PERSONAL HISTORY

Personal History

Chandler R. Scott

Family History

3/8/2013

My Life

Life is a journey filled with excitement, success, experiences, dreams, and at times pain and sorrow. If I could compare my life to a plate of food, the positive experiences would be the size of a giant steak and the rough patches would be like the seasonings sprinkled in. Just like the seasoning makes the steak fabulous, my mistakes and the hard times have helped bring me to the man I am today. I am an optimist, and it usually doesn’t take me long to get over an issue or to find the positive in a bad situation. Life has been good time, and I have been blessed way beyond what I deserve.

On October 18th 1987 I was born in Idaho Falls at the EIRMC hospital. I am the 3^rd son born to my amazing parents Mitch and Annette Scott. We were born oldest to youngest starting with Sloan Mitchell, Jordan Don, Chandler Reece (me), Slade Glen, and my youngest brother Hayden Michael. Although no girls were born to my parents, they were blessed to be able to adopt 2. They adopted Allie Taylor first, and then 2 years later Shelley Eliza was added to the family. Both little girls were adopted when they were less than 2 months old. I can’t imagine my family without them!

I grew up in the small town of Roberts, Idaho. We lived in a small house right in the center of town. This small home is located right out in front of the present Roberts LDS church. It was a real treat to grow up living next to the church. We had a pretty descent sized yard, but if we ever needed more space for football or soccer we would take the game to the church’s lawn. My brothers and I were extremely active as youngsters. We loved to play sports together, ride bikes, play tag, and also torment each other! I have many fond memories of growing up in Roberts.

When I turned 7 my parents started to explain to me the importance of baptism. My two older brothers accepted baptism with no complaint. But when it came to me I didn’t want anything to do with it! It had nothing to do with the church’s doctrine, just the simple fact that I was scared of the confined baptismal font. I remember thinking that my dad might leave me under the water too long, or that I wouldn’t be able to get my feet back under me on the slippery floor. All the crazy little ideas that could go through a 7 year old child’s mind were flowing wild in mine. Eventually I got over my fears and I was baptized on November 4^th 1995. My father Steven Mitchell Scott was the person who performed the ordinance.

Soon after my baptism my parents moved our family out of the small home in Roberts. We moved to a much larger house they had built about 8 miles south of Roberts. It is located in the Osgood Area, which is about the halfway point between Idaho Falls and Roberts right off I-15. We were so excited to live in this new home! I remember while they were building it, my dad would take us out there to the property and just cut us loose for the afternoon. We would run wild with our big dump trucks, ride dirt bikes, or line up aluminum cans and shoot them down with our BB-guns. It was a dream come true for us to live in the country.

I started school in a small private preschool located in Mud Lake, Idaho. After preschool I attended elementary school in Roberts. After I finished the 3^rd grade I went to the Roberts Middle School for 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade. Roberts Middle School was a really neat place for school. It was in this school that all the kids from Menan and Lewisville joined up in the same school with all of the Roberts kids. It was this sudden new influx of kids that brought many lifelong friends into my life. Along with many new friends, I set my eyes on my first girlfriend. Her name was Lindsay Briggs! She was also the very first person I ever kissed. It was an exciting time for me, because I had never known what it was like to have a girlfriend. I can still remember going on a school fieldtrip to the Saint Anthony Sand Dunes and to the Roller-skating rink in Rexburg. During this fieldtrip Lindsay and I roller-skated in circles holding hands, then while out at the sand dunes we kissed during a game of truth or dare! We were both very shy so there wasn’t much conversation, but we shared some exciting moments together. Other exciting events that took place during the time I attended Roberts Middle were ski trips.

In 1997 when I was 10 years old and in the 4^th grade I went skiing for the very first time. I had no idea how to ski, and frankly I had never even been to a ski hill before. Luckily, I had my brother Jordan to learn with me! We got on the bus at school and went to Kelly’s Canyon. During this time the only equipment you could rent was skis. Most of the new skiers signed up and went to an instructional class. My brother and I skipped class and went straight to the top of the hill. We wrecked numerous times, and wore ourselves out during that day. Soon we became pretty talented at it. We went on these ski trips from the 4^th grade to the 7^th grade. While in 6^th grade in the year 1999, everything changed on the ski hill. Snowboarding became the new popular sport. I jumped on the wagon and learned to snowboard during that year. It became one of my favorite hobbies throughout the rest of my life.

After finishing the 6^th grade my whole class moved schools to Mid-Way Middle School. This school is located in Lewisville, and today it is actually Jefferson Alternative School. By this time in my life, my oldest brother Sloan had his driver’s license. My dad bought him a car, and my days of riding the yellow school bus ended! During 7^th grade even more people were added to my grade. Previously as I have mentioned, in Roberts Middle School all of the students from Lewisville and Menan had joined us students from Roberts. Well in the 7^th grade all of us students who had been attending school in Roberts joined all of the Rigby students in Midway Middle School. I remember being super excited to meet all of these new people.

