Martin Sorensen, Exchange student from Norway 98-99

Hi everyone
First of all i want to say congrats to everyone who either got a baby or got married. Its been a while since my last trip back to Utah but i promise you i will come back one day and say hi!
As some of you may remember, i was the foreign exchange student from Norway, with the weird glasses. I dont wear glasses anymore, just contacts. I am soon a bachelor in creative writing-Doing allot of commercial and radio ads. Since i was in Utah i have studied, travelled and worked with everything from a schoolteacher to doing commercial ad´s.
I am getting married 15 Aug, 2009, with my beautiful girlfriend, Karin. We have been together for 7 years, but still no kids. I live close to Oslo, the capitol of Norway, and dont even own a car! No pets, do kids.. but working on both:-)

If anyone wants to come visit, or just want to email me:
hans.martin.sorensen@gmail.com

Good luck to you all, and thanks for making my year in Utah memorable

-- Mvh

Hans Martin Sørensen

Skogveien 231450 Nesoddtangen

Phone: 93610321

10 YR REUNION PICTURES

If anyone has any photos to post from the reunion, send them my way, and I'll post them!! Here are a couple to start with!!

Thanks Jessica, for sending these in!!

10 Years Came and Went.....

Thanks to all who came to the reunion festivities! It was really fun to see each other and catch up! We missed those of you who couldn't make it. Thanks to Michelle Wheeler Durst (and all her "helpers" for all her hard work in organizing the 10 yr reunion! If you have any pictures you'd like to post from the reunion, send those in!

Keep sending in your blog posts... we will continue to update it all the way through our 20 yr reunion. (I saw a sign for the SHS Class of '49 Reunion today and I just about died! For those of us who are still alive at that time, lets have a party to celebrate okay?) We will continue to post updates even if you have already posted, let us know about marriages, new babies, new jobs, and new homes!

If you see "news" that represents our Class, send it in, and we'll post it also.

Also, if you move, or change your email address let us know and we'll update our information on the "master list" so no one gets left out for the next reunion (and so we don't have to call your mommy to get ahold of you)!

Until then.....

Megan Booth

Hello everyone!

It's crazy that 10 years has come and gone already.

After graduation I started my 8-year degree at UVSC. (No, it wasn't actually supposed to take that long, I simply took the extended route through school, and enjoyed every minute of it!)

I interrupted school the first time to work at EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida for a time.

I returned to continue schooling for a bit, then took another break to serve a mission in California, Spanish speaking. It was there that I learned how to speak fluent Spanglish with a proper American accent.

Having survived that experience, I (finally) finished school with some sort of degree, and graduated as a Registered Nurse. I now work nights at UVRMC on the Pediatric floor.

Right now I spend my time enjoying my freedom, battling procrastination, exploring new hobbies, and just living life as it comes at me.

~Megan

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Samuel L. Clemens

Michelle (Weight) Nilson

Wow is life fantastic! Can't wait to see everyone at the reunion. As for me, after high school I attended UVSC for one semester and decided it wasn't far enough away from home. I enrolled at Utah State University in Logan, UT and danced on the Big Band Swing dance team for 4 years. I took a break from school for a year and a half and nannied in NY for a wonderful Jewish family.

I still keep in touch with them and have even gone back to visit. When I returned from NY I took a trip to Mexico and then went back to USU. There I met the man of my dreams, Benjamin Nilson and we got married in Aug '04. I have worked as a CNA almost our entire married life at the Cache Valley Specialty Hospital. I graduated with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science while also finishing my nursing prerequisites. I didn't expect to get into nursing school on my first try while pregnant with my first child. I would have started when he was only 1 week old. I have always wanted to stay at home to raise my own children so I opted out of nursing school for now but plan to return later.

Hayden Benjamin will be 3 years old next month and my second son, Gabriel Jack will be 19 months.

On top of being a stay at home mom, I help my husband run our business. We bought a house in Logan, UT and will be residing here indefinitely! Ours dreams are truly becoming reality! Still so much life ahead.

10 Yr Reunion Location and Directions

Remember Friday night's reunion is at 7:00 PM at UVU's Center Stage.

Center Stage is located in the Sorenson Student Center.

