NATASCIA (MAY) JONES

Just look at us, all grown up with lives, families and jobs!  I can't believe it's been 10 years.

I also went to BYU-I, starting in the fall of '05.  I worked during the summers at scout camps as shooting range director and archery director.  (Sorry, never took any pictures!)  In the winter of 2008 I met my husband, Andrew Jones, (from Kansas City, Missouri) one morning on campus after I played the organ at an event.  He eventually asked me out and we started dating a few months later.  I graduated in April 2009 with a Bachelor's in Organ Performance, and in June Andrew and I got engaged.  (Yes, we dated more than a year.)  That summer I traveled to southern California, South Dakota, and southeastern Ohio, and eventually settled in Athens, Ohio in September 2009 to start graduate school.  We were engaged for about 6 months and apart for half of it.  (I don't recommend it!) I finished my first quarter at Ohio University in November and came back to Idaho to get married.  In one week in December, Andrew graduated from BYU-I, I turned 22, we got married, and also celebrated our first Christmas together.  Crazy week.  We drove back to Ohio so I could start back into my studies at OU.  In November 2010 we had our first baby, Hazel.  I graduated with a Master's in Organ Performance in June 2011.  We stayed in Athens until moving to Bay City, Michigan in December 2011.  (My uncle and aunt lived here; we had visited them; they told us about a better job for Andrew and a bigger and cheaper place to rent than what we currently had.  So, we took the bait.)  The following May (2012) we had our second baby, Clara.  And just this past April, we had our third little girl, Charlotte.  My husband works in the schools here and also has a lawncare business.  I teach piano and violin lessons in my private music studio, and all my students loooove to practice!  (Ok, that's an exaggeration.)  Even though we don't get to visit Idaho as much as I would like, life is good!

(Pics- wedding day, master's graduation, all the girls April '15)

SPENCER HORNER

Hey everybody. I won't be able to (or wasn't able to, depending on when this post hits) attend the class reunion this year, so I thought I'd send in a quick update as a way of saying hello to everyone.

Ten years goes fast and a lot has happened since I've spoken with many of you back in high school. I served an LDS mission to Adelaide, Australia, which was awesome, of course. I met some amazing people and saw some unforgettable sites. I also managed to learn some slang and mess up my accent along the way. I came back to attend BYU-Idaho, mostly for the convenience of mooching off my parents while I was there (a lot of you know the drill).

I met my lovely wife, McKinna, in a business class on campus. She thought I was a sarcastic dope at first, a perfectly natural reaction. But after some mandatory daily study group sessions, she changed her mind and we started dating at the end of the semester. The rest is history, as they say, and we've been married for nearly 4 years now.

We both graduated with business degrees in the winter of 2012 (good timing, right?) and began the job search. I had some prospects locally, but she, being originally from Portland, had no desire to go through another Rexburg winter. We started applying all over the country and decided that we'd move to the first place that gave us an offer that felt right. I ended up getting a job with the LA Galaxy at Major League Soccer, and we moved to Southern California.

It was a bit of a transition for a born and bred boy from Idaho to move to the big city, but we've been here for over 3 years now and we've loved it. Full disclosure, I don't really miss the winter either. I'm still with the Galaxy working as the Manager of Database Marketing (translation: professional nerd). It's been a blast and I've been able to work with some soccer legends like David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Steven Gerrard. And yes ladies, Beckham is just as handsome in person.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I wish you all the best.

Spencer

AUDREY (RHEAD) CALDWELL

Wow, the last ten years has gone by so fast. After high school I went to BYU-Idaho for a few years. I didn’t know what to major in so I took a bunch of random classes until I got my associates. Then in 2008 I went on a mission to Houston Texas. I came home in February of 2010 and went back to school, back to BYU-Idaho of course…only this time I knew what I wanted to study, I majored in Elementary Education.

(Posing for a picture with Dyan at the MTC)

In 2011 I met a very cute guy named Troy Caldwell. We actually met on LDS Singles. (I said I never wanted to meet and marry someone from online) We talked for several weeks on the phone and online before we had our first date. Troy is from Utah and was living in Salt Lake at the time we met, so we met half way in Brigham City. We went four-wheeling and because there was still snow in the mountains I ended up getting thrown from the four-wheeler. So, I guess you could say I fell for him… We got married in October of 2011 and I moved to Taylorsville Utah. (Didn’t really ever want to move to Utah… but Troy is so worth it)  Troy was teaching Math at Hunter High School. 

