Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from the Roberts Family!  

We hope and pray that you found happiness and joy through the months of 2013.  As the year comes to a close, we have so many things to be thankful for.  It has been another amazing, crazy year filled with some challenges and unexpected blessings. As I write our family letter this year, all I can think about are the many tender mercies that the Lord has shown our family.

This year started out with our family in Tucson, Arizona. From January until June our family was blessed with the experience of working on the small family farm of our friends, the H family. The older boys learned how to care for animals and do other farm chores in return for eggs and meat from the farm. The rest of us just enjoyed playing with the animals, feeding a calf, weeding the garden and running around.
At the start of this year, S was working for Apex Microtechnology. D was in her 2nd semester at BYU, J and C in high school, with G, E and A all attending a K-8 Charter school.  M was my only little buddy at home, but that didn't last too long. On April 20th, our family was blessed with the arrival of K. He weighed 9lbs 13oz and was 20 1/2 inches long when he was born.  (See post below for more details) S's parents visited  Tucson to help us welcome him to our family.  They returned again in June for his blessing day. We are so grateful for their help and support in raising our children.

S took a week off of work while I was recovering from K's birth. The day he returned to work, he was called in to speak with his supervisor. He was told that the company was reorganizing again and that his position was no longer needed. In other words, he was laid off from his job. Stuart called me as he was driving home to let me know the news.  I was a bit shocked, but Stuart said that he was completely relieved. To him, it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The atmosphere at his work had been getting more and more uncomfortable over the years, and he had solved most of the problems with the machines so there was no more challenge to his job. He no longer enjoyed his job.  It turned out that losing his job was probably the best thing that ever happened to him career-wise. He reassured me that we would be all right and that he wouldn't let us starve. He spent the next three months working in the hot Arizona summer sun, keeping that promise. He took whatever odd jobs he could find and helped friends weld, paint, fix sprinkler systems, etc.  He also put his resume online and applied for engineering jobs all over the country.

Then, at the end of June, he received 2 phone calls from companies that wanted to interview him.  The first was in Florida and the second was in Oregon. The job in Florida didn't appeal to him at all, but the job in Oregon seemed like a fantastic opportunity. He was given a job offer about 3 days after his interview and he accepted it immediately. Truly this was a tender mercy and a miracle to have found a good job so soon.

Before he left to start work at Tektronix in Beaverton, Oregon, we decided to take a family vacation, to fulfill a  promise we had made to A to take him to Disneyland "someday".  Well, this summer was that someday.  With S driving the truck and pulling the tent trailer and me driving the van, we headed off to Anaheim, Ca where we stayed for a week at the Orangeland RV Park.  The RV park was so fun, with a pool and hot tub, outdoor grilling/picnic area, billiards, and laundry room.  We spent two days at different beaches where the kids swam, surfed on boogie-boards and built sandcastles. We also had dinner at Medieval Times, which was amazing. And of course, we spent 2 days at the Disney parks. After our incredible week, S packed up the truck and trailer and headed north to start work with his new company and look for a place for our family to stay. I loaded the kids in the van and headed south to San Diego where we went to the beach

Chad and Greg on the Beach

one more time and stayed with our friends, the M family. The next day, we said our goodbyes and went back home to start packing for our move to Oregon.

In the meantime, D had put in her paperwork to become a full-time missionary. She received a call in August to serve in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission with a report date of October 30-her 20th birthday. We feel so blessed to have a daughter who is worthy and willing to serve the Lord by teaching others about His restored gospel and to share her faith in our Savior to all who'll listen.

Mitchell loves the Fall

As August came to an end, we said our goodbyes to S's sister's family in Gilbert, AZ and all our friends in the Tucson area and we packed everything we could fit into a moving truck and with D and J taking turns with me, we drove to our new home in Beaverton, OR. We took 5 days to get there, stopping along the way in Las Vegas, Saratoga Springs, Utah (to spend 2 nights with Stuart's parents and visit family there), and Boise, ID (where we drove around to see some of our favorite places from our years of living there). At each of those stops we also visited the temple. Including the Mesa temple that we visited prior to our move and the Portland temple that we visited the week after our move, we ended up visiting 6 temples in the shore period of time.  It was neat to see all those beautiful houses dedicated to the Lord.  We were so happy to arrive safely in Beaverton and count this as another miracle in our lives.

Irene Kopp with Heidi and Keenan

In September, the boys started school again. J is a senior and C is a sophomore this year. G is in 7th grade and is homeschooling via the Oregon Virtual Academy. E is in 4th grade and Adin is in 1st grade at the elementary school which is only a mile walk from the house we are renting. We have wonderful neighbors and a super church family who helped us to unpack and settle into our new home.  We feel so welcome here and are excited to explore the area.  At the end of September, we were blessed with the visit of our dear friend, I K, from Switzerland. She stayed with us for a week and we enjoyed visiting the rose gardens, library and Portland temple with her. She has been an incredible friend to our family since S met her on his mission. 

Our Missionary

We are so happy that she was able to spend some time with Di before she departed for her mission too. D entered the Provo, UT MTC on October 30. She was there for 2 weeks before heading off to Minnesota, where she will be serving until May of 2015.  S's parents also visited us again when they came to spend Thanksgiving week with our family.

Jacob's senior portrait

Here in Beaverton, we have lots of things to keep us busy.  My sister, I, and her family live only 1 1/2 hours away from us so we look forward to being able to spend time with them. We bought an Oregon Zoo membership and hope to visit it often. We have already taken the MAX train into the city a few times, which is a great adventure for the little boys. J is part of the Men's choir in high school and is looking forward to graduating next summer.  C has begun putting together his Eagle Scout leadership project and hopes to finish it early next year. G loves the nearby skate park and is learning to do stunts on his scooter.  He is also very interested in Quadcopters. E has joined an Oregon Battle of the Books team at his school and is reading up a storm to prepare for the "battle". A works hard at school and even harder at playing and having fun.  M is only 3, but he learned how to ride a 2-wheeler this fall.  Little K is 8 months old and now weighs about 23 lbs. 

Keenan Bryce

He started crawling and sitting up at 6 months, pulling himself up onto furniture at 7 months.  I won't be surprised if he takes his first steps by Christmas, but I hope he waits a little longer. S absolutely loves his job! I'm so happy to see him taking joy in what he is doing to provide for our family again. I also feel a lot of joy in being his wife and the mom to all these wonderful children.  They are growing up so quickly and I feel blessed to be a part of the chaos and excitement of raising them.

Chad and Santa

Adin and Santa

As 2013 now comes to an end, I have to express my thankfulness for my family.  Through the challenges that my own family as well as those of my extended family, I feel so much closer to all of them.  One of my sisters has battled a brain tumor this year and as scary and horrible as cancer is, the experience has left our family with the knowledge that we will all be there for each other through thick and thin.  I love knowing that whenever there is a need, I can count on my loved ones to rally around and help me through it with their support and prayers.  How grateful I am to belong to these people I call family.  I love you all. I hope and pray you have a beautiful, joyful and merry Christmas as you and your loved ones celebrate the birth of our Lord this Christmas season. May you have a blessed New Year filled with happiness and tender mercies.

Stuart and Heidi 

Love,
H and family

Christmas Letter Debate

For many years now our family has sent a traditional family Christmas letter updating all our friends and family with news from the past year.  Now that we have Facebook, texting and other fast communication available I've found that fewer and fewer people write these letters or even mail cards anymore. I've been debating with myself about writing this year's annual letter.  On one hand, I really enjoy having a written record of what our family has been involved from year to year.  On the other hand, I don't even know how many people read the letters and if it is worth the cost of paper and postage to mail them all out. So I've decided to compromise this year.  I will still write our annual family letter, but instead of mailing it to everyone, I'll post it on my blog and let everyone know it is there. This way, if they really want to read up on how our family is doing, they can just go check out my blog.  If they don't really care, or if they already know what's going on because they follow me on Facebook, then they don't have to feel obligated to read it or guilty about throwing it away, and of course, it will save me on the cost of all that postage. (I'm such a cheapwad, oh well, that's just who I am, take it or leave it!) So over the next week, I plan to get on the computer in my free time and write that annual letter.  I'll let you know when it's finished so you can all read my wonderful take on our family's adventures this year.  They have been bountiful, so you may just want to read it! Cheers!

