05<-08:00>06/09

Long Overdue

6:19 pm by shaun. Filed under: Shaun

This post is overdue. And I would say it is also highly anticipated, but who am I kidding… you guys don’t really care too much what the adults in this house are doing. You all come for the pictures of Preston, right? OK.

Regardless of why you are here, we have an announcement: We have decided to stay here in Sacramento and attend the University of the Pacific—McGeorge School of Law. I know, I know, this isn’t that exciting—mostly because many of you already knew that. However, I have had several people ask me lately if we have decided on a school, so I decided to dedicate an entire post to our decision.

Photobucket

Furthermore, some people have informed us how crazy we are—not news to us by the way— so I want to give some insight into our decision making process. For those who are unaware of why we would be crazy, here is the background: we turned down BYU, Lewis & Clark, a scholarship at UNLV and a scholarship at Penn State—all schools which are ranked higher than Pacific McGeorge and have a better reputation—or at least more name recognition.

So, here is why we are not crazy (or at least only a little crazy… or even crazy, but with a good reason for being crazy). First, things first, Pacific McGeorge is a good school. It has a good reputation, phenomenal faculty, and great facilities. I wasn’t entirely sold before I visited the school, but after my visit I really felt that McGeorge is a fine institution and I am proud to attend.

I went into this process thinking BYU was a long shot, Penn State was my favorite and McGeorge was a fallback school. I knew Janelle wanted to stay here in Sacramento, but I figured she would be OK with leaving for a few years. However, after we were accepted at BYU and even offered a scholarship at Penn State, I found myself unable to commit to those schools. I was surprised. Janelle was also unable to commit to a decision.

For weeks (maybe even months) we weighed the pros and cons of each school, prayed, and talked, but made no headway into our decision. We talked to people from each school and visited a couple of them, but still couldn’t make a decision. Then we got advice from two individuals who gave us some insight and helped us make the final choice.

First, I visited with my Bishop, Reed Metcalf. He and I talked about all the pros and cons for quite a while without discovering any point that I hadn’t already visited. Then, just before I left he told me, “I really feel that you need to find out what will make your wife the happiest and use that as the primary factor in your decision.” Then smiled and added, “Happy wife, happy life!”

The next week I happened to be in Portland and visited my old Bishop, Steve Berne—who happens to be an exceptionally gifted and successful attorney. His advice also gave me some clarity. He said; “where you choose to go to school will make less a difference in your career than the way you choose to live and work. If you are honest and hard working you will go places regardless of the school you choose.” He also told me that McGeorge had a good reputation among attorneys all over the West Coast. Most importantly, he and his wife, then agreed wholeheartedly with the advice Bishop Metcalf had given me. After all, I will be locked away in a library for the next three years, while Janelle will be more involved with where we live.

In the end, I (we) really feel that staying here is what will be best for our family. We are eager for the changes, challenges and opportunities that will come over the next few years.

One last thing, I hope that no one will mistake my choosing a lower ranked school for a lack of ambition. I go into this with the intent of working hard enough to graduate at the top of my class and having every opportunity available to me in three years when I graduate.

Anyway, for those who read this entire post, congratulations on making it through. And for those who didn’t, I will know who you are when you ask me questions later about why I chose McGeorge.

31<-08:00>12/08

Get ready…

9:24 am by Janelle. Filed under: News,Shaun

I finally got some pictures on here…so there may be quite a few…maybe more than a few! Oh well,  here is our Christmas documented in pictures.

Before heading out to Utah we visited a well-known court in our area that is always lit up and decorated for Christmas. Each house usually has a theme and below is Preston LOVING the Disney house…

Christmas 2008 009

Here is a favorite of the beautiful Amy…who is getting more and more pregnant…and her husband Burgess. They’re cute.

Christmas 2008 026a

Here is the smiliest baby…but one who can also give the best stink-eye…Preston’s cousin Addison with her awesome bib from Dan…Preston got one with cowboy boots all over it. Good pick Dan.

Christmas 2008 037

Preston loved riding grandma’s exercise bike with Aunt Kerstin…

Christmas 2008 057

He couldn’t keep his little mitts off the piano!

Christmas 2008 075

Just playing with mom…

Christmas 2008 080

All bundled up walking through downtown Salt Lake. We went to Temple square and it was FREEZING! I keep thinking it’s cold here, in the mornings and evenings especially. I forgot what cold is. It’s COLD in Utah!!

Here are some pictures from Temple square.

Christmas 2008 083a

Christmas 2008 086

Christmas 2008 088a

This was the first time he actually let us put on his dog hat and gloves. Adorable.

Christmas 2008 098

Christmas 2008 103

And then we had our trip home. Long. Very long.

There are these rest stops in the middle of the salt flats that i have always wanted to stop at. It looks like they were constructed in the 1950’s and the one on the eastbound side of the freeway has this ramp up to a lookout point. We decided to stop at one and take a look. They had a “foot wash” there…Kind of random, i thought. Do people want to wash their feet after a long drive? Do they go out and play in the salt flats and come back to wash their feet? This sign left me coming up with lots of different reason people might want a foot wash in the middle of nowhere. Any other answers?

Christmas 2008 198a

And last, our cute boy with some crazy static hair.

Christmas 2008 207


10<-08:00>04/06

Hello!

11:43 am by shaun. Filed under: News,Shaun

Our big brother “RedBeard” just put this up for us today so it’s all empty. Dont’ worry though, we will fill it up soon. God Bless!