8053 US Highway 160, Walnut Shade, MO 65771

417-561-2074

June, 2004

Dear Friends and Family,

It's been a tough ball season so far. Actually, it's easier for me personally than ever before. For the first time in eight years, there is only one Roberts playing ball, and he can drive himself to games! Well, 'playing' may not be the right word. You see, Scott put together a team of guys to play in the church league, and he's the coach. He missed their first (Thursday) game because he was in China. Then there were a couple weeks that it rained on Thursdays. After that, we went camping and were gone on a Thursday. That meant that May 20 was his first time to play. I think he played pretty well initially, but in making a catch - and he assured me that he DID make the catch - he injured his right thumb. Scott's no wimp, so he continued to play. He did mention that batting was pretty uncomfortable.

I didn't know any of that at the time, because I had taken the night off and stayed home. Scott walked in the door with the thumb wrapped in a wet rag, and it looked pretty bad. He said it hurt, but he thought it would be OK. Friday afternoon, he decided to go to Urgent Care, and x-rays showed that one bone of the thumb was broken in two places. It might or might not require surgery, and he'd have to see an orthopedist the following week. It was splinted for the time being. Scott said that knowing it was broken made it hurt a lot more. (Fast forward four days. . . ) Thankfully, it did not require surgery, and he is now sporting a bright purple cast. It only hurts when he bangs it, so we try to stay out of striking range.

(Rolling the clock back a few weeks. . . ) Back before we all became aware of exactly how vital one's right thumb is, Scott arrived home from China. He had another grand trip, with some good relationship development and many opportunities to teach and disciple the leaders there. Since his return, another Bible school has started, and folks are really excited about the way God is moving in that city.

I referred above to the camping trip, and it really does deserve its own mention. This time, we took four days and decided to return to Buffalo Point on the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. As usual, we packed like Beverly Hillbillies. We had the van loaded. It pulled the pop-up. On top of the pop-up was mounted the lower half of an ancient and warped car-top carrier (a true eyesore). Piled into the carrier were several bikes, duly bungeed in place. The remaining bikes were bungeed to the front of the pop-up's trailer frame. The canoe was mounted on top of the van. All was well until we got on the highway. With such a load, our trusty four-cylinder Aerostar was straining. The front of the canoe began slipping to the left, with the same effect as a flap on a plane's wing. We did not achieve lift-off, but I did choose the ostrich pose. I decided that the ride down there would be an appropriate time to take a nap - or at least close my eyes. After all, if you can't SEE the canoe sliding down the hood, it's not really happening.

Once we arrived and set up camp (which, you may remember, is something akin to constructing a small town - we Roberts' never travel light), it ended up being one of our best camping trips ever. It was an ideal location for biking, so Andrew basically returned at meal times. Scott took the guys canoeing, and they had the time of their macho lives. We rented inner tubes and spent untold hours drifting, doing nothing, and enjoying life. There were some huge sand dunes nearby, and Scott buried Josiah up to his neck. The boys played in the sand, caught toads, and got dirty. They caught a tiny turtle to bring home. Jessica and Josiah invented the newest Olympic sport: dune-ing, It's a cross between luge and surfing, done mostly on sand and partially in water. Katie and I read, played Scrabble (which she won), and did nothing. Scott, who never likes to bypass a potential opportunity for adventure, decided it would be fun to jump off a 35-foot cliff into something like eight feet of water. The river had flooded a couple weeks before. In fact, it had been at the second highest level ever recorded. It was still quite high when we were there. Normally, a leap at that location would have been impossible: 42 feet of cliff into a foot of water. If you are old enough to remember seeing those Mexican cliff divers on Wide World of Sports; well, it was something like that, and I got it all on video. Actually, he did it three times. Once, there was only a limited audience and no recording medium. The next time the camcorder battery was dead. (Aren't they always, like armadillos?) Finally, we did achieve digital, conventional film, and video documentation of the event.

Katie turned 14, and it was a good thing. We gave her an odd birthday present, which we hope she is finding useful: one-half of a computer. We paid half, we asked her to pay half, and now she has a nice, NEW, high-powered desktop computer. Our family was given a huge monitor and some other computer equipment, so she is totally set up. She sold her dinosaur laptop to Josiah, thereby recouping some of her investment. Katie also attended the TIP award ceremony at Drury University in Springfield. (This was to publicly recognize her high SAT score.) It was a neat event, done like a graduation ceremony, and she received both silver and gold medallions, of which she is rightfully proud. Her parents are very proud, too. In July, she will attend the two-week Summerscape program for gifted students at Drury, where she has chosen to study Web Design and Digital Art and Design. It should be fun. Two weeks of no siblings, no chores, loads of computer time, and unlimited junk food: just what a bright, introverted teenager loves!

Andrew turned five, and that was a good thing, too. He had two parties: one in his class at church, where many of his friends are; and one at home with the family. As I type, he is outside enjoying his "Slip N Slide." He races halfway across the yard, flings his chest onto that thing with a vengeance that makes me wince, and absolutely loves it. Another of his favorite things is cooking, and the girls went together and bought him an Easy Bake Oven. He could not be happier. I will add that Easy Bake Ovens have come a long way. You wouldn't believe this thing. It doesn't even use light bulbs!

Jessica is at an age where friends are important and some of hers are too far for easy socializing. She handles it gracefully, but we're always trying to figure out ways for her to hang with the girls. She also made the tough decision to drop out of 4H. I think the concept is good, but this particular club just wasn't a good fit for Jessica and our family. Those kinds of choices can be hard at any age. At 12, Jessica is really growing up. In a few days, she will be representing southwest Missouri in the 6th grade level of the Missouri homeschoolers spelling bee in Kansas City! Scott will be her chauffeur. She has worked SOOOOOOOO hard on these 739 words, and her least favorites are 'keratinous' and 'paroxysm.' I think she will do very well, but whether or not she wins, she is a winner in our book.

Josiah became a Webelo Scout a few weeks ago. That's the level between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts (I think). His small den will be merging in the fall with another small den, and their meetings will move from afternoons to evenings. It will be something new and different. Josiah is also making good progress on his penmanship. It's a challenge area for him, but just like we conquered reading, we're going to conquer this. He continues to have lots of energy and an insatiably curious mind. No news there, huh? As mentioned, after saving for months, Josiah was able to buy Katie's hand-me-down computer, which he promptly stripped down and began customizing. This seems to be an on-going process, with no end in sight. The child knows MUCH more about computers than I will learn by the time I'm seventy, and he's only been using a computer for less than a year. He is forever asking why I have something set a certain way (because it works that way?), and, did I realize my computer could do this certain other thing? (no; never thought about it, actually), and, that same old screensaver sure looks boring (doesn't bother me; I'm averse to change, Son!!!), so now I can just say, "If you want to mess around with a computer, go mess around with your own(!!!), and don't even touch the settings on mine!" It's such a freeing concept.

Lately, we have been re-learning some old lessons. 1. Your kids will mirror your worst qualities, as well as your best, so it's wise to live right at all times. 2. If you choose to live in a 90-year-old house, things will break, and you will have to fix them or have them fixed. 3. Similarly, 40-year-old bodies are for some reason unlike their 30-year-old predecessors. They need maintenance and repairs, too! (40-yearolds told us that when we were 30, but we didn't believe them.) 4. Relationships are the main event, and they take the most work of all. It's been said that relationship is even more important than being right! We treasure our relationship with you, and we always love to hear from you!

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

This page was last updated on Friday, June 4, 2004