Daddy/Daughter Vol. 7

Last night was another very special night with my daughter. We attended our 7 (!!!) consecutive Daddy/Daughter Dance hosted by the City of Greeley. Pretty hard to believe how grown up my little girl is getting! After pictures at our house, we enjoyed dinner at Right Coast Pizza before walking to the dance arm in arm. We danced, had a snack, visited with some of her friends that were there and took a bunch of pictures. Unlike our first dance 7 years ago when I carried her inside from her car seat, she read me tips for being a good dad on the way home. I love you sister, thanks for a beautiful and memorable night! 

RIP-Sailors

I was saddened to read this morning that University of Wyoming basketball legend and inventor of the jump shot Kenny Sailors had passed away at the age of 95. While I was never able to meet him in person, I do treasure these two signed pieces of memorabilia. One a poster for the film about the 1943 championship team and the other a summary of his life including the picture that was in LIFE Magazine. Both are signed "To my friend Ryan "00" Kenny Sailors #4". RIP Mr. Sailors. 

White Out

Frontier hosted the annual White Out basketball games last night at UNC. Booster Club provided 160 white shirts for the students and family's to wear for the game. It was a hard-fought contest against one of our conference rivals Eaton. We let the game slip away in the final minute and lost by 4. In the third picture, can you spot two Roth men cheering the team on? Finished up the night with drinks and dinner with good friends at the Tavern! 

1200...

...And counting! Nice work Sarabeth! She passed 1200 points this week. Not only did she crack the Top 5 of all time for 5th grade, but she earned a trip to Wiley Roots and her own full growler of root beer. Mom even got to make the trip! Can't wait for 1300! Might even have a shot at G.O.A.T.!! 

RESIST

One of the many activities Noah has been busy with this school year is RESIST. It is an afterschool mentoring program run through Weld County. Every Wednesday, Noah and several of his classmates volunteer several hours to spend with local 5th graders. They help with homework, play games, and help the 5th graders begin to prepare for middle school. They also meet once a month on a Monday for several hours to "lesson plan" for the upcoming month. As the article states, they also planned a Christmas party for the kids who might not have had much to look forward to over the holiday season. 

We were so pleased and sunrises to open the Greeley Tribune on Christmas morning and find this article and picture of Noah. Well done son, so proud of you! 

Museum!

The seventh graders made a trek to Denver Wednesday for a visit to the museum. Which one, I'm still not sure. Art? Nature and Science? Colorado History? Either way, it appears it was a tiring day. Looks like someone even ended up with crutches. 

Steve!

We were so pleased that Uncle Steve made the trip to Fort Collins last week to cover the CSU-Utah State basketball game. We were even more pleased and excited when we were able to enjoy a late dinner with him and the entire family at one of our favorite Ft. Collins restaurants, Fuzzies Tacos. We visited for almost 2 hours and really had fun remembering basketball games and stories from years past. Hoping to catch Steve again in a few weeks in Laramie! Thanks for dinner Uncle Steve!

1100...

...and counting! Sarabeth keeps reading those books, taking quizzes, and racking up the points. Her and I have set up a stair-stepped reward system as she keeps reading towards the all time school record of 1865. For 1100, she earned a date with her dad to get a Boba Tea on Friday afternoon. Keep reading sister, I really want that trip to VooDoo Donuts! 

NASA

Our local library has just started a 12 week program featuring NASA and space exploration. So we loaded up Sarabeth and her friend and spent an hour walking through the exhibit. Not only did we get TANG, we also bumped into some interesting characters who were happy to pose for a few pictures! 

Wes!

Happy birthday (yesterday, sorry) to the best brother a guy could ask for! Your love of God, your family, your country and your passion for integrity and honesty are truly impressive. The ministry you and your family have in the Black Hills reaches people worldwide in incredible ways. I am honored to be your brother! Happy Birthday and be blessed in the coming year. 

Breakfast

As a reward for reaching 1000 points in Reading Counts so far this year, I took Sarabeth out to breakfast at IHOP this morning. It was a great morning to do it too, with the snow falling outside and hot coffee and pancakes inside! More rewards to follow at each 100 point increment. Keep reading sis! 

Tree!

For anyone that has driven I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, you know about Tree-In-The-Rock. It's a tree growing out of a rock! Well, it's still there. Every time we drive by it on the way to see the folks or headed back to Colorado, I am reminded of the Super Bowl party I drove my girlfriend and my best friend Big Andrew to in about 1997. As we drove past it and I explained it to D, he laughed and said, "We should cut it down and piss on it." What?!?! 

Visitors

I use to see friends and family on the route in Greeley daily. It was so fun to bump into random folks while they were grocery shopping. Now, not so much. Actually, not at all. So I was so pleased when Jeff McBride drove all the way to Windsor on his day off to bring me a hot cup of coffee from Starbucks! I was also able to sit down with Noah last Sunday for a few minutes and have a quick breakfast with him while he was in FTC doing some house/dog/cat sitting.