Introducing Kim Caldwell

 

 

Kim Caldwell was born in Provo Utah. During her early years her parents moved around while finishing college and setting up their careers. They moved from Provo to Logan to Provo to North Salt Lake and finally, when Kim was 7 years old, they settled down in West Bountiful Utah. Shortly after moving there her parents divorced. Her dad moved out, Kim, her siblings and her mother continued living in the house. In fact, her mom and step dad still live there today.

 

While growing up Kim attended Bountiful High school and was in Xela, the all girls show choir but the thing Kim remembers most about growing up was flipping houses with their family. Kim's mom had a good job working for the state as an environmental scientist, but to make extra money Kim's mom sold real estate and flipped houses. This was in the late 90's and early turn of the century, prime real estate sells time. It provided great income for their family.

 

Some of Kim’s best memories with her family were traveling. Aside from spending three weeks in California every year with her dad, her first trip was to the state of Missouri because this is the state she was assigned in 5^th grade to do her state report on. All of the kids in their family traveled to the state they had studied. After that they went on many great vacations including St. Thomas, Hawaii, Canada, Florida, New York, Cruises and the Virgin Islands.

 

Kim did well in school and was awarded with a full ride scholarship to Weber State University. Her plan had been to go to beauty school. However, her dad and grandpa talked her out of that decision and through prayer Kim realized the place she should be was BYU. So she turned down the scholarship and went to BYU.  Her freshman year she ended up living with some roommates from Brazil (while her future husband was serving a mission in Brazil).

 

Kim's first year at the Y was spent doing generals. She felt a pull to study in the interior design program. She had taken an intro course to interior design in high school and again that first year at BYU but the field was so broad she really didn't have a sense of if it was a good fit for her or not. Still she submitted the paperwork and portfolio to see if she could get into the program. She decided if she got in that would be her answer on whether or not she should pursue the major. She did get in and spent her sophomore year in the first year of the 4 year program.

 

The first year, was a lot of beginning art, drafting, and composition courses. She still wondered if interior design would be a good fit because there were so many niches it was hard to understand what would truly be involved.  It was all over the place, from managing a business, accounting, budgeting, construction, working with architects and clients, drafting plans, to understanding materials and finishes and the requirements for each of these in different venues. After learning all this she still wasn't 100% sure about where she was headed in schooling. She also had a mission on her radar.

 

The 2^nd year of the program, Kim attended her first day of classes and inspiration hit. She now was completely in love with the field. She wanted to drink it all in. She realized she loved it so much that now she had lost all desire for a mission. She knew that staying at BYU and completing this major was what she was supposed to do. It ended up being a good thing she didn't leave because shortly after that, they found out BYU was going to drop its interior design program. The students fought back and they let those who were already in the program finish up. That meant she would have to go to school through the summer, but that she would also finish her degree in 3 years instead of 4. She stuck around for one extra semester to finish a minor in Marriage, Family, Human Development.

 

After graduating from BYU, Kim's first job was at Bassett Furniture. She worked there for about 1 year and 9 months. By this time she had now lived in Provo for 5 years and was aching to get out of the college town. She wanted a change and so did her roommates. They had heard about an apartment complex in Salt Lake City called Turnberry. It was a complex where lots of young  single adults were living. So they moved up to Salt Lake together and Kim started looking for a different job.

 

Three of Kim's roommates were sisters. They had a cousin living in South Weber named Mark Caldwell who was commuting down to Salt Lake. He was tired of the commute so they suggested he come check out their apartments and see if he liked them. He came down one Sunday to go to church with them and check things out. He got there at 8:50 before church. He and Kim started talking and he didn't end up leaving until 10:30 that night because he and Kim had hit it off so well. He only left at 10:30 because he didn't want to wear out his welcome. (Perhaps it was a little late for that.) Needless to say, he knew right away he wanted to ask her out. Kim wasn't entirely sure, but she was willing to entertain the possibility.

 

Mark and Kim hung out a few times with Mark’s cousins.  After a few weeks Mark asked Kim out.  They went out the weekend before Labor Day. They were engaged in November and married in December. Kim swore she would never do the quick date and marry scene but somehow it was right and she went with it.

 

About a week after meeting Mark, Kim started a new job working for Chase Associates an interior design firm. This was a dream job for Kim. The firm was a full service design firm that allowed her to work all the areas. Every project was different.  She quickly rose in the company and began doing work that normally a more senior employee would be doing. She learned so many things among which was how to wine and dine high profile clients and close deals.

 

One of Kim's favorite projects was The Sky Lodge in Park City. She was able to take the project from the design stage to installation and opening. Starting with drafting the units, designing the furniture, specifying the finish plumbing and decorative lighting, all the way down to furnishing the kitchens and installing the art. After the design phase of the project was done, she managed the various moving and installation crews to get the hotel ready to open.

 

Kim loved this job. She worked there from 2005-2011 until their second child was born. After that she started working only one day a week. In addition to working for her firm, Kim also managed to pick up her real estate license and work as a real estate agent on the side. In fact, Kim found this neighborhood while showing houses to other clients.

 

After being married about a year and a half and living in an apartment, Kim and Mark decided they wanted to buy a house. That year they helped Kim's mother flip a house in Bountiful. The money they made from helping her they used to make a down payment on a house in Woods Cross. They planned to only live there about 2 years, but as goes in life, their plans changed and they lived there from 2007 until they moved to our neighborhood. Even though the house was small, they are so grateful they lived there. It was beneficial to their family and Mark's career because of the people they met and associations they formed.

 

When they decided to move, everything fell into place. They really liked this neighborhood and put an offer on a spec home in our neighborhood. They hadn’t planned on moving quite so soon so they hadn’t listed their house yet.  Another offer was accepted so they decided to build. They are very grateful they did.

 

Kim and her family love living in this neighborhood. They love all the kids in our ward and really are grateful for the opportunity it provides for friends for their kids. They love how down-to-earth the people around here are and appreciate that they don't feel judged by others. We are so fortunate to have Kim in our relief society and the talent she brings. She is warm and easy to talk to. Every time I have ran into her I have been greeted warmly and feel welcome by her. We look forward to a hopefully long associate with Kim in our ward!

Spotlight: Lyndsey Wade

Lyndsey Wade grew up in Orangeville, Utah. Orangeville is near Price (yes, I had to ask). Her mom and step dad still lives there. She attended and graduated Emery High School. During high school she worked at a pizza place and a video store. She focused on school and mostly hung out with friends. Since she lived in a small town they had to be creative with what they did. They had bon fires, went four-wheeling, trips to the mountains and cliff diving at the lake. 

After high school Lyndsey attended a year at The College of Eastern Utah and worked at a gas station. She then transferred up to Utah State and lived with her grandma for a year. She then moved on to Bridgerland, a Tech school, and earn her CNA. She worked for a couple of years at an assisted living center. She then went back to Briderland and studied to be a dental assistant, which she never ended up using. 

During her time at CEU (College of Eastern Utah) her roommate introduced Lyndsey to a newly returned missionary, Derek Wade. They hit it right off and they both knew that they were going to get married. They ended up dating for a year and half. During this time Lyndsey spent the summer in Connecticut as a nanny. Derek and Lyndsey didn’t let a day go by without talking on the phone. They finally got engaged in March of 2003 and were married in the Logan Temple that July. 

As a newly married couple they moved to Brigham City. Lyndsey commuted and worked in Logan and Derek worked and went to school in Riverdale. Lyndsey eventually found a job at Getaway Today in Ogden. During this time the Wades moved to Clinton and they had their first son, Hayden. Lyndsey was fortunate enough that she was able to leave her job and be a stay at home mom. A couple of years later they welcomed their second son, Maddax, to the family. 

They moved again, but they stayed in Clinton. There they had Zander and Nixon. June 2013 they moved here, into our ward and just recently they welcomed their 5th son, Jasper. 

The Wade family loves sports, especially RSL and the Utah State Aggies football. They have season tickets to both. They love to travel to see their Aggie’s play. This past fall they even travelled to Seattle to watch them play. 

Lyndsey enjoys a good book and set an impressive goal to read 100 books in the year 2015. She achieved her goal with 2 days to spare. 

Lyndsey loves this neighborhood. She has friendly neighbors and wonderful neighbor kids for her children to play with. She loves her calling working on the Relief Society Committee and just started serving on the Stake’s sports committee. We are so lucky to have Lyndsey here in our ward. She is so thoughtful and giving. I’m so grateful to call her my neighbor and friend.

Candace Waters

 

Candace Waters is not your regular born and reared Utah Mormon girl. Despite only being 25, she is a young woman of experience and adventure. She grew up all over the United States with her family moving about every two years. She did however, live in the state of Texas the most (although not over consecutive years). Her father was an executive vice president in the banking industry. During the late 80's and into the 90's when Candace was growing up, big banks were consolidating little banks. This combined with better career opportunities created the need for multiple moves for their family. Candace said mainly, for her, moving was an adventure. She didn't mind it at all, although that was not the case for her mother or all of her other 3 siblings.

