Saturday, April 21, 2012

Shantel Jensen Reid

After high school I went to BYU-I. That’s where I met my husband, Beau. We were married in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple in Aug. 2004. In May 2005, we both graduated from BYU-I with our bachelor degrees, my husband got his degree in biology, and mine was in social work.

In the fall of 2005 my husband started Pharmacy School at Idaho State University, so we moved to Pocatello. I got my state LSW (Licensed Social Worker) and worked in a children’s mental health clinic. I ran group sessions with kids diagnosed with behavioral disorders. I worked there for about 2 years until I had our little girl, Mylee, in the summer of 2007.

Beau graduated with his Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2009. He took his first job with Walgreens in Twin Falls, ID. Last year we bought our first house in Kimberly, ID (near Twin Falls) and our little boy, Daxton, was born in Feb. 2011. My husband recently changed jobs and went from Walgreens to the Smith’s Pharmacy. We are really happy with this change, and are finally starting to feel settled!

I keep my Social Work license current by completing Continuing Education Credits each year, but I haven’t worked outside of the home since becoming a mom. I stay busy enough with our kids:

Mylee will turn 5 this summer and she is my total Girly-Girl! She loves makeup, glitter, high heels, dresses, and singing to Taylor Swift. Haha! She is super smart and sometimes I think I’m raising a teenager instead of a 4 year old. She loves her gymnastics class and she starts kindergarten this fall.

Daxton is 14 months old and the total opposite of his big sister. He is ALL boy! From the minute he wakes up to the minute he falls asleep he has to be playing ball. Whether it is baseball, basketball, football, soccer, or golf, he doesn’t care, just as long as a ball is involved! The ONLY thing he’ll watch on TV is ESPN. He is the only 14 month old child that I know who loves sportscenter. He is a busy-body and keeps me on my toes!

Peggy Shipley Pratt



Hello everyone, well the last ten years have been an adventure in deed. well after high school i worked for Deseret Industry there in Rexburg. I helped them moved to the building they are at now. when they had they grand opening my sisters told me it looked like Walmart when BYU-I is getting ready to go back to school. I worked there until I went on an LDS mission to Omaha Nebraska. I left to go to the MTC(Missionary Training Center) on November 24,2004. While I was in Nebraska i got to see ruts in the ground that where made by the LDS saints that come to the Salt Lake Valley. They were in a members back yard. 

I got home from my mission May 4,2006 and after being home for two weeks I got a job in Island Park, Idaho at this private club called The Flat Rock Club. My mother was making a chefs coat for the chef her name was Genny and i guess my mother was talking to about me and that is when Genny asked if i wanted to work there as a prep cook. i told her yes i would love the job. that next week i moved up to Island Park From May to October. There was about three other girls that lived there besides me and we all lived up above the kitchen there. Drove an hour home back to Rexburg Saturday night and and came back Monday afternoon. Along with the job prep cook we cleaned the kitchen set the table the proper way with the dinner fork and the salad fork and the two spoons and the knife. we learned how to do that a long with how to pour wine and what cups red wine went in and what cups white wine went in and where to set them on the table with the plate and spoon, knife and fork. We did that for breakfast and dinner but for lunch we gave them sack lunches which was apart of my job and they had to be ready before 7 in the morning; so i got up at 4:30 in the morning depending on how many guests were there. when we weren't cooking we got to do yard work, repairs to the cabins, some house keeping and anything else they had for us to get hours. when we weren't doing any of that we did our own thing. one night we had a moose come up to the kitchen window and we all went stone still, later that night we had a grizzly come to the kitchen Luckly no one was in the kitchen at the time. While working there i got to try Halibut, Baked Alaska, Lobster, and lots of another fun stuff. the stuff that had alcohol add to it after it has been cooked Genny asked us if we wanted to try it before she had the alcohol. I worked there for two seasons.

After working there i came down to Utah to go to school at Utah Valley University (UVU) and I lived in Orem November of 2007. May of 2008 I did the Disney Collage Internship. I left for Florida in may and Disney provide us a place to live and transportation to and from work and Walmart and other places. I was the only member where I lived and worked so that was fun felt like I was on my mission again because I was always getting question about why I did what i did sometimes. I worked at EPCOT in the World Show Case in America at the restaurant called Liberty Inn. I had so much fun at Disney because when you weren't working you got to play in any of the parks for free. I got to know Magic Kingdom ant EPCOT like the back of my hand because the monorail connected the two parks; so if you worked in the morning you could play in the parks early in the morning and take the monorail to work. Disney has four parks which are Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. I had a lot of fun there. When i was living in Florida my parents were on an LDS mission in South Dakota. My friend Kellen and I went to walmart late at night and then my sister texted my friend kellen and told her to have me call my mother now. After calling my mother I had found out that she had called the Florida police on me because she can't get a hold of me. When she couldn't get a hold of me she called everyone else in the family to see if they heard from me. My mother told me that they was a girl that called her and she sounded like me and the girl sound like she was in distress and she tried to call her and no one answered the phone and then when she couldn't get a hold of me that is when she started to worry. After i had talked to my mother she called the Florida police that she had found me. After that night i was told to keep minutes on my phone or my Brother - in- law was going to use his military resources and fly to Florida and stuff me in a duffel bag and bring me home.  I loved spending New Years Eve their because the fire workers show they had that night was AWESOME! My program ended January 2, 2009. 