I ended up going to school at Weber State University for a year, trying to finish my degree. I found out it would take 2-3 more years at Weber, and only one at BYU-Idaho. So I went to BYU-Idaho for a summer and graduated in Elementary Education in December 2013.

 I taught 3^rd Grade for one year. During that year we found out we were expecting a baby boy. Our little boy decided he wanted to come early and he was born on July 7, 2014 at 26 weeks. He spent the first three months of his life in the NICU. He will be one soon, and we couldn’t be happier to have him home, safe and healthy.

 

Right now our little family is living in Perry, Utah. We just moved here in February. Troy is teaching 9^th grade math at Roy Jr. High and I am a stay at home mom. We love life and our amazing miracle, Aiden.

ALISON (BARNES) PARSON

It's so good to hear from everyone! I want to see every one of you at the reunion, unless you can't. But if you are on the fence about it come! Ten years is a big deal you old farts! Well, in case you were wondering...

10- is the number of miles from Rexburg I settled. I had big dreams of being somewhere much cooler than this but we found a fixer-upper home in Teton two years ago and since then we've found that the people here are our kind of crazy

9 jobs I've had since High School. The most notable being the summer after graduation when I moved up to Jackson WY where I was a wanna-be cowgirl and drove a team of draft horses for tourists; and the time I moved to Alabama to work construction and helped build a dome church (I even got a pink hard hat). Now I work from home sewing felt flowers for an online boutique.

8 years I've been married to Troy Parson (Madison class of '04). When he came home from his mission I snatched him up before he could change his mind about me. He is a sculptor/ mold maker and currently doing grad school online at Academy of Art studying Industrial design .

7 seasons of Dr Who I've watched. Don't judge. Bow ties are cool

6 chickens, 5 frogs, 10 fish, a cat, a giant dog, and a million houseplants share our little acre of land. It's fabulous. Like a zoo.

5 cities I've dwelled in- Rexburg (a few times); Jackson, WY; Dothan, AL; Sugar City, and Teton.

4 year degree from BYUI in Exercise Science. It was challenging and interesting and I'm glad I didi it and I'm glad it's over.

3 beautiful boys have joined our family. Rockwell is 5, Otto is 3, and Kell is our little angel baby who passed away recently.

2 half marathons because I'm not awesome enough to do full marathons but do enjoy exercising to a degree. It's my stress relief and much cheaper than therapy.

1 time I've left the country and it was only to Mexico. I was only too happy to come back to the States

0 times I have used geometry since 9th grade

 

I've loved seeing what people have been up to and I hope many more of you will get on the ball and update us before Aubrey posts more embarrassing pictures. Never mind. Don't post.

​I like the embarrassing pictures of you all. Good times.

JAMIE (NIELSON) LARSON

It has been really fun to read everyone's updates and to see what you have been up to for the past 10 years... Gosh we are old. 

After graduating I went to school for a couple of years at BYU-I and then I decided to take a break and just work. It ended up being a longer break than I originally planned. But during this time I was able to travel as much as I could. I have now been to England, France, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, Jamaica, Mexico and The Philippines. 

I met Nathan Larson at work and we were married in June 2012. He is from the very small town of Othello, WA. Shortly after we were married I went back to school and continued to work to help out financially. 

In August 2013 we had our daughter Kambria. She is now 21 months and is the cutest little girl ever. 

In October 2014 my husband got a job as an iOS developer in Orem, UT and just 1 week after he started his job we had our second kid. Braxton is now 7 months old. 

And just yesterday my husband started his new job working for Mountain American Credit Union in West Jordan as an iOS developer. 

My husband will be graduating after the fall semester and I will finally be done with school at the end of this semester. We love being in Utah and I am so happy to be able to stay at home with my kids. 

Keep the updates coming! 

AUBREY (BARTON) EPPICH

Thank you to everyone that has sent in an update so far! I have had so much fun reading through and posting them. It’s probably time I practice what I preach and send in my update. Maybe then I’ll get taken more seriously when I ask for more. ;)

Noteworthy things that have happened in the last ten years…

-After high school I worked at Madison Women’s Clinic in Rexburg for 6 years as a receptionist and in the billing department until my husband graduated and we moved out of state.

-I went to BYU-Idaho and got a Bachelor’s degree in education. My major is Early Childhood Special Education and qualifies me to teach regular or special ed from Birth-3^rd grade and my minor is in Orchestra education K-12.