Candace was born in Monterey California, however the family moved when she 6 months old. She does someday want to visit there and see it. The next place they lived was Michigan, but only until she was 2, so again she doesn't really remember life in the sub-zero zone.

From here, Candace's family moved to Dallas Texas and then to Charlotte North Carolina. This is the time period where Candace's memories started coming into play. She remembers the family having a pool and splashing and spending time together. Candace is also the youngest among her siblings with the closest in age being 6 years older than her. So by the time she was 3, her oldest siblings were in high school. Therefore she remembers being very busy attending football games ( for those who don't know, when a son plays football, it takes over the family schedule). Her mother also taught early morning seminary at this time and their family was very busy.

While living in Dallas, Candace started playing soccer. She remembers her dad working with her and running drills, which she loved. Candace also really started to embrace her inner tomboy at this time in her life. She wasn't interested in singing (her mom and sister did singing so it seemed « girly » to her) or anything else girly. She loved adventure and action. She loved swimming and playing Nintendo 64.

 

From here Candace's family moved to New Jersey in Clinton Township in Lebanon city. They lived in New Jersey about 1 ½ years. Although they only lived their a short time, this was a very difficult place for Candace to live. This was the only place she lived where friends didn't come easy. Although the girls here were mean, Candace learned a lot about who she wanted to be as a person. At first she also tried being mean, but quickly realized that wouldn't bring her the happiness she was used to feeling. So despite the unkindness of the girls at school and the lack of warmth at church, she decided she would be kind.

 

This shortage of friends however, did have an upside. Candace's oldest brother, who was now home from a mission, took a special interest in her and they became very close. He would take her to the library and they would study interesting things. In fact, one day , without her mother knowing it, he took her out of school so they could go study Socrates. He also took her to Pennsylvania and Washington DC. He taught her to play chess and bought her a science book. She loved all of these things.

Candace also became very good at gymnastics while living here. She mainly worked on floor work doing back hand springs, tucks and floor routines.

From here the family moved to Castle Rock Colorado while Candace attended the 7-9^th grade. Despite the fact that she had to work to get rid of her New Jersey accent so the western kids could understand her, this may have been her favorite place to live. There was quite a big community of LDS kids her same age. The first week there, she entered the young women's room and waited to see where everyone would sit, not wanting to take someone's seat. A girl their said to her, « You can take a spot. » Candace was thrilled to be invited and felt and immediate warmth toward this girl. They became best friends and for really the only time out of everywhere she lived, she had a group of LDS friends that would all hang out together. This was the first time Candace didn't want to move when the time came.

After Colorado the family returned to Texas, but this time they lived in Houston. In Houston again there were more LDS friends to choose from and Candace made two good friends. Although she still missed her friends in Colorado, it was good to have these two gals to do things with. The best thing she said about living in Houston was getting her drivers license. She loved driving even though mainly it was just running errands for her mom.

Candace also joined the track team in Houston and although she wasn't the fastest runner, she worked hard and did alright. She also became more focused on her grades and took some AP courses. In fact, she became so focused that during her Junior year she approached her school counselor wanting to know what it would take to graduate early. They talked about it and that summer Candace did her first semester work on-line. That made it possible for her to graduate in December and begin college.

Candace really wanted to go to Texas A&M (agriculture and mechanics). However, even though she had a 3.7 GPA, she wasn't in the top ten percent of the state, so she wasn't immediately accepted there. She ended up enrolling at Blinn College for 2 semesters and living away from home. That worked out well because her parents were moving again. Blinn College had a great institute program and she ended up rooming with some older LDS girls who took her under their wing.

After the two semesters, Candace was able to transfer to Texas A&M and fulfill her dream of attending that school. She absolutely LOVED it. Texas A&M is steeped in traditions and rituals. A lot of which stem from way back to when it was an all military boys school. Chivalry runs deep and whenever she was on the bus a man would offer her a seat and doors were always opened for her. She also said the people were so nice.

Football games are taken to a new level at Texas A&M and become a highlight of all the students. Candace never missed a home game. Her institute group would meet together every Friday night and would go over to midnight yell practice. What is « yell practice » you might ask? Well apparently at their football games they don't have cheerleaders, they have yell leaders they tell the spectators what yells to call out. The whole student body practices these yells on Friday night so they are all in sync with one another. Also, during a football game if someone leaves the game early or if they don't stand the entire game, they are called a 2 percenter and yelled out. But maybe the most fun tradition is after the game is over all the stadium lights are turned off and if your with a date, you are expected to kiss them. If you don't have a date, you hold up a cell phone/lighter and go find a date to kiss. Candace says she didn't ever go find a date but it was still fun.

