BYU MBA Program...Here We Come!

So here is the conclusion to the Hugh Family MBA rollercoaster…We’ve been waiting to hear from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona and on Tuesday, July 22 I received an email from Thunderbird Director of Admissions Jay Bryant where he invited me to join the world-renowned international business program. The admission committee at Thunderbird agreed with my interviewer that I have "an amazingly diverse background and a mindset that is perfect for Thunderbird". Jay agreed by adding, "After having reviewed the rest of your materials, I would agree with him!" This made me feel so good! The kicker is, we had already decided to stay in Utah and attend the BYU MBA Program.

We went to the Timpanogos Temple on Friday, July 18 (exactly 10 years to the day from the time I received my endowments at the same temple in 1998). While we were in the temple, we received confirmation to our decision to attend BYU. We’ve felt all along that the Marriott School of Management was the place for us and when we were rejected the first time in May, I chose Thunderbird as my new number one. Through some hard work, determination and assistance from Heavenly Father, our dreams have come true. It is amazing how things have worked out. It’s a testament to me that the Lord knows what we need and when we need it. So, for all of you who thought we were moving, SORRY! We’ll be here in Provo for the next two years minus an internship next summer!

Yeah!!!

I am so excited! Portia's hair is finally long enough to put into pigtails. I was going to try french braids but she won't hardly sit still long enough for the piggies. But I am so excited to do her hair. Sad, I know, but it's fun nonetheless.

One More Surprise

What Ronell didn't tell you about last week was that on top of all this crazy stuff happening, Friday was my birthday. Let's just say that I'm now in my 30th year. Yikes! The reason he didn't say anything about it on his post was that he was planning a surprise party for me. Weeeelllllll...I knew about because I had to check his email for the whole GMAT fiasco. What I didn't know was that he had invited some of our best friends, whom I haven't seen in forever. It was so funny to walk in the door and see Palmer and Portia so excited to see me followed by great friends and a gazillion kids. It was so much fun and a little chaotic. The pictures are on Ronell's camera (his fancy shmancy camera that was his birthday present to himself a few months ago. It's pretty dang cool, I have to admit, but I can't figure out how to download the pictures off of it) so maybe someday I'll post some.

But that's not all. Among my great birthday present was a very small envelope that Ronell said I had to open last. It was the best surprise...TICKETS TO THE AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT!! For those of you who don't know, my family loves..no I mean LOVES American Idol. I've only really gotten into it the past two seasons. The show for SLC sold out in about an hour and so I thought all hope was lost. What I didn't know was that they opened a second show in SLC for Tuesday, July 15th. I was so stoked!

So, my sister-in-law, Elli and I headed up there to join the teeny boppers and middle aged women who comprise the fan base for American Idol. It was a blast!!! Sorry that some of the pictures are a little dark, it was a concert.

Elli and I before the concert

Michael Johns, who was definitely one of my favorites. He was a crowd favorite, too. He sang his "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions" medley and "Dream On", which was almost better than his peformance on the show.

Syesha Mercado. She was phenomenal, singing "Listen" from the movie "Dream Girls". She was almost better than Beyonce. This girl really grew on me during the season and I loved her performance at the concert.

Possibly my favorite song of the night. He was so amazing. I still can't believe that he's 17. The crowd was so loud I only heard him singing about half the time he was up on stage. It was crazy. I'm actually kind of glad he didn't win because now he can do whatever he wants with no pressure. That said.......

I thought I liked David Cook before the concert but I was still blown away by him. He was crazy!! And he seems to have maintained a pretty level head about his success...so far

The Finale. If you look very closely, you can see all ten of the top ten. This concert was so much fun. Thanks for the tickets, Ronell, and thanks for going with me, Elli.

Hmmm....MBA School?

Many of you have probably been wondering what is going on with grad school for the Hugh family. It has been an eventful week and I have to share all the details for everyone to understand the emotional rollercoaster we've been on.

About a month ago I decided to take the GMAT again and thought that I had signed up for Tuesday, July 8. I hired a tutor and studied hard for three weeks. Then I went into the Pearson VUE testing center in Draper, Utah and saw my name on a list as a "NO SHOW" for Monday, July 7. I had missed my test date and didn't know how that happened. An error on my part. I felt so defeated, but my loving wife, Bri, said let's look and see if they have any times soon. Lucky for me they had three times available on Wednesday, July 9. The fact that they had any openings was a miracle simply because you usually have to schedule the test a month in advance to get a date. So Bri signed me up.

On Wednesday, July 8, I went in and earned my best score yet on the GMAT! I couldn't believe it! I walked out of the testing center on cloud nine. I rushed right over to my work and sent my unofficial score report to Thunderbird and BYU. Bri and I thought that we wouldn't hear back for a week at least.

Thursday morning I got a call from the BYU MBA Admissions Director, Yvette Anderson, and she said, "Craig Merill would like to meet with you at your earliest convienience." I expressed my interest in meeting with him immediately and arranged a 3:30 p.m. appointment Thursday afternoon.

When I arrived at his office, Craig Merrill expressed how excited he was to meet me because he has heard so many good things about me. We talked for about 25 minutes reviewing my application, background and professional goals. He then proceeded to explain that he had previously met with the MBA admissions committee and as a committee they had decided that on paper, I met the programs requirements. Craig then stated that if "I meet with Ronell and feel that he is a person we can admit to the program, can I do that?"The committee said, "Yes."

He then continued by saying that I had worked hard to get to this point in my life. He said the purpose of the meeting with me was to see if I was a person he felt would add to the program. Then in his own words he said, “With that in mind, we would like to admit you to the BYU MBA Program.” When he said that, my head dropped and I started crying. I thanked him and informed him that I will work hard in the program. He said that he had no doubt just by my reaction to being admitted. It has been a 2 1/2 year journey for us to get to this point. What a surreal experience it was for me.

Anyway, there you go. Now we are waiting to hear from Thunderbird in Glendale, AZ. Lots of decisions to make, but I definitely feel and know that the Lord's hand has been in all of this.

Festivities

Last week was lots of fun. We spent another few days at Seven Peaks with Lexie. Here are a few highlights from that fun day.

Portia LOVED Lexie's bubbles. This is her expression for anything new and exciting. Somehow, I think I do this when I want her to get excited and so she copies it.

Portia's latest "discovery". Lovely.

Palmer's favorite activity at Seven Peaks is to stand at the edge of the wave pool, count to three, and run into the water as fast as he can. He watched all the "big" kids do it and has to imitate everything anyone older does. I think he's counting in this picture.

If you can't tell, this is Palmer sun-bathing. He saw all the teenage girls laying out in the wave pool and so he did it. He stayed like this for almost five minutes--the longest he's held still ever!!

Then there were the Fourth of July activities. We spent the morning at the Provo parade (thanks to the Dewitt family in our ward) and the afternoon at Mike and Julie Cottle's home in Daybreak.

This is how the day began. Palmer and Portia love to wrestle these days. Maybe I should stop this because someone usually ends up in tears and it's usually Palmer!! Just kidding, it's about 50/50.

Palmer and Portia hug a lot. It's cute but, if you can't tell, Portia has that look that should warn you that she is about to throw down with Palmer.

This is one of the rare occasions when our kids were sitting during the parade. Portia loved the free candy, of course. Palmer's favorite things were the big balloons and the "princesses". He kept asking for the princesses all day (Thanks to Madi Lindsay who was sitting next to us at the parade and kept commenting on how beautiful all the princesses were). Palmer saw some of the floats later in the day when we were driving and shouted, "It's the princesses, yeah!!!" This can only mean one of two things. 1. He's a princess in training. 2. He's the ultimate ladies' man. Neither option is great for me!

Here's Palmer with the "Curious George" balloon. It's not really George but that's what Palmer called it.

Up at the Cottle's house. There is a lake up in Daybreak and Mike (a.k.a. "Grandpa") took the kids out on it. Palmer loved it. He even got to row a bit.

Meanwhile, back at the dock, Portia managed to find the dirt. We took her dress off because she had gotten it soaking wet. She was too little to go on the boat and cried when everyone left. But then she found the dirt and rocks and was perfectly content. She's either the most well-rounded girl ever (loves rocks and baby dolls) or she's seriously gender confused. Apparently, I'm not good at teaching my children their "appropriate" gender activities., which is just fine with me!!