Born July 8th, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, Tarah weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz—the daughter of parents Duane (B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering, Master’s of Business Administration, now a Farrier/Blacksmith) and Hertha Chellevold (Master’s Degree of Psychology, PhD in Zoology). 

         Her grandparents:  Norman (Real Estate Agent) and Helen (High School Teacher nearly fifty years), Arvil Louis (Loan Agent for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance) and Hertha Steiner (Teacher turned Homemaker).  Her older brother, Devon, now works as an Aerospace Engineer. 

          Tarah is actually the only member in her immediate family who has never been an only child (as both her parents were).  (Consequently, no first cousins, nieces, nephew, aunts, or uncles).  She was a super baby, rarely ever crying.  She was alert and charismatic even as a newborn and could sit up in and maneuver her walker at only ten weeks.  She mostly used it to satisfy her curiosity, exploring the house regularly and playing with the many lovable pets who were constantly having to move out of her way.         

         Tarah crawled well by five months, walked just before ten months, and weaned herself off her bottle around this same time.  In fact, often she was so determined not to be on the bottle anymore that she’d squeeze it hard enough to shoot milk all over the ceiling.  This protest all ended with the introduction of the “Sippy cup”…which seemed to get along with her much better.  She could sit in full splits before she could walk and could turn somersaults soon after being able to stand on two feet.  By seventeen months, she could run, climb on and off her large rocking horse, successfully manage high playground slides, and even say a few words.  She was very brave, and was willing to try anything her older brother was doing if she got the chance.  No matter how beyond her capacity, she never wanted to be excluded.

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