The Roberts Family

February, 2006

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes, you simply have to go GET what you really want in life. Because one of the things we really want is snow, and one of the experiences Scott really wants our children to enjoy is snow skiing, we took our first-ever mid-winter vacation (one of the perks of homeschooling) to Breckenridge, Colorado at the end of January. It was one of those grand Team Roberts adventures, and although I personally thought it was a bit crazy, we had a wonderful and memorable time. (You can see some of the fun we had by visiting the pictures section of teamroberts.org.)

Scott is an experienced skier, and Katie had a week of lessons in the Swiss Alps (!!!) when she was eleven, but the rest of the gang had never skied. One sixth of the gang still hasn't. Being less-than-athletic, and having a concern about falling and injuring myself, I felt that I should abstain, so as to be the designated driver on the way home.

We were very blessed to be able to stay in a gorgeous vacation "cabin" that could sleep up to sixteen, with rustic décor, wood-burning fireplace, and luxurious hot tub. It was nestled in about three feet of snow when we arrived and about four feet of snow when we left five days later. We saw some serious snow.

We had purchased discount lift tickets for Arapahoe Basin, a ski resort that was a forty-five minute drive away, over a mountain (or two) and through the woods, on snow-packed roads in conditions that were a little intimidating for us flat-landers. Scott did all that driving. I took plenty of reading and writing material, plus my 2005 toy of the year (a digital camera), so I had lots of fun while the skiers skied. The younger three took four hours' worth of ski lessons the first day, and after that, they were all sailing down the mountain like pros. It was almost unbelievable. Scott took the camcorder up to the top and skied down backwards, to get footage of all the kids. They did great and we are very proud of each of them.

Interspersed among the four days of skiing was one morning of sledding. The city of Breckenridge maintains an awesome hill for that very purpose, and we tackled it with our plastic Wal-Mart toboggans and typical Roberts gusto. 83% of the team had a fine time on the sled hill, but Yours Truly, who clearly has absolutely zero grasp of the technique for steering plastic Wal-Mart toboggans, found herself sailing over an unanticipated "jump" on the right side of the path. It wasn't the air that was the problem; but the landing was a significant problem. Not only did I fail to get a 10 from the Russian judge, I did something extremely uncomfortable to the region of my tailbone. For some strange reason, other family members were happily flying over said jump, landing, and smiling. Because they did not appear to be in extreme pain, and because I refused to be a wimp, I decided to cast common sense to the (admittedly biting) wind and try the hill again. Traveling rapidly down the left side of the hill this time (insert smug smile here), I encountered some unknown magnetic field which drew me inexorably back across the hill and over the same jump, resulting in severe shrieking from the top side and intense pain to the pre-injured bottom side. I am recovering, but you may rest assured that I will never ride a plastic Wal-Mart toboggan again.

Our only other very minor regret was the weather, which was cold (highs in the teens), windy (20+mph much of the time), and snowing heavily almost continually. Those conditions make skiing a bit challenging, especially for novices. I gather that it is hard to ski when you are usually wet, often cold, snow is blowing forcefully straight into your face, and visibility is poor. Despite that, the report is that Roberts males categorically LOVE to ski, and Roberts females will love to ski when it isn't actually snowing.

The Colorado adventure capped off a very busy but fulfilling Christmas season and intro to 2006. In December, Josiah was formally initiated into his Boy Scout troop at a special bonfire Court of Honor, and this past weekend, he went on his first Boy Scout campout, called - appropriately - The Klondike. His summary: "It snowed all day Saturday, the temperature never got above freezing, and you can cook anything in a Dutch oven - even apple pie!"

Scott arrived safely home from China in time to experience the big kids' final presentation for this session of AIM. Katie ran sound, Jessica did a bit of dancing, and Josiah was a mountaintop. Scott's China trip was yet another amazing, awesome, and anointed time of ministry. The good reports keep coming in, as we hear that those whom he has been mentoring are reaching out to train others. Way to go, Scott, and thank you, God!

We experienced the next chapter in our on-going saga of living in a 92-year-old house: having the ductwork cleaned. Ugh! It had gotten to the point that, despite all our efforts at housekeeping, Scott could not breathe in our bedroom. This was more than slightly inconvenient. After spending several nights on a couch in the unheated playroom, he hired an analyst to evaluate our dust/mold situation, resulting in the aforesaid ductwork project a few days before Christmas. It was big and noisy, but it is done, and we are both glad Scott is sleeping in our bed again.

Our Christmas celebration at home was peaceful and fun. As is our tradition, we went caroling on Christmas Eve, shared some gifts with friends, and spent Christmas Day enjoying breakfast casserole, too many packages, Jesus, and each other. My parents came to visit a couple days later, and we had a great time playing cuppers (ask Scott), ping-pong (thank you, Grandma Roberts!), and enjoying time with family.

Following much distasteful study, Katie took the biology CLEP test in early January. It was a learning experience. One of my goals has been for her to try to obtain college credit for high school work, when possible. Her high school biology course was pretty rigorous (more so than my high school biology and advanced biology classes combined), so for a fee, we went to Springfield and she spent about ninety minutes facing all her biological nightmares on a computer. It was scored immediately and she and I were both seriously bummed at her 66. As we tried to console ourselves, the testing lady came out and congratulated Katie on her high score. (???) We didn't know that the 66 was not 66%. The scores range from 20 to 80, with many colleges requiring a 50 in order to give the student credit. It remains to be seen which college she will attend, whether or not that college will accept CLEP credits, and what score that college will require, but her 66 was evidently a fine showing.

In the spirit of being stretched, Katie chose to go on a 10-day mission trip to the New Orleans, Louisiana area with AIM in January. Unlike most of their mission trips, where the students are primarily leading Bible studies and doing mime presentations and street evangelism, this trip was pure service: hurricane clean-up. There was a lot of hard physical work (hauling tree limbs, cleaning, sweeping, etc.), some interesting living conditions (sleeping in a tent, on a boat, and in a church; showering outdoors; eating gumbo), a first-hand view of the devastation in the ninth ward (whole neighborhoods gone; a barge on a house on a school bus), an opportunity to bless and encourage the survivors there, and the beginnings of some great new friendships.

Andrew, our ever-energetic and determined child, has learned how to whistle and shuffle cards. Josiah, our man-boy, can out-run his troopmates and is conquering General Science. Jessica, our passionate praiser, is trudging steadily through Algebra I, playing Für Elise on the piano, and cheerfully keeping the value of AT&T stock high. Katie, our strong silent member, is working on her History Day research paper and dreaming of the end of Algebra II and Chemistry. Scott, my favorite maximizer, is earning a living and planning his next trip to China. I, the frustrated organizer in the family, am helping Scott lead a new small group at church (Proactive Parenting) and trying to keep up with all the above - and then some.

We had to have some work done on our van in January. It was one of those situations where you get one thing fixed and while that's being done, they find something else wrong, the repair of which reveals something else, etc. It took quite a bit to get our Caravan "Colorado-ready," but two weeks later, when we spent an hour and forty-five minutes going 16 miles in a snowstorm, inching past numerous vehicles that had slid off the road into ditches, we were really glad we had done the necessary preparation on the front end.

It takes effort to maintain relationships, too, especially when many of us live far away. Thanks for all the recent Christmas cards, letters, pictures, and emails. Your love and friendship mean even more to us than good traction on snow-packed roads!

Scott, Patty, Katie, Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew