Opening Day!

Hope springs eternal. Spring and summer have officially arrived as the boys of summer start the 2014 MLB season. While hopes for our Colorado Rockies aren't very high, as grandpa Roth would say, "at least we have Major League Baseball in Colorado." To stay interested in baseball season and give us something to do until Peyton Manning puts the pads back on, Nathanael and I are in a fantasy baseball league this year. Here he is drafting our team last week and the team we ended up with. Hoping to turn the reigns over to him this summer, and he can manage our team as mananger and GM. I'll be the owner. Need a better name for our team though. 

Jump!!

Coaches for track this season have been trying Noah out on the triple jump. He seems to enjoy it, and is getting better at each meet. On Wednesday he PR at 30' 4". Then yesterday he PRed again at 30'8" and ran a 13.45 seconds in the 100 yard dash. Pretty proud of that kid. No wonder his knees hurt today. 

TBT

Andrew James. 2002. 

BOTB-3rd

Bandabats!! Finally after three months of coaching them up, it was time for my 3rd grade Battle of the Books team to shine! Sarabeth did a great job leading our team. Sadly, there were 14 other teams competing against us for the two spots in the district tournament. In the end, our team got more answers right then wrong, but missed out on qualifying. Still a great experience. I hope she asks me to coach again next year. Go Bandabats!!

BOTB-5th

Today brings the Battle of the Books! The kids have been reading and re-reading their 10 books since December. Today they tested their knowledge against other teams in their grade. Nathanael was up first. With two teams advancing to the district contest and only five teams participating, the odds were pretty good. Until that first question was asked the the boys all looked at each other in puzzled silence. They got that one wrong. But they recovered well, and it came down to the final question for the right to advance. They guessed B. The other team guessed A. It was B.  Victory. On to districts. 

Gala

Saturday night was the annual Frontier Academy Gala. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the kids school. We joined our friends the Scribbicks at the Greeley Country Club for a wonderful evening celebrating our school and raising money in order to buy a new school bus. Even though the silent auction items weren't quite as fun as in years past, it was still neat to see all the different stuff that had been donated. Sean won a sweet new grill that he promised we will get to see in action this summer at Red Rocks before the O.A.R. show. Best part of the evening was the hot date that I got to sit next to and buy drinks for. 

Me! (Again)

Seems like today's posts are turning into a lot about me. Sorry for that. Here is a pretty neat item that just popped up in my newsfeed on Facebook. My good friend Dudley, right now halfway across the world in Jerusalem, is visiting the Western Wailing Wall at the Temple Mount. He placed my name on the piece of paper and prayed for me when he placed it in a crack. Thanks my friend. That was very special. I am humbled and blessed. 

Mr. 95

Our new favorite hometown brewery, Wiley Roots, has been recognizing their best customers on their wall of fame. Once a person visits 20 times, they are awarded membership in the Mug Club. In addition to their name on the wall, they also recieve 20 ounce pours instead of 16, a new hat and a very nice ceramic mug that can be used only by them. They were limiting the names on the wall to the first 100 people. So the last couple of weeks while it was filling up, I drank a beer there each day in hopes of making it. And guess what? I did. #95. 

Me!

Another spotting of my favorite bill board. This one is located on 8th Ave in Greeley across the street from Patricks Irish Pub and next door to the Ice Hause. It is also a lighted one, so people driving by can see me at night too! I've also been spotted on the trains at DIA welcoming people to Colorado. 

Denver

Mom and dad finally escaped winter in Wyoming and made the trek to Greeley this week for their spring break. We really enjoyed the three days we got to spend with them. We were able to attend the littles play on Wednesday night and spend the day in Denver together on Thursday.  Jennifer even took a personal day so she could join us! We spent a few hours looking over the books at the Tattered Cover before eating a nice lunch at a pub on Colfax. Then we walked down to the WORLD FAMOUS Voodoo Donuts and stood in line for 30 minutes to buy a couple of boxes of their donuts. Ryan selected the maple blazer blunt. We finished the afternoon at IKEA. That place is really something to behold. Mom and dad finished the stay in Greeley with brunch with Noah and Andrew while everyone else was at school and work. Thanks for the fun week mom and dad! 

Sadie Hawkins

After the big invitation with the goldfish and the senior girls earlier in the week, last night was the annual Sadie Hawkins dance at Frontier. Jennifer really went above and beyond by hosting the couples for dinner at our house. She made home made lagasne, a home made Alfredo sauce, bread, salad and Italian sodas. For dessert, she whipped up a home made tieramuse. Quite a woman she is! Kids had a fun night at the dance. Gotta love senior girls going with freshman boys. 

Spring

I finally have a little bit of hope that spring is on the way. Sarabeth and a girlfriend of hers had a play date at the park last week and met up with some other friends from school! They climbed trees and explored lots of what the new city park has to offer. Then on Sunday afternoon, the weather was nice enough that the kids wanted to hop on the bikes. So after I pumped up tires, fixed some flats and adjusted some seats, they were all ready to roll. Might need some new equipment this summer if they keep growing: new helmets, and maybe a bigger bike for Andrew. Sisters goal is to finally get around the block on her bike. 

Noah

With the Saddie Hawkins dance fast approaching this weekend, girls are busy asking guys to the dance. On Wednesday, Noah and his friends Ben and Wilson were asked to the dance with these three SENIOR girls! Jen will be making dinner for them at our house before they go. "Of all the fish in the sea..."

Track

Spring time has brought another track season to Frontier. This season, Noah has been working on his triple jump skills and relay times. On Saturday, at the first meet of the season, he jumped 29'10". Who knew Roths could jump? He also ran 62 seconds in the first leg of the 4x100. Another meet this weekend in Windsor. 

TBT

Noah. March 2002. 

BOTB

Sarabeth talked me into coaching her Battle of the Books team this spring. So every Wednesday, our five member team gathers in the school library to eat lunch together and answer questions I ask them about the 12 different books they have to read. We have also made our team poster, author/title flash cards, enjoyed some pizza together, and chowed down on the cookies I brought last week. We are only 3 weeks away from the Battle. Don't know how we will do matched up against the other 13 teams, but it sure has been fun and Sarabeth has loved having her dad as the coach. Go Bandabats!! 

TBT #2

Um. Yeah. Halloween 2001. Uncle Andrew. Little Andrew. Campingdad. Interesting side note on this picture... The doctor Andrew is dressed as is the one and only Dr. Dubbs, who, 13 years after this picture was taken, would perform two surgeries on me. Weird how the world works, huh? 

TBT #1

Little D. Fall 2001.