Park in in lots L&D (we will not be charged for the parking)

For a map of the parking lot, see the photo below OR click on this link: http://uvu.edu/parking/visitor/map.html

Rachelle (Miller) Sorensen

Hey, everyone! Wow, how time flies. I am excited to see everyone on Friday and am glad I’m finally getting around to posting on here. Let’s see…where to start? After graduation I headed off to BYU and got my degree in Marriage, Family, Human Development four years later. I met my husband, Beau Sorensen, online (of all places) in May of 2004 and we were married in the Salt Lake Temple in January 2005. Our daughter Alyssa was born in February of 2006 and our son, Aaron, joined us in January of 2008. My husband is the Director of Finance at a home health care company here in Orem so we have settled nearby, much to my parents’ joy and delight.

I am a stay-at-home mom and enjoy being home with the kids most days (just keepin’ it real). We have been able to travel a lot partly because of my husband’s job and partly because we rack up so many frequent flier miles and hotel points. Since we got married we have been to Japan (where my husband served his mission), Washington D.C. three times, Boston, Seattle, Vegas numerous times, New York, Texas, Cleveland (that was an exciting one), Hawaii, Greece, Italy twice, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Monaco, England, and…yeah. Maybe some others. The kids have been in tow for many of the trips, believe it or not. There is nothing quite like pushing a double stroller through the tiny streets of Greece I must say. It’s been awesome! I love traveling and am so glad my husband does too and that we have so many opportunities to do so. In our spare time we love hanging out with our terrific friends (because seriously, what’s better than a good game of Rock Band with a group of friends, especially when it includes Eye of the Tiger sung in a fake German accent by your hubby? Believe me, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard that one!), going on dates when possible, playing with the kids, and doing all the “normal” stuff. The last ten years has definitely had its ups and downs but I have definitely, definitely, definitely ended “up” and can’t believe how lucky I am to be where I now. See you all Friday!

Natalie (Llewellyn) Perkins

Wow, I can't believe it has been 10 years!It has been fun reading about how all of you are doing.

Where to begin...after graduation I attended both UVSC and SUU. I found I didn't really like the college scene and decided to become a licensed pharmacy technician. I worked in several different Albertson's pharmacies and at UVRMC, which was an awesome experience. In 2002 while on a date with Eric Nielson I met Brant Perkins' older brother Ryan. After hanging out for a couple months, we had our first official date in October of that same year. By Thanksgiving we were engaged. On March 25, 2003 we were married in the Bountiful Temple. (Is it just me or did quite a few of us marry classmates' siblings??)

A month before I got married my dad opened his first Window World store and asked me to be his office manager. The following October we found out we were expecting our sweet little girl, Olivia.

She is the light of our lives and has her dad and Uncle Brant wrapped around her little finger. After Olivia was born I took a break from Window World and worked part time at The Center For Change, an eating disorder clinic and at a youth crisis shelter. Both of these experiences made me appreciate my husband and daughter more than I thought possible. However, after only a year my parents had a second office to open and needed someone who knew the ropes to run our Spanish Fork location. So currently I am still working for my parents, helping run both our Spanish Fork and Salt Lake City offices. The nice thing about working for family is they don't care if my daughter spends the day with me. Ryan works for Wasatch Mental Health coordinating services for Utah County's homeless, mentally ill. We live in Spanish Fork and couldn't be happier. I won't make it to the reunion as it is my daughter's 5th birthday and she has 24 hours worth of activities planned. I guess that is how it goes when you are an only child of very baby hungry parents :)

Heidi (Young) Baker

After high school I went to UNLV in Las Vegas for a year. After the first year I took a break and went and lived with my oldest sister in Stockholm, Sweden for a semester. When I got back from Sweden I continued to work and go to school in Vegas. In the beginning of 2004 I decided to take another break from school, and got a job with Jetblue Airways as a flight attendant based out of New York. Later that same year I married my husband Jason who I had been dating for five years. Working for the airline has let us endulge our love of traveling, which we take full advantage of. I started school again a year ago, and will start the nursing program in the spring. I want to continue with my school and eventually get my PA. We still live in Vegas with our 3 dogs, who keep us very busy.

Jessica (Jorgensen) Bolda

I got my Associates Degree in Business in 2000, and then decided to major in Photography after interning for a photographer in Salt Lake City. While attending UVSC, I met my husband, Dave Bolda.

We got married in 2001. I had my first baby, Payton in 2002. In 2005 we welcomed our baby girl, Chloe. I have stayed busy with kids, photography, and a new endeavor, jewelry. In 2006 we moved to Kansas. My husband graduated from Washburn School of Law in May. He will be taking the Utah Bar exam in July. We made good friends in Kansas and had fun exploring new cities. We really loved it there, but we were too far away from family. So here we are back in Utah.