-I love travelling and seeing new places. One of my adventures was going with a college group to Europe for a month and taking a couple classes. Anyone recognize my travel buddy? If you ever need a good travel buddy she comes highly recommended.

-The end of my second year of college I met my husband, Skyler, and we were married the summer of 2007. He’s pretty neat.

-In 2010 we had our first baby in Rexburg. Her name is Remington (we call her Remi) and she is almost 5 and will start Kindergarten this year. Her favorite thing is superheroes at the moment. We actually have some ducks we’ve been raising in our backyard since Easter (one of my husband’s many ideas) and she has named them Batman, Cyclops, Flash, and Cyborg.

-In 2011 we moved to Basin City, WA (outside of the Tricities) after my husband graduated with his Bachelors for work. We are in the process of buying the family grain business. We love it here. I live in the middle-of-nowhere (basically) and am embracing country life. I now own overalls, cowgirl boots, and a pink and black zebra print four-wheeler. I think I’ve finally gotten used to driving 30 minutes for groceries.

-In 2012 we had our second baby here in Washington. His name is Kai and he is 2 ½.  He recently has become our very own sound effects studio. His specialties are car engines revving, laser guns, angry hulk, and spider-man webs.

-I’m mostly a stay at home mom, but two days a week I teach violin from my home. My kids destroy my house and do whatever they want those days. They’ve learned to work together to get into anything they normally aren’t allowed to during lessons.

Hoping to see as many of you as I can in July! Thanks for being so supportive with the updates. Now go buy your tickets!

Oh hi, Alyson. Where's your update? 

Engagement Photo

Remi and Kai

Because when you live next to beautiful orchards you join the masses and take family pictures there.

And another picture by one of my husband's grain bins at Eppich Grain. Why not?

What Remi and Kai look like most of the time. A small dose of our real life.

BLAKE RILEY

After a brief stint at Ray's Chevron post-graduation, I set off for Tempe, AZ where I learned dry heat is the best heat. There, I picked up degrees in math and economics at Arizona State, working for the state government on the staff of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in the meantime. Anjanette and I shacked up in August 2006 and settled into married life alongside school and work.

​The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economics PhD program has sheltered me from the real world since 2009. Despite the economist label, I profess ignorance about the stock market, interest rates, or unemployment. My focus is microeconomic theory and market design, so I'm occupied with incentives, strategy, and honesty. A typical day involves writing at coffeeshops or teaching game theory to incoming grad students.

Besides Tempe and Champaign, I lived in Berkeley over the summer of 2011 with a bunch of other nerds hosted by the Center for Applied Rationality and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Short jaunts to Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Sweden, and Denmark happened since.

I dove into the Burning Man community a couple years ago. This started with a trip to Burning Man proper on the alkaline flats of the Black Rock Desert in 2013. If you aren't familiar with Burning Man, it's... hard to describe. Nothing is for sale aside from ice. Everything runs on a volunteer and gifting basis. If music is playing, it's because someone thought it'd be cool to set-up a soundstage. If food is served, it's because someone gets a kick out of recreating the French Quarter and frying up beignets in the Nevada desert.

Last year, my camp also made it to regional offshoots in Appalachian Ohio and the North Carolina foothills of the Great Smokies. Last weekend, I was in the Ozarks. Our camp threw a few events, including an afternoon metal set as a respite from EDM and a "boutique" where people could freely take clothing for outfits. Our big draw was the "Now We Dance, Now We Fight" Dance/Fight Party. Set to a ridiculous flamenco song, I announce in a pseudo-German accent for people to dance or pillow-fight as the mood dictates. Tons of fun if you need some cardio while camping.

Anjanette and I will be in South Korea for the summer starting in two weeks, so no reunion shenanigans for us. As far as future plans, one year left on my degree and who knows where from there.

Joel conveniently neglected to say he lives a block away from us in Champaign.

DYAN (SCHWAB) VALLACE

I have loved reading the updates and hopefully we can get some more coming in, its been so fun to see what everyone has been up to!

The last 10 years have gone by so fast but have also been great, I thing everything I said would never happen has happened!

1. I said I would never go to BYU-Idaho. Check.

With scholarships and how cheap it was, it just seemed crazy not to go to BYUI. I feel like so many of us went there but I don't feel like I saw hardly anyone from high school.  It turned out to be an amazing experience that I loved. On the off track semesters I was able to travel the country, Mexico and London but it was always good to come back to school in Rexburg so it worked out. I got my degree in Child Development thinking it would help me be such a great mom...yea, books and classes can't prepare you for motherhood!

2. I said I would never get married right after I got home from my mission. Check.

I left on a mission to Argentina in May and got home the end of December of 2009 and met my husband Trent at school in January and yes I said I would never date someone in my ward. Check. I also said I would never marry anyone from Utah.Check. But I am so glad because he is stinking amazing!

3. I said I would never lose my Spanish. Check.

I was able to use if for a little while with jobs but now that I am home Dora the explorer is the only Spanish conversation I get.

4. I said I would never going to have a baby right after we got married. Check.

Meet Emmy she is as feisty, social, happy and independent as they come and way too smart for her own good...and ours. She definitely keeps us on our toes and teaches us far more than I planned on. She is 3 and  our little boy Tristyn is 7 months and he is the calmest, happiest little baby which is such a blessing that they are opposite.

5. I said I would never live in Utah. Check.

Yep you guessed it I live in Utah, Centerville to be exact and I love it so much. We are still in school while my husband gets his degree in Hospital Administration and works for the hospital insurance unit so who knows how much longer we will be and where we will end up.

So I guess over the last 10 years I've been reminded I'm not in control as much as I thought and been served a slice of humble pie, but so far it doesn't taste too bad. Hope everyone is well and we will see lots of you at the reunion!

We don't have un updated picture since Tristyn of all of us, sorry.

ASHLEY (SHAUM) AIKELE

Since Aubrey pulled out the big guns (my 6th grade yearbook picture) I figured it was time to send in my update. It's been good to hear from all those who have sent in updates so far. I hope that by some lucky chance we get to hear from everyone!

10 THINGS FROM THE LAST 10 YEARS

1. I attended BYU-I where I thought about graduating in English, English Education, Photography, Interior Design, Organizational Business and finally settled on Advertising. I graduated with my bachelors in December of 09 and have yet to work for an Ad agency like I thought I would. I don't think I'm missing out on much.

2. I've had a myriad of interesting jobs over the years including, Snoshack, Rexburg Opinion Center, waitressing at an Inn on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and working for two photographers. Currently I work from home as a blog manager and fashion editor for the women's life style blog, Say Yes. I really enjoy what I do and the flexibility I have from working at home.

3. I met my husband, Alden Aikele (pronounced Ike-lee), in the summer of 2009 while I was in Provo doing an internship for a local photographer. We lived at the same apartment complex (Sparks II) and met at a summer bbq. We dated for the summer for fun and then when I moved back to Rexburg to finish school in the fall we just couldn't walk away from each other and dated long distance.

4. In January of 2010 Alden moved to Hawaii so he could go to school and since I had just graduated in December I decided to go too. We got engaged in February and came home for a quick wedding in June at the Rexburg temple and then back to Hawaii. Newlywed life in Hawaii was all it was cracked up to be. Ah.... if only life was as carefree now.

5. In 2011 we moved back to my husbands hometown, Concord CA (about 45 mins outside of San Francisco) to work for his family roofing business. We ended up loving the bay area and bought a house in 2013. In 2014 we sold the business and currently my husband works in San Francisco as a Web Developer for a software company (Zendesk).

6. In December of 2013 we had a baby! Let me rephrase that, I had a baby. Her name is Hazel and she's the smartest, sweetest little girl and we love her.

7. My husband Alden and I love to travel and have been able to take a few trips since we've been married including a trip to Thailand. We also have an upcoming trip to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in the spring. Now that we have the travel bug, it's hard to stop.

8. Ah, I feel like this is sounding boring. Are you bored yet? At this point I have major respect for you Joel. (meanwhile here is a family picture)

9. I've been skydiving twice. And in case you don't remember I'm deathly afraid of heights. Don't ask me to do it again. [Peer pressure is REAL people]

10. Annnnd a few things that keep me up at night from high school:

1. Has anyone else thought about how CRAZY the mock terrorist attack was when we were juniors? I mean, they shot kids with paintball guns! People are always blown away when I tell that story. The things you can get away with in Idaho, I swear! ha!

2. When we were seniors I was in charge of the homecoming bonfire and the week before homecoming someone burnt it down. It's time to fess up... I need to know who did it!

See you in July!

M'LISA (WALKER) DENNING

It's been so great to catch up with all of you who have updated us thus far! It has reminded me how fortunate we were to be in such an amazing class! I feel privileged to have grown up with each and every one of you. 

