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SALT LAKE CITY -- Assuming Gov. Jon Huntsman is confirmed and becomes ambassador to China, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert will step into the state's leading role. That means his family is in the spotlight too, especially his wife and the next first lady of Utah, Jeanette Herbert.
It's only been five days since Jeanette and her husband got the news that they will become Utah's leading couple.
"I put my arms around him and said, ‘Congratulations!' And we had a little emotional moment. It was overwhelming," Jeanette said.
This past Sunday they had a family meeting about it. The Herberts are both from Utah County, their parents are still alive, each of their many siblings live close by, and they've got a bundle of kids.
"We have six children; three boys and three girls," Jeanette said. "We have nine grandchildren and one on the way."
She said her husband told her it was up to her how involved she wants to be, and she's decided she wants to serve Utah as much as she can. Just like Mary Kay Hunstman's "The Power in You" campaign, Jeanette plans to raise awareness of a social issue.
"I don't know what that will be. There's lots of things to choose from," she said.
Jeanette has always been involved in the community. For 23 years she ran a day care and preschool, she's served in the Orem/Provo Chamber of Commerce and is currently involved in a Utah Valley University program that helps young single mothers.
She says Utahns should be proud to have her husband as their governor and together they will do the best they can to serve the state. "We have grown up in this state, and we have such great love for this state. There is not a better place to be or to live or to raise a family," she said.
Jeanette says she and current first lady Mary Kay Huntsman will go to lunch soon, where Mary Kay will give her advice passed down from former first ladies about do's, don'ts and how to strike a balance.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