I am excited to see all of my old friends from high school at the reunion!

Kade Anderson

Wow...10 years is kind of a long time but here goes: After I graduated from high school I went on a mission to the Philippines where I spoke languages called Tagalog and a little bit of Ilokano. I loved my time there and would love to go back some day. After returning home I decided to go to BYU-Idaho in Rexburg where I majored in Health Science while completing prerequisites to get into physical therapy school. Despite the cold, the small population, and other problems I had with Rexburg, ID, I really had a great time there and met some wonderful people. In 2005, while in my last year at BYU-Idaho I married my wonderful wife, Sarah. We had actually met in 2002 and had become very good friends then but for whatever reason we never dated each other. She had boyfriends, I dated other girls, but we remained close friends for three years. In 2005 we just kind of realized that we were made for each other, fell in love, and got married in the SLC temple. In 2006 I graduated with my BS in health science, we moved to Los Angeles where I had been accepted to physical therapy school, and we welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Ashley Nikelle into our family (A very busy year!). A year into grad school I realized how much I disliked physical therapy. After much thought, and conversation with my wife I decided to bail on PT. (No offense to any physical therapists out there, but it was kind of boring to me). We moved back to Idaho where I worked assisting adults with severe mental illness in Idaho Falls. I loved my job there and was fascinated with schizophrenia, psychosis, and other mental problems people suffer with. But, after a couple of years I decided it best for me and my family to keep going with my school work and am now in Physician Assistant school in Billings, MT (which is why i can't make it to the reunion). I would like to eventually practice in pediatrics but I just might end up in mental health, only time will tell. Life has been busy but very wonderful for me and my family. I have lived away from Springville for most of my life post high school but I still consider my friends there some of my best and think of you all the time.

Angela (Swanson) Jones

In 1999 I began studying art history at BYU. I had couple of great summer internships at Sotheby’s New York and Christie’s London. While living at the foreign language student housing, I met Jason Jones, an engineering student from Texas, and we were married at the Salt Lake Temple in November 2001. We both graduated from BYU in 2003 and that September moved to England so I could pursue a master’s degree in art history at the University of London, Courtauld Institute of Art. We intended to stay just two years, and now more the five years later we still live in England. We have had great professional and educational opportunities which have kept us here.

After finishing my masters, our daughter Victoria was born in 2004, followed by another daughter Genevieve in 2007. And yes, Victoria does speak with a British accent. Jason completed his own master’s degree in 2007 and now he works at a university in Leicester as a research fellow. I’m a full-time mother and am working on a biography of the German painter, Heinrich Hofmann. We have loved living in England. It has been a great base for travel and indulging our passion of art and architecture. Wish we could be at the reunion. Have a great time.

Seth and Shannon (Child) Ercanbrack

After high school Seth attended Ricks College for a year and then went on a mission to Scotland. I attended UVSC and then went on a mission to Nauvoo, Illinois (for 8 months) and then Louisiana (for 10 months). We both attended Utah State University after our missions where we bumped into each other. We both ski instructed at Beaver Mountain in Logan and started dating. We got married Oct. 15, 2004. Seth graduated in Business/Marketing and I graduated in Elementary Education. For a few years Seth and I worked for a company called Del Sol. We managed and worked in some of their stores in the Caribbean (St. Thomas and St. Maarten) and Juneau, Alaska. We loved our experiences and look forward to more adventures. In between moving to other places, we got a dog, (named Saba) Seth sold cars and had other various management jobs, I taught 2nd grade in Payson for 2 years, and we had our baby girl, Brielle, who is now 18 months old. Currently we are renting a basement in Mapleton and are looking for a house near Lehi. We wish you all the best!

Eric Nielson

There's a little bit more of me around the middle and a little less on top but other than that the last 10 years have been pretty good to me. I served a mission in the gorgeous beaches of northern brazil. In one city we lived literally 3 streets from the ocean. I would wake up to the smell of salt water each morning. It was torture but I loved every minute. In fact, I went back to Latin America two more times. Once, as a student volunteer in Mexico and then to El Salvador as the country director for a non-profit group.

I met my wife Becky on a blind date (my little sister set us up). We have moved many times since we were married 5 years ago. Mostly, following job opportunities and promotions. We went from Springville to Ogden to St George then to Idaho Falls. Thankfully, Becky is very a patient. I guess you'd have to be to stay married to me.

