Dad Of The Month!

Kent Mortensen

Where do you live?
I live in Meridian Idaho with my wife Barbie and our 5 children. Many of our friends call our home a zoo. On exhibit here we have 3 birds, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 bearded dragon, 1 lop ear bunny, 1 guinea pig and several fish. We have actually downsized from 80 rabbits (Daddy and kids 4H project) and 2 cows (Father and son FFA project).

What is your profession?
For the past 15 years we have been building a Cleaning and Restoration Company in the Boise area. This past year my twin brother and our families purchased a historic landmark in Albion Idaho. The Albion State Normal School was a college for educating teachers in the early 1900’s and has been sitting vacant for the past 38 years. We have been busy renovating the historic Miller Hall, built in 1901 as our first phase of the project. This building will be used for family reunions and business/group retreats.

What do you drive?
The type of car I drive has never been all that important to me as long as it gets me to where I am going. Right now I am driving a Ford F150 pick up because everyone loves a pick up man. Our family vehicle is a 1999 GMC Suburban because it fits the entire family, not because it gets good gas mileage. If I could justify the cost I would own some sort of vintage collectors car.

What are you reading?
Right now I am in the process of reading the Bible. It is a goal of mine to read it cover to cover this year. I also enjoy reading motivational and business development books. Most often I find myself listening to books on tape while driving rather than turning pages.

What music are you listening to?
My taste of music is quite varied, ranging from the oldies to modern pop and everything in between. Right now our family favorites are Newsies and The Phantom of the Opera. My three youngest children are in a singing group and really get the show going. It is quite a musical production in our car on road trips.

What's the last movie you saw?
The last movie I saw was The Ultimate Gift (for the 5th time). I feel that the message was quite profound. I went and bought 15 copies to give to friends and family. It is rare that I watch a movie more than once; I don’t have the attention span for it. It usually takes a more action filled movie like Braveheart to entertain my overactive mind.

How long have you been married?
My wife and I have been married for seventeen years. How time flies when you are having fun. Barbie is my adventure partner and we love to travel to new places, but I feel our most exciting times together have been when we are engaged in the task of raising our children.

Kids names and ages?
Our five children are constantly keeping us hopping. Aubrey is 18 and just getting ready to graduate high school. She will be going off to college and leaving us soon. This has been a source of anxiety for me as I am not yet ready for this step in my life. Jared is almost 16 and ready to take on the world. He loves football and is practicing for the upcoming season. Riley, 11 is our little animal lover. She is so eager to learn all she can about animals. Tyler who is 10 loves music and singing. He hopes to be a country western singer. Hailey is the baby of the family. She just turned 8 and loves singing and dancing.

Describe your favorite family vacation?
Our family has taken many vacations together; all of which have been fun. I feel the time we spend together, away from all other cares, and just focused on the each other is what makes them most enjoyable. If I had to narrow down our travels to one vacation it would be our trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota; where we visited Mount Rushmore and camped out as a family.

Your thoughts on being a Dad?
The toughest job you’ll ever love. How can it be described more completely? Being a Dad is not a noun for me it’s a verb! I love teaching my kids important life principals and then watching them implement them into their lives. It’s awesome to see your kids succeed in their personal goals they set and sad when you see them fail. For me the real defining moments of being a Dad are seeing your kids fail, recover, not quit, learn valuable lessons, and become stronger, better people at the end of any given challenge.

How do you juggle family and work?
It’s very easy for me to lose track of time when I’m working because I enjoy it so much. I love to be productive. I think my desire to be a good husband and father is the only thing, outside of my love for Christ, which is stronger than my internal drive to be successful at work. I am very careful to make sure I play a major role in my children’s lives. I am a firm believer that an active Dad in a kid’s upbringing makes a huge difference when it comes to their success. I believe a fathers first responsibility is to provide for their families needs (not wants) but after the needs are met work should come second to your family.

What's your favorite thing to do with your kids?
I love to work and play with my kids. I always tell them work to prepare, play a little, then work again. My 15 year old son says “work, work, work” and I always say “just for the fun of it.”

What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be dads?
My only advice for dads is to be available for your children and wife as much as possible. Making time for your family with a full time career can be challenging some days, but the rewards are worth it.

What is your website address?
www.albioncampusgrove.com


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