Where Are They Now? — Karren Rogers (Noel)

After high school I attended BYU. As many of you know, I lived across the street from BYU. I wanted to move out and have a genuine college experience with roommates as did my best friend Becky Richards (class of '89). So we moved to the Park Plaza apartments for one semester. One of my roommates was from Canada. She introduced me to her brother, Mike Noel, my Canadian Prince Charming, eh! It was true love for both of us and we married in 1990 just three months after our first date. [By the way, Becky married my brother Tom (class of '87)].

I've always had a love for the medical field (I spent most of my Saturdays in high school working as a candy striper). I graduated from BYU in nursing in 1992, 2 months after giving birth to our daughter, Kennedy, the 'first Noel'. I worked part time as an RN at the Utah State Hospital (what an unforgettable experience) while Mike finished grad school. In 1994 we were happily shocked when we found out we were expecting identical twin girls. When the twins were 4 months old, Mike accepted a job with the Nevada Legislature and we moved to Carson City, Nevada. It was an exciting adventure to move to a place where we didn't know anyone. I must admit that my first impressions of Nevada were not favorable. Where else can you have neighbors like Madam X (from the Moonlight Bunny Ranch- she worked in a neighboring county where prostitution was legal). Fortunately, I quickly realized that living in Northern Nevada is different than just driving through. We loved the area (especially Lake Tahoe) and became very involved with the church and community. We made many wonderful friends.

Our family grew over the 12 years we lived in Nevada. We came to more fully appreciate the miracle and joy of a successful pregnancy as we had four more children and five miscarriages. I kept up my nursing license (and my sanity- ha, ha) by working 3-4 days a month at Carson Tahoe Hospital. I initially worked on the medical/oncology floor but followed my heart to the obstetrics floor. I consider this my true nursing niche. We fortunately felt inspired to sell our house in 2006 and we moved right before the housing bubble burst. We now reside in North Salt Lake (a few blocks from Bountiful). I'm still adjusting to Utah culture shock - like hearing 'Oh my heck' after so many years, seeing churches on every other block and greeting President Uchtdorf while walking in the morning (there are four apostles in our stake). We love it here. What a treat it is to finally have a basement! We enjoy living so much closer to family in Utah and Canada. Mike works for the LDS Church in the Church Office Building. He is the biggest BYU football fan I know (and I'm talking year round) and he enjoys taking the kids to all the BYU football games in Provo.

I work 12 hours a week in Labor and Delivery at LDS Hospital. I feel privileged to be involved with the miracle of birth every time I go to work. Most of the time this is the happiest place to work but occasionally it can be tremendously sad (i.e. when a baby has died). I love my nursing job but I especially love my full time job: mom. Our five girls and two boys keep me on the go. They are Kennedy (15), Madeline and Jacqueline (13), Camille (11), Andrew (7), Gabrielle (5), and Thomas (2). Each day is truly an adventure whether it be dealing with hormonal teenage girls, driving kids to lessons, games, or the orthodontist (we have four girls in braces) or taking a son to the doctor to have popcorn kernels removed from his ears. One of these days we'll get an updated family picture. I don't have much spare time but enjoy finding great deals on ksl.com and working out. My ultimate dream is to run a marathon like so many of you (although I haven't yet ventured past the 5-K stage of running).

When I think about PHS I remember watching the coverage of the Challenger Explosion in Ms. Riddle's room. I also recall Andy Madsen (or was it Slade Spencer) standing up and offering a prayer in behalf of the class before a difficult math exam. Those were the days. Now someone would sue if a student tried that. It has been fun to catch up on your lives. I've known many of you since kindergarten at good old Wasatch Elementary School and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again!