We live in Spanish Fork and I started a new job as the Production Manager at a plant in Provo. Its the perfect job for me. I have my own office but I'm not chained to my desk. I can jump up and get on a forklift or pnuematic press for a few hours if I feel like it. It's awesome! Becky and I have 2 great kids. Adam just turned 3 and Tessa is almost 10 months. It will be good to see everybody next week.

Ben Evjen

I've had some wild opportunities these past ten years. Why don't you join me on a brief journey of the time I've spent in different ventures...

After a stint at a state college I decided to try my hand in the financial realm. I got in contact with a few well known folks and soon found myself as the adviser to the lovely homemaker Martha Stewart. I tell you what, that smile is just captivating. One evening after some warm peach cobbler I took some financial liberties that would soon send Martha behind cold metal bars of the state penitentiary, away from the comfort of the doilies that draped the sofa arms of her favorite couch.

After some border hopping I was able to find respite from the law in sunny Hawaii. While washing in the Pacific Ocean I was filmed by the crew of LOST, much to their displeasure. After scrapping that take I was pulled aside and given a stern talking to, but at the same time a serious consideration for a future role in season's 4 and 5. The beard that I had managed to finally grow helped in placing me in the part of Daniel Faraday. In the end I was ousted by some other fellow who could actually grow a mustache. JJ Abrams did assure me that it was a very hard decision to make, so I left comforted. I decided then to take my chances back on the mainland and moved to California after earning the money for a flight back by selling the Papaya's I hand picked in the jungles of Hawaii.

Having found a new love for acting I auditioned for a few things here and there, the most notable being the "Mac" in those great "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercials. I was told I was a close 2nd to the actual fellow you see. Looking back now I realize I was perhaps a little bit too eager.

The winds of time blew and in January of this year I found myself in the nations capitol. It was a frantic day, many crowds, and a bit of confusion. Stumbling into the White House I was given a Judge's robe and was told to put it on immediately. For some reason I was given the words to the oath of office the President was to take shortly. I was told to memorize them and quickly. Drawing from my acting background I hurriedly memorized these lines and found myself pushed out to the concourse where thousands of people looked on. My bewildered gaze was met by Mr. Obama's and I broke the silence with the words I had just put to memory. The stress got to me and I tripped over a few phrases but regained composure quickly. I was again ushered from the scene and had to relinquish the Judge's robes. The only thing I took from that experience was the memory, and I suppose the headlines of "Presidential Oath botched!", "President sworn in again later that evening!","Where did they get this guy?!"

My pride was hurt, I had to return home to nurse my wounds. I'm currently residing in Salt Lake City, just regaining my confidence through watching self help series such as the Oprah endorsed "The Secret".

-Ben

P.S. I was pleased to see Martha was out of jail but I'm a little saddened that she won't return my calls

Todd Murdock

Todd and Ashli Murdock

CURRICULUM VITAE

(Resume)

Name: Todd McKay Murdock

Address: Above a salon

City: One doesn't live in a city, one lives in a watershed.

Watershed: Jordan River

State: States are arbitrary--I live west of the 100th meridian.

OBJECTIVE

To obtain capital with which to start an eco-friendly, autonomous commune. (This is a private placement investment opportunity that is not to be missed.)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

-Am not chubby anymore

-Have grown the kind of beard associated with prospectors and serial murderers

-Got Sam Robertson married (Huge.)

-Used abrasive personality to alienate Kade Anderson from the Utah State University's dating scene, and, by extension, the entire Bear River Watershed.

-Saw Todd Wise wearing a diaper at the 7-Eleven on University in Provo; could not fathom why. (Really happened.)

-Bought out "Something to Crow About;" used retail space to start extremely successful T-shirt business, "Threadless," with Mr. Bell. Like our predecessors, we also sell jock straps. (Et tu, Clair Shipp?)

RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

You will recognize me by the third nipple god awarded me.

EDUCATION

Does living an unmatchably fulfilling life count as "education"? (I've learned many wonderful things about the transcendent nature of personal wealth and success.)

WORK EXPERIENCE

Curriculum Vitae Consultant (per diem)

Joe Vogel

Hey everyone. It's been fun reading up on how you're all doing. Here are the highlights of the past ten years for me.

1999: As soon as school gets out we leave for our Senior Trip in Oceanside, California (see picture and try to identity each respective Red Devil); the next fall I start college at UVSC (is it just me or did A LOT of us go to UVSC at some point)

2000: Spent the summer in London and throughout England, which is a life-changing experience; A couple of months later I leave for an LDS mission to Micronesia.

