(newborn) 
(around 12 months)
Jeff's mom has always said that he was the best little kid ever. He never gave her any trouble and was just the sweetest little guy. She did notice however, when he was just a small kid that as soon as he could, he would crawl over to the air vent and stick his head right over it. Now, we know that Jeff's rarely can breathe through his nose at all (even after surgeries) and therefore like to have his head near a fan. He says it makes him feel like he is getting air. So, that is probably what he was doing when he was just a little tot.
(around 2 years)
Jeff really wanted to be like Popeye. One day he asked his mom if she would open up a can of spinach for him. She did, and he proceeded to take a big swallow of it. Um, that didn't last too long. He started throwing up and decided that if that is what it took to be BIG and STRONG, he'd pass. To this day, I can't get him to try spinach. (Except, I did just bring home a pizza that had spinach on it. It's kind of like a little kid, trick 'em into eating their greens. No, I really didn't think about it until he brought it up.)
Jeff LOVED tang and jelly sandwiches. There are a ton of pictures of him at this age with big old orange stains acrossed his face from the tang and a jelly sandwich in hand. They are really cute.
(kindergarten)(Jeff couldn't remember a story to go along with this picture, so when he remembers one, I will add it.)
(3rd/4th grade)
Jeff played basketball for a recreational team. He had to be number "23" because he was as good as Michael Jordan. His dad was the coach and his older brother, Brett, was the assistant coach.
Jeff's family has always spent a lot of time together. All of the years they were growing up they would take trips to Lake Powell and rent a house boat, go up to Pineview Dam and go boating, or go up to Bear Lake for their annual Family Vacation. He said something almost always went wrong on their trips. A boat would break down in the middle of the lake, a truck would get stuck in the sand ... you know, your regular things. Things that make those family trips memorable.
(7th grade)
Jeff painted benches at Willard Bay to get his Eagle Scout Award at the age of 14. He says that he really didn't like scouts all that much, though. I think that is funny. He has a childhood friend who loved scouts, yet he never got his Eagle. Jeff probably just thought, "the sooner I get it over with, the sooner I'll be out of scouts."
(10th grade)
Jeff's dad passed away when he was 17. As I'm sure you can guess, it was a very hard time for both Jeff and his family. At the time of Jeff's graduation, the Principal spoke briefly and said that he wanted to talk about three different students that had been great examples to the other students. Jeff ended up being one of them. The Principal stated that Jeff showed an enormous amount of strength during that hard time and that he had been a great example to both his peers and the teachers and staff during such a hard time.
(Mission picture)
Jeff was called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1994. He would be serving in the Fresno, California mission.
Right before he left (about two weeks before entering the MTC) he headed down to Salt Lake to go dancing with some friends. On the way home, some guy named Seth, said he could win Jeff in a race in his old broken down Buick. Jeff was driving a '91 Mazda RX7. Hardly anyone was on the roads because it was so early in the morning, so the race was on. They started racing at 106th South and made it to about 6th North. They were going about 115 mph in a 55 mph zone. Jeff saw flashing red and blue lights in his rear view mirror. He thought it would be a good idea to pull over so he did. So did this Seth guy. It was then he realized that there were six cop cars in pursuit of them. The next thing he knows, he has a spotlight on his car and over the loud speaker he hears, "slowly bring your hands off the steering wheel and drop your car keys out of the window and leave your hands out." Jeff does as he is told and the cops get out with all of their guns drawn and walk up to him. Some cops going running up to this Seth guys car and deal with him, too. Jeff was told that he was going to get hauled off to jail for reckless driving. Jeff says, "I can't go to jail, I am going on a mission in two weeks." I don't know how, but somehow, he got them to not handcuff him and haul him off. Meanwhile, Seth was getting handcuffed. They wrote Jeff a ticket and posted that he was traveling 98 mph in a 55 mph zone, so that he wouldn't have to go to jail. So, a nice little check was sent in the mail for $350 to pay for the ticket.
Now, we'll talk about the mission --
One day while Jeff and his companion were out tracting on their bikes, it started to rain. They were stopped at a red light on the side of the road. They decided it would be a really good idea to start racing cars as soon the light turned green. The light turned green and they were off! Jeff had a great lead when a car decided to turn right in front of him into a gas station. Jeff slammed on his brakes and broadsided the car with his right arm. He fell down to the ground and the car proceeded to continue on driving right over his arm. The car never stopped or got out to see if he was ok. Jeff doesn't even think they knew they ran over him. I'm sure they noticed him slamming into the side, though. A nurse who was at the gas station ran over to see if Jeff was ok. She examined him and said that he looked ok and would probably be alright.
Now you know a little bit more about my hubby, Jeff!
No comments:
Post a Comment