Wanted: You!

We are getting excited about the reunion! Some of you have paid, but we're hoping that many, many more of you are just finalizing your travel plans to join us... right? We would love to see as many of you as possible at the reunion, especially if you are in the area! The evening will be a lot of fun--and the dinner will be awesome as well. So come and see old friends and spend an evening cherishing your BHS Class of 1999 heritage.

Don't forget that the price of the dinner goes up to $35 after July 15, which is less than a month away! So make your payments soon. July 15 is also the last day to sign up for the golf tournament. NO sign-ups will be accepted after that date. We hope that some of you are thinking about playing!

Check back soon for some fun upcoming blog acvities...

Boasting Bengal: Brittney Penrod

Brittney Penrod went to college at Utah State University and graduated in 2003 in Family and Human Development. She met her husband, Ryan Bradshaw, at school through a roommate and friend and the two were married in July 2001.

Brittney is blessed to be able to stay at home with her family, as well as use her piano skills to teach six students out of her home. Brittney and Ryan welcomed their son, Caden, in 2004, the same year that Ryan graduated in Education and was offered a Physical Education and Weights teaching and coaching job at an inner city high school in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have lived in Nevada ever since, adding a daughter, Maliya, to the family mix in 2007 and purchasing their first house in 2008.

Their family stays busy with friends, activities, projects around the house, and supporting Ryan at some of his sporting events. Because Brittney is expecting their third child, another boy, in August and won't be able to attend the reunion, she sends her best wishes!

[Check out Brittney and her cute family on her blog here.]

Boasting Bengal: Matt Thorum

We all remember Matt as one who enjoyed the sciences, and today he's still pursuing that interest. After serving in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission (Spanish-speaking) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Matt graduated from the University of Utah in 2005 with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. Now he is in his fourth year studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working on a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry. His research is focused on developing new oxygen reduction catalysts to improve the cost and efficiency of fuel cells.

When Matt isn't submerged in research or textbooks, his favorite hobby is climbing. (Climbing? But Illinois doesn't have mountains!) Matt proves us all wrong--not only is there great rock climbing, but there is great ice climbing too. Matt shares his love of climbing as a part-time climbing clinic instructor for the Adventure Recreation program on campus and is the vice-president of the UIUC Climbing Club.

[Check out Matt's bio and his fellow climbing instructors on UIUC's website here.]

Boasting Bengal: Jacey Egbert

From winning the 1999 Brighton Bengal Award in Music, Jacey (Egbert) Faulkner has neither stopped her studies in nor devotion to music. She received her Music BA in piano performance at the University of Utah and continued on to earn a Music MA in piano performance and collaborative piano. She was a 2002 featured soloist at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, won a full tuition scholarship, and was even a "piano double" on the T.V. series Everwood. Her focus in music now is pedagogy and music therapy, providing healing to patients and their families in hospitals and care facilities.

In addition to music, Jacey enjoys traveling. Some of her favorite trips include Italy, Czech Republic, and Hawaii. Most recently, her travels have taken her to Madison, Wisconsin, where she resides with her husband of 6 years, Nate, and daughter, Amelia, age 2. They will be there for 4 years for an orthopedic surgery residency and then off to warmer weather! Some of Jacey's future dreams include becoming a floral designer, meeting Oprah, and seeing the world.

[Find out more about Jacey by looking her up on Facebook, or if you want to read her family blog, send her an email: firefingers_rwh(at)yahoo(dot)com.]

Announcing the BHS Reunion Golf Tournament

For all you golf enthusiasts, we are excited to announce a golf tournament the morning of our reunion! Here are the details:

Where: Old Mill Golf Course, 6080 Wasatch Blvd. S.L.C. UT 84121
When: August 1, 9:30 am
Cost: $54 per player; cost includes cart and 18 holes

Players will be put into teams of four. The first team will tee off at 9:30. Other teams will follow behind every 8 minutes.

Prizes will be awarded for closest to the pin, longest drive, best knickers, the winning team, and other games throughout the day. With each participant, we will accrue a $10 credit at the Pro Shop for prizes in each category (e.g. 30 players=$300 in prizes at the pro shop for the winner in each category). So, the more players we have, the bigger and better the prizes will be!

If you are interested in playing, please complete the Golf Tournament payment link on the reunion page here. After we receive your payment, you will receive an email with more details. If you have questions email Ben Gundersen [ben_gundersen(at)hotmail(dot)com] or call (623) 889-1550. Registration will not be accepted after July 20 so sign up today!

Boasting Bengal: Shelby Felix

After graduation, Shelby (now last name of Hales) moved to Logan and went to Utah State. She met her husband, Jared, in the lunch line on the first day of school. So romantic, right? He even asked if she would buy his food--of course he was joking, but she still said no. Shelby got a degree in Family and Consumer Science, minoring in Family Finance. Jared appreciates her thriftiness.

Jared and Shelby lived downtown Salt Lake for five years and loved it. Part of the time they lived downtown, Shelby worked at Department of Workforce Services as a legal secretary and Jared attended law school at the U. Then it came time for kids. Shelby now stays home with their three children: Annie is 5, Tate is 3, and Nash is 7 months. They are living back in the old stomping grounds and keep busy fixing up their house. Shelby recently tiled both their bathroom and entryway, as well as painted their kitchen cabinets with Jared. She's feeling good about progress but there is still much to be desired. Things Shelby likes to do these days are run races, watch her kids do anything, golf with Jared (or any date, really), and make brownies with chocolate chips... so she can eat them :)

[Shelby is on Facebook, but she also loves her family blog. If you'd like to peek at it--being private and all--send her an email at shelbyhales(at)gmail(dot)com.]

Boasting Bengal: Erin Hallmark

Some of our classmates successfully turned their high school hobbies into real-world experiences. Erin Hallmark put her BHS yearbook interest to good use and found a natural talent in editing and design. However, her editing skills have obviously improved over the past ten years, since she now says there are formatting and design characteristics in our senior yearbook that she would love to change, even though she originally designed all the layouts.

Erin received her bachelor's degree in English from Brigham Young University in 2004, along with minors in editing and management. While earning her undergraduate degree, she worked as an editor for BYU's Independent Study program and also volunteered with several student journals. She began her career as the Senior Writer/Editor at Tahitian Noni International, a wellness marketing company, and just five years later, she transitioned to become a Marketing Communications Manager for Zrii, a company in the same industry, located in Draper. The career move meant that Erin recently moved back to the Salt Lake Valley after living in Provo for 10 years.

Erin is now the proud owner of a master's degree in technical writing from Utah State University. Thanks to her graduate work, she has published several articles in technical communication journals and magazines.

In addition to writing, Erin also enjoys communicating through design and wants to spend more time developing her skills in photography, bookbinding, and graphic arts to appease her creative interests. She also enjoys geocaching and thoroughly spoiling her two darling nieces.

[Check out Erin's bookbinding blog here and some of her recent editorial work here in her former company's magazine, Tahiti Tradewinds.]