2001: Continue my mission, speaking a language called Pohnpeian, which includes cool words like "tikitik," tiak suwed," and "dundun" (all of which Brandon Bales and Craig Nielson can translate)

2002: Get back from mission, return to UVSC, majoring in English Literature and minoring in Religious Studies

2003: Return to London again, also visiting Rome and Paris; publish an amateurish book of poems; room with Craig Nielson; meet a girl named Tiffany

2004: Miscellaneous political activities; girl named Tiffany continues to intrigue; she has beautiful blue eyes; she's also smart and funny; I decide to propose and she decides to say yes; we are married Dec. 16th, 2004 in Salt Lake and honeymoon in California; Life is good

2005: School continues; in our spare time we take spontaneous trips to random places; other things happen that I can't remember

2006: My wife and I graduate; my wife earns her teacher's license, and begins teaching English at Fort Herriman Middle School; I'm very proud of her; I begin my MA at BYU emphasizing in Romantic and Contemporary Literature, while also teaching Freshmen Composition; after much thought, prayer, and liberal meditation I decide to join the Obama campaign

2007: Miscellaneous political activities; SURPRISE! We learn that what we thought was a painful kidney stone in my wife, turns out to be pregnancy

2008: Our beautiful daughter, Sofi Anne Vogel, is born on February 1, 2008; I get accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Rochester in New York; we leave that summer, driving across the country; after three days of corn fields we make it; I start school and am very happy with my program; I singlehandedly win Obama the presidency

2009: We are now going on our second year in New York. We love it here. We take monthly visits to DC to visit my brother's family. I do a lot of reading and writing and enjoy watching my daughter grow. We'll be here for probably another three or four years before I start teaching somewhere.

My best to everyone! I won't be able to make it to the reunion, but you can email or facebook if you'd like to chat.

Lyndsie (Parry) Webster

Two weeks after we graduated I headed up to attend Ricks College. I loved it up there and had a great experience!!!! I graduated with my Associates in Business in April 2000. I came home with the plan of working for a year saving up some money and going back to school. Things didn't turn out as planned, I met my husband James Webster in May of 2001 and we were married in the Salt Lake City Temple in March 2002.We lived in Orem our first 3 years of marriage. I worked for a doctors office doing the billing and finances while my husband was finishing up his degree in Business Management and working full time. After a year long struggle with fertility treatments we were finally able to start our family.

Our twins, Zac and Lexie, were born in July 2004 after a very long hard pregnancy (I spent 3 months on bedrest, the first 2 in UVRMC).

In April of 2008 we were blessed with the birth of our third child Samantha. Zac and Lexie are now almost 5 and will start Kindergarten this fall (now that makes me feel old!!!). Samantha just turned 1 and is in such a fun stage learning a lot of new things. We are currently living in Spanish Fork and really like it here. My husband works in Commercial Real Estate and I am lucky to be able to stay at home with my kids. I love my "job" and the joy it brings into my life.

Kerri (Peterson) Hancock

After high school I married Bard Hancock. We will be married 10 years in October. We live in St. George, and have been here for 6 years. We love it here for the fact that we can play softball all year long. I graduated from Provo College with an AAS Degree. I am currently working for myself as a Massage Therapist. Bard graduated from ITT Tech in CAD. He is currently a supervisor for a construction company.

We have 4 wonderful children. Joshua is 12, and loves to play basketball and baseball. Jordan is 8, and he loves all sports. Natasha is 5, and is a very active and intelligent girl. Kaylee is almost 2 and wants to do everything her older sister is doing. The kids keep us busy with all their sporting events, and we never have a dull moment.

Erik Brinkerhoff

After high school I went to UVSC for a semester and worked on the newspaper as the opinions editor. After that, I served an LDS mission in the Chile, Osorno mission. When I returned, I went to BYU and received a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in English. During the summers when I was in college, I worked for the U.S. Forest Service maintaining trails, working on the motorcycle crew, fighting fires, and doing law enforcement. After I finished at BYU, I took a year off from school and took some time to backpack through Europe.

Then, in the fall of 2007, I started law school at the University of Utah. After my first year of law school, I did a study abroad in Lund, Sweden. My focus in law school has been both environmental law and international law. This fall I will doing international law in Stockholm, Sweden. Then, I will finish my law degree in London, England next spring. After I graduate, I’d like to either continue with international law or work as a Foreign Service Officer, furthering U.S. diplomatic relations abroad. Looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion.