My wife, Esther, and I met in 2005 in Tenessee where I was building a house for a mutual friend. We have been married since 2007 and we have three crazy kids, Caed, Judah, and Cora. Caed enjoys playing his guitar, skateboarding, and bothering his siblings. Caed and Judah have a passion for supercars. Judah likes ROBLOX and legos. Cora likes unicorns and hopes to own one someday.

You know that stat about 72% of Americans living in or close to the city where they grew up? That’s me. I was born at St Mary's hospital in Madison and raised in the Madison area. I've only had a driver’s license in one other state and it was for 6 months when my wife and I got engaged and I moved to middle Tennessee. After we got married we moved back to Wisconsin. I've always wanted to move to a mountain state to enjoy mountain biking, hiking, and skiing.

Speaking of hobbies, my favorite sport is skiing and I've been to CO where I went heliskiing in Telluride. I’ve also skied in WY, MT, and more recently, Japan. I enjoy many other expensive hobbies too. When I get the chance to break away from work and life, I enjoy backpacking. I used to do it more but I've been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 5 times, been on a few sections of the Appalachian Trail, the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, and the Porkies in the U.P. I've also made a few trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I also enjoy mountain biking around WI, hunting, and fly fishing.

I went to college in Pensacola, Florida, and have a B.S. in Graphic Design. I tend to be an artist but really enjoy the craftsmanship and working with my hands- if you couldn't tell from your experience with me in your home. After three semesters that included various forms of color theory and arranging objects on paper, I found I enjoy colorful spaces and design, whether it's on paper advertising or your favorite accent wall at home. I like to tinker in my garage with old wood, making nice cutting boards, and using barn wood. My garage is full of old boards that I should probably get rid of but my brain says "you might use that someday".

My wife and I like to travel internationally every few years. We spent three months in Israel taking care of a bed and breakfast overlooking the Sea of Galilee just after we were married. We got to meet people from all over the world. We took day trips around the country seeing the 2000+-year-old history and spent our first anniversary in Jerusalem. We also went to Petra in Jordan, scuba diving in the Red Sea off the coast of the Sinai in Egypt, and spent the night hiking to watch the sunrise from the top of Mt Sinai. We've also been to Peru and seen Machu Picchu and eaten Cuy (pronounced coo-ey), also known to us as guinea pig. For our 10th anniversary, we went to Switzerland where we visited the beautiful valley of Lauterbrunnen and stopped in the Mont Blanc region of the French Alps in Chamonix. Switzerland is probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. Just before Covid, we went to Japan so I could go skiing on the island of Hokkaido. I think our next trip will be to Norway to see the aurora borealis above the arctic circle. One of my dream trips would be to go to Nepal and hike to Everest base camp. In addition to international travel, I've been to 48 states including AK and HI. I only have Connecticut and Rhode Island left.

Since we can't spend all of our money on travel and I have to keep my travel bug at bay, I have smaller passions or less expensive ways to spend money: quaffing excellent coffee. We tend to find pompous coffee shops when we're making smaller road trips but I also order pretentious beans from various roasters around the states because... I like coffee and the colorful package designs. I have an espresso maker at home and drink it straight every morning to melt off the morning fog. I also have a large humidor that holds my other hobby, cigars. My wife, and most others, don't like the way I smell after a cigar but it makes life interesting.

I am not a musician, but I enjoy most music and tolerate some others. I find Classical or Baroque, Jazz, Classic Rock, and oddly, Reggae enjoyable. I really like the soundtrack to The Last of the Mohicans and Gladiator. I like watching music so any concert is fun. I'd pay money to see Star Wars soundtrack live in an orchestra.

The best advice I've heard:

"Never trust a man that wears suspenders and a belt at the same time." -Grandpa Ender

"You aren't saving money if you never needed it in the first place." -brother in law

"No amount of money is worth more than an hour of time with your kids" -unknown

"Call your parents." -PJ Ender, I lost my father in 2018 after a short fight with skin cancer. There have been so many times that I wish I could call him and ask for advice, enjoy a cigar with him or just check-in and chat.

Weird fact about me: We don't have a TV. I wasted so much time as a kid melting my brain and my wife grew up without it. Our kids still have screens and we have a computer so we watch movies but I know I'd waste so much time in front of a TV so I prefer to use my time better by looking at my phone instead. Honestly, I'm getting better at it.

Super embarrassing fact about me: I don't like baiting my own hooks and I don’t, under any circumstances, use wax worms or leaches.

The moment I wish I could re-live: During college, I did an internship at a camp in Northern Wisconsin. The first week I was there a bad storm came through and knocked out the power. We all went to bed but a guy showed up from the local Dairy Queen. He said his freezers were not working so he brought EVERYTHING from his freezers, including ice cream cakes, Dilly Bars, and popsicles. Me and ten other college-aged guys spent the next hour eating ice cream cakes without utensils, gorging ourselves on all of it. We woke up the next morning to piles of melted ice cream on the ground and we realized it wasn't a dream.

A regretful moment in life: eating too many Dilly Bars when I was 21.

If I could tell my kids one or three things: Learn the value of hard work, take care of your body, and call me, even if it's 2am and you need help.

Meet Our Lead Carpenter Kelly Lawton, CRPM

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