-
First days of life
I was born on September 30, 1979, in a house, in Shelley, Idaho. My parents described this birth as unusual because I weighed 10 lbs 6 ounces. Many criticized them for having me at home, but they thought it was the right thing to do. -
Music Appreciation
My father was a high school music teacher and at a very young I started helping him conduct the band at concerts. The music in our home and at school brought about a different type of culture in the community. My father spent a good amount of time planning for trips every 3 years with a different group of students each time. The band traveled anywhere from Washington D.C. to Honolulu, Hawaii. When he returned, I'd be anxious to hear about the "culture" that he encountered, not like Idaho. -
12 year old "Rite of Passage"
At 12 years old, I was ordained to the office of a deacon, in the Aaronic Priesthood, in the LDS Church. During this time I became heavily involved in Scouting Activities and participated in numerous service and scout activities. For the next 6 years I had experiences of overnight and week-long camp-outs, hiking the Tetons, and learning how to hold leadership meetings. These would all prepare me for future experiences that I had no idea would come to me. -
New Neighbors
I lived in a small, rural town in Idaho with almost no diversity. I remember the day that a family moved in next to us, straight from Mexico. We became acquainted with them, immediately. I learned about the Mexican culture and Spanish language. I learned about not being so ethnocentric and that the American way of doing things, was not the only way of doing them. This would be the start of many more opportunities to teach people (students) about America and the English language. -
Brothers and Sisters
My parents met a year after my mom's first husband died and she already had 3 children. My father was told he would never have kids and ended up having four with my mom. We grew, fought, and loved each other and have never considered one another as "step" brother or sister. We're very close and still spend lots of time together. Despite living in Idaho, Utah, and Kentucky. This picture depicts a little fun we'd have each time we'd go to Lagoon, in Utah. -
Foreign Language Club
As a young child, I would check out books in the library about how to learn languages. I was intrigued by the sounds, pictures, and facts of various countries; that continues even today. After I finished two years of German, I went to five European countries with the Foreign Language Club. It was a great experience to see how language and culture changes from border to border. -
Japanese Culture
When I was a sixth grader, my family hosted an exchange student from Norway. Six years later, we also hosted an exchange student from Japan. Both of these taught experiences taught me the American way is not the only way to do or think about how things are in life. Following my senior year, I visited Japan and our Japanese exchange student. This was a remarkable experience which taught me about my own culture and started a desire to learn more about several cultures. -
LDS Service in Italy
One of the most defining moments of my life, came when I was 19 and I volunteered to serve a two year mission for my church. I had no idea where I'd go, paid my own way, and left a close family knowing I'd only speak with them two times per year, other than a weekly letter in the mail. My worldview of 3,000 people prior to this event quickly enlarged and I learned to respect and appreciate many people from diverse religions and cultures. -
Dating my Better Half
On July 27, 2002, and after 15 months of dating, I married well above me, in every aspect. I had been taught to court, have respect for, and treat women well, through the example of my father. I now am married to Heidi, and we have 5 children with one on the way in March 2017. We embarrass them frequently through flirting, dancing, kissing and singing to each other in front of them. We've mixed the different traditions we grew up with to create a new culture that works for our happy family. -
Church Leadership
I was asked to serve as a Bishop in the LDS church. As a young 33 year old, I was in charge of 650 people in the neighborhood. That responsibility includes assisting the poor, organizing and overseeing various organizations, interviewing people, civilly marrying people, holding weekly meetings, writing letters of recommendations, job searching, finding employment and housing for people, giving both prepared and impromptu speeches, and conducting funerals.
