I was born in Kansas in an Army hospital at Fort Riley. My father was a medical pilot in the Army. He got out of the Army when I was two and moved the family to Meridian, Idaho, where I grew up and went to high school. I lived on a small farm with my nine siblings and learned the value of hard work! I ran cross country and have always enjoyed running.

After high school, I served as a missionary for my church in Mexico City. After returning from Mexico, I completed my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at BYU-Idaho. There, I met my wife, Carrie. While I recognize that I got the better end of the deal, we got married in 2003 and have since had four beautiful children and many adventures together!

Our first adventure was moving to the east coast to attend dental school at Tufts University in Boston. We drove across the country with our one-year-old first son, and graduated with three! It was a very adventurous time! While in dental school, I joined the Army, and ran my first marathon.…the Boston! After graduating, we drove across the country again to our first assignment in Oklahoma. I spent one year there, completing a residency in advanced education in general dentistry. This was an excellent opportunity that allowed me to advance my skills and expand my clinical knowledge. It also led to our next adventure!

After leaving Fort Sill, I was assigned to Fort Riley (my birthplace) in Kansas. My youngest daughter was born at the same hospital I was! I claim it was the same room, but the staff was too busy with the delivery to check…. Three months after her arrival, I was deployed to Afghanistan for nine months. There, I was able to utilize and expand the skills and training I had received at Fort Sill! I was also able to run two more marathons, and multiple other shorter distance races.