Michelle Brodegard

My full name is Michelle Brodegard, I am the youngest of seven children, along with my twin.  I was  born on May 17, 1991 to William Connelly Brodegard and Janis Mary Lockwood Brodegard, in Columbus, Ohio. The house I was brought home to, was 5675 Sandalwood Blvd in Franklin County.  At this house we had a huge sandbox with a tree in the center.  The tree was really big and it had a branch that stuck out from the tree that we could sit on, or jump from onto the trampoline.  We did a lot of jumping onto the trampoline, from the tree, from the roof, etc.  We did not have a TV so the back yard was our entertainment.  In our backyard we had lots of trees, a trampoline, and the big sandbox, I mentioned earlier.  Our neighbor had a swing set and we were allowed to jump the fence anytime we wanted to go and play on it, but we didn't do it that often, because they had big dogs, so therefore big dog poo everywhere.  Unlike our dog who picked a spot in the yard as his bathroom, her dogs just went where ever they felt. Being the youngest, my twin Jenn and I would often tag along with our older siblings and do what they do.  One time we made a swing.  Our swing was a piece of wood we found tied to a rope on both ends and then tied to a tall tree branch.  We made it extra high, so you had to jump on the trampoline to reach the swing and then climb onto it once you grasped it.  In order to swing, we tied another long rope to the swing and let it hang.  Someone on the ground would then take the long hanging rope and pull to rock the person sitting on the swing.  As I said, I was younger, so I was lucky to just barely be able to grasp the swing once someone lifted me up so instead of swinging I usually just hung holding on with my hands and was rocked back and forth by the puller.  One day we, Jenn and my next oldest sister Catherine, were playing on our homemade swing.  I was hanging and Catherine was pulling.  I was enjoying it when I realized I was beginning to slip, I do not know whether I called out or not, but I fell from the swing and must have been at the top of the arch because I missed the trampoline and fell to the ground.  I ended up breaking my arm from that adventure.  However, this has not stopped us from playing and creating new, possibly dangerous, things, either.

The first school I attended was Forest Park Elementary School.  The school was very close, we could walk from our house.  It was there that I attended kindergarten through second grade.  My first day at kindergarten was kind of scary.  My teacher, Mrs. Wilson, was very nice and when we arrived she told us to go and sit on the carpet.  Jennifer was more scared than I was, I do not remember whether it was my mom or dad who dropped us off, but they were carrying Jennifer and when she realized she had to let go she started to cry.
...to be continued

Jennifer Brodegard

(Michelle, Christine and Jennifer after the Top Of Utah Marathon in 2009)

I was born in Columbus, Ohio.  On May 17, 1991.  The first house I remember was 5675 Sandalwood Blvd in Franklin County. I lived there until I was eight.  Right after i was baptized we moved to 2138 Berlin Station Rd in Delaware, Ohio. I lived there until I was 16. That house was great! It was set on the highest point of three acres.  The hill in the front was great for sledding and the stream was great for catching crawdads or kayaking in when heavy rain caused it to flood.

Brode was our first dog.  He was very protective.  He moved with us to Delaware but had to be put down because of a large tumor behind his eye.  After a little while we adopted Jake.  He is the only one of our pets that is still around.  Baloo came while we also had Jake, but he had to be out down a year after we adopted him. Lucy was one of the most famous cats.  She had loads of kittens.  Boog and Prince were two of her kittens that stuck around.  Boog had a small black mark by her nose and so her name was very appropriate. 

Our chores weren't assigned, we were just given jobs to do.  They would vary from day to day.  I learned form a young age how to clean the kitchen and do laundry by watching my mom.

I went to four elementary schools, two middles schools, three high schools and so far, just one college.  We moved to Delaware, Ohio when I was eight and so I transfered from Forest Park Elementary to Arrowhead.  I moved around elementary schools because of border disputes and eventually landed in the Delaware City Schools.  I started high school at Delaware Hayes, as a Junior I went to Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho and I graduated from Cibola High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I currently attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.  I didn't really do much in High School.  I started running as a Junior, but just with my twin sister Michelle.  We ran our first marathon our Senior year of high school.

That is a little about me.