After graduating with her degree in English, Candace was on the fence about law school. So she decided she would try working in the field awhile to see if she liked it. She went back to Blinn College and got her para legal certificate. She then moved to El Paso to work for a great firm.

One of her former roommates had moved to Provo and Candace decided to go visit her. She asked her friend to set her up on some dates while she was there for a week. Her friend found a guy named Gayle Waters for Candace to go out with, so before she came out to Provo, she gave them each other's phone numbers and they started talking. Their first date, was supposed to be a double date, but her roommate's date got sick, so Candace and Gayle went by themselves.

They did a hike in Spanish Fork up to the hot springs and had so much fun. Laughing and joking was so natural between them. They went out 4 times during that week and by the 4^th date they really had started to like each other. They talked about what they should do and decided they would just keep talking. For the next 6 months they would Skype every night and then Gayle came out to see her. After that, Candace decided she would move to Utah. She moved here in June of last year and they were engaged by July and married in September.

Both Candace and Gayle were more interested in their wedding being about the marriage and not the party. So they had a very small temple wedding in the Manti Utah temple. They went to lunch with some family and friends and then went to the temple for the ceremony. That was it, no reception or big fanfare. They loved it. They saved money and felt like the day was just about them being married forever.

After that they moved into Peterson's basement apartment on Equestrian Parkway. Candace adores her husband. She loves how he is so even tempered. He doesn't allow himself to get stressed. She loves his adventurous spirit. He works as a firefighter for Farmington city. They don't know where life will take them right now, but are just enjoying being together and newly married.

I hope you get a chance to sit down with Candace. She is fun and easy to talk too. Her views on life are so interesting and she is unique. We welcome her openly to our ward.

Sally Zlotnick

 

Sally Zlotnick was born and raised in the land of glorious summer and winter's so cold you have to plug your cars in at night to keep the battery from dying. She had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. One of her sisters was an indian foster child through the church's former indian placement program. But their family never consider her a foster child. Sally feels having her as her sister was a wonderful experience. Her dad was the superintendent of schools and her mom was a stay-at-home mother.

Sally was born in Missoula Montana and when she was 4 years old, they moved to Preston Idaho. That's right Preston Idaho, the land of Napoleon Dynamite and the birthplace of Ezra Taft Benson. In fact, Sally's dad's name is on the credits of Napoleon Dynamite – he allowed access to the school they used to shoot the movie. She said it was fun to watch the movie and see the places where she had grown up and even worked on the screen.

Sally said she loved growing up in Preston. She enjoyed spending time on her grandparents farm and they always had animals around them. Although, she's not sure how it happened, but she grew up to not really prefer animals. She says she likes to pet them, but doesn't really want to live with them.

Sally also really liked being from a small town and that everyone knew everyone. She said because the school and community were so small she had the opportunity to participate in any activity she wanted. There weren't many other kids to compete with so everything was up for grabs and she grabbed almost all of it. She participated in choir, dance, soccer, student government and taking AP classes (although the AP classes and honors course were not nearly the intensity and the variety as we get in our bigger schools.)

Her favorite activity to be involved in was student government. She really enjoyed the planning of the school dances and assemblies and just being involved with the other students and having fun. She also worked after school at Big J's (also featured in Napoleon Dynamite). She says even though she was involved in many activities, she never felt super busy. Just busy enough for it to all be enjoyable.

After graduating from High school, Sally went on to attend Brigham Young University where she majored in School Health Education . True to form Sally liked being busy but not stressed out, so she took a little more relaxed pace taking 12-14 credit hours a term. This meant it took her a little longer to graduate but the pace was more manageable.

While at BYU she was able to be part of the BYUSA (Brigham Young University Student Association). Being part of this organization gave her the opportunity to help out with and attend many of the activities on campus. But her favorite thing with the BYUSA was helping with the special olympics.

She also was on the BYU back up ballroom dancing team (it would appear only at BYU would they have a backup BYU ballroom dance team). She said that was great fun. She also worked at the BYU bookstore and in the music department.