During 7^th grade all the boys were given the opportunity to tryout for the 8^th grade basketball team. There were at least 20 boys who tried out, and out of all them my friend Tyler Marshall and I were the only ones who actually got invited to go to the 8^th grade tryouts. We went and played with the older grade, but ultimately we both got cut. I wasn’t mad about it since whoever made the team in 7^th grade never got to play in the games. Another interesting fact is while in 7^th grade I met the love of my life. Her name is Hailey Jones, and she was always the most beautiful girl around. We watched movies together in middle school either at my house or hers and also hung out together on ski trips. She chose me to be her first kiss, and I believe this first kiss took place between some buildings at the Midway Middle School. My memory about these things is a little rough, but Hailey has every little detail stored in her memory. Hailey and I were only together for a short time, because I went on to 8^th grade and moved schools, while she stayed at that school for 7^th grade.

Outside of school I was always active in some kind of sport. I played in 2-3 different basketball leagues every year from the time I was 10 up until the time I was able to play for the school team in 8^th grade. During the summer and fall I played grid kid football. Then after football season ended I would wrestle up until January when basketball season started. My favorite sports are football and basketball even to this day.

After finishing the 7^th grade I moved schools again to the Rigby Junior High. It was here in 8^th and 9^th grade that my social life really blasted off! I started to meet new people and I was lucky to be apart of a terrific group of friends. One day when I arrived at school the halls were buzzing with excitement! As I walked through school I heard people shouting and saying, “World War III has begun!” This day was the morning of September 11, 2001. Terrorists had hijacked 3 different planes and flew them into buildings around the United States. They brought down the World Trade Centers in New York and they punched a whole in the side of the Pentagon. It was a very dark day in the United State’s history. It was the beginning of a war that still continues even today.

While in 8^th and 9^th grade I was on the starting basketball team both years. I didn’t get to play football in 9^th grade because I had to have knee surgery to fix my torn ACL, which happened when I was 12 during a grid kid football game. I tore the ACL in my other knee while wakeboarding in Lake Mead when I was 14. So for every sport I played, I got to wear two big bulky knee braces every time! Even though sports were rough on my body, I still loved them and continued to play. During 9^th grade I also got my driver’s license. My first car was a simple little 1992 Honda accord. After 9^th grade I was super excited to start high school.

When I was a sophomore my older brother Jordan was a senior. Jordan and I had spent most of our lives sharing everything. From the time we were just little kids we shared a bed, rooms, toys, and vehicles. Since we were both in high school we always drove there together. I remember everyday when we would get out of school all of my friends would gather at someone’s house and play video games or just hangout. My dad never let us mess around and waste time after school. He owns a company in Idaho Falls called Glenwood Smoked Products. I worked there since I was only 8 years old I believe. Everyday after school my brother and I had to go in and work until 6 pm. I remember feeling like I was being robbed of my glory years because of my dad making me work everyday after school. But now that I am older and wiser, I see that he gave me one of the greatest gifts a parent can give to their kids. He taught me to work hard and then play hard after the work is done.

My parents were the best a kid could ask for. Since I was a kid I don’t remember a Saturday when my parents just allowed us to sleep in until noon. Especially since we had moved into a bigger house with a huge lawn. They would wake us up every Saturday and send us to pull weeds, mow lawn, weed whack, or simply clean the house. They were wise in their parenting skills and I am so thankful they were so diligent in teaching me to work hard. My parents taught me a great deal about life, and did an excellent job of teaching me the entire gospel.

High school was a joyous time for me. I enjoyed going to school and being able to see my friends or girlfriends everyday of the week. I am fairly intelligent and school was pretty easy for me. I can’t remember a time when I really struggled to understand a concept, or had to work too hard to get good grades. I don’t say this to be cocky, but I feel blessed and fortunate to have been given this gift. During high school one of my favorite things was to go watch basketball games. It was exciting to watch and cheer on our team. As a junior my football team went all the way to the district championship. We played this game in Pocatello at the Holt Arena. It was exciting and since we were playing on turf the game was a lot more fast paced. We lost, but it was a hard fought game! This was the last football game I ever played in.

Most of my friends were in the grade above me. I ran with the older crowd all through my high school years and when they finished and graduated it was a sad day for me! I knew this day was coming, and I even considered trying to graduate early with them. I had even taken a handful of the senior level classes as a junior to realize this idea. Ultimately, I decided I still had plenty of friends in my own grade  and I also wanted to be able to really enjoy my senior year. Since I had already completed a lot of the courses required for the seniors my schedule was really slack! During the three trimesters of my senior year, I only had 3 classes in the morning then I would go work, framing houses in the afternoons. It was a time in my life when I could truly say that I enjoyed every single day!

