The Roberts Family

April, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

What a wonderful season Spring is; birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and everything outside is changing in appearance almost daily. To top off all that, we just celebrated again Jesus' resurrection (a.k.a. Easter)- the very best change ever.

Our family recently returned from vacation in Colorado, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at a condo in the quaint historic town of Georgetown, and each day Yours Truly drove various subsets of the Team some fifteen miles (all uphill) to Loveland ski area. It worked out really well, because we had cell phone service between Georgetown and Loveland. They could call and let me know when to pick up whom, and I merrily shuttled back and forth among some of the most gorgeous scenery in the country.

The menfolk all skied four days, Jessica two, and Katie one. The weather was relatively nice (temps usually in the 30s or 40s, often blue skies, sometimes some snow), but always windy on the slopes. Josiah made big improvements on his technique, Andrew mastered jumps, and Scott was wild and crazy as usual. He took Jessica, Josiah, and Andrew ALL the way up to the continental divide - where the wind was fierce but the view was breathtaking - and then they all skied down a DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND, which is the most difficult "extreme" terrain. They were all really proud to make it down that successfully.

While the foursome skied, Katie slept in, relaxed, played various (generally electronic) games, and went exploring with me. We drove up a very steep and curvy heavily pot-holed, half-paved, half-dirt road called Guanella Pass Road. Our goal was to cover the 12 miles to the pass - just because I wanted to see the view from "the top of the world" - but we hit snow several miles up and had to turn around. I really wanted to press on, because it was SO beautiful, but the idea of getting the van stuck in snow and mud miles up in the middle of nowhere, on a road where we probably wouldn't see another vehicle for hours was enough to convince me to turn around.

On the way back down, Katie and I had a real treat. After we had bumped and lumbered past several gorgeous mountain lakes, suddenly, right there in front of God and both of us, drinking snowmelt from a pothole, stood a bighorn sheep! I said several things on the order of, "Oh, my golly goshness!" grabbed my camera, and hopped out of the van in the middle of the road. Walking slowly forward (doing my African-safari-hunter-stalking-big-game imitation) I tried to get close enough for a good picture. Mr. Sheep was neither impressed nor disturbed by my approach. I snapped a few pictures, and he slowly began walking away down the road. I followed at a brisker pace. He was actually a very accommodating bighorn sheep. Before veering off the road and down an amazingly steep path into the woods, he was kind enough to pause, turn, and give me a nice profile shot. Andrew later saw the picture and said, "Wow, Mom! He sure has a white bushy bottom!" Indeed he did.

I also had a lot of fun exploring and learning the history of Georgetown, originally an 1870s gold mining town, then a silver mining town and railroad hub. On one of my town excursions, I met, walking single file down the middle of a main (dirt) street, a herd of eleven mule deer! That was another Kodak moment - or maybe quarter hour - as I followed them up one street and down another, around the block, across the local ball field, and eventually into the back yard of a local store.

There were other memorable moments. While investigating a strangely-shaped cabin perched high on a mountainside, Scott wandered about and found (but resisted the urge to wade into) an abandoned, flooded mine. Georgetown reminds me of Silver Dollar City; only it's REAL! Another day, Andrew the Eagle-Eye spotted a teepee on the side of a hill. Scott climbed up to it and found that although no one was home, someone does actually live in it - dirt floor, couch, gas grill, and all! Another time, Scott took the whole family up Guanella Pass Road, just to see the sights and try to get closer to the pass than I had been. He made it farther, but in trying to turn around stuck the van stuck in snow. When we all hopped out to push, Scott started a snowball fight. We had such fun - chasing each other with snowballs so far up in the boonies, under snow-laden trees with feet of snow all around us on the ground.

In other non-vacation news, Scott returned from a super ministry trip to China last month. Safety and peace dominated this trip, and we are very thankful for all that God continues to do through Mission China.

The Essay Contest Queen (a.k.a. Katie) continues to rack up successes. Her essay on the Hungarian Revolution placed first (among 34 entries) in the southwest Missouri region of the History Day competition and is one of six finalists in the state (among ~300 entries statewide). It remains to be seen how she will fare at state. Her essay on Christopher Columbus - from Queen Isabella's viewpoint - placed first in the local Daughters of the American Revolution competition. Yet another essay, this one on "Freedom's Challenge" for a VFW contest, placed first in our local post, first in the district (of 18 posts), and second in the state (among 4400 entries statewide). Her essay for the Sons of the Revolution contest also placed first in the state and will be forwarded to the national competition. So far, winnings from these contests have netted her over $2000, which she is saving for college.

Katie spent three and a half weeks on AIM's California mission trip in January/February. She had quite a bit of responsibility in running sound, training the team members, leading Bible studies, playing announcer during mime presentations, and mentoring the younger girls. It was a stretching experience for her and a great opportunity for her to develop her leadership potential.

With Katie, Jessica and Josiah have been quite involved in the new AIM session, which started the day after Katie returned. So far, they have learned a lot of mime songs, Jessica and Katie have each led one of the team's weekly Bible studies, and the three of them have done numerous presentations at Silver Dollar City and the local spring festival, Branson Fest.

Jessica traveled in March with our local AIM team to do presentations at the Kentucky Drama Festival. She made this same trip last year and really enjoyed it both times. She is also in training to hopefully move onto our local AIM team's student leadership team. We think that will be a wonderful, challenging opportunity for her to continue serving and growing. Academically, she is doing great; having successfully completed Algebra 2, she will soon try her hand at the College Algebra CLEP test and begin studying Geometry. She's also studying American History In-Depth, Physical Science, and Chinese.

In addition to all his AIM practices and presentations, Josiah continues to be active in Boy Scouts. He attended the Boy Scout Merit Badge University at our local college to work on his Aviation merit badge, and many of his skiing adventures this past week will apply toward his Snow Sports merit badge. His troop is planning a one-night backpacking trip this weekend and some other two-night camping trips this month and next. Josiah has recently changed math curriucula (we're trying Bob Jones right now) and he's doing very well in Physical Science, which he and Jessica study together. He is also pressing ahead with his Eastern Hemisphere core (history, geography, culture, and writing), and he's working on his very first research paper, complete with bibliography. Topic? Roller coasters!

Andrew the cook is ever ready to create in the kitchen. Recent productions have included Ramen Salad and Crumb Cake; both very tasty. He is learning his multiplication facts, and he placed third in our homeschool spelling bee in Springfield. He correctly spelled over 30 words - some with hyphens, apostrophes, or capitals - before going out on "field." All because his wacky teacher failed to teach him "i before e, except after c. . ." Ugh. Sometimes we one-room schoolhouse teachers forget the essentials!

One of our family's essentials is staying in touch with the people we love. Thanks for reading this letter and for letting us know what's going on in YOUR world. We are very thankful to know you and count you as our friends.

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