A Little Family History

Before I was born… let me explain a bit about where I came from.  Or rather, WHO I came from.  

The story goes as follows:  

My mom, Diane, was born in Tremonton, Utah to Jay and Lola Roberts.  Before her, they had three boys: Ron, Tony, and Gary.  Jay was a dairy farmer for a little while, worked for the IRS, loved Green Pineapple Icecream, Oatmeal, and could do a lot of pull ups. He also ate and sneezed REALLY loud.  Francessa Summers was the only great grandparent I knew even though she technically wasn’t related.  She raised my grandma Lola after her birth mom died.  Lola was a traditional Mormon and Kindergarten teacher.  She had a variety of cool books and school supplies in her house. I don’t know much about my uncles Ron and Tony, because neither of them live in Utah, but I know Uncle Gary the best.  Every year he used to throw an epic New Years Eve party.  Like me, Mom was the baby girl of the family, born and raised in Utah.  On her side of the family, I’m right in the middle of the generation gap, so all my cousins are a lot older than me, and all of their kids are a lot younger.  It can get kind of awkward at large family parties.

My dad, Wayne, was born in Soda Springs, Idaho to Paul and Linnea Stevens.  He was the 7th of 8 kids: Bruce, Jeanie, Tex (the favorite), Marie, Ann, Dave, Wayne (my dad), and Nancy.  I never knew my grandpa Stevens, but from what I here, he was a tough guy.  He served in the navy and hunted deer and chopped down trees in his spare time.  My grandma Linnea is one of the sweetest women you will ever meet.  She is mild natured and loves to go shopping and decorate.  Of all my grandparents, she’s probably the one I know the best.  She still lives in the house I grew up in, and has a lot of great grand kids.  I’m also the youngest on that side but I do have two cousins close to my age and we get into all sorts of shenanigans together. 

My mom and dad met one day at a ward dance when they were going to school.  My mom studied accounting at BYU, and my dad was studying collision repair at Utah Technical College, currently known as UVU.   They both lived at the Riviera Apartments.  My dad was only 17, and will say my mom loved to tease him for being so young.  He tells me how him and his best friend, Doug, used to watch to see if she was at the pool, and grab their swimsuits and towels as soon as they saw her there.  It’s a funny story about when she met Doug… I’ll tell you if you ask.  A couple years later, my dad went on a mission to Argentina.  His dad was really sick, and passed away while he was out.  Him and my mom wrote each other for a while… until she got married.

My mom married Blair, the son of Max and Melba Fredrickson, who still live in Utah and hold a Christmas party every year.  My mom had a baby, Stacy, who only lived a couple of weeks.  After a while she had Marilee, and then Katie, my two older sisters.  I will write much more about them, because they are huge influences in my life.  Eventually, Blair and mom got a divorce.  A while later, Blair got remarried to Sheri and they had Tanner, who went to the same Jr. High and High School as me.  I just call him my brother from another mother. ;)  Sheri had a daughter named Chalise, who was a little bit older than Marilee, from a previous marriage. 

Meanwhile my dad came home from his mission.  His sister Jeanie said she saw my mom in Bountiful and told him that she was divorced too.  Eventually they started dating, my dad finished getting his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and they got married in the Jordan River temple.  A while later they had… me!  The first “little person” in the family.  :)