Spring time fun!

     I know this post is a little out dated as the events happened last weekend but things have been hectic as usual around here this week so I'm a little behind schedule with everything!  I even worked at home most of this week, however mother nature decided it needed to rain all week  so most of our outside projects have all been put on hold.
     So in an effort to take advantage of a sunny day while it was here Kelli and I decided to hike the M on Sunday afternoon.  For those of you who don't already know the M is a concrete formed letter sitting above the University of Montana campus.  There is a trail leading to it that is not only a very good workout but rewards you with some breathtaking views of the five valleys below.  We try to hike it as often as we can simply because it is one of the funnest most gratifying activities there is to do in this town!  What many people don't know is that there are two different routes up to the M, just as you start the trek up the hill there is a fork in the road in which the left option is hardly ever traveled.  There is a reason for this routes loneliness!  From time to time I notice someone taking that path and in the spirit of spring I recommended to Kelli that we take the "scenic" route.  Kelli's been involved in enough of my adventures to know by now that they almost always end in disaster, but I was able to sweet talk her into the idea and we headed up.
     Within the first ten minutes two things had happened, I had realized a huge mistake was made on my part, and my heart rate had increased to hyper speed.  Turning around was not an option now as that seemed like a really easy way to pay for an ambulance ride, so we trudged on.  Needless to say Kelli was not very happy with her adventurous husbands decision making skills at this point.  I felt bad for dragging her into this so I had her go ahead of me, this way if she slips then at least my body will provide a cushion for her on the bottom. About half way up we noticed a sign pointing us towards the M that from our vantage point looked like a cross, I joked with Kelli that it's actually the burial sight of the last guy who conned his wife into taking this trail, she only replied with a slight grin as if she had just heard a great idea!  Finally after what seemed like five miles of vertical cliff climbing we reached the M!  We sat there collecting ourselves for a while, taking in the view.  Just before we headed back down we took a quick photo, then calmly walked back down the normal side of the mountain!

  

     The good news is, were both very happy to be going down the hill, bad news is I still have to figure out how to take a good picture with my new phone, I nearly cropped Kelli right out of this one!  So once we got to the bottom in one piece I swore we would never take another "scenic" route again!  After 34 years of taking this route I am finally starting to learn my lesson, at least I hope so for Kelli's sake!

Remember, the road less traveled is not always as fun as it may seem!

Here comes the mud!

     Last night while watching a movie Kelli told me she wanted to come over to Butte today to pour Curt and Jens pad with me.  I eagerly accepted the help as we all know the more hands you have for a pour the better it usually go's.  So we rose this morning around 4:30 and headed down the road to make it in time for the 7:30 pour.  This alone was a feat in itself as Saturday mornings are typically reserved for Kelli to catch up on much needed rest from a busy work week.  I was extremely grateful for her sacrificing her rest to travel to Butte before the sun came up.
     Once we got there the concrete truck showed up and we got the "look", I've seen it from every single driver who shows up to one of our pours and sees women involved in the pour.  They all give us this look that pretty much says "great, there go's my day!", expecting the pour to be a disaster since there are women helping.  Little do any of the drivers know that the Gannon women are more than a pretty face who doesn't want to get dirty, as Action put it, if they don't already know how to pour concrete when they marry into the family they dang sure are going to learn!  Kelli would agree with this statement as she tells me she is a graduate of the Jack Gannon school of concrete, class of 2008.  She also likes to remind me that she recently went back and got her masters from the Kyle Gannon school of structural demo.  Both of these programs are grueling, requiring the students to have thick skin as the instructors tend to yell a lot!
     So when the mud started to flow in Butte this morning and our two rake hands, Kelli and Jen were not only keeping up with the pace but laying the concrete out in near perfect form,  the driver quickly changed his look.  He now showed the face of a man who was pleasantly surprised.  We finished the pour and everything went as smoothly as we could have expected it to and after it was all finished off Kelli and I headed back home, eager to pour our new section of concrete!  So the next time you show up to help somebody out with a project and his wife is there to help, don't jump to conclusions, she's more than likely going to outwork you!


Remember, don't judge a book by it's cover, the good part is on the pages inside!

If you say so doc!

     I went into the doctor one more time while over in Bozeman this week just ot make sure my elbow is still healing fine.  Kelli continues to tell me that it is just fine and I need to stop worrying about it and let it heal, but I'm a bit bullheaded at times so I went in anyway, just for some peace of mind.  Much to no ones surprise except my own the doctor more or less used the exact same words my wife did.  Even though he said it will be just fine I still asked him about the bump I can see on it, which turns out to be a bone and perfectly normal.  I asked him why it sticks up more than the other side and he simply said "well you're just more ripped on this left side".  First of all, I didn't think doctors used blue collar terminology such as ripped, and second of all, is it even possible to be stronger on one side?  Maybe that would explain why every time I open a door with my left arm it rips off of the hinges, thankfully I shake peoples hands with my right, I don't want to put anybody in the hospital!:)
     I think what actually happened was Kelli warned him I might be coming in so he told me whatever he had to to quiet the little voices in my head.  Whatever happened it worked, I haven't heard a peep out of those voices since my visit.  
     So me and my dominant left arm are about to head into town to pick up some forming material so we can finish prepping our latest concrete pour.  Once thats done I may trim the hedges since they are about two sunny days away from overtaking the front yard!  With some rainy weather in the forecast for next week I better take advantage of the nice day while it's here!


Remember, just because he's wearing a white coat doesn't mean you should believe every word he says:)

Balance!

As this weeks work days come to a close I am looking forward to our weekend. After last weekends labor filled days I'm eager to have some sort of balance this weekend. Friday I have to finish what we started last weekend by spreading gravel where the cabin used to sit and forming up to pour concrete. Then Saturday morning I'm heading over to butte to help Curt pour the concrete for their new bathroom addition. Finally Sunday Curt is coming over to Missoula to play in a two man scramble with me.
I'm eagerly looking forward to getting our major projects completed so we can enjoy our summer. With all the warm weather we've been having lately I feel a sense of urgency to get out there and take advantage of it! We've already got a summer full of fun plans, and with a goal of being done with our projects by the end of may we should have plenty of summer to enjoy!
For now I better head out and get the last work day of the week over with, the sooner I get started the earlier I get to head for home! Easily the best day of my week!!:)

Remember, make time to enjoy the little things in life!!

Happy Angels Day!!

     Don't worry, there hasn't been another holiday to add to your planner, I have simply changed the name of todays more commonly known Mothers day.  You see I have been blessed to be brought into this world by a person who is more than just a mother, she truly is an angel!  I'm sure all of us could argue that at some point each of our own mothers have taken on angelic qualities during certain stages of our lives.  My mother however holds a very special place in my heart not only because of her bringing me into this world, but also for her desire to keep me in this world!
     On July 16th 1977, on a warm summer day in the Adrian valley, Georgia Lea Gannon became a mother for the first time.  She had been an angel long before that day however as that is a quality that she herself was brought into this world with.  She went on to become a mother two more times and with the love and support of her husband she did an amazing job of raising these three children with honest, faith filled beliefs.  Many years later her first born son found himself heading down a very bad path and try as she might she couldn't convince him to trust her and change his ways.  One fateful evening, coincidentally her birthday, this mother relied on her angelic gifts and completely turned her own sons fate over to God.  The events which followed that evening appeared horrible on the surface, but the son and his mother both knew it was a blessing in disguise.  Days after the accident the mother would reveal to her son how she turned his life over to the Lord and trusted that He would do the right thing and the son simply wept as he could see his mothers angelic qualities like never before!  From that day forward he would turn his life around and things were never to be the same again.
     So now you can see why I changed the name of one of our annual holidays.  Since that day whenever I'm around my mother I am reminded of what she has done for me.  Our hugs last much longer now than they used to, she always cries when we leave, sometimes even I do too.  Many of us are very lucky to have the best mothers we could imagine, what some of us never understand is they are really our own personal guardian angels watching over us every step of the way.   So the next time you call your mother to say hi, don't forget to tell her that you love her, that is the least we can do for all that she has done for us!


Remember, a hug from your mother will make your heart swell with love!

Out with the old, in with the new!

     We took on the task of demoing the old deteriorating mother in law cabin that stood in our back yard this weekend.  As usual there is quite a story involved with this project!  

     Our demo crew, me, Kelli, and friends Bryant and Hailey, began our weekend by picking up the rental trailer at 8am and started tearing into the demo around 9.  Somewhere around 10:15 we lost all power to the house!  Do you know how difficult it is to tear down a structure with no power tools?  Luckily the Northwestern energy tech showed up in record time and got us back online quickly.  Moments later Kelli stepped through a hole in the floor, thankfully she wasn't injured but this hole in the floor will make a return appearance.  The demo carried on and Bryant and I hauled the first load to the dump, only to find out the Missoula dump is easily the most expensive I've ever encountered, each load cost is close to a hundred dollars!  Upon returning we decided to attempt to assist this thing to the ground with the help of my truck, always a good idea to hook a chain to a building and try and pull it over right?  Well it didn't pull it completely over but the pick up peeled the cabin open like a banana which made the rest of the demo fairly simple.
     The next little dilema came while I was on top of the ladder with a sawzall ripping through the roof, my ladder fell through the same hole in the floor that nearly took out Kelli and I went for a ride to the ground.  I waited until the last second and attempted to jump clear of the ladder but the wall got in the way resulting in the ladder finding the middle of my back!  A few expletives proceeded to come out of my mouth causing the neighbor kid to pop over the fence and ask if everything was ok.  Poor guy learned a few new words I'm afraid, oops.  Shortly after this, while all four of us were pushing over a wall, Kellis foot got trapped underneath it!  SOmehow she got it free quickly but not before acquiring a very big bruise along with some pretty nasty swelling!  She's doing much better today though already.  We finally got the cabin on the ground and hauled three more loads to the dump, ending our day sitting around a fire, wishing we had a hot tub to soak our tired bodies in.  The last little stroke of GL came when returning the trailer the guy noticed there was two huge dents in the side, he told me they weren't there when it was rented so I had to have done it.  I was about to get the family attorney on the line when he got his boss and he remembered it happened the day before so I was off the hook.

     So once the trailer was returned without me having to pay for any repairs, Kelli and I spent most of the day Saturday tackling the fence.  Now that the fence is done all we need to do is prep it for concrete and we will have even more patio space to enjoy!  Even though there was a little GL involved throughout the day we got it done without any major injuries and the show must go on!  We're going to take a short break from the major projects to go visit our new nephew then pick back up in a few weeks.  Hopefully this will all be done in time to enjoy most of our summer!

Remember, I'd rather have Gannon luck than no luck at all:)

Your starting middle linebacker......

     Well what seemed like a month past his expected arrival, Jaxon Hans Nagle has entered the world!  Jill and Ryan's house grew by one very big boy this afternoon and both mom and baby are doing great.  At nearly 9 1/2 pounds and 22" long, he was gifted with those farm kid genes and he will no doubt be a very big strong boy!  I imagine he'll be pitchin' bales by next summer!  Okay maybe he's not that big but he is healthy no doubt and we are all extremely happy for them!
     With the arrival of baby Jaxon, we are saying goodbye to our little cabin in the back yard.  We have gone back and forth for the past two years on wether to remodel it, tear it down, or just leave it and upon further inspection of it's condition we decided it's coming down.  I'm picking up the trailer tomorrow morning and our friends Bryant and Hailey are coming over for a demo party and barring an unexpected trip to the ER we will have a much bigger yard by sundown!  We will surely post some before and after pictures when we're all done.
     Congratulations again to Jill and Ryan on their new baby boy!  I know we can't wait to get over there and meet the little guy!


Remember, all good things come to those who wait! 

No longer homeless!

     Man it sure is funny how things work out, here's a brief recap of what has happened in the past week.   Dan and Donna sold their house in Glendive in just five short days, with a moved out date of the 22nd and no where to go, just before leaving to come to Missoula and pick out a house to make an offer on they find out due to loan closing time they have an extra few days and don't have to be out until the 30th, find out their favorite house in Missoula is about to be pulled from the market, look at five more houses on Friday including the favorite, nearly have their son-in-law miss the chance to look at the plumbing in the favorite house because of his stupid new toy:), made an offer on the favorite and headed home with fingers crossed, agreed on a price before they got back to Glendive, set a tentative move in date of the 1st, officially not homeless anymore!
     Whoa!  My head was spinning for them and I was witnessing this whole thing unravel from the outside!  All I know is it has been quite a week and I know that it will continue to get more hectic as the move progresses, with a huge garage sale in the works, and the actual move.  But I know it will all work out just fine in the end, it always does.  As soon as they left, Kel and I were talking about all of the fun things there are to do with them when they get here, we can't wait!  I know it's a bitter sweet deal for them but I think in the long run they won't regret this move at all, especially when Dan's reeling in a 20" cutthroat from the Bitteroot, or when Donna only has to go twenty minutes to have lunch with her daughter!  Even if the next few weeks are as hectic as this last one I hope they all have a similar result!


