big day - we took Ellie to the Cincinnati Zoo. She insisted on walking the entire three hours, up and down hills and stairs, seeing the noisy Gibbons, the rhinos, the manatees, etc., etc. Ellie rode the carousel twice, the train once, and had a wonderful time!

In the evening we had a lovely dinner at Germano's in Montgomery, followed by a visit with the Gibsons where Ellie had spent the evening visiting with her friend Pratt.

Saturday morning we spent running/walking along the river trail in downtown Loveland and visiting the shops, including buying some muffins at the cookie shop for which Holly is revising the franchise agreement.

And in the afternoon we said our sad farewells back at the airport. Ellie cried unconsolably, which was bittersweet for us. At least we are glad that she will miss us as much as we miss her.

Photos to follow!