Sally's best friend also attended BYU although they didn't live together or were even in the same ward. But there was a young man in her friend's ward named Justin Zlotnick from Santa Fe New Mexico. Sally's friend introduced them and three months later Justin asked Sally out. They liked each other right away and dated over the next 1 ½ years. They were married in April of 1995 and Sally graduated the next month. However, even though she enjoyed School Health, she never used her degree, accept in real life.

Justin had another year at BYU before he could start working on his MBA. So Sally stayed at BYU and worked for the athletic department. Her job was to help the athletes stay academically eligible. This was fantastic training for being a mother. It was amazing to her that after providing all the tutoring and support some athletes still would not turn in their assignments. She loved however, getting to know all the people she worked with and was able to attend many different athletic events for free. She also really liked her boss. It was her favorite job at BYU.

After a year, Justin enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana. By that time Sally had had their first baby, Abby and Sally began the best job she has ever had, being a stay-at-home mom. She said she always wanted to stay home with her children and feels very fortunate that she has never had to work since the day her daughter was born. She does however help Justin out with his business sometimes.

After graduating with his MBA Justin began working for Ingersoll-Rand. His job took him all over and the family was transferred every year. They lived in New Jersey, Colorado Springs – where they had their second and last child, Danny- and then back to Indiana to live in Indianapolis. Although they really enjoyed the adventure of moving, they thought it would probably be better for their kids to find a place to live for awhile. They also wanted to come back West to be closer to their families.

Justin knew a friend that worked for State Farm in Utah, so he gave him a call to find out what it would take to work in the business side of the insurance business. His friend however talked him into looking into becoming an agent. So they took a leap of faith. Justin got his licence to sell insurance and they moved to Layton Utah just right across from Heritage Elementary. They lived in that house for the next 12 years providing their kids with the stability they had desired.

However, Justin and Sally still liked the adventure of moving. After 12 years they were getting a little antsy and wanted a change in scenery. They started looking at home in their kid's school boundaries. That's when they came upon their house in our ward. They have loved this neighborhood and have felt incredibly welcomed. They also really appreciate their children's young men and young women leaders. But maybe Sally’s favorite thing about living here is her calling in nursery!

I asked Sally what has been the greatest struggle of her life. The thing that has changed her and molded her into who she is. She said it is being a mother. That no other thing has moved her out of her comfort and made her stretch the way mothering has.

I found Sally to be enjoyably laid back. She is a good listener and easy to relate to. I hope each of you will have the opportunity to get to know her.

Brooke Barker

 

Brooke was born and raised in Bountiful Utah. First living on the East side and then moving over to West Bountiful when she was 8. She attended Washington Elementary, West Bountiful Elementary, Bountiful Jr. High and Bountiful High School. Brooke always kept herself busy developing herself or working from the time she was very young. She was either involved in activities, studying for school or helping her mom with her 4 younger siblings. This love of work and self development as well as the need to be busy are personality traits she still carries until this day and have served her well.

 

When she was 6 years old Brooke began playing the piano. Her mother taught piano and it was an expectation in their family. However, Brooke truly enjoyed playing. She loved the beautiful music and the spirit it brought. She also loves the discipline and dedication that came from practicing and sticking with something. By the time she was 15 years old, she was able to teach lessons to the neighborhood kids.

 

At about 8 years old, Brooke also began playing soccer. It didn't take long until she was playing competitively. She loved being active. She played soccer until her Junior year of high school when she injured her MCL. After that, her leg was never quite the same and her soccer days were over.

 

This however propelled her into a new interest and hobby, musical theater. She took basic dance lessons from the time she was 3-10 years old. She also was singing in some of the school choirs. At that time when you auditioned for choir, you could also check mark a box indicating you were interested in auditions for the school musicals. So Brooke indicated her interest and ended up performing in 4-5 musicals during her Junior and Senior year of high school. She really loved this opportunity and especially the dancing. It kept her active and moving now that she was out of soccer.

 

But these weren't the only thing Brooke did during high school. She also got her first job at 14 working for Carmack's doughnut shop. After she was 16, she started working as a waitress for the El Matador restaurant. In addition to work and her activities, Brooke also enrolled in a few AP classes, just to have classes with her friends. She did graduate with college credits but she never really used them. The only one of the AP classes she really loved was AP Music.

 

The week after graduating from high school Brooke enrolled in the Salt Lake Community College hair school where she was trained as a licensed cosmetologist. While she attended hair school, she did take a couple business courses to help her be more successful with her cosmetology business. She picked up her licence and still does hair in her home today.