If he would just stay little...

K, April 20, 2012, 9lbs 13 oz

 Our sweet K was born 3 1/2 weeks ago.  He was so "tiny" on his birthday.  Though compared to most babies he was really big. He has already outgrown most of the newborn clothes I had ready for him. His newborn cloth diapers that seemed so huge that first day home from the hospital now barely squeeze around his middle.  I've had to get out the 3-6 month size box and add it to my stash.  My wonderful mom and her good friend made these adorable Onesie's for K and asked me to take a picture of him in them each month.  So here he is on his birthday and next week I'll already be taking his picture in his "One Month" Onesie.  I guess after watching the other 7 children grow so quickly I should be used to how fast these babies grow, but that doesn't stop me longing for them to "just stay little..."

Sweet baby in the hospital bassinet

Last Time Ever

K, April 20, 2013

Our 8th child, K was born Saturday.  He's beautiful, with black hair and deep blue eyes: he has captured our hearts.  As I went through the labor and birth, I couldn't help thinking that "This was the last time ever I would have to do this." 
Late last night (or was it early morning?) I was holding him in my arms after feeding and changing and feeding him again.  I was downstairs looking at some of my favorite websites because I didn't want to wake up S.  I realized that K had fallen back asleep quite a while earlier and that I really should go back to bed and sleep myself, but I didn't want to.  I thought to myself, "This is the last time ever that I will be holding my 4 day old son."
I finally made it back to bed and soon it was time to start a new day.  I realized that with so many "last time evers" looming on my horizon, I needed to make some resolutions to help me cherish them.
So now, I've decided to not complain about being tired because I've up all night with the baby, or sick kids, or restless kids, or a child who has had a nightmare. I will enjoy those late-night (or early-morning) one-on-one bonding moments with my children and not wish them away or "past that stage".  I will take naps during the day instead of cleaning or running errands so I won't get cranky and irritated just because I'm tired. I can sleep through the night later when they've grown up.
I've decided to never stress about how clean (or unclean) the house is because I chose to spend my time holding or playing or helping or talking to my children.  I will no longer apologize to guests, or even feel embarrassed about the condition of my house.  I can clean later, when they are all in school.
I've decided not to get upset with my husband when he gets home from work and plays with the boys instead of taking out the garbage or doing other mundane chores that I don't want to do myself.  I realize that he makes a huge sacrifice to get up early and go to work each weekday.  He misses so many of the "firsts" (and "lasts") that our children experience just so that I can stay home and experience them.  There have been days when he has gotten up before the children and left for work and not returned home again until after they were in bed.  I've rarely had a day like that where I couldn't be near my children. I'm so blessed to have been able to be a full-time mother for 19+ years because of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of my husband as he provides for our family. I have taken down the "honey-do" list for him and have decided that what he needs to do more than anything is to spend time with our children, letting them know he loves them and helping them learn how to grow into wonderful men, just like he is.  The house will get fixed up later, as he teaches them the skills to do it.

