rob jill caleb hanna claire xen: May 2008

I was selected as the President of the Board of Advocates for next year - my final year in law school. I will oversee all the competitions. I have had the opportunity over the past two years to compete in both regional and national moot court competitions. This was my final chance to win and make it to regionals. My teammates an two best friends in law school are Jeanne Chamberlain (left) and Kellie Nelson (center). We took 2nd place in the competition - securing ourselves a trip to Vegas and a chance to compete in regionals this fall! Our friends won 1st place and we sincerely congratulate them! We had the opportunity to argue our final round before three very honorable judges from Wyoming; one of which was a Wyoming Supreme Court Justice. Go team!

The first place team - Congrats!

The roads from Evanston to Laramie were closing left and right. I had to get back for class - as my absences allowed are limited and sickness, injuries, and competitions had already taken my allotted amount. As such, we had to do our best to make it home safely but swiftly! No such luck. Will-power and determination alone is not enough to beat a Wyoming snow storm. The freeway was closing down behind us the whole way to Rawlins. Once in Rawlins the roads were closed - in fact all roads to or from Laramie were closed. There was no way we were getting home that night!

We finally made it to Rawlins only to find that EVERY hotel in the town was booked and our only shot at shelter for the night was at one of two emergency shelters set up in town. The first shelter we showed up at had a Greyhound bus parked out front and a large crowd of toothless smokers out front. The kids did NOT want to go in - but I didn't really have a choice. They said they could give us a spot on the large equipment hanger floor where some mats and cots were set up. The cots or mats were all claimed, so we would have to sleep on the cold floor. There were no families or children at this shelter and it really was a bit scary. The kids said we should leave, so we left to check out the other shelter. All this time my dad is calling, trying to find us a place anywhere! He is calling hotels, trying to track down a local bishop, and guiding us to the different shelters. We made it to the second shelter, but the roads were so steep and slick we couldn't get up the hill to the shelter and were forced to go back to the original shelter. In desparation we drove from hotel to hotel hoping to find anything available! We ended up at a hotel that is a bit of a dive. I went inside and asked if they had anything available. Of course the answer was "no". I asked if I could be placed on a waiting list until someone canceled or didn't show up. He told me the rooms were all occupied and we would not be able to get in. At this point I burst into tears and asked him what I was supposed to do! I told him that I had four kids in the car and needed a place to stay! It was at this time that announcements got around that all the shelters were full. It was also at this time that a woman came from around the corner and said that she knew there were two rooms that the maids were unable to clean and could be opened up if someone cleaned them. I told her I would clean it! She said it would only take her a minute and would rent it to me if I could just give her a few minutes to vacuum and clean up.

When I returned to the car there were celebratory tears from the whole Garrett Clan! My parents and Robby were so relieved and we were SO grateful - even though it was a dive and we had to sleep in a smoking room.

We finally made our way back to Laramie. It was a scary drive home where we saw the remains of all the accidents from the prior two days. One accident involved 17 vehicles where two burst into flames and damaged the roads. That is why we were stuck in Rawlins for 2 days - as the roads were cleared and repaired. As we drove home we saw the burned out skeleton of a diesel along the way. It was quite an adventure! Very scary! We were glad to be home!