Viva Las Vegas... err Boulder City!!

We had a great time in Boulder for Thanksgiving. Kristin's aunt and uncle live in Boulder and the entire family, we're talkin' 25 people for Thanksgiving dinner, converged there for Turkey Day. I had never been, and while some of my assumptions concerning Boulder were verified - others were not. For example: (1) I thought Boulder was "just outside of Vegas." While this is true time wise, roughly 25 minutes, it is not just outside like Sandy is to SLC. You have to drive through 10 minutes of nothing to reach Boulder. (2) I thought Boulder was "a little LDS community." Truth is a few Boulder neighborhoods are "little LDS communities," such as the one Kristin's aunt and uncle live in, but the rest of the town is as diverse as you'll find. (3) I thought Boulder would be warm, hence my plethora of shorts for the trip. Truth is it is warm, however not 80's, more like 55 - 60.

Enough of my Boulder insights - on to the pictures.

Kristin's family. I did my best to show Patten's face for the picture - however the Bjorn (that backpack thing) made it a little difficult.

Cousin Trevor and Patten. If you look closely you'll see a hand holding Patten on Trevor's back - as much as I trust Trevor, I don't trust him with my child's life.

Grandpa and grandson. Patten, as you can see, has learned how to use his arms/hands. He now sucks on his hand, occasionally swings his fists of fury, and enjoys waving his arms.

Kristin's sister Kelsey and Patten. One of the best pictures of the young one - now we just need him to learn to smile for a picture.

More pictures of Patten

Patten is doing well. He gained 1 lb. in his first two weeks and at night he sleeps 4 - 5 hours between feedings.

Enjoy the pictures.

Kristin and her boy.

Amazing how people can enjoy a good diaper change.

One of Patten's many hats.

Love the boots.

Patten is here!

That's right.

Patten Fredrick Johnson arrived Friday morning October 12th at 9:50 weighing 8lbs 4 oz. and measuring 22 inches long (can you say - they should have induced Kristin 10 days earlier on Patten's due date?)

We couldn't be happier. He seems perfect to us in every way, even his crying brings us joy.

Unfortunately, Patten has jaundice (or, is jaundiced?) and is spending some time under the ultra violet lights at the hospital. He couldn't come home with us today, Sunday, but we hope he will join us tomorrow. In the meantime we visit him every 3 hours for feeding. We can't wait to have him home.

Enjoy the pictures.


Swaddled Patten in his crib.

Attempting the perfect mouth posture for a good drink.

He spent most of the days sleeping.

Gotta love the pumpkin hat!

The Joy of Classmates

Last Thursday, while sitting in my Torts class, I received the following email:

"I have two tickets to the Utah game this Saturday. First person to respond to this email with the name of the person who kicked the winning field goal in the 1993 Utah - BYU game gets the tickets."

Thankfully as an 11 year old brat Laird Swensen's family kindly took me to BYU games. They had season tickets, Laird and I were friends, and I loved football, so they took me. And, even more thankfully, they took me to the 1993 BYU - Utah game and I saw Chris Yergensen kick the winning field goal.

I responded to the email and won the tickets.

Little did I know the 2L named Chris Hill happened to be the Utes Athletic Director's son, Chris Hill.

And, I couldn't have dreampt this up, Chris Hill gave me two tickets on the 50 YARD LINE on the 20TH ROW!!!!

AND ----- The UTES OBLITERATED the 11th ranked UCLA BRUINS!!

Wow. It was a sight to behold.

Thank heavens for kind classmates.

Go Utes.

3 Weeks and Counting

Well, well, well.

Less than 3 weeks until the babe joins us.

For any of you expecting your first, let me clue you in on something. The impending baby may not seem too real for the first 7 or 8 months - but when you visit the doctor at the hospital and hear things like "this is where you will deliver" and "here is where you wash the baby after he is born" and "3 weeks from today you will likely hold your baby here" the forthcoming baby will seem real.

We are so excited. I probably won't write again until I have a picture to post - that will be a happy post.

Once a Ute, Always a Ute

Well, well, well. My blood is red.

I got the call (okay e-mail) this morning from GW informing me they will not take anyone from their waitlist this year. A somewhat sad development, but considering our baby coming in October and the fact that I'm sick of not knowing where I will live for the next 3 years, I felt happier after reading the e-mail than before.

I'm almost finished with orientation week here at the U Law School. This place overflows with impressive students and teachers. We have 2 marines (that means 2 future JAGs), a Romanian, an Irish fellow and something like 40 states and / or countries represented.

I'm enjoying lawschool, at least for this week. We'll see what happens when the real deal starts next week (by the way, I just bought my books -- $570!!!)

USPTO

I took the United States Patent and Trademark Examination (for the second time) on Monday.

The test is pass / fail, with a score of 70% needed to pass. The first time I took the exam, June 14th, I scored 68%. As you can imagine that made me a little upset.

But I'm happy to report that I passed this last Monday. I studied roughly 180 hours (in total) for the exam. I am so glad I do not have to study for the test ever again. I've seen enough of the MPEP (Manual of Patent Examination and Procedures).

As for the law school update, I'm planning on the U but waitlisted at GW. GW cut their waitlist to 80 people (down from 1400) last week and I'm on the list of 80. Time is running short, I told GW they need to accept me by the 7th of August if I'm going to come (I need time to drive across the country and be there by the 14th). Let's hope they get on the ball and call me sooner than later.