Spotlight on Danny & Maddie Peterson!  Danny and Maddie recently moved into a beautiful home at the northeast top of the Highlands.

Maddie went to high school in Idaho Falls where she excelled at a young age in academics and tennis (her mom was a tennis coach at ISU) and went on to play Division 1 tennis at Seattle University. After college she developed a successful career in marketing and sales in Texas and California and is currently in endovascular medical sales and surgical support here in Utah. She’s been a yoga instructor and is an advocate with the Utah Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), having lived with her own Type 1 diabetes from a young age. Maddie is happy to talk with anyone who is currently working through the physical and emotional challenges of juvenile diabetes and more than willing to share her experience, expertise and support with kids and parents. 

Maddie first met Danny when he was working at McKay-Dee Hospital. She fell in love with him because he was super funny, hard-working, generous, big-hearted, sweet, and kind.  She also noticed that most guys couldn’t fix things like her dad who was an amazing handy-man – but Danny could fix anything from cars to tile to toilets, so she thought he’d be a keeper. And the fact that he shared her love for dogs was a huge plus!

Danny attended high school in Layton at Northridge where he was into souped-up cars (installing turbo chargers, etc.) and after high school went on to work in construction building houses in Vernal. At some point he decided to go WSU and discovered he liked biology and chemistry which surprised him and everyone else around him. But Danny kept pursuing his interest in this area which eventually (after years and years of schooling with a few twists and turns) resulted in a career as an anesthesiologist. He is madly in love with Maddie who he says finds joy in everything she does. He admires how she naturally loves and cares for animals, nature, and human relationships.  

Danny and Maddie both feel so lucky to live in Mountain Green and have become fast friends with their neighbors. They are grateful to live in such a scenic place within an amazing community.  We’re so grateful to have the Peterson’s in the Highlands neighborhood! 

Blast from the Past: Guess who?

(Answer: Craig Taylor, Freshman year at USU)

Caught by the Camera: Derek and Dax Helsten. Derek builds homes as a general contractor and his son Dax is a junior at Morgan High who plays tennis, loves hunting, and helps his dad in construction.

Congrats to Jared Ferrin: Newest ice hockey goalie for Utah Valley University!

The Year of the Turkey.

Spotlight on Powder. Powder is a three-year-old Swiss Shepherd; her breed comes from Switzerland where it is called a Berger Blanc Suisse. She is a service dog for Loydene Berg; they live at 6710 Weber Drive. Loydene has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that arose from a random mass shooting incident in which her husband was killed.  In  public places, away from home, and with unfamiliar people are situations which often trigger PTSD symptoms which her service dog is trained to help with.  Kenji, her dear previous service dog, and now Powder, help by alerting to people approaching, or getting too close, by watching her back, and providing calming pressure and grounding as needed. Powder is very energetic, playful and intelligent.  She especially loves the snow (hence her name). She loves to go everywhere Loydene goes, including  hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, paddleboarding, pickleball, watching grandchildren’s sports, and other less exciting activities like picking up groceries and running errands.  Powder distinguishes between outings that are just for fun and outings where she has a job to do by whether or not she is wearing her service dog vest. She knows that if she has her vest on, she is “working” and needs to keep her focus on Loydene. We can help Loydene and Powder and any other person with a service dog by respecting when the dogs are working and not talking to them and petting them (which distracts them from their job), much as we would like to!

Happy 90th Birthday Jean Bigler: Queen Jean from Mountain Green turned 90. Thanks for the love, cheer, support, and crazy fun you've spread throughout our neighborhood for so many, many years! We always feel great when we're around you.