Remember, sometimes a little speed bump in the road of life is just what we need to realize we are not traveling alone!

Roller coaster of a day!

     What an up and down day we had yesterday!  The Dobsons were in town on a mission to narrow down their house selections to one and make an offer.  They had five houses to look at yesterday including one in Stevensville which they'd looked at once before.  They were really interested in this one so I was going to activate my new iphone and then meet them down there to check out the mechanical systems for them.  I can't blame them for wanting the in-family plumber to look at the plumbing, you never know what your getting into if you don't.  So about the time I arrived at the AT&T store to activate my phone the GL began to take over.  
     Kelli and I had received a letter in the mail waiving our activation fee but when I took it into the store they accepted the letter but told me I was unauthorized to do anything to our family plan.  So let me get this straight, my names on the account, they have my SSN for security purposes, but just because Kellis the account holder I can't do anything to the account?  Then why the heck do you have my SSN?  I was a bit frustrated as an AT&T rep had told me on the phone the night before that I was authorized and activating it in a store myself would be no issue.  Never the less the people in the store were very helpful and they told me how to activate it myself by calling in.  So I called in and after giving all of the info to the lady on the phone, who sounded like she was still in the process of learning the English language, she asked me to hold for one moment while the switch was made and we got disconnected.
     There I sat in the Hastings parking lot at 10:17 with a meeting time with the Dobsons of 10:45 and two cell phones in my lap, neither of which in working order!  We had gotten far enough along in the process to where my old phone had been taken out of service but the new phone had not been fully activated.  I made a quick decission to run to Kellis office and use her phone and when I called back and got a different English language student she was shocked at what i was telling her, "huh, that never happens" is what she told me.  Gritting my teeth I thought, "never is not a word the Gannons use in their vocabulary!"  This new lady finally got my new phone activated and I headed down to meet Dan and Donna at 10:48, right on time!  It all worked out though because they could stay in the house until about noon.
     Proving to be a typical roller coaster Friday, the day drastically improved as Dan and Donna made an offer on the house in Stevensville!  It was very cute to see them act like a couple of giddy youngsters at the house, excited about every little detail and feature.  I think they are very excited about it and I hope things work out price wise and they end up there.  It really is the perfect house for the two of them.  I know they are probably both scared and excited right now but we are eager for them to get over her so we can help them enjoy every thing this part of the world has to offer.  I've already got both fishing and golfing days planned for Dan and I and I know Kelli's eager to decorate that new house with her mother!
     They headed back to Glendive today as they have tons of packing to do yet so now we eagerly play the waiting game and hope all of the numbers fall where they need to be!


Remember, where you live is not nearly important as how you live!

Ahh technology:)

     As many of you know my sister Jill and her husband Ryan are expecting their second child any day now, and when I say any day I mean today was supposed to be the day!  For some reason though Nagle nugget #2 seems content where he is for the time being, and yes I referred to the new baby as he.  I think the number of people who think it's another girl is dwindling at a rapid rate.  So as we all wait anxiously for Tatum's little brother/sister to arrive I figured I would share with you the newest member of our family.
     After months of anticipation, my iphone arrived in the mail today!  Maybe I exaggerated a bit by referring to a phone as a member of the family but never the less I am excited!  I only had one stipulation upon receiving this new toy, I cannot activate it until it has in Kelli's words "a Kyle-proof case".  So the search was on tonight for the most indestructible case I could find.  I had heard of the Otter Box cases and how good they are so we set out to find one of those.  While looking at them at Target the young kid working the electronics area clued me in on the "Lifeproof" case.  I immediately thought "life proof HAS to be Kyle proof!"  The Target kid went on to explain how this thing is dirt proof, shock proof, snow proof, and water proof!  He even went on to tell us his buddy has one and he recently intentionally dropped his in a glass of water to test it and it worked!  Even though I had to second guess his buddies intelligence level for willingly dunking his iphone, I was still impressed enough to buy it.  To sweeten the deal even more Kelli's parents were with us and they bought it for me for a birthday gift!  The only thing better then a birthday gift early is a birthday gift this cool!!
     So now that it will be Kyle-proofed I can activate my phone tomorrow and get back to anxiously awaiting a phone call from the Nagle house!  I can't wait to see wether the next Dallas Cowboys jersey I buy will be pink or white!


Remember, the smallest acts of kindness often bring the largest amount of gratitude!!