Party Time

What does Mrs. Roth come home to after a full week of teaching 6th and 8th graders? A houseful of 7th graders celebrating Nathanael's 13th birthday!! We were so thrilled to have Bob and Bonnie in town for a quick visit and able to partake in the festivities! Panda Express for dinner and an ice cream cake  from Dairy Queen for dessert. His friends were very thoughtful in their gift selection. A sleepover and bagels for breakfast! Thrilled to have a THIRD teenager in the house! 

Siblings

Finally, the whole group, who were in the same place, at the same time, dressed appropriately for a picture. Can't wait to see what the school year brings! 

5th

Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite new 5th grader. QUEEN OF THE SCHOOL! Hard to believe we are finally starting our last year at the elementary school. Sarabeth is so pleased with her new homeroom teacher, the first male core teacher any of our kids have ever had at the K-5 building. Her (our[my]) goal for the year? Earn enough reading counts points for the year to place her in the top 6 for all time 5th graders. While I was walking Wally around on Tueaday, she was taking quizzes based on all the summer reading she did. She starts the year with 238! Needs 1100 or more to place. GO! Her and I took a quick date to Steak n Shake while youth group was going on last night to celebrate the end of summer. Here we go! 

7th

No longer low man on the totem pole at the middle school, here is our birthday boy and freshly minted 7th grader! Had to pick up 3 dozen donuts to share with his access class on the way to school today in honor of his 13th birthday! More on that later...

Freshman

Welcome to high school, "Little" Andrew. Who is now taller then his older brother. Once again, second week of high school photo, since I missed the first day picture last week. 

Junior

Who needs first day of school pictures when you can have second week of school pictures? Here is Noah, our Junior. Today is a dress down day at Frontier. Just thought that needed to be said.  

BTS

Pulled double duty Tuesday night at the elementary back to school night. Booster Club had a table to continue to offer Wolverine Wear to all the kids. Wally the Wolverine was also asked by the dean to make an appearance and welcome everyone back to school. So I got to walk around with him and make sure we didn't scare any kindergarteners. 

18

As seems to be the case recently on the blog, I'm usually either late or very late in posting happenings in the family. This is no exception. On Sunday, Jen and I celebrated 18 years of holy marital bliss. We were able to have a nice dinner out and take a deep breath together before the madness of the school year truly begins. I love you Jennifer Sue. Happy anniversary. 

TBT

Just because it was awesome. And fun. And one of the highlights of my life after two pretty terrible years. 

Rotary

Noah had the privilege today of addressing the Rotary Club that sent him to RYLA! I was invited to the luncheon at the Greeley Country Club to support Noah and meet the Rotarians. Noah thanked everyone and talked about the week in Estes Park. His highlights were the people he met and the leadership skills he was encouraged to use in the years ahead. Who knows, maybe someday his son or daughter will also attend RYLA like their grandfather did! 

Last Camp

To close out his summer vacation, Andrew headed north to Wyoming for a very quick, 2 day summer work/fun camp in Laramie. Grandpa had a few small projects he needed some help with outside, and grandma had several computer related projects inside. Mostly setting Skype back up so they could visit with Wes, Kim, Kaleb and Elsie! It was so helpful that Noah could deliver Andrew part-way and that the folks brought him home. Andrew insisted on being home for Back to School Night, so he could run the Computer Club table. Bob and Bonnie were able to tour the school and see Mrs. Roth in action! Celebrated with a nice dinner at the Tavern. They even got to meet Noah's girlfriend! We crammed quite a bit into 4 hours. 

Garden Club

One of Sarabeth's weekly activities this summer has been the Garden Club at the elementary school. Every Wednesday, she would spend an hour and a half planting, weeding, painting and fixing up the beautiful garden space. By August, they were even harvesting vegetables! She hopes to continue working in it throughout the school year. 

It Begins...

Yes, it hurts now, but on your wedding day, when you walk down the aisle with beautiful white straight teeth, it will all be worth it. Top set of braces today, bottoms in about 6 weeks or so. 

Buzz

Wesley and I both agree: going to a book signing and meeting a favorite author is one of life's greatest joys. When you can bring a child of yours along, it's even better. And when the author you are meeting is the second man to walk on the moon, well, that's a pretty special thing. Wes and Kaleb got to meet Buzz Aldrin in Rapid City and get several copies of his newest book signed. Kaleb told Buzz, "Thanks for going to the moon!" Thanks Wes for my signed copy! 

Rockies

As it turned out, the Rockies game that Sarabeth and I attended several weeks ago was the final time we would get to see Tulo play in a Rockies uniform. But at the time, we didn't know that and just enjoyed sitting in the front row and watching the home team win 10-3. Sis really enjoyed the game and learning more about baseball. I enjoyed the one-on-one time with my daughter and the ice cold lemonade and Dippin Dots. Because it was hot!!! Didn't get shade until the bottom of the 7th. We weren't able to catch a foul ball this time, but maybe in a few weeks. We will miss Tulo terribly and have started referring to our Tulo as Peyton or Manning. He's kinda confused.