Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Taking some handlebars to the chest

I went mountain biking with my sister in-law's husband (what does that make him to me???) Bill at Sundance on Monday. All was going well, considering that I had the cheapest bike on the mountain. I hit this spot that I had hit before. It was a simple drop, no rocks in the way, just regular dirt. Then, in a flash, I was going one way, my bike the other and the end of the handle bars were in my chest somehow, then I was on the ground.

At first, I did a calculated check of all my body parts (much like NFL players do when they take a really hard hit). I had to make sure they were all still there. I realized the handlebars went to my chest and they went pretty dang hard. I had to make sure they did not make a hole in my chest. Good old ribs, they did not, however, they ripped a hole through my shirt and gave me a NICE BIG scratch right in the middle of it. I then noticed I had a gash in my knee, which scared me for a bit, but once I got it washed up, I realized it wasn't as bad.

Anyway, I had a great time at Sundance, but I think I'm going to invest in some knee/shin guards before I do something like that again.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.







Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Had a great time in Escalante last week

We went down with my sister Krystal and her husband Nate, by brother Jeff and his wife Mandi, my brother Russ and his wife Randa, and two of my nephews, Riley and Wes.

We had a great time. On Friday we hiked up a couple of slot canyons located off Hole in the Rock Road. They were called Peekaboo Gulch and Spooky Gulch. It was a blast. Later that day we went and visited the campsite that Alene stayed at when she spent 2 months down there on an Archaeology dig 6 years ago. It looked so barren and started to be over-grown, but it was awesome for me to think that Alene spent 2 months in that area. I loved it.

The next day we did a hike up to Calf Creek Falls and up the Escalante River. On our way home we took a scenic route up to Posey Lake, then over the Hells Backbone bridge onto Boulder, UT.

Here is a link to the pictures:

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b308/tyler_root/Escalante%20May07/


Here is a link to some Video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=troot62

Some clips of Caiden's baseball games

Here are some clips of Caiden's baseball games. He is getting better and better and had some great hits and a couple of runs.









Here are some of his baseball pictures:







Tuesday, May 15, 2007

My Grandma just passed away

It's one of those things that seem surreal. First, I was never particularly close with my grandma (she's from my mother's side), however when I did talk to her, I really enjoyed hearing her voice. She was a very smart woman and very proper when it came to speaking clearly and using the correct words (I think she majored in journalism in college). Anyway, being that I can only count on my hands the times I've seen her in my life, I still felt the need to sit and reflect.

My mom is driving down for her gravesite memorial tomorrow morning, so I wrote this for my mom to bring. I don't know what she can do with it, but it's the first thing I thought of doing:


Dear Grandma Shirley,

I love you. Upon hearing of your passing in this life, my thoughts immediately turned to anything I could remember of you. I know the times we were able to see each other were short, but I still love and respect that you were my grandmother.

I remember you would always send us things from the ranger station you worked at. I used to love getting the smokey bear stuff. I remember the drawings you had your friend do of a lot of the children, including the one of you, which I really admired.

I remember as I got older, I shared some common loves for things in life. One was a love of history. My mom always told me you loved anything to do with King Tut or Abraham Lincoln. I respected you for being so focused on something you loved.

I loved getting a card from you on my birthday.

I loved writing you letters and letting you know how I was doing. I wanted you to be proud of me.

I regret though.

I regret not making an effort to be closer to you. I regret not making more opportunities to come down and visit with you. We make so many excuses and allow so many things get in the way and blame it all on “life”. I know I could have visited more. I never want to regret like this again. I’ll be sure to tell my family and friends I love them more and make more opportunities to visit and to not allow “life” to get in the way.

In the end, you have been fortunate to live a long life and see many wonderful things happen in this world. I know you’re moving onto a different state of your life. I believe that you are in a painless state and I do believe that your spirit is at peace and resting and waiting for the rest of your family to join you. Many think the idea of life after death as hog-wash or scientifically impossible. I don’t need science to know the feeling of God and his love for us. I know he loves you Grandma and he wants you in his presence.

I’ll live my life trying to learn more about you and the rest of my ancestors. I’ll tell my children everything I can about you and as your family continues to grow on earth, I know you’ll be proud.

Till we meet again. Rest peacefully Grandma.

Your Grandson,

Tyler Root

Monday, May 14, 2007

Two years of marriage

We've made it this far. I'll be honest, there were times that I didn't think we would make it this far, but we are here. I'm happy because I have someone I love dearly that is open to doing things and trying new things. She's adventurous and wants to make a difference in the world as well as a difference in our personal relationship. She desires to get to the top of every mountain in her life, including ours. I love her ambition.

I've learned a lot about her over these two years and a lot about myself. There isn't another woman in this world, past or present, that I want to be with. I'm excited about the future in our lives. I can't wait to have children and see our family grow, to travel, and see this beautiful earth God has created for us.

I love you baby. Happy anniversary.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Caiden

He's started baseball a few weeks ago. They mostly have him playing 1st base. He has not had a hit this year yet (3 games), but he's made some decent contact, grounding out. Here is a picture of him at first base yesterday. It was his fourth game and they called it after the 1st inning because it was too cold for the kids (he's wearing his jacket). He never got up to hit that game.





Here are a couple of clips of his 2nd game, where he hit the ball twice (in 3 at-bats), but he grounded them right to 1st base. In his first game, he hit one to 3rd, which at this age, is a guaranteed you'll make it to first, but the 3rd baseman had a GUN and the 1st baseman made an amazing catch. Caiden barely missed it to the base.





Lastly, Alene discovered something that will keep Caiden busy for hours at a time. It's a farting widget. A widget is something on the mac, like a small application with an icon. Some are very helpful, while some are just lame little games or information. This one is a whoopee cushion. Caiden laughed so hard he was hicupping.

Updates on the house

Well, we had a bit of a scare last week with all the bad weather (lot's of rain). But we only suffered one leak in the bathroom area of the house. It was difficult to get the roof plywood done and get the rest of the tar paper up, but our neighbor Brett was a HUGE help. In fact, on Wednesday night we were able to get about 3/4 of the house covered with tar paper (which will prevent leaking if it rained), however, about 5am on Thursday morning I heard a dripping sound into our toilet and thought Alene was just going to the bathroom, but it continued for about 5 minutes, so I went in and found the leak was dripping directly into the toilet (no need for a bucket, count our blessings). We immediately got our rain gear on and jumped up on the house to nail down the rest of the tar paper. Brett heard us and came out about 6am to help us finish up. It was nice to have that part done.

We've now got all the roof vents and covers for all the pipes (except one). We just need to get the kit for the swamp cooler and we're good to go for shingling. Alene and I shingled the add-on section of the back of the house already and it looks good. I can't wait to get this done.

Here are some pictures of what we've done so far.

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b308/tyler_root/roofing%2007/