Kasandra Cheney Parker

Here's my last 10 years -- has it really been that long?! I attended Ricks College along with so many others in the fall of 1998. I got the opportunity to be on the college clogging/folk dance team for 2 years. We toured Europe both summers I was on the team- they were awesome experiences!! I changed my degree a couple times and finally graduated from the Paramedic Program there in the spring of 2001- while also working for Madison Ambulance as an EMT-Basic while going to school. I did my internship for 5 weeks in Galveston, Texas and came home and got married 2 weeks later to my husband Jon Parker. I have worked part-time as a Paramedic/Firefighter for Madison County for the last 8 years. It can be a very stressful- yet rewarding job all at the same time. We had our first son- Kyson- in June of 2003. We built our home in Rigby throughout 2004-05 (do-it-ourselvers take a while!!) and our second son- Tanner- came in June of 2005 after we got moved in. I took a job that fall as an adjunct professor at BYU-Idaho in the Paramedic Program and starting teaching piano lessons out of our home. I did that for a couple years and taught my last semester this past winter semester- deciding I needed some more time at home-- to do what?-- well, keep busy. We had our third son- Ethan- in June of 2007 (yes- if you've been following along- June is our busy month at our home!!) I am still working part-time at the Fire Dept., teaching piano lessons, and I am starting a clogging studio on the side this fall here in Rigby! My husband runs a software development group in Idaho Falls, a.k.a. he is a "computer nerd" as I like to tease him! So, life is busy and fun around our household!! I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion next month!!

Bethany Leman Cowley

I have not been in touch with anyone since I left Rexburg and have only gotten little updates from my brothers so this blog is very awesome. Thank you!

I also went to Ricks, majored in meeting cute boys (I mean General Education--couldn't make up my mind). My hubby and I were FHE brother and sister (cheezy!), met my Freshman year, got married a year later. We moved up to U of Idaho where I got a Bachelors in Accounting and Luke became a Civil Engineer Corps Officer in the Navy. Lana was born in September 2002. The girl is now 5 and has lived in 7 places! While Luke was at Officer Candidate School, I stayed with my parents and went back to Ricks to start pre-reqs for Nursing school (hated accounting). We moved to California for more training, then to Virginia where we have been the past four years, currently in Virginia Beach. I got my RN-BSN at Norfolk State University and have been working in a Neuro/Trauma ICU since 2006 (love it!!). Katelyn was born in November 2005 in the middle of my second to last semester of school. We have survived one deployment to Iraq and will have many more to come. I never pictured myself being a military wife, but we're making the most of it and get to spend a lot of time at the beach. The Navy is sending us to Arizona for grad school next month and then to California after that, then hopefully Spain.

Congratulations to everyone for all that you've accomplished in the last 10 years. We had amazing, talented people in our class and it's great to see what we've all made of ourselves. And we make beautiful kids!

Pearl Hokanson

Well its been a crazy 10 years. I did the usual Ricks College and mission. Since then nothing has been usual. Lots of moving and traveling and this past month I celebrated the first time in about two years that I stayed in the same state for an ENTIRE month. I currently reside in Provo and work on the Mother Baby/ NICU unit at American Fork Hospital. My top 5 accompishments of the past 10 years are as follows......
5*I have been in pursuit of the perfect 24 hours, it has been an evasive quest. The rules are it has to include the perfect activities, company and music. Im hesitant to proclaim it for sure so I still call it the NEAR perfect 24 hours but I acheived that a few weeks ago.
4* I survived an attach from a severly demented one legged man. For those of you whom have also survived such an ordeal I have a support group S.O.O.L.A (Survivors of One Legged Attackers)
3* My alias (Mable Blaster) was a write in candidate with six votes for Govenor in the state of Wyoming.
2* Im pretty sure in my 7 years working in the medical field I have changed more diapers than anyone else in the Madison High class of 1998 and possibly more than any other human on this earth,all six billion plus. AND
1* I made someone laugh so hard they shot soda out their nose.
So that is life in a nutshell. Happier than ever wouldnt change anything.....well ALMOST anything.

Tonya Millar Charles

I've enjoyed reading about where the last ten years have taken everyone. Here is where I have been.

I too attended Ricks and graduated in 2000. From there I was off to BYU. During my stint at the Y, I visited Rexburg one weekend and met my future husband, Nick, in my parents' kitchen on my 21st birthday. (I'm very grateful for friends with good friends.) We were married four months later. I dragged him back to BYU where I graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in English, technical writing and editing. After graduation we moved back to Idaho. We lived in Rigby for three years while Nick finished his B.S. in Math Ed at BYU-I and then taught at Bonneville High in IF. In the meantime, I worked as a technical writer/editor for the then INEEL and began working on my masters degree through ISU. Towards the end of that 3-year stay, Emma, now 3, was born. When Nick realized that teaching wasn't for him, we packed up and headed to the University of Wyoming in Laramie. We loved it there, and almost two years to the day, Nick graduated with his M.S. in Environmental Engineering. While in Laramie, I completed my course work for my own masters degree and began the lengthy process of writing my thesis while being a mom. In addition, our second daughter Ashlyn was born (now 14 months old). After Laramie we moved to where we now call home, Pocatello. Shortly after arriving in Pocatello, I defended my thesis and now have my M.A. in English.

The last ten years have been very good to me. I'm one of the fortunate ones who can honestly say that I am happy. My husband has a great job with a Civil Engineering firm here in Pocatello that allows me to stay primarily home with my girls. I do like to teach an English course a semester at ISU to keep my foot in the door and to move at a different pace for a few hours a week. While I never imagined living in Pocatello, it's been good to us. We recently bought a home that is keeping us busy with some remodeling, and we like being fairly close to both sets of grandparents. Who knows where we'll be next, though. I'll let you know in another ten years.

I want to add my thanks to everyone working on the reunion. It's a lot to organize. Thanks for your time and hard work. It's already paying off.

Sara Sorensen Soelberg

Hey Guys, I'm not sure I'm officially allowed to do this, since I moved after sophomore year, but I have had a great time reading up on long lost friends. So I thought I'd post a little something, too. (Feel free to keep on scrolling if you don't remember me. . . )

My family moved to Provo between sophomore and junior years. It was hard to leave such good friends at Madison, and I'm always sad to think about the fun I missed out on those last two years. After my two years at Provo High, I went to BYU and majored in English Teaching. I met my husband Joe in February of 2000, dated all year, finished finals in December and got married the next day. That next fall (2001) I started teaching English at Spanish Fork Junior High. I loved my two years as a Junior High English Teacher.

Our daughter Libby was born in July 2003, and then our family moved to Fishers, Indiana, one month later. We've been here ever since. We added Jenna to our family in September of 2005.

I wish we could come to the reunion. In fact, I wish I could come to Rexburg, period. I'm sure it's changed a lot since the last time I saw it. With my parents gone, I need to come up with a reason to visit. Have fun! --Sara

Heath and Tricia (Merrill) Edwards

I wasn’t going to take time to do this, but since I just spent so much time reading everyone else’s and enjoying the update I thought it might be fun. I know it has shocked a couple some old classmates that Heath and I actually got married, so maybe the rest of you will get a kick out of this too!

I’ll try and make this short since it’s about two of us..

Heath went on a mission shortly after graduation to London England (South) and then went to BYU-I for awhile. In the meantime (while we were still pretty much oblivious about each others’ existence) I graduated from Ricks college and then went to BYU-Hawaii for awhile. I had TONS of fun there, playing in the ocean and studying a little psychology, but I decided to head to the BYU in Utah for some snowboarding and majored in Therapeutic Recreation. After the snowboarding (winter semester) I also served a mission to Donetsk, Ukraine. 4 days after my return I met Heath (so randomly) at a city council meeting (different story) anyway.. we hit it off and 4 months later we were married. We lived in Provo for awhile while I finished my degree, since I was closer to graduating and then moved back to Rexburg while I worked at the Behavioral Health Center in Idaho Falls and Heath worked for Weed Man (a lawn care company my dad owns) and went to school full time. Months after he started working and school, Heath’s boss quit and Heath suddenly found himself running Weed Man himself and going to school full time. It was crazy, especially after our first son Rhett was born, but Heath graduated in Marketing and Business Management and decided he likes running Weed Man, so we are now part owners in that. I do payroll for him and my dad (Merrill Landscapes), I quit doing occasional work at the BHC after our daughter was born Dec. 2007. So that’s us – our kids are now 2 ½ and 6 months, we live here in town and are currently in the process of moving from our cute little starter home to a slightly bigger one that we got at a great deal in the dismal real estate market!

Nichole Ferney Jeppesen

I also cannot believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like the time goes by twice as fast now that we are a little bit older. Well after high school I moved to Boise and starting nursing school. In 2000 I graduated with my RN and also go married. We then moved back to Rexburg where Joe took over his family farm and I went to work at the emergency room here in Rexburg. I then went back to school to finish my Bachleors degree in nursing. After that we had Bailee who is now 5. We moved out to Lyman and have been here ever since. I went back to school in 2005, had a baby in the middle of my Master's program in 2007. In May I graduated with my Master's degree in nursing as a Nurse Practitioner. I now work 2 days a week at the Rexburg Medical Center seeing patients and also as needed in the emergency room. We are building a house in town so we both can be closer to our jobs. Life is very busy as well as rewarding for us. My family is glad to have me done with school.... for now. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting spouses and children.

Monica Macbeth Foster

Hello to everyone. It appears that everyone has had an exciting 10 years. I started at Ricks College in the fall of 1998. I stayed with the jump rope team and continued to travel and compete around the world until leaving in 2001 to attend ISU. I graduated in 2003 with a BA of science in Dental Hygiene. I graduated one weekend and was married the following weekend to my sweet heart Matt Foster. We had met while at Ricks, but hadn't started dating until my last year at ISU. Shanna (Hill) Foster had introduced us, with no intention of us ever dating. So now one of my best friends from highschool is my sister-in-law. Upon graduating I immediately went to work for Dr. Strobel in Rexburg, but was living in Shelley. 4 years later I found my dream job working at West River Dental in Idaho Falls. We purchased the home we are in now in 2005 near Bonneville Highschool. I've cut back to working 3 days a week, but stay plenty busy coaching the jump rope team in Rexburg and starting a new team at the YMCA in Idaho Falls.

Matt graduated from ISU last year with a Masters in Speech Pathology and works at Premier Therapy in Idaho Falls now. Luckily for me he enjoys to travel so every chance we get we are either at the beach or in the mountains. Last Friday we were snorkeling and running a 5K in Key West (in prepration for the Mesa Half- I'll see you there Maren.) Matt enjoys running marathons, I enjoy.....watching. So we'll see how this goes. Take care and I'll see you all soon.

Cody Startin

It has been great reading up on all those who have posted updates about themselves, so I figured that I would post one myself. Like most of you have expressed, I can’t believe it has already been 10 years. After graduation, I attended Ricks Collage like so many of us and was able to play wide receiver for the football team. It was a blast to say the least and I met a ton of really great guys. Then I served a mission in the Philippines from 1999-2001. I am actually going back to visit for a few weeks with my wife in July. Then after I got home, I continued to attend Ricks College and play football. Nine of the players on the team that year had actually played for Madison High School so it was fun to be able to represent for our school with the rest of them. Then in the fall of 2001 I met my wife, Aubry. We truly experienced 3 blissful months of dating before I left on a 4 month internship to Cozumel, Mexico. After returning from the Caribbean, I had somehow bought an engagement ring and Aubry had somehow bought her wedding dress. Neither of us had any idea since we had never really even talked about marriage. J Shortly after I proposed and we were married in June of 2002. I finished my associates at Ricks that summer and then we were off to Salt Lake where Aubry attended the U of U as one of their heptathaletes on the track team and I attended Salt Lake Community College trying to figure out if I wanted to pursue computer engineering. We then moved to Washington DC that following summer for 3 months to sell home security systems door-to-door. It was hard work but fun and we enjoyed living back east for the summer. That fall, Aubry returned to the U for her last year of track while I worked at Best Buy and tried to figure out what I wanted to go into since I had realized after taking multiple computer classes that I did not want to spend my life staring at a computer screen. Then by chance I talked to one of my friends dads and he told me to look into ultrasound because that’s what he did and he loved it. My first response like many others was, “You do ultrasounds on pregnant ladies all day?” It was then that I learned that scanning babies was just the tip of the ice berg. Consequently, I applied to some schools that offered a program and got accepted by one in Anaheim, California. So off we went, not knowing a single person that lived there. School was great and living there for 2 years was a blast. After I completed the program, without my knowledge, Aubry started sending my resume to any place that would accept it out here in the Phoenix area since she grew up in Mesa and her family still lives here. As a result, I started getting random phone calls from places that wanted me to come for an interview. Needless to say, I ended up taking a job at a hospital in Phoenix where I currently work 3 days a week. I also have my own portable ultrasound business and work part time for some urologists on my 2 days off from the hospital. Aubry is a full time mom, part time personal trainer, and photographer (www.startinphoto.com). She is an amazing mom and is always full of love and kindness. We have a 20 month old son named Gage and a girl on the way. Well, that is life in a nutshell for me. I hope to make it to the reunion so I can chat with all who will be there. Take care.
Cody

Jennifer Hastings Washburn

I can't believe 10 years has gone by so fast. After graduation I wentto Ricks were I graduated with an Associates in Social Work. Thesummer before I graduated from Ricks I spent five weeks touring Europeand then went to Chicago for four weeks to work with the inner cityyouth. After Ricks I got accepted into BYU and started school downthere in 2000. I met my husband Dan the week I moved there. We were married four months later. I graduated in 2002 in Family, Marriageand Human Development. For five years I worked at a group home forgirls that were dealing with eating disorders, drugs, dysfunctionalfamilies, and social problems. During this time my husband graduatedfrom BYU in political science and was taking flying lessons throughUVSC. In 2005 Dan was hired on with Skywest Airlines and we lived inSaratoga Springs for about a year and a half. Last year he wasupgraded to Captain and we moved to Wisconsin were he is flying forMidwest Airlines. In 2003 we started our family. We have a littlegirl Savannah (4), Joey (3), Little D a.k.a Daniel (1) and number fouris due any day now (another girl). I am busy being a stay-at-home momand love that I get to be with my children. Dan and I try to takeadvantage of our free flying benefits and try to get away each yearwithout the kids! I am hoping we will make it out for the reunion.It will depend on when this little one decides to arrive!! It's beengreat to read every ones updates. Hope to see you there.

Damon Mortensen

Well, here is a summary of the last 10 years for me. I went to St. Louis, MO for the mission the summer right after we graduated high school. Came home and went to Ricks/BYU-I for 2 years. Played football at Ricks for a year. There were 9 of the good ol’ Rexburg boys ranging from several graduating classes that were on the team that year, so that was fun...(Gotta represent the ‘Burg). Spent a summer in Portland, OR for work. Transferred to BYU Provo and met Jessica (my wife) that fall. Spent the first year at BYU pursuing a Business Degree. Got married that April (2003). We lived in Vista, CA (San Diego area) that summer working. Got back to BYU and switched gears from Business to Exercise Science. Marriage has a funny way of making you rethink career choices. Spent 2 more years at BYU getting my BS degree and finishing pre-requisites for grad school. Gotta give a shout out to Chris Call right now. We were in 2 or 3 of the same classes together at BYU (science classes, i.e. Biology, Chemistry, etc.), and he would be doing crossword puzzles during class while the rest of us were struggling to just keep up with the instructor. Of course he would rock the class too. A genius back in the day…still a genius! Ok, back to me. We had our little girl (Brynlee) in March of 2005 just before finishing at BYU. Moved to Fullerton, CA (Orange County) that fall and started Optometry School. We had our little boy (Crew) in October of 2006. We have been enjoying our adventure here in sunny Southern California over these last few years. We have been able to go to places such as the beach & Disney Land often which our kidos absolutely love. They will most likely go into withdrawals when we move, since they don’t go more than a day or 2 without asking to go to “Mickey’s House.” We will spend August through May in Utah to finish out my last year of optometry school (rotations/externships), then move back to the ‘Burg to team up with the old man at the Rexburg Vision Center. We are excited to be almost done with school and move on to the next chapter of our lives. It will be fun to see everyone this August. See ya there

Heidi Hayes Williams

How fun it has been to read about what everyone has been up to !! I had no idea that so many people lived so close by us...we live in North Salt Lake. Anyway, here my last 10 in a nutshell. I spent four amazing months in Ecuador working in orphanges, worked for a semester, then tranfered to BYU. I graduated in History in 2002, and married my best bud Pat that same year. He finished graduate school and played football while I worked as an orthodontic assistant in Orem. Other highlights include our kids, of course. Ben (4) who is the sweetest and most michevious rascal you ever met, PJ (2) who got his Dad's looks and his Mom's appetite, and we are expecting #3 in October, and this one is a GIRL. What in the world am I going to do with a girl??? Like I said, we now live in North Salt Lake. Pat is a pharma rep (yes, a drug dealer - but he deals insulin, so its O.K.), and I get to stay home with the kidos so they can destroy our house and not someone else's!! Can't wait to see everyone at the reunion!!

Clint Nye

I’m really looking forward to getting together with everyone. It’s amazing to see how similar many of our lives are. I live close to several of you and would have never known it. So it’s going to be great catching up with all of you.

Right after graduation I moved to Utah and worked to save up for the mission. I went to Michigan. While there my family moved to Utah and I’ve been down here ever since. With no degree and no real clue of what I wanted to do, I was quickly snatched up by a door to door sales company. Thus began my marketing career. The whole talking thing really seemed to work for me and for several years I just bounced around Utah from one sales job to the next. Then just last year the most amazing thing happened… I met the most wonderful girl. My wife Crystal and I were married last year and I had the insta-family. She is from Roy, UT and played basketball at Weber State until she graduated and then a couple seasons in Romania and Luxembourg. I always wanted to marry a basketball player though I didn’t think she would be as tall as me. We have a beautiful girl, Chenielle who is almost 2. I was fortunate enough to adopt her as my own. She is absolutely incredible! As most of you know, everyday with kids is a blast.

I work in Draper, UT for the coolest company in the world, Tropical Sno Hawaiian Shave Ice as their marketing director. My little family lives in Bountiful currently. I can’t wait for the chance to move back to Idaho, though I’m not sure my wife shares that same enthusiasm. It’s been 10 years but every time I go up to fish or hunt it still feels like home. I say that now but as soon as I do move I’m sure I’ll cry about the wind and cold.

Logan McRae

It's great so hear from everyone and I hope I can make it to the Reunion this summer.

The past 10 years have been a lot of fun. I put in a little college at Ricks before leaving to Milan, Italy where I served a mission. I learned how to cook from the masters, saw a lot of great art and fell in love with the country and people.

Upon returning home I started school at the newly transitioned BYU-Idaho, where I earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in graphic design while working in marketing for Beehive Credit Union. I later took a job at Graphic Services at BYU-Idaho where I created event posters and collateral materials for the campus. Some of my artwork was published in the campus Outlet magazine.

After graduation I did freelance design work for a season then accepted a job at a design firm in Salt Lake City called Skogen Group (www.skogengroup.com) where I currently work as Senior Designer, designing logos, brochures, catalogs, websites and motion design.

In Salt Lake I also met my awesome, bullet bike riding wife, Amelia, who works as an Interior Designer for an architectural firm. We are celebrating our one-year anniversary! Woo-hoo!

Over the years I've also enjoyed many great trips to such places as New York, Italy, Spain, France, Mexico, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Scotland, Egypt, and China. We're headed back to Italy and Greece this summer and are really excited.

We currently live in a condo in downtown Salt Lake City with our feisty little puppy, Gianni. Future plans include getting into business school (I am currently studying for the GMAT–uggghhhh!) and possibly opening a design firm of my own. . . and I suppose we'll probably have a few kids along the way.

Karen Tingey Pew

Hey everyone!

Here's what I've been up to...After High school I went to Ricks (like almost everyone else in our class) and I got my associates degree in Arts and Sciences in December of 1999 after which I moved to Provo to pursue a long awaited desire to learn how to cut, color, and perm hair (for the most part). I got my cosmetology license in the spring of 2001, and soon decided that it was only going to be a side thing I'd do for extra money (let's just say it turned out to be more of a hobby than a career, which turns out to be better for me anyway). Soon after I finished cosmetology school, I applied to BYU and was accepted… things changed however, because I was suddenly overcome with a strong desire/need to serve a mission. So, I deferred schooling, turned my papers in and was gone by December 2002, to serve in the Tennessee Nashville Mission. After serving a mission, I returned to school and finished up my degree in Marriage Family and Human Development at BYU in the summer of 2005.

In the middle of finishing school I met my husband Tyler. He is from San Jose, CA, but his family moved to Utah a couple of years ago… and all of my family lives in Utah for the most part as well. After graduating from BYU we were married May of 2006. Since we got married, we have lived in Lehi, Utah. We started out in a home that Tyler bought before we got married, but have since moved to another home in North Lehi. We love it here. I work at the Seagull Book Corporate offices in American Fork, in their accounting dept (ya, how did I end up there??) and my husband works for a conference planning Software Company in the Bluffdale/Draper area. We are expecting our first child in November, and we just found out it's a Boy!! After the baby comes I plan on staying home full time, and doing a little hair here and there in a salon that we built in our home. We also have a little side business selling vinyl lettering, which I hope to get into some more once I stay home.

It's been so fun to read about the last 10 years of your lives. Since moving away from Rexburg I have lost all touch with everyone! It's so great to live in a day where we can catch up so quickly through the blogging world. I have a private blog, so for those of you interested, please email me or comment here with your email address, and I'll add you. My email address is karentingey@gmail.com

Jason Price

Well, it's been 10 years.

1998-1999 I ruled Craigos, Ricks College and the mean streets of Rexburg.
'99-2001 I spent in Guatemala.
Fall of 2001 in San Mateo, CA
2002 was spent 3 months in each: Logan, UT then Dallas, TX then Provo for a semester at BYU.
In 2003 I went back to Logan for 3 months then backpacked through Central America for a couple months.
When I got back from CA, I finished up my BA in Finance from Utah State. I then took a job trading heavy machinery and mining equipment. That job was great and let me travel to Chile several times.
After a short while I got tired of that, so I quit and spent 3 more months traveling and scuba diving in Central America. A wild turn of events landed me an advertising job and moved me to Austin, TX. Sounds crazy, but it was there that I really developed a love for rock climbing. I moved back to Utah for the mountain air and the pristine rock last year and quit my job. When the funds ran low, I moved to Arizona and worked for a wilderness program. Living in the woods was spectacular, but after six months, I was missing my friends and family in Utah. Rock climbing wasn't really a possibility while in the wilderness, and that may have influenced my decision.
To keep myself busy, I help a friend of mine with his air conditioning business. I live in my Isuzu Trooper or crash at friends' houses and I'm very satisfied with my adventurous life. I climb mountains, watch Nascar, descend canyons, and live a good life.

Did I get voted most likely to end up a hobo?

You'll find my adventures and my online life in the following places:
Blogger
Myspace
Facebook
Flickr

Or just google "price1869". You'll find me.

Maren Tew Stafford

Hello friends! It has been great reading about everyone's lives. The upcoming reunion has set me in a nostalgic mood so I drug out the old year book. How time flies!

After MHS I moved into town and started calsses at Ricks. After graduating, I married Michael Stafford in 2000 and we moved to Seattle, WA for the summer. Next we moved to Boise to attend BSU, where I was a nanny and graduated in Early Childhood Education, teaching preschool for the college. After I graduated we were blessed with our first daughter Bailey. Mike worked hard by day and went to school by night studying marketing. Just before he graduated we had Emma, daughter number 2. After Mike's BSU graduation we took our 2 girls to LasVegas, NV to take a job with Pulte Homes. There we built our first home and had our third daughter Kate. After building 200 homes in 2 years we eventually decided we missed the slower pace of Idaho and in 2006 we sold our home and moved back to Rexburg. Mike started his own construction business and we built our second home.

This year: I took up running and did my first 10K in training for the Mesa Falls Half-Marathon coming up in August. I also became a fashion consultant for modbe clothes. {modbefashionmom.blogspot.com} Mike started to dabble in Granite and has started yet another business, a true entrepreneur. Bailey (6) learned how to ride without training wheels and graduated from Kindergarten at the same school I attended, Adams Elementary. Emma (4) is learning to write her letters and will begin preschool soon. Kate (2) potty trained herslf, moved into a big girl bed, and is riding a 2 wheeler-what an independant soul.

Life is full of trials and joys when you have a house full of girls, but we wouldn't change it for anything! See you all at the reunion!

Susanna Bush Peterson

Hi Everyone!
Has it really been 10 years?! This has been so fun for me to read up on what has been going on with everyone!
Here is my story of the last 10 years:

After graduation, I bought my 1st car, moved “into town,” and started attending Ricks College. I graduated in 2000 with my Associates in Sociology/Behavioral Science. (My plan was to further my education in Social Work.) After graduation I decided I was ready for some adventure in my life so I moved to Ecuador for 3 ½ months. While I was there I served in 3 different orphanages and also took some Spanish classes. The experiences I had there have changed my life forever! I came home feeling so grateful, so blessed, and also extremely humble. Leaving all those babies behind to come home was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I returned to Rexburg and felt extremely out of place. I knew it was time for another adventure. So, when some friends asked me to move to Provo with them I gladly accepted the offer. Little did I know what they had in store for me? After being in Provo for only 9 days, I found myself on my 4th blind date with my husband Mark (thanks to my friends). In 2002 Mark and I were married in Salt Lake City. We spent our first 4 years of marriage living in the Provo area while Mark was attending BYU and I was working full time trying to keep ahead of the bills. In 2006, Mark became a commissioned Officer in the Air Force and we moved to Arizona. Mark is currently attending medical school at Midwestern University and we are looking forward to graduation in 2010.
I am currently a stay at home mom to our 2 children, Lily (almost 4) and Wyatt (almost 2). I love it! My kids crack me up each day with the silly things they say. I also stay busy babysitting in our home and doing housecleaning on the side. A year ago we purchased our first home here in Surprise, AZ. I’ve enjoyed being able to paint, decorate, and work on our back yard. This fall, I will take a whack at being a teacher and I will teach preschool in our home.

Susanna Peterson

p.s. You can take a peek at our blog if you would like. It is http://www.markandsusanna.blogspot.com

Tara Garner Bennett

It is so fun to hear what everyone is up to! After graduating I attended Ricks College. I graduated in 2000 and that September got married to Michael Bennett. It has been an amazing 8 years! We moved to Logan, Utah and attended Utah State University. We graduated in 2002; me in English Literature and Mike in Public Relations. We worked in Logan for 2 more years and then Mike decided he wanted to get a Masters Of Public Administration (MPA) at BYU. So we went down to Provo and I worked at a private school in Orem while Mike got his MPA. While we were in Provo we had our little girl, Bella. She is now two years old and is the light of our lives! When Mike graduated we moved to Hickory, North Carolina where he works for the city of Hickory as the assistant to the city manager. We love North Carolina, it is a beautiful place. My brother gets home from his mission the week after the reunion, so I will definitely come early so I can see all of you.

Christina White

Hi Everyone! I have been enjoying reading everyone's updates! It is great to hear about you have been up to! Seriously, 10 years out of high school makes me feel so old. Just a quick update on me...I married Scott White in Aug 1999 we finished school at Ricks and moved to Dallas, TX for Chiropractic school. Then we moved back to Rexburg in 2005 and we bought a house in Hibbard. We love it out here! We have 3 girls Samantha, 6, McKenzie 4, and Whitney almost 2! Scott is a Chiropractor (obviously) his office is Madison Ridge Chiropractic here in town. He is also working with Madison High School's sports teams. I get to stay home with our girls! Life if great! We have a blog if you want to check it out http://scottandchristinawhite.blogspot.com I am looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion.
Take Care, Christina White