HAPPY 37th BIRTHDAY NEIL!!

Since its Neil’s birthday on Monday, I wanted to share a few things about him. He was born on April 13, 1972, in Salt Lake City, UT. He grew up in the Brigham City area (out on a farm between Brigham City and Tremonton) along with 2 brothers and 2 sisters (he’s right in the middle—the 3rd child). He was out milking cows at the dairy farm up the road from the time he was about 11 years old, and learned how to work hard and play hard. And he enjoyed creating entertainment with various things on the farm, like fixing up a zip line with a laundry basket over a pile of manure (although he’s made it clear that when you live on a farm, it’s NOT called manure! It is what it is…SH**...especially when you fall in it!) He also has a great story of him waterskiing behind a pickup truck on the irrigation ditch, going about 75 miles an hour. It’s a wonder he survived his childhood (and not just because of the things he did in risking his life, but because he was quite a handful for his mom, and I’m sure she thought about selling him a few times!)

He graduated from Bear River High in 1990, and then served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1991-1993. He served in St. Petersburg Russia, Estonia, and Lithuania (he actually opened up Lithuania with 3 other missionaries). It was called the Helsinki, Finland East mission at that time, because it was during communism, so there wasn’t an official mission there at the time.

After returning home, he started attending Utah State University in Logan, UT.
When he was attending USU, Neil and I met (we lived in the same apartment complex and were in the same student ward). We became friends and then started dating, to the surprise of many of our friends, since he was the long-haired, tie-dye wearing, Grateful Dead fan-hippie guy (I had never even heard of the Grateful Dead), and I was the typical conservative preppy-type. A match made in heaven! :) He is one of the most kind, caring, sensitive people that I know and I could tell immediately what a great person he was (besides being cute too). So after dating about 3 months, he proposed, and we were married in June 1995, in the Logan Temple. In 1997, PJ was born, then Tessa in 1999, Jonah in 2002, and Clay in 2005.

Neil graduated from USU with his Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Biology, with minors in Chemistry & Russian, and then went on to get his Master’s Degree from the University of Phoenix (an MBA), after Tessa was born, while working full-time to support our family!

Neil is such a hard worker and has worked his way up from an environmental scientist, working for a health department in little Fillmore, Utah (his first job out of college), moving up to higher positions in 2 other health departments in Utah (Provo & Salt Lake), then up to manager, then director, and now Sr. Director over food safety for all of Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He has accomplished so much and has worked so hard to get there. I’m so proud of him for all he has done and all he continues to do!

Neil loves music from the 60’s hippie era (especially the Grateful Dead), he loves prime rib & a good steak, Cadbury mini eggs, relaxing and spending time with our family, and backpacking in Southern Utah. He is so generous and is the first person to offer help to others if they need it, whether openly or anonymously. I’m so grateful to have him as my best friend and husband, and the dad to our kids. He is so kind, loving, fun, and caring. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to share my life with. I am so very blessed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL—I LOVE YOU!!