Hobbies

I would have hobbies if I had free time :).  As is, I love to spend time with my family camping, hiking and playing football (the real football where you use your feet).  I also enjoy photography and have had lots of fun playing with open source stitching and High Dynamic Range (HDR) software.

Important Things

Although I love robotics and can't imagine doing anything else for a career... there are many things that are more important to me:

• my wife
  
• my kids
  
• the rest of my family and friends
  
• my religion

The best has been when my worlds (of importance) intersect.  Because I was able to serve for two years without remuneration as a missionary for my church, I was able to learn French.  This is what allowed me to return there with my wife for a Masters Program a few years later.  Another example is when my 3 yr old son decided to be a robot for Halloween a few years ago (see below).  Life doesn't get any better than this :)

(As a side note I have to say that I appreciate the valiant efforts of my wife to listen whenever I talk about robots, even though I'm sure she finds it boring.)

In general though, I try to put my family first because although I might help invent robots to take care of me when I'm old and grey, I'd rather have my kids around too and a wife that still loves me.