After I got home i went back to school and in July I moved to Spanish Fork, UT to live with my Aunt. I meet our Husband in my singles ward. In August of 2010 we started dating and then we broke up for 6 months. Then January 2011 we started dating again and then got engaged April 23,2011 the day before Easter. He proposed with an Easter basket, he put my ring in an Easter egg. We were married August 18, 2011 and have been married for 8 months now.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Ben Brubaker



10 years! Wow. Right after High School I went on an LDS mission to Baltimore Maryland. I was pulled off of my mission 4 months early and went to Iraq with the Idaho Army National Guard for an 18 month deployment. While deployed a friend gave my email address to Melissa Taylor (going to school at BYUI). Melissa and I wrote each other for the last 6 months I was in Iraq. When I got back we started dating and were married. Melissa grew up in California but her parents moved to Rigby while she was at BYUI. 
When I started my degree at BYUI Melissa was just finishing her degree in Health Science. The first few years of marriage were tons of fun. We went to Alaska and worked in the tourism industry, we worked as Apartment managers at Sunrise Village in Rexburg, worked at a 5 star resort in Montana called Paws Up and became apartment pet people owning two little dogs. 
In December 2009 I graduated with a degree in Communications from BYUI. For 9 months of 2010 I was on active duty. After some time in Mississippi I officially left the country in November. The 2010 to 2011 year was the hardest of my life. On my first deployment life was free and easy but this time I was a married man. Melissa did really well while I was away. Before I left we had moved to Twin Falls Idaho. She worked in the health department at St. Lukes. I had big plans to work on a Masters Degree in Public Administration while deployed but was only able to complete 3 credits. 
I got back from Iraq in September 2011. For the last 6 months Melissa and I have been in Holladay UT. In March we had our first baby! Peter Holtman Brubaker. He is now 5 weeks old. I have great plans for this little guy. We are now preparing to move to Northern California where I will manage my father’s grocery store. We had 6 years of a fast paced and exciting marriage and are now looking forward to settling down.   

Monday, April 16, 2012

Kimberly Erickson West and Sean West


It is crazy that it has been 10 years since we were in high school. It is amazing how fast time goes when you are having fun. After high school Sean went on to serve a 2 year mission for the LDS church to Tampico, Mexico. Shortly after his return we started dating and were married in August 2005. Who would have thought that two redheads would end up together! (I know you are all thinking it!) We wouldn't have ever put us together but things happen and love got the best of us! We finished our schooling at BYU-Idaho where Sean graduated in Business Management and I graduated in Nursing. After graduation we moved to Kuna, ID (near Boise) and made it our home. Sean started his wealth management business in 2007 and loves his association with clients. I work in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Lukes Boise since 2007 as well; I find joy in helping a little soul in the palm of my hand.

We wasted no time in adding 3 redheaded boys to the gene pool. Carter turns 6 in August. He is a lot like Sean in temperament, pretty lax and easy going.  His two vices are playing sports (soccer) & video games.  He will begin kindergarten this year and is ready as ever to start. He has a fantastic memory - hopefully someday that will be channeled in the right direction; we can see him winning jeopardy. He is a momma's boy to a tee! Pleasing his parents makes him happy; he is very obedient.  We have been very blessed to have him as our first!

We didn’t know what we had until we had our second.  Sam is turning 2 in June! He is a little spit fire. He is the one with the true redhead temperament! We like to call him 0 to 60 as he gives you nothing in between.  He keeps us on our toes at all times. He is learning how to talk and communicate which is making life a little easier.  His first word was “football!!!!”  He loves to play with any ball and is very active.  The idea of sitting down and watching Peter pan or anything of the sort doesn’t enter his mind. He has a contagious smile and loves to be around people.  Did I mention he is active? He is a daddy's boy and is proud of it.

The jury is still out on our third.  Grant is 6 months. Having two boys fifteen months apart has been challenging but should be rewarding when they are older. Grant is a great baby and is generally happy go lucky. He is teething so anything and everything goes straight to the mouth.  He like Sam has a contagious smile and that is the only positive thing about feeding him at 3 AM every morning.

A few things we like to do together:

  • Watch winter wipeout every Thursday (Sam likes to act out the action)
  • Experience the great outdoors, usually through backpacking, hiking into a cabin, or snowmobiling.  We usually do this sort of activity about two months after a baby is born.
  • We play the Wii as a family often—this year we conquered Mario Brothers and Carter frequently talks  agout it at the dinner table.
  • Playing mean nasty board games like Puerto Rico, Dominion, Settlers, the train game….. or any game where there is some fierce competition, we are in.
  • Sean’s expensive hobbies are golfing and hunting.  He just won his first tournament last weekend paying 17 dollars to play and winning 21 dollars in a scramble tournament.  He also put meat in the freezer for the first time after he got his first buck last November; I lovingly packaged it up and will never eat red meat… ever.
  • I (Kim) enjoy making crafts (like cards & home décor).  I love to swim & water ski and can’t wait for summer time.  Sean and I will play tennis together occasionally.   My biggest hobbies are the boys aforementioned.

We are loving life and as Sean would say, "Living the Dream"