During my last year of high school Hailey Jones and I started dating again. We courted all through my senior year and even after. She was a very good girl and had high moral standards. We dated on and off all the way until I left on the mission.

When I was just a little boy in Sunday school, the teacher taught me to prepare now to serve a mission. He told us that we needed to decide right then and there. Even if we weren’t sure about going, he told us when people asked say yes! I honestly believe this is the underlining force that kept me on track to serve a mission. Whenever anybody asked me, “Are you going on a mission?”

 I would reply, “Yes I am!”

It made the difference, because on October 14^th 2006 I received my call to serve in the Mision Peru Arequipa. The day my call came I had just arrived home from hunting at about 11 am. I was with one of my best friends and we found the big envelope in the mailbox. I could hardly wait to get inside to read it! The Mormon tradition is to open it when you are surrounded by your whole family. Well I found a butter knife and slide it along the sealed portion of the envelope. I opened it without even leaving a trace that it had been touched! After I read it, I glued the flap back down to wait for my family to come that night. When everybody got there, I opened it again and acted surprised and excited as if it was the first time I had read it. My mom didn’t even know what I had done! She would’ve kicked my tail had she found out back then that I already read it.   

            My parents left me in the MTC on January 17^th 2007. It was the beginning of life on my own. I stayed in the Provo MTC for 3 weeks then I was transferred to Lima, Peru. While in Lima they made us start teaching in Spanish immediately! It was probably some of the most awkward moments in my life. After 6 weeks I was transferred to my mission in Arequipa, Peru. While in the mission I was transferred all over the south part of Peru. It was one of the most enjoyable yet hardest times of my life. When I returned home I hadn’t spoken English in so long it was really hard to even talk! I only had Latin companions and none of them spoke English. I had literally submersed myself in their culture and lifestyle, and coming home was like a shock to my system. While I had been on the mission Hailey Jones had written me every week and was waiting for me to come home. We picked up where we had left off and things progressed very fast.

            We got engaged on February 14^th 2009 and then were married in the Rexburg Temple on June 20^th 2009! As soon as we got married we moved to Louisville, Kentucky where I was selling alarms for a living. Things were really awesome for the first 2 months then they started to change for the worse. Hailey got really homesick and something else must have been going on too because I couldn’t hardly recognize the woman I was coming home to anymore. She moved home and we were divorced 2 months later. It was tough, and I still can’t figure it out even to this day what happened to her.

            Life went on and I started school in 2010 at BYU-I. Since 2010 I have been working for my dad delivering jerky to convenience store and going to school in the winter and spring. Life has been so good to me. I have an awesome family and great friends to keep me company. Around January of 2010 Hailey told me she had made a big mistake and wanted to get back together. I was stubborn and told her no way. I dated other girls for the next 6 months, and Hailey decided to step up her efforts! She actually went to my girlfriend at the time and tried to persuade her to leave me, so that we could work things out! Nothing happened there, but eventually the girl and I separated. Newly single I decided to give Hailey and I the shot it deserved.

            We had a ton of fun together, and I found a wonderful companion in Hailey. She seemed so different, so grown up and in love with me. We dated for the next 10 months and got married in April at my parent’s house. Shortly after Hailey got pregnant, and things completely fell apart again! In our first marriage, I figured things got bad because she didn’t have her family close. So I thought being here in Idaho, close to family would make a huge difference for our relationship. I was wrong, and I came to find out that the person I knew over the last 10 months was a fake! After we got married she completely changed and I felt as though she hated me instead of loving me. I don’t understand it at all! I am still mad about it as I write this history. I felt as though I was tricked into loving a complete fake, and then after we were tied together she showed me who she really was. Had she been honest about who she is, I never would have married her again. She knew this, and maybe she really believed she could be this other person. I will never know truly what was going through her mind, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We got divorced again in September and our beautiful little daughter Hadlie Jana Scott was born on January 17^th 2012.

            Hadlie is the most beautiful little girl I have ever met! She came to this world and has completely filled my life with joy. Her personality sparkles, and I am so grateful to have her as my daughter. The situation could be better, but I believe that everything will work out some day! I will give her the best life she can ever hope for, and I hope it establishes her in a good place where she can find success.

            Today I am on track to completing my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology. After I complete this degree I will go on to become a Physician’s Assistant in a masters program. I eagerly look forward to be doing something everyday that I am proud of and love to do! Life is great, and I am ready and able to take on any other challenges that come my way.