Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas. We got to spend in Idaho with Matt's parents. It was so nice to sit a relax and play games. We appreciate the time that we get to spend with family and we love them all so much! Karlee had been sick the few days before we went to Idaho but were so glad that she was finally feeling better. On Christmas morning she was so cute. When it was her turn to open a present we would help her open it and she would play with that toy or whatever it was until she opened the next then she would play with that one. It was very cute!
I think Karlee really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents. She wasn't shy towards them at all. She loved playing the piano with Grandma Bradshaw and she would just wave and wave to Grandpa Bradshaw until he would wave back at her. We all had such a good time and such a good Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a happy New Year!

Mini High School Reunion

The Monday before Christmas we had a little get together with some of my high school friends. It was a lot of fun to see everyone again. We hung out and talked for hours. We were sad that not everyone was able to make it but we still had a great time!

Three of us have kids now. Karlee, Skylie, and Kyla. They are all so cute!!
The babies with their mommas.

We had to take a couple of different couch pictures because people left and others came.
Reminiscing about high school.

Thanks everyone that came. It was a lot of fun. We'll have to do it again when everyone is back in town...maybe next Christmas!

Snow day

I'm a little behind on these pictures but a couple of weeks back we got about two feet of snow. So I decided to take Karlee out in it for really her very first time. Last year she was too little to play in the snow. She was so funny. She did not like to touch the snow or sit in it. She was fine on the drive way but not anywhere else.
She had some lovely plastic bag boots.

She was ok on the slid but not going down into the snow.

Tracker Test Drive

Today Brad decided it was time to take the "new and improved" Tracker Snowcat out for a test drive at the Belcher family property in Timber Lakes. So we loaded it up and went for a drive. Here are some pictures and a video of our test drive. I don't think any of the pictures or the video gives it justice, it is pretty dang sweet and loads of fun. Who knew that a tracker on snow trax could be so cool.

About Time!

After 9 semesters, 2 summer terms, 1 transfer, 137.5 credit hours, 1 wedding, and 1 child, Matt has finally graduated with his Bachelors in Business Management from Brigham Young University! He took his last final today and is officially done with his undergrad. It often times doesn't really feel like he's graduating because he's going back to school in 8 months but this is a huge accomplishment and I am so proud of Matt. He has worked so hard and it is much deserved. Neither of us thought that this day would ever come but we are thrilled that it finally has. Now we get to spend the next 8 months relaxing and playing as a family. I'm so excited for Matt to come home and not have to study now. We will take full advantage of that while we can because we know it's not going to last very long. Congrats Matt, I can't wait to see where life takes us next!

Tracker

The tracker got a make over. We traded the tracker with my dad for a little pick-up truck so he could turn the tracker into a snow cat sort of thing.

Can't wait to go for a ride in it on the snow!

Faces

The many faces of Karlee. Lately she has been making some pretty funny faces. She makes us laugh so much. It seems like she has changed so much over the last couple of weeks.

Karlee and Grandpa

The other day Karlee was so crabby and no one could make her happy. It wasn't until Grandpa got home from working on the cabin that she was finally happy. She just needed her grandpa I suppose.


Enjoying a fresh orange peel together. Yes PEEL. She really like it and got mad when I took it to throw it away.

Law School Acceptance Tracker

Rather than make an overwhelming post each time I receive an acceptance from a school. We have determined to simply add it all to the side bar. If any has a burning desire to know more about the offer (scholarship or no, etc), then e-mail me. Otherwise you can track our school acceptances on the right.

First Law School Acceptance!

So I received my first law school acceptance letter last night upon returning from our night out. At 12:30 am I peeled open a envelope from William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, VA and read the good news - Accepted

Oh and to sweeten the deal they offered me a Graduate Fellow Scholarship which gives me in-state tuition rates, and an opportunity to work 8-10 hours/week at the law school for another $4K/year, then as if that wasn't enough they added a $5K/year just in case I was feeling picked on. Totaling it all up they offered me roughly $20K/year in scholarship money for the three years so long as I maintain a "B" average and meet my required work hours at the law school. It feels nice to know that a)my application was not a disaster, b)that it is official, I am going to law school, and c) worst case scenario we can pack our bags and attend law school at tuition rates of about 13K/year (which in comparison with some other top-30 schools of $40K plus) means a great value awaits. Only 16 more decisions await.

SYTYCD

Last night we had the opportunity to go to So you think you can dance season 5 tour. Matt got these tickets for me for my birthday which was back in June. It was definitely worth the wait. It was so fun to see the top 10 dancers from this last season and some of their dances. Our seats were really good and I really want to go again next season. It was great entertainment, great company, and great fun! Here are some pictures from the night.

Ade and Melissa doing the breast cancer dance.
Janine and Jason
Top 3 guys
Janette and Brandon
Janine and BrandonKayla and Kapono
Top 3 girls
Brandon and Janette

Halloween Fun!

We had a fun Halloween. We started off the day by going to a little carnival that all of the schools in the county put together, Karlee enjoyed looking at all of the different costumes but was too little to play any of the games. Later that evening we took our little chicken trick-or-treating to a few houses. She had no idea what was going on but loved that everyone was giving her candy. When we got done trick-or-treating our friends Scott and Jacqueline came over for some soup and bread bowls. Then we headed to Holiday lanes for the tradional Bradshaw Halloween bowling. We have for some reason done it almost every year that we've known each other. Maybe because no one else goes bowling on Halloween. I bowled the game of my life with a 166. We had to take a picture to remember. Matt couldn't handle me beating him so he insisted that we played another round. It was a lot of fun and Karlee was such a good little sport staying up way past her bed time so we could continue in our tradition.

Shopping Cart

Grandma and Grandpa Belcher were in Wisconsin on Karlee's birthday so she got to open her gift when they got back. She loves it. It's a shopping cart. She loves to put things in it and then take them out over and over. She also loves to push it around. Maybe she'll start walking soon with the training she is getting from it.


Karlee helping grandpa put together her new shopping cart.

First Decision Received for Law School

So as I opened up my e-mail this morning and saw a note from the University of Texas, I to say the least got excited. I had read online that the first round of decisions had started to be sent and thought, could this really be my first real decision that will help me know about our future? The first sign? So I opened the e-mail to read this:

Thank you for your application to The University of Texas School of
Law. Upon initial review of your application, the Admissions Committee
has decided to hold your file for additional consideration with the
general applicant pool. Your status as a "hold" should not be viewed
as a denial, a deferral, or an invitation to the waitlist.

The Law School received approximately 1,500 files for Early Decision,
and while the Admissions Committee was able to make final decisions
on the majority of the files, there are some, yours included, that
we would like to consider with the general applicant pool before we
make a final decision. I anticipate that you will have a final decision
by April at the latest. I understand this delay may be inconvenient,
but I assure you that we will do our best to finalize your decision
as soon as possible.

So we went from we will tell you by mid-November so you can begin to consider something of finality to, give us another six months. A Yes/No Decision with a "Maybe" answer. Well here is to hoping, a large part of me thought I would receive a denial from them considering 70% of their class is from in-state, but I guess all we can do is continue to wait.

(Here I am still waiting!)

Popinjayz

My cute sister-in-law Mardie just started a new business. She makes really cute bows and flowers and braclets for little girls. She is so talented and she sells her stuff for pretty cheap. She also can make customized things to match your daughters different outfits. You should check out her website it's http://www.popinjayz.com.

Guess who is 1!

Karlee had her first birthday on Monday. It was a good day but kind of crazy. Matt had to work all day and I had volleyball til late in the evening so we didn't have a lot of time to party but Karlee loved her little cupcake and her presents. I can't believe that our baby is already one. Time flies when you're having fun I guess. Karlee we love you and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you!

The Law Apps Are In!

Barring any huge changes or a fee waiver from a school that we just cannot keep ourselves from applying to, the list is complete. Many people have asked us what schools our list consists of. So I thought I would quickly name the 15 schools that have received an application with my name on it.
(In no specific order)

1.Duke (Durham, NC)
2.California- Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
3.Cornell (Ithaca, NY)
4.Boston (Boston, MA)
5.Texas (Austin, TX)
6.Washington (Seattle, WA)
7.Lewis and Clark (Portland, OR)
8.UC Davis ( Davis, CA)
9. Arizona St. (Tempe, AZ)
10.Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
11.Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)
12.Colorado (Boulder, CO)
13.William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA)
14.Illinois (Champaign, IL)
15.Washington St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

?? Utah - Still haven't applied, waiting to get a fee waiver from them and with that may or may not apply.

Some may wonder why I am applying to so many schools, let me assure you that although I probably have a few more applications then some, I am by no way exceeding the amount of applications that many students do. Also, I have been blessed to have my application fee waived from 10 of the 15 schools above. Without a set direction in law or a region of the country that appeals most to us, we have left our options open and am hoping that the decisions and scholarship offers of the schools above will help us know which way to run. We are excited and anxious. The decisions should start coming in from early admission schools as early as Thanksgiving and stretching through April of next year.

Now what to do till then?

Cabin and Moose Sighting

Between conference sessions today we decided to venture up to the Belcher family property East of Heber and see the progress on the family cabin. Last night I joined Brad (who has been up there almost every night for the last few weeks) for an after Priesthood meeting building adventure. We put the first part of the 3rd floor up and I had to take a moment to remember what it feels like to be standing on 2 2 by 4 planks 30 feet above the ground. The cabin's progress has been amazing and should be a fun place to visit when it is done.


As we ventured up this path to take some pictures of the cabin we saw some large tracks that we determined must be fresh from a moose or large elk and thought nothing else of it.


However, as we driving to leave we saw him, a very large moose just standing in one of the roads through the property, after taking a few pictures we drove up to leave. After convincing Kerry that it was okay if we went back we turned around and went around another way to get another angle. Brad and I walked over close to the monster of a moose and with his permission we walked up till we were about 5 yards away. Eventually after casually eating as we watched him, he decided to walk up a small path. As we drove out we stopped at the top of the path and realized that in the trees just off the path there was another moose or two. I could not convince Kerry to let me go investigate, but it made me think that maybe we were a little lucky in how close we were able to get considering the family was just right up the path. All things considered it was a fun mini-trip to see the cabin and get a really close up look at this bull moose.

Uncle Dave's Pavilion from road
Round 2 from the other side -
If you look close you can see the black in the bushes. I did not get the nerve to get to close as just down the path was dad and I didn't know if he was getting fed up with his photoshoot.

Karlee was unsure about the whole experience, but did better than Kerry who hid for a time under her blanket!