Fame in the family.....

I posted earlier while we were on vacation about how fun it was to visit the Shelton's while we were in Las Vegas & how neat it was to learn more about Ken & his work with Obama this past year.

Ken is married to Dave's oldest sister Lisa. It just so happened that Ken & Dave grew up together & were best friends... so joining the family of course made total sense!! :)

Ken is with the secret service & does a lot of work Everywhere - but in Vegas they are dealing with fraud, money laundering, etc.... but he also gets to work with Obama during his campaign at 3 week intervals. It was fun to hear Ken's stories about what they do being an agent, what they are watching for, & in general how kind & friendly Obama is & how is family is the same (to them as agents & when they are with them.) Quite scary to hear about each of their positions & what their job/responsibility is if a threat or problem were to happen. But it comes with the territory - we just pray he will never have to be involved in anything like that.

When we were with the Shelton's on Father's day.. he got a message from one of his fellow agents who was with the Obama's that day & his friend let him know that "Wow" the girls (Obama's daughters) just gave each of us (agents) Happy Father's day cards.... as they were away from their families protecting the Obamas (which really brightened their day)... Ken was just tickled & in a state of "wow" - they thought of the agents... & he said - that is just how they are! Very kind & thoughtful!

We were at their home one day when Ken got home from work & it was neat to see all his gear & his routine of putting it all away - taking off his gun, putting the lock on it, putting his badge away, etc.... so cool!!

So here are some cool pictures of Ken while he is on duty w/Obama as he is out Campaigning... (I believe he is with him for another 2 weeks right now, so if you are watching the news & see Obama out in the public... you might get a glimpse of Ken working with him too!)

He says many comment "Why don't you smile... EVER!" (I can't imagine the stress & the seriousness of this type of job... as for Ken if it were exciting & happy - he would smile - but I can see in each of these pictures where he is scouting out the area, or being one of the lead agents - he is being very serious & not playing around.)

After hearing so many neat stories we told Ken, you better start keeping a journal!! What a neat thing for your family & others in the future to read about. Who else would know all these details of following & protecting a Candidate running for President.

Which... who knows how that will all play out - he will then have the opportunity to serve a Presidential duty in Washington D.C. if Obama were to become president.... can any of us even fathom that? Protecting or being, able to work along side the President of the the United States? Especially these days! (A bit scary I would think, but in another sense - what an opportunity!!) Here he is working in Texas...


This one Ken doesn't like... he said it makes him look like he is being mean & he isn't. He said - it is stressful in large crowds - cause you can't plan for the type of people who will be there or what they will do. He said many of these types of settings many people just want to say hi, or shake his hand & they just won't be able to... so some will practically crawl over others in front of them or do dumb things to get to Obama... he said here - I could see a small child being trampled cause someone 5 rows back was trying to get in on that action. So I was upset & I was trying to get the people to get back & not hurt the kid.


This one is funny as we tease Ken about being so sweaty!! It must have been an intense game, as you can tell that Ken worked his tail off... but Obama doesn't even look like he sweat a drop. Ken is very proud of this picture!! Here they had a ball game with the agents & Obama... Ken said that Obama is a great ball player. (That is big coming from Ken - cause he is very competitive & loves playing ball too!) They had a great time!


This is a neat one - Here Obama was going through Wyoming & had stopped in Laramie for a rally .... how lucky to have your brother-in-law on duty &- able to get you "back stage" to meet Obama himself & uninterrupted!! This is the Killpacks, (Allison is Dave's sister) & they were able to meet Obama personally & get this photo taken with Ken & Obama!! They were so tickled!! He was very gracious to them also.

How cool is that!!

One more cool note: Ken had only been in SLC for a short time as he had just started in this line of work & I still remember the day when the phone rang & Ken was on the other end of the line & in a quick & fast manner said - Turn on your tv, the news - they are going to start broadcasting any minute - we have just found Elizabeth Smart. (That was pretty much all he said & he had to go.) He clicked off the phone & not 5 minutes later the Big announcement was made... Elizabeth Smart had been found & was alive!! What?? We were all in shock... Alive too? WoW!! He was part of that crew that was working & he got to be part of that whole event!!

Exciting work - but scary & dangerous too!! The Shelton's have collected many neat pictures of Ken & his work - I really hope he will start keeping some records of his duty so he can have that to share in the future. - So our little bit of Fame in the Family!! Love ya Ken!! Stay safe!!