We are the Burrup family! Our hometown is Nampa, Idaho where we are proud to be members of Grace Bible Church.

We are Chris, Brandi, Mason, and Silas, and here is our story:

Once upon a time, in a tiny town called Fruitland, Idaho, there lived a handsome prince by the name of Christopher…. Oh, sorry, I’ll cut out all the cheesy parts :)

Chris and I both grew up in Fruitland, Idaho.  We were 8th grade sweethearts off and on, but mostly acquaintances during high school.  After graduation, I flitted around for awhile: went off to college in Moscow for a semester, moved home to attend community college, nannied for a bit (including a 6-week stint in New York which was interesting to say the least), and then finally found a job that I LOVED! I was an assistant in a special education preschool program in a public school.  I settled back in Fruitland and taught preschool for three years. I learned so much during my time there and still think often about my little preschool kiddos! I took some part time classes to work towards an Early Childhood Education degree.

While I was busy trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, Chris had it all figured out.  During our freshman year of high school, he, along with Frank Beale ( a teacher from Fruitland High) started a broadcasting program.  They basically built it from the ground up.  Chris quickly became known around school as “the broadcasting guy.” With Mr. Beale’s connections, Chris landed a job working for Channel 6, a local TV news station – as a senior in high school.  He started off as a lowly teleprompter operator (you know, the guy who spins the little knob on the side of the prompter so the anchor can read their lines) and slowly worked his way up the totem pole.  Within a year, he was directing newscasts.  Chris continued working for Channel 6 after graduation.  Around two years later, he applied for a job as a newscast director/technical director in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He’d been living in SLC for around a year and a half when he “re-met” me.

I like to tell people that I met my husband on MySpace….even though it’s only half true. We “re-met” on MySpace.  Chris found my profile on one of our classmate’s pages and sent me a short message.  To say I was excited when I received the message would be an understatement.  You see, I’d always had a little secret crush on Chris.  I would see his brother across the street every now and then when visiting my parents and always wonder what Chris was up to. (If you want any evidence of how small our town is, here goes:  Chris’s brother and his wife bought a house *across the street* from my parents a year or so before we met.)    He still doesn’t believe me, but I searched for him several times on MySpace, but was never able to find him.  I’m so glad he found me :)

We emailed back and forth for a week or two when Chris told me that he was planning a trip back home to visit his family.  He asked if I’d be interested in getting together to catch up.  Our first date (which neither of us could decide was truly a date or not) was the day before Valentine’s day, February 13, 2006.  Chris brought me flowers, yellow roses, so as not to be too presumptuous, and we went to dinner and then watched a movie together.  That day, it was evident that something big was happening.  Over the next month, Chris made up excuses to come back home quite often and we continued dating. We emailed back and forth and talked on the phone almost daily.

It was definitely a whirlwind courtship! We were engaged by the end of March and were married on July 8, 2006.  Every time I think about it, I can’t help but feel a little crazy! After the wedding, I moved to Salt Lake and found a job as a nanny.  We were there for about six months before I begged Chris to find a job back home.  I was miserably home-sick! Luckily, there was an opening at Channel 2 news in Boise.  Chris took the job and we moved back home a couple days before Christmas that year.  I found a position working as an administrative assistant/office manager for a commercial real estate company, and we settled into life much closer to family and friends.

Chris is now in his sixth year working for KBOI 2News and I couldn’t be prouder of him.  He is the production manager and is in charge of all the newscasts technically and graphically.  Basically, he manages all the behind-the-scenes people who put the newscast on the air.  I quit my job to stay home when we were blessed with our first child, Mason in June 2008.  Silas came along in April 2010, but our family isn’t done growing yet!