The Roberts Family

February, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

I have put off writing this newsletter, because Katie will be returning home from her California missions trip with AIM in a few days, and I wanted to include some news about her adventure. However, when I looked at our family calendar for the next few weeks and saw no empty squares until March 16, I decided I had better write while I have the opportunity.

Many of you last heard from us before Christmas, and our celebration was very special and wonderful. It was us six and no more on the actual day, and after our traditional breakfast, we each wrote down and then shared what we appreciate most about each other member of Team Roberts. The comments were touching, there were many tears, and it was a precious memory for us all.

My parents came for their traditional after-Christmas visit, and that was a lot of fun, too. As they were going out the front door, Scott's mom was coming in the back door and, despite all six of us being sick (ugh!), we all enjoyed ten days with her. We played Bridge until our brains were dead, ate too much ice cream, I cooked as little as possible, and Grandma cooked us some truly wonderful meals. Yum, yum, yum!

Katie left for California on January 20, with her typical amount of fanfare (none at all). She was to be the only non-presenting (not-performing-on-stage) member of the team of about eight teenagers who would travel most of the length of California presenting Bible studies and workshops on mime, drama, sign language, and public speaking. Katie is the oldest girl on this team, so she has had some responsibility for helping lead the other girls, as well as running sound, presenting workshops on public speaking (!!!), and being the "announcer" between songs during presentations. When she does call home and I ask her how things are, she says, "fine," and asks to talk to Jessica. Then they chatter like magpies for ten minutes, and I get the scoop from Jessica after they hang up.

Jessica has really been missing her big sister, and I think she is getting tired of being outnumbered by her brothers. Actually, these particular brothers can be so overbearing that she is really outnumbered by something like six to one. Jessica is about to complete Algebra 2, and she and I are struggling together through logarithms. Yuck. Too bad Katie's not here. She understands it all much better than I do.

Scott and Jessica (and sometimes I) have a new early morning activity. That would be in addition to reading the Bible, praying, and exercising. Our Mission China Board had its annual meeting a few weeks ago, and the Board members said that it is a high priority to them for Scott to learn Chinese. This only makes sense. Scott has made about ten ministry trips to China, so he gets a lot of exposure to the language in three-week doses. Jessica has been there twice, desperately wants to go back, and thinks that someday she may be doing fulltime mission work there, so she has been studying Chinese with a computer program. Of course, it teaches her to say eminently useful things like, "the dog is under the table" and "the man in the airplane wears glasses." Her conversational vocabulary is significantly smaller than Scott's but her pronunciation is much better than his.

At the Board's suggestion, Scott asked Stephen (our office manager in China) to teach him Chinese. Stephen was excited to do this, so on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, at 7:00 AM our time and 9:00 PM China time, Scott and Jessica gather in front of the computer for lessons. Stephen talks to them, they reply, and when they can't figure out what he is saying, he types it out for them to see. I drift in and out of the office and try to pick up on a few words. I am trying to at least learn some key phrases, so that I can greet the people there when we hold our "China church" services over the Internet. I am also hoping to be able to catch them if they are saying things like, "Patty's diction is really horrid" when they think I cannot understand them! So far, Scott has had about six lessons, and he is improving rapidly. Jessica can understand much of what Stephen says, and I can say "good evening," "I am an American," and "I don't understand," - if I look at my cheat sheet.

Jessica and Josiah have had some extra time lately, because AIM has not been meeting for the past two months. They are both eager for the new session, which will start two days after Katie gets home, and the same day Scott leaves for China. That phrase about moss not being able to grow underfoot would probably apply around here. If only it were clutter not being able to pile up instead (sigh).

Josiah's Boy Scout troop is preparing for its annual "Klondike" campout later this month. Last year, they camped in snow, and we have had so little snow this year (about an inch two different times) that although I don't particularly want him to freeze, I do hope we get some real snow, whether he's camping in it or not! The guys are working on lashings, so he has been wrapping rope around sticks and showing me all kinds of knots and so on. I don't follow it very well, but it does look useful and interesting.

Scott and I almost unlashed him permanently a few weeks ago. It was the night before Katie's departure, and we had gone out to eat. On the way home, the boys were being rowdy in the back seat of the van, and Josiah slung the middle (empty) seat belt at Andrew, which unintentionally hit his mouth and broke off parts - large parts - of two of Andrew's lower teeth. They were permanent teeth. There was a lot of blood and crying - even more crying on Josiah's part than on Andrew's - emergency calls to dentists, visits to dental specialists, and a prognosis of two root canals. Fake tooth material would be used to build up the teeth, and it would have to be replaced every few years until Andrew was in his teens. At that point, the teeth would be permanently crowned. The immediate cost for the root canals and initial "build-ups" would be almost $3000. Lovely. Specialist A pointed out the exposed root (clearly visible to even my untrained eye) and referred us to Specialist B to have the root canals done.

The next day we arrived at Specialist B's office with a headset and audio CDs for Andrew to listen to during the 2+ hours the procedures would take. I had briefed him on the necessary injections, the vibrations, and the need to sit still and obey - not his two best traits. We were fully armed and dangerous.

Specialist B began by examining Andrew's teeth thoroughly and studying the x-rays. After a long pause, she said, "If this were my seven-year-old son, I would not do the root canals now." Huh?!?!? "If the roots were exposed, root canals would be required. However, you can see that the roots are not exposed. There is still a thin layer of enamel over the roots." I looked and looked and looked. She looked and looked and looked. We both looked again. The root that I had easily seen yesterday could not be seen at all today! There was enamel where there had been none before! She recommended that we simply go to our regular dentist to have the teeth filled and smoothed. They would be lower than his other teeth, but fully functional. In his late teens, when his mouth had stopped growing, we could do the root canals and crowns. We did as she suggested, and the total cost for those teeth was $402. We are praising God that He clearly did a miracle for Andrew!

In other dental news, Jessica got her braces off on January 29, and she is thoroughly enjoying that s-m-o-o-t-h feeling that only people who have BTDT can truly appreciate. She is also getting closely reacquainted with caramel.

I am trying to manage everyone who's home while doing secretarial work for Katie; trying to keep up with all her contest entries and scheduling her upcoming trips to various award ceremonies. On one particular day, we received notice that she had won or placed in three different statewide contests! Her scholarship fund is growing. In my "spare" time, I have been learning how to spool knit, and (surprise, surprise), I now am really and truly keeping my blog updated! So, for more frequent news about our never-a-dull-moment family, please visit http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WalnutShadeMom/.

We are all very thankful for you, our friends and family. Please stay in touch. We are always encouraged to hear from you!

Much love from Team Roberts (Scott, Patty, Katie, Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew)