A Lawyer in the Family

Last Thursday (Oct. 23rd) my oldest brother Josh was officially sworn in as an attorney by the Utah State Bar Association! I went up to the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to see the ceremony with some of my family, and it was pretty exciting for all of us. Josh is what I call "the scholar" of our family...he got his undergrad in Political Science from BYU and then went to Case Western Law School in Cleveland, where he not only got his law degree but an MBA as well. Then of course he had to go on and prepare for the bar exam, which he took in July and passed. Needless to stay, he has spent countless hours of his life studying, studying, and studying some more! My whole family (and most of all Josh's wife, my sister-in-law Jenise!) is heralding the fact that Josh's years of sweat, blood and tears have finally paid off and he's reached this long-awaited goal. He's already got a great job as an administrator at a hospital in Blanding, Utah, but now he will be able to handle their legal work as well. He's also planning on starting his own legal practice there in Blanding. Way to go bro! I'm so happy for you and very proud. Let the lawyer jokes commence! =)

I brought Thomas to the ceremony with me, which was ok because there were a ton of families there with young children, but it was a little crazy! As soon as we arrived and Thomas saw his cousins he got so excited and started shouting...I was having to beg him to be quiet through the whole ceremony! There was plenty of noise from other kids too, but I swear I had the loudest kid in the room! After the ceremony we moved to a large foyer where they had some cookies & punch, and the kids were running all over the place together. It was a little hard to keep them from getting lost in the crowd, but it was fun watching them too...they are so cute together and don't see each other that often.

Afterwards we all headed down to the Cheesecake Factory in Murray for lunch. I've been to this restaurant several times in other states and I am in looooooove with it, but I had never yet gone to the one here in Utah since they've opened it...I keep hearing how ridiculously-crazy-long the waits are! (My Dad was a good guy and got there ahead of us all to wait). It was good eatin', but by the time we were done, Thomas was exhausted and screaming and ready to go! So goes the days when naps are missed. Ryan had wanted to be there for the ceremony and lunch, but was out of town working for the day. I missed him (especially during Thomas' meltdown!), but I'm glad I was able to be there for both of us and support Josh.

Congrats again, Josh. I hope you have a few more relaxing days ahead of you now!