I've decided not to whine about never getting take vacations away from my children.  As a couple, we

 have only left our children on about 3 or 4 occasions during the last 20+ years of our marriage and I used to be jealous of all the couples I knew who frequently got to take vacations together without their children, but no more.  As much as I cherish the time I have alone with my eternal companion, I also realize the time I have with our children will soon be over and gone.  It is precious and I am grateful that I haven't missed very many days of their hugs, kisses, growth, good-nights, and songs.
Even with the days that are struggles,  filled with temper-tantrums, fights, and discipline, even with all the weight of responsibility for feeding, dressing, cleaning, teaching, etc. that raising children brings, I will not whine about it, but look for the joyful moments that each day brings. we'll be alone later and can be on vacation when we retire.
I pray that one day when I'm in my 60's or 70's, my now 5-day old son will let me have the blessing of holding his 5-day old child.  When that day arrives, many years from now, but really just around the corner, I will probably think "This is the last time ever..."
Until then, I have many firsts to look forward to experiencing, not only with K but with all of my children. If you my readers, friends and family, happen to be there and catch me falling into the negative traps that sometimes ensnare us in our vulnerable moments, please, I beg you to gently lean over and whisper in my ear that "This is the last time ever..." and I'll know what you are talking about and I'll look for the joyful moments again.

Keeping it Clean!

Keeping our home clean and organized is not always an easy job.  With 6 very active and creative boys, there seems to be no end of clutter, stains, dust, and dirt.  However, I recently came across a wonderful website: tipsandpix.com from a mom who has organized a daily cleaning schedule to help her keep on top of everything without having to do it all in one day. So,  I decided I would put together something like this because at the rate I was going I was just going around in circles and never really getting anything clean.  Using her idea,  I've put together a cleaning schedule that fits my big family and schedule and started it this week. So far, it's awesome. I feel in control of the mess again and know that by the end of each month, the house will have all the major dirt collecting area cleaned up.  The only thing I didn't put on my schedule was the 5th Friday. I've decided that when a fifth Friday shows up in a month, I will use it to deep clean one of the bedrooms or to organize some closets, the pantry or laundry room.  

So here is a picture of my schedule:

Ironing and Socks

The Ironing Pile

When you live with 7 men/boys, it seems there's always 2 chores that never seem to go away: ironing and matching socks.  Ironing has never been my favorite chore.  When I was about 13 years old, I remember visiting my church leader's home.  She had her ironing board out in one of her spare rooms and had been ironing her husband's shirts.  In those days, fabrics needed to be ironed a lot more than modern fabrics do, and I always dreaded ironing my skirts and blouses.  Usually, I put the chore off until I needed a certain item, then I would iron just that item and never really tackle the "pile".  I told my leader how much I hated ironing and how I hoped my husband would iron his own clothes.  She taught me something wonderful that day, which has always stuck with me.  She answered by telling me that she really didn't like ironing either, however, she LOVED her husband more than anything and she always wanted him to look nice and make a good impression on people, so she didn't mind ironing his shirts, knowing this would save him time and make him look his best.  Her words have repeated in my mind over the years as I married and began having children.  I don't like ironing, but I do LOVE them, so I try to keep up with the ironing so they all look their best.
 
Since my boys all wear a white shirt each week to church, and then usually put it in the laundry after one wearing, it seems that my pile just grows and grows.  My husband and older boys all know how to iron their own shirts, but they don't usually have time to do the chore.  So about once a month, I try to tackle the pile.  I put on some uplifting music and go to work. I like doing this chore on a Sunday morning, because it's usually needful for that days' church service, and also it can be a peaceful chore. My husband spends Sunday morning playing with the boys or reading, so I have quiet time in my room to tackle the ironing.

Odd Sock Drawer

The sock monster pile is another chore that I really don't enjoy.  I just don't understand how so many socks get through the laundry without a match!  I always keep the unmatched socks in a drawer next to my bed.  When a matching sock comes through the laundry, sometimes I can match it up right away, but usually it just sits there until I decide I want to close the drawer again and finally tackle the pile.  Occasionally, I can get one of the boys to help me, and I enjoy working and talking with whichever boy is with me.  In the end, we usually have a lot of socks that still don't have a mate, and I put them in a bag for a matching day at the end of the year.  If they don't have a match at that final round, they get thrown away.  It might not be the most efficient system, but it works for our family, and I suppose one day, when they are all grown with families of their own I might even miss these chores.