I grew up in Salt Lake City, the oldest of seven kids in a single-parent home. I served a mission in southern Spain and north Africa. Shortly after returning home I married Lori Middleton, and we put ourselves through school, working and earning odd scholarships. I graduated from the University of Utah with degrees in Political Science and Sociology, and from Harvard Law School. After law school we spent five years in the the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC and loved it. After 8 years on the east coast we returned to Utah in 2006 so our kids could be near their extended family.