Who the heck are you guys?

Well, we guess it is time to introduce the Hales Clan from Mississippi. Now we are not your stereotypical clan. Actually, we are transplants from various places around the country. Brent grew up in the little town of Aurora, Utah. Candy was born in upstate New York (Niagra County) but lived the majority of her youth in Orem, Utah. Married in 1992, the couple soon began popping out kids faster than you can say, "Man, you guys are sure popping out kids a whole lot faster than I would ever dream of doing. Do you guys have any other hobbies? I swear that there must be...." Oh wait, that wasn't very short. In any case, Zachary (13) was born in Provo, Utah while Brent was going to Brigham Young University. Matthew (11) was born in Nashville, TN where Brent was going to graduate school in nearby Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN). Gabriella (8) was born in Ames, Iowa where Brent was finishing up graduate school (I think we found this guy's other hobby). With three college degrees under his belt and no plans for more degrees or more kids, the family embarked on a new adventure in the Mississippi Delta.

Brent began teaching at Delta State University in 2000. As an assistant professor, his life was taken up by teaching, research, and service. Candy was similarly busy with Zachary moving to a new school, prepping Matthew for his school experience, and keeping up with Gabby. Soon, they settled into a life of chaos filled days and nights with young children. Ever lurking in the background was the question whether the births of the children were related to the fact that Brent was going to school or was it that they were living in a new state!!!!

So it was in the late summer of 2002 that Brent and Candy discovered that once again, they were expecting. Much to their surprise, later that fall they discovered that they were in fact having twins! In April 2003, Samuel and Luther joined the rest of the family seemingly completing the Hales household and cementing the family forever in Mississippi for fear of moving to a new state. Never again, was the family to move outside of the state. No, the decision was made to sink roots in Mississippi so as to give the children a sense of home as one location of the country and to avoid having more kids.

When the twins (the bubbas) were born to Brent and Candy, life seemingly shifted from controlled chaos to just simply chaos. However, their lives ever busy, the family moved from activity to activity, content with making a home far from their "native" land. It was in this atmosphere that the Clan began to feel settled. The family was soon in for a shock!!! In August of 2005, the worst natural disaster hit the United States in the form of Hurricane Katrina. Quickly followed up by Hurricane Rita, the storms brought winds of change for the family.

While heading up the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Center for Bolivar County, MS, Brent came in contact with a couple of young men needing assistance. Little did he know how entwined he would become with their lives. One of the young men, Rainier Gallagher (17 at the time) had recently moved to New Orleans from Salt Lake City, Utah with his mother. Genie had moved to the Crescent City to work on a cruise ship. Whereas she was shipped out three days before Katrina hit, Rainier was left to confront the oncoming storm with a former exchange student from Turkmenistan, Dovran Babayev. After the storm passed over New Orleans, Rainier and Dovran began searching for ways to survive. It didn't take long to realize that they needed to get out of the city. Dovran had friends from his home country that attended Delta State University and so they began their trek to Cleveland, MS. It was there that they met Brent and all of their lives changed forever.

Rainier and Dovran needed a place to stay and to feel some sense of normalicy. The first part was not difficult as they were able to stay temporarily with their friends. As for a sense of normalicy, school seemed to be the best medicine. Dovran enrolled at Delta State and Rainier was to enroll at Cleveland High School as a senior. Upon attempting to get him enrolled, the question arose as to who was Rainier's guardian. Brent ventured to say that at the time, he was and from that grew the addition of another family member. Shortly after moving to Cleveland, Rainier moved in with the Hales family and fell into a routine of school and social life. It wasn't long before he expressed an interest in making the arrangement permanent. So it was that Brent and Candy agreed to take legal custody of Rainier from his mother who was still sorting out her own situation post-Katrina.

After a period of two months, Genie moved to Cleveland to join Rainier and the two lived with Brent and Candy while finding other reasonable accomodations. In February 2006, the two moved to an apartment and remained there through Rainier's graduation from Cleveland High School in May 2006. Rainier made the commitment in February 2006 to join the US Army and is currently serving our country in Korea. Brent, Candy, and the children still and will forever regard Rainier as part of their family.

In March of 2006, Brent was contacted by the Univeristy of Southern Mississippi about joining their faculty in the Department of Economic and Workforce Development. It was with a heavy heart but great enthusiasm that he accepted the position. The family moved to Petal, MS in July of 2006 and has since built and moved into a new house in the growing community.