 

While attending hair school Brooke kept her job at El Matador but was becoming very disenchanted with it. The other women who had worked there were older and they always were able to get more tables and make more money than her. She wanted to be somewhere that she could increase her cash flow. Some of the girls at hair school told her that Discover Card was hiring in their call center and the money was good. So Brooke quit her job and went to work for Discover working in the collections department. Not only could she make her weekly wage, but bonus and commissions were included.

 

Another person working in a supervisory role in a different department was a 27 year old man named Andy Barker. A few people had tried to get Andy to take Brooke out. Andy thought Brooke was cute but didn't like everyone pressuring him, partially because she was almost 9 years younger than him, so he took his own sweet time getting around to it. Finally he asked her out and Brooke liked him right away. She found out on their second date that they had an age difference. She didn't quite know what to think about that, but she did like him and since Brooke had always gotten along better with people older than her, it seemed to work just fine. In fact, on their first date, a line from her patriarchal blessing went through her mind about the type of person she would marry. He seemed to be fitting the bill.

 

Their first date was in July of 2005 and Andy asked her to marry him in December of that year. Brooke was still living in Bountiful however, and Andy was living in Pleasant Grove. With their schedules it just wasn't possible to see each other every day. So in order to get to know each other better and have time to plan the wedding they had a 9 month engagement and were married in September of 2006. Actually September has turned out to be quite a significant month for them in their marriage with all 3 of their children Due or conceived in that month. Many other important dates have fallen in September for Andy and Brooke. 

 

After being married they first tried living in an apartment complex in Sandy close to their work, but they didn't like having people living on all sides of them, so they moved to a duplex in the Glendale Rose Park area of Salt Lake – that's right the drive by shooting zone! They liked it and lived their until Brooke was pregnant with their first child, but they could see the type of neighborhood was not where they wanted to bring a baby home. Also, Andy had gotten a new job and Brooke was planning to quit so they moved up to Davis County buying a town house in Layton.

 

After Kaden, their first child was born, Brooke resumed teaching piano and doing hair. They wanted to add more children to their family but it just wasn't happening. Brooke has severe endometriosis and after 5 miscarriages and multiple infertility trials they put their papers in with LDS Family Services to adopt. They were picked right away by a girl who was due in 2 weeks and then Brooke found out she was pregnant again.

 

They were unsure of what to do. They didn't know if they should trust that Brooke would keep this pregnancy or not. They fasted and prayed and came to the decision to not press forward with the adoption. It was hard but they wanted to be sure another family who had no prospect of having their own biological baby could have a child. The pregnancy stuck and 9 months later they welcomed a beautiful little girl into their home named Hallie. After this instead of going right back on birth control to control the endometriosis, they kept the pipes opens and shortly they found themselves pregnant with another little girl. Within 3 years they went from 1 kid to 3! It was quite a shock to their systems. Lucky for them Andy has a lot of flexibility in his schedule and is able to be their to help with the children when Brooke is working from home. 

 

After living in their Layton Townhome for 6 years the Barkers decided it was time for a change. They were ready for a little more room for their growing family. So even though they had many friends they loved, they put money down and started building their current home. In September of 2011 the moved into their home, finding out they were pregnant the same week- 9 months later in May she gave birth to Maycee. Later in that same year there were complications with an infection from her gall bladder. It was a scary and prayerful time for their family. How grateful the Barker's are for the support and help the ward gave them during this time.

 

Brooke says she loves living in this neighborhood and especially loves teaching piano to the neighborhood kids. She says she feels almost called to do it. She also still enjoys keeping herself busy with her craft of doing hair. She loves the social outlet it gives her and the chance she has to stay connected to her friends in her past by doing their hair. She also completely enjoys her calling in the Primary Presidency.

 

I found Brooke to be an extremely easy person to talk to and a great listener. I found myself doing way more talking than an interviewer should do because it was so easy to talk and be myself around her. I hope you will all have the opportunity to get to know her!

Karen Jensen

 

Karen spent her childhood in West Valley Utah. She says she had an awesome childhood. She was the middle of 5 children. She remembers spending her growing up years playing outside, learning piano, and having fun. Her parents were very frugal and managed their money very well. This allowed them to take their children for 4 weeks of every summer to Karen's grandparent's cabin in Island Park Idaho. Karen loved going there and has very warm memories of the time they spent there.

When Karen was 13 years old her parents decided that things were changing in West Valley. It was the early 90's and gangs were becoming a problem in their neighborhood so they moved their family to the South side of Kaysville. From here Karen went on to attend Farmington Jr High and Davis High School.

During her teenage years Karen enjoyed flute lessons and played in school bands, usually sitting at first chair. She also cared a lot about doing well in school. This kept her very busy between lessons, band, her AP classes, her social life and  working at Lagoon in the summer. She also made some great friends in high school who are still her friends today.

At her parent’s urging, she started working at Lagoon when she was 15. One of the boys operating rides in her area with her was named Adam Jensen. She even wrote in her journal about him. She thought he was the nicest, funniest and happiest guy.  Through the years, he became friends with her group of friends and periodically they would all hang out together.

Karen is an introvert by nature, yet craves and enjoys social experiences. While Karen didn’t love all the aspects of working at Lagoon, it was good for her as she learned to lead and deal with difficult situations, especially as she became a supervisor.  She also was able to put enough money away that with her scholarship, she was able to pay completely for her college education.

After graduating from high school, Karen received a schlorship to Ricks College. She began Ricks majoring in Pre-Law and minoring in English. She loved the way her major allowed her the avenue to write, debate, and discuss things that mattered to her.  Writing became a joy and an outlet for her. She had great fun learning and attending classes. Karen loves learning and if she could go to school the rest of her life she would be in Heaven.

With all of her AP credits, she was abld to rack up all the credits she needed to eliminate one year of college. This was a bit of a double edged sword for Karen. While it was a great accomplishment, she loved Ricks so much she was sad to leave. Again she made great life-long friends there. She said she and her roommates did the goofiest small country town things like riding around in the potato fields and going out star gazing at night for her astronomy class. She also loved attending school concerts and events.

After finishing at Ricks Karen returned home and began classes at Weber, now majoring in English.  She ran into Adam at a mutual friend’s mission farewell.  A few days later Adam showed up at Karen's house wanting to know if she would like to  hang out as mutual friends. So over the course of the next year, they would spend time having fun together. Karen says this was a great time in her life. She really got to know Adam as a friend without any romantic inclinations involved. She continued to learn about him and was able to see so many great qualities he possessed. She also came to realize she would be very sad if he wasn’t in her life. She loved how she was able to completely be herself when she was around him.  She also loved how he fit in with her family so easily.

Over time and little by little Karen started to feel more than just friendship for Adam. He was returning the feelings but was still very nervous and a little hesistant about taking it to the next level. Eventually though he took the step and held her hand. About 2 months after that they were engaged and married 3 months later.

They both continued to attend Weber. Into her second semester of school after marrying Karen became pregnant with their first child, Emma. It was a tough pregnancy and she had to finish the semester on bed rest, doing all of her course work at home. After the baby was born her entire focus turned to her. She decided to take time off of school in order to give Emma (and her subsequent babies) all the attention she could. She is excited to go back to school soon and finish up her major.  Or many majors, as she loves so many different things and wants to learn about so much.

After being married three years, the Jensens had their second child Ashley followed by their third child, Gabe.  Adam was working full-time at Fidelity Investments and going to school part time while Karen continued caring for their children. While attending a gymnastics class their daughter Ashley was in, Ashley did a somersault with her teacher and as she completed it, Ashley collapsed and couldn't move her legs. Karen rushed to her side and picked her up only to have Ashley scream out in pain. She continued to scream for 2 hours saying her legs buzzed. Eventually the strange episode went away and the doctor thought it was just a fluke (she seemed just fine by then).

However, the incident repeated itself a month later. Their pediatrician then sent them to a nuerologist. The nuerologist subsequently thought Ashley was just fine but just to be sure set up an MRI for a few months down the road. After the MRI was completed, the nuerologist called them back (on Gabe's birthday) to tell them something wasn't right, that there was massive fluid on the spinal cord, and she thought it might be cancer. She recommended they see a nuerosurgeon ASAP.  It was a hard day for Karen as she tried to put on a brave face for Gabe’s birthday. Her family made Gabe’s birthday fun and kept encouraging Karen that there was a possibiltiy it wasn't cancer and was treatable. This was when Karen was pregnant with their fourth child, and they had moved into this neighborhood 1 month earlier.

The next week they found out it wasn't cancer but a birth defect where there was a hole in Ashley's spinal cord and the brain stem was getting sucked into the the spinal cord. The surgeons were surprised Ashley could even walk, and without corrective surgery it would cause permanent damage. But it was good news, the problem could be fixed.

The surgery and healing were extremely difficult, and Karen was 9 months pregnant in a very difficult pregnancy. Ashley’s healing took years, followed by a few more surgeries and a final surgery where they repeated the first surgery and installed a shunt to remove the water from Ashley's spinal cord. As this was going on, Jane, the new baby, was having issues with eating and fussing all the time.

