Friends and Neighbors: Nate and Heather Entingh

Nate Entingh was born in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, his last name of Dutch origins. When he was six years old his mother, Paula Weiss, and three siblings moved to Julesburg, Colo., following his parent's divorce to live closer to his mother's family.

The family lived there a few years while his mother worked four jobs to support her young family as well as her sister and niece. Later, the family, moved to Sterling, Colo., for several years while Ms. Weiss went to college and became a nurse. Once his mother earned her degree, the family moved to Yuma, Colo. where they lived for many years and Nate eventually graduated.

Like many recent graduates he thought college was what he should do, so he attended CU Boulder for one year, however, he soon realized he was not ready for higher education and spent a few years in the workforce until he decided to join the Army at the age of 22.

His older brother Jeremy had dreamed of being a soldier but had passed away at the age of 21 after a lifelong fight against cancer. In addition to his wish to fulfill his brother's dream for him, Nate's own desire to "get out of his comfort zone and be on his own" was a driving force behind his decision to join the military.

He attended Army infantry basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. where he learned not just how to be a soldier but that "camaraderie was what it was all about". Stationed at Fort Stuart, Ga., which he described as "a really bad truck stop," he was only thirty minutes from Savannah.

During his military career he spent two tours in Iraq, nevertheless Nate's love of history helped him to somewhat enjoy his first post in the city of Samara, Iraq. In 2008, after completing their five year careers in the military, he and his buddy, Justin Booth, moved to Steamboat Springs, Colo. They had saved up their money with the desire to spend a year living, decompressing and spending most of their time snowboarding in the resort town.

It was early spring of 2009 while still living in Steamboat that Nate and several friends went to Cheyenne, Wyo., for Booth's bachelor party where Nate met Heather for the first time.

Heather said that "fate was on my side" the night they met.

Heather (Overlin) Entingh, first moved to Kimball when she was 18 after graduating from high school in Idaho.

She worked several jobs, including bar tending at the Wooden Keg and as a CNA at the Kimball Manor for a time. Not long after the death of her brother, Heather moved to Cheyenne where she worked several jobs and continued taking college courses that she had started in Idaho.

She was working the night Nate and his buddies came to Cheyenne. The moment Heather saw Nate she thought to herself, "Oh my gawd, I'm in trouble".

"I just knew (he was mine)".

She believed that he thought she was only being nice to get tips she said, but, "I really (really) liked him."

It was several months before they would have a chance to get together again as life and responsibilities got in the way. Not long after they first met, Nate moved to Greeley, Colo., to attend college. After months of texting and talking on the phone, they finally decided to meet to get to know each other in person.

They each learned that the other had a memorial tattoo for their brothers and they bonded over those experiences. They realized they liked the same kinds of music and, according to Heather, "It was over after that".

Just months later they decided to move in together. Heather and Nate moved into a tiny basement apartment in Greeley with three large dogs. Though they agree that it was difficult living in such confined space but the time and closeness truly created a strong bond between them.

Eventually an opportunity to purchase a house from friends took them again to Cheyenne. Nate commuted to Greeley to complete his Bachelors degree in English while Heather completed her Bachelors degree in Human Resources and Management from the University of Phoenix through online classes.

In October 2011, Heather came to Kimball to see friends and visited the Wooden Keg. Michelle Heng was working and managing the bar at the time and asked Heather if she would come back and bartend a few nights a month to encourage customers back into the bar.

Heather had seen the For Sale signs in the windows and although they had started saving up money, they never dreamed it would be enough to buy a bar and the adjacent laundromat.

Between the two of them they have more than twenty years experience bar tending. The couple was interested but they didn't believe the purchase was a possibility at that time.

Nate proposed while vacationing in Colorado. They had hiked to the top of a mountain and as Heather put it, "I knew what he was going to do" and she described that she was pretty ornery about it. She said she didn't cooperate and kept trying to get him to start back down the mountain. Eventually he got up the nerve and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. Heather said as she blushed, "It was very sweet."

They eloped during a vacation to Deadwood, S.D. with friends in 2012. They said that they were just not interested in spending the money for a fancy wedding and preferred saving that money for their future.

When talking about their marriage, Nate said, "she regrets it" and the couple laughed and still look at each other with what can only be described as true adoration and devotion.

Unbeknownst to them, their future would one day include the Wooden Keg.

Fast forward to Farmer's Day, 2013, when once again the Entingh's were visiting friends in Kimball.

They saw that the for sale sign was still in the window of the bar and although their interest of owning the bar remained, neither of them had ever owned a business and had a lot of questions.

They had considered moving back to Steamboat to open a business there, but decided that the opportunity to buy the bar here was better. After hiring a professional to help them with a business plan, they began the process of buying the bar.

After nine months of paperwork they had the required liquor license and were finally able to complete the purchase.

During that time, Heather offered to work for Ken Heng as manager to get the experience she needed to run the bar effectively. She said she was grateful for that time because, "had I not gotten to do that, I think we would have had a lot more problems."

Throughout this time they were still living in Cheyenne and they were constantly driving back and forth. When the purchase of the bar was complete, they closed the establishment for three weeks, cleaned, renovated and changed the name.

Not long after re-opening Beer & Loathing they found out they were expecting their first child together. Heather's oldest son, Jacob, is a high school graduate living, working and continuing his education in Cheyenne.

"I swear, the moment we found out we were getting the bar, I got pregnant," Heather said. "For the first two years, well, we've only had the business two years, I've been pregnant."

They had their first child, Alaska in late November 2014. Five months later they were on a trip to Denver with friends when her friend mentioned that she might be pregnant. So the two of them took tests and they were both pregnant. Their second son, Sage, was born March 11 of this year.

The couple loves the outdoors, hiking, good health and exercise. Most mornings they can be seen walking briskly around downtown with their boys in a stroller.

Nate enjoys snowboarding though Heather insists she won't ever learn, but Heather also enjoys gambling on occasion, making it only natural that Nate proposed to her while on vacation in Blackhawk years ago.

What is next for this active, young family with two businesses, apartments they rent out, and two children ALL under the age of two? They are planning to buy a home soon, raise their boys in Kimball and stick around as long as Kimball will have them.