The summer after graduation I also went and participated in the Hill Cumorah Pageant in upstate New York. Like Brittany said it's not a beauty pageant, but a huge outdoor pageant about the Book of Mormon put on by volunteers. I did that for two summers while also working at a dental office. I received my Associate's degree from BYU-I then transferred to Idaho State University where I received my Bachelor's degree in Dental Hygiene in 2009. I wanted to be a dental hygienist since Jr. High so it was gratifying to accomplish that goal. I worked full-time for the best dentist in Shelley, Idaho and loved my time there. Joel laughs about dental hygienists, but it really is one of the best jobs out there! I'm curious to know how many hygienists there are from our class. I know there's a few of us! 

In 2007 I met my husband, Lance Denning, who grew up in Pocatello. He was attending ISU at the time and we were married in 2008. He graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2012 from ISU. After his graduation he accepted a job with Walgreen's and he was a manager of the pharmacy in Twin Falls, ID. We were only in Twin Falls for 6 months before we moved again. Lance got his dream job of working with Broulim's. We moved to Star Valley, WY (about an hour and a half away from Idaho Falls) in 2013 and have been here since then. Broulim's is a great company to work for as they are closed on Sundays, major holidays, and they are a really family friendly company. We bought a home on two acres and love living a slow paced, simple life. We live in a beautiful valley full of lots of recreational outdoor activities. It is perfect for our family. 

We welcomed our first boy, Mack, in October of 2011 who is now 3. Parker followed in March 2013 and Ammon was born in September of 2014. If you are trying to figure out the math that is three boys in three years! It has been quite the experience and not one that I necessarily thought would happen to me, but I am grateful for my boys nonetheless. We enjoy spending our time camping in Island Park, four-wheeling and boating and we feel extremely blessed to have three little boys who are becoming the best of friends. 

Keep the updates coming! They really are so fun to read! 

REGENCY (HANSEN) SNEDAKER

 I've really enjoyed reading about what everyone has been up to the last 10 years! As for me, I got a summer job at Intel working with an uncle just outside Portland, Oregon. While there I applied and was accepted to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. It was exciting and absolutely terrifying at the same time. As the summer came to an end though, I realized that Portland was not where I was meant to be. So I went back home to Rexburg and started attending BYU-I. In the spring of 06 I married my high school sweetheart Greg Snedaker, who graduated the year before us. 

  

 We moved from place to place in Rexburg and from job to job. Then in 2007 I started working for Madison's After School Program as a teacher and fell in love! I loved the kids, I loved teaching fun classes, I loved helping kids who were struggling conquer their homework. It was such a rewarding job, and after 3 elementary schools (Burton, Adams, and South Fork which is Archer and Lyman combined) and almost 7 years of playing at work, I became a stay-at-home mom. 

In the midst of all my fun, in the fall of 2009, my husband and I got both awful and wonderful news. We discovered that Greg has an auto-immune disease that will affect him for the rest of his life. It was hard news to hear, but God helped us get through the shock and move forward to find a way to manage the illness. Happily my husband is doing very well for almost a year now! Our other news that fall was that we were expecting our first child. Thankfully I had an easy pregnancy and was able to take care of Greg when he wasn't well. In July 2010 Ethan was born and he couldn't have been more perfect!

In February of 2013 our second son, Skyler, was born. Ethan has been an awesome big brother and Skyler is determined to keep up with everything Ethan does. They keep me very busy and tend to get into mischief often. Ethan looks like a miniature of my husband and has his same energetic outlook on life. Skyler is our little sour patch kid, he has quite the talent for getting into trouble and being naughty one moment to being a sweet apologetic angel the next.

Last spring we decided to buy a house and made the "long" journey from Lyman to Rigby. Yep, we moved to Rigby. We live on a quiet street in a cute old home just filled with character with what I consider a big yard for being in town. So far, I've loved every moment, and we are slowly but surely making this place our own.

Ethan is now four and a half and going to Preschool. He loves it, and is constantly coming home singing songs he learned. Poor Skyler can't stand being left home and out of the fun. About a month ago I was asked by the Preschool director if I'd like to help in one of the classes and I excitedly accepted. So now I'm working again. Preschoolers are so fun and full of curiosity. I spend my spare time (what little of it I get) working on craft projects and learning new things. I enjoy decorating cakes for my boys' birthdays and even made my sister's wedding cake. As a family we loving having adventures and traveling together. Our next great adventure is the upcoming arrival of our baby girl who is due in May. Greg and I are thrilled and even the boys are looking forward to having a baby sister!

Well, I hope to hear from more of you and see as many as possible this summer!