Karen says it was the most difficult time in her life.  She was worried how she could make it through while not really knowing anyone around her in her new home to support her.  She however also says it was ultimately one of the most beautiful times in her life. To grow and come closer to Christ and to watch the goodness in people of this ward. Often strangers, they came forward and picked up the pieces. The Jensens now know that Jane suffers from the same physical aliment as Ashley and will probably be having her surgery at the end of the school year. They also know their other two children are free and clear.

Karen says she loves living here and hopes they live here forever. She is still touched deeply by the kindness extended to their family by the people living here.

I hope that each one of you will have the opportunity to get to know Karen. She is one of the most positive people I have ever met. She is happy and upbeat. After being around her you will feel that you are a great person because of the generous comments she makes toward each person she is around. We are so lucky to have Karen in our ward and wish her and her family the very best as they prepare for the coming surgery for their little Jane.

Meet Amy McReynolds

Amy grew up, and lived in Bountiful all her life.  She is the 8th of 10 children.  Because of this, Amy was raised to be a hard worker and independent.  She was responsible to buy her own clothes and pay for her own activities throughout High School.  Her favorite job in high school was being the clerk at a dry cleaners because it wasn't very busy so allowed her time to get homework done.  She was very driven in school and took enough AP classes that she was able to get her bachelor's degree in just 3 years.

Amy has a strong love of music.  She begged her mom to let her start piano lessons when she was just 6 years old.  She continued to play until she went away to college.  She also enjoyed taking singing lessons and was involved in the school choirs.

When Amy was in High School, her YW leader hired Amy to tutor her 2 sons on their Jr. High math homework.  Amy's school counselors kept telling her she should work toward a math related career and through tutoring she was able to see that she really enjoyed teaching Math. When deciding what college to attend she knew that she would be responsible to pay for it, so she was driven to get a scholarship.  Thankfully her High School Math teacher let her know about a great scholarship for women majoring in Math or Science education.  Unfortunately the scholarship was only good for Utah "colleges" and since BYU was a "university", the scholarship could not be used there.  Amy's Dad knew her real desire was to go to BYU, so he let her know they would do all they could financially to help her to go there if that was what she desired.  After much prayer and fasting, Amy received a letter informing her that effective immediately, the teaching scholarship would now be available to use at BYU!  It wouldn't cover the full cost of tuition, but Amy received an additional small scholarship to BYU that covered the balance.  It was an answer to prayer!  She loved her time at BYU and roomed with the same girls the whole time she was there.  They are still best friends and get together often.

After a couple years at BYU, Amy felt a desire to serve a mission.  She moved home to get a job to earn some money for the summer before she would leave on her 21st birthday in October.  Even though she was very driven, she was unable to find a job.  She had never experienced anything like it, it was as if the Lord was shutting doors instead of opening the way for her to go.  Her Bishop even let her know that he didn't think it was the right thing for her to do.  So after weeks of frustration, she finally moved back down to school and enrolled in some summer classes.  A few weeks later she met Matt and they began dating.  When home one weekend from school her Bishop came up to her after sacrament meeting and said, "you've met someone, haven't you!".  He told her that he felt the spirit confirm to him that Amy was happy and doing what she should be!  Seven months later Matt and Amy were engaged, and married 2 months after that.  She hopes to still serve that mission one day, and is happy to be able to do it with a companion she loves!

Amy graduated from BYU just before their wedding so was able to begin her career while Matt finished his schooling at the U.  Amy taught math at East High School for 3 years.  During her last year of teaching, Amy got pregnant with their first son (Jackson), Matt graduated and got a job working for KPMG, and they bought a home in Farmington.  With just one child, Amy was able to tutor math out of her home for a few years.  Once they added their second son, Amy stopped tutoring and has been busy teaching her own children since!

Amy and Matt have 4 boys and have lived in the ward now for 5 years.  They love spending time together as a family.  They enjoy snow skiing together, boating in the summer, and most recently they started camping and dirt biking.   Amy also loves decorating, cooking, and reading books.  When she first moved into her home, she enjoyed writing a blog to share her decorating adventures in their new house (although she doesn't have time for that anymore!).  She said "virtual tours" are a great way for people to come see your house and it always looks clean!  

She never expected to love being a RS president- but recognizes it has been one of the greatest blessings in her life!  Her love for the women of this ward has grown leaps and bounds as she has gotten to visit with them, mourn with them, pray for them, and serve them.