My life has been tied to (or stuck in) agriculture from the day I was born.  The first eight years of my life I lived on the family ranch northeast of Ingomar, Montana.  Those were the years I learned about grasshoppers, gumbo, and rattlesnakes. 

            In 1965 that ranch was sold, and we moved back to the family ranch west of Parkman Wyoming.  My first summer in Wyoming, my two brothers and I were bewildered by something we had never seen before; running creek water.  Life at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains was certainly different than life on the sagebrush plains of Montana.  As I aged, my pastime of playing in the creek was replaced with hay hooks, fencing pliers, and a saddle horse.  My father assured me this was a good thing. 

            My formal education began with a four-year sentence at the University of Wyoming.  For those of you unfamiliar with Wyoming, Laramie is on a treeless plain, 7250 feet above sea level, and God has been trying to blow it over the hill to Cheyenne since the beginning of time.  He almost succeeded in 1979, the year I received my degree in microbiology. 

            With vet school plans on the horizon, I married my high school sweetheart in August of that year.  I had my eye on Druann Jackson since I was fifteen.  She had everything a guy could want; she was cute, had good grades, and had reasonably straight teeth.  (Am I the only guy who looked at the honor roll before selecting a prom date?) 

            Colorado State University was good to us.  We left there in December of 1982, me with my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, Druann with her bachelors in math education, and our first born, Meagan in the terrible twos.  A job opening brought us here to Laurel, and since we really don’t like to move, we are still here. 

            In 1989 I started Beartooth Veterinary Service here in downtown Laurel.  Trying to describe the challenges and rewards of becoming self-employed to someone who holds a steady job is like trying to describe color to a blind person.  Suffice it to say, there is a fine line between being self-employed and being un-employed.  But, I would never go back.  I can imagine nothing that would better prepare me to be a legislator than to first have to jump through the hoops created by those who legislated before me. 

             Our time here in Laurel brought us our middle daughter, Chelsie, and our youngest son, Tyler.  In addition to my commitments to my veterinary practice, I purchased the family ranch in Wyoming and started my outfitting venture, Double Rafter Cattle Drives.  Nothing binds a family together stronger than sitting horseback behind 300 momma cows in a thunderous downpour.  (And those were the good days.)

             In my free time, I run.  If I don’t run, I bicycle.  I am an endurance athlete.  My wife and I spend our quiet time together going for a 20 mile leisurely run.  I know that is very hard for normal people to understand.  We are not normal.  To perpetuate this lunacy, I am offering to pay the entire college costs for each of my grandchildren, BUT, they have to run a marathon with me each year they are in college.  This will be both expensive and physically demanding.  No one said it was easy, just worth it!  

             I am a pilot.  I love airplanes.  When I run, I think about flying.  (Is that sick, or what?)  When I am chute side in the fall preg-checking cows, and a plane flies over I have to stop and watch it.  All pilots do this.  The next time you are outdoors with a crowd and a plane flies past, see who turns and looks.  Those are the pilots.

             Our 25 years in Laurel have been good to us.  In addition to my three children, I now have a son-in-law, Tim, and three grandkids, Clara, Mae, and Grant.  Our Wednesday night family dinners are the highlight of my week.  I am a blessed man.