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!

Christmas at our home

C, G, and E all participated in a live children's nativity

I have often heard people exclaim how much fun it must be at our house on Christmas morning.  One of the advantages of having a big family is that even simple Christmas traditions are big! I must admit, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning are some of the best days ever at my house.  2011 was no exception.  So, I'll share with you some of my favorite pictures from the holiday.  Enjoy!

A decorates the gingerbread house on Christmas eve

Our Family loves Christmas

C tears the sheet off his new bike

M is delighted with his picture book

A opens up an RC truck



Santa gave D some makeup




G is our new Spy Kid

Merry Christmas!

E and A move to the new Xbox game

M is all worn out by the fun



The completed puzzle that E gave Mom for Christmas

Almond Butter Bars

This recipe is a family tradition.  My mother-in-law gave us the recipe and we have made it every Christmas! It wouldn't feel like Christmas without these.  I've adapted the recipe a little and have figured out the easiest way to make them.  So here it is if you ever want to try them:
Cookie Mix 
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp. baking powder
6 cups flour
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) until it is fine crumbs.  Store in a covered dish or ziplock bag in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks.  Makes 8 cups. (2 batches of almond butter bars- I make one for Christmas and another on New Year's Eve)

Almond Butter Bars
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp. almond flavoring
2/3 cup butter + 2 TBS  butter, softened
12 oz (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese, softened
4 cups cookie mix
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  In a small bowl, combine sugar, almond flavoring and food coloring (red or green) for the filling.  Set aside.
In a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) combine 2/3 cup butter, cream cheese and egg yolks.  Blend until smooth.  Stir in cookie mix and 2/3 cup sugar.  Knead on a floured surface about 25 times until pliable like pie dough.  Divide in half.  Using packing tape, tape a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger than your cookie sheet onto the counter, then roll out 1/2 of the dough about 1/2" thick into a rectangle the size of the cookie sheet.  Pick of parchment paper and flip dough onto the foil on the cookie sheet.  Spread butter over the top of the dough, then spread the colored sugar mix on top, leaving 1/4" edge.  Place remaining dough on the parchment paper and roll out to the same size.  Spread with butter, then flip onto the top of the sugar, making a sandwich.  Pinch edges of dough to seal.  Brush the top with egg whites (I like to beat them first) and sprinkle with sliced almonds, pushing them into the dough slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  cool completely, then transfer cookie to a cutting board by lifting the foil off the pan. cut into 3" long strips (I use a pizza cutter) and enjoy.

Gingerbread Men

 A has been begging me to make Gingerbread Men with him, so last Friday we went to work.  He had a blast cutting them out and putting on the eyes and buttons.  He really liked his one-legged boy!  After getting them all ready, he tasted one and didn't like it.  After all that work!  He sure is a cutie though.  He loves using face paint and asks me every afternoon to paint his face- hence the Tiger make up in the picture. 

Gingerbread Men Recipe:

4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup molasses

Cookie Frosting:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 to2 TBS milk        food coloring (optional)

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the molasses.  Gradually add the dry ingredients, blending until the flour is thoroughly mixed in.  Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a round, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). On a floured surface, roll our one half of the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out gingerbread people with a cookie cutter.  Use a spatula to transfer them to the baking sheet. 
Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool.  Make frosting by mixing all the ingredients together and adding more milk if needed to thin.  Place frosting in a sealable plastic bag and cut the tip off the corner. Then decorate by piping the frosting around the cookie and adding M&M candies for the mouth and buttons.

Teacher's Christmas Gifts

 I put together some Christmas gifts for my children's teachers this year. I took big bottles of hand sanitizer, took off the front label, then printed the Hands poem onto transparency, rolled it, stuffed it into the bottle and unrolled it using my sharping tool from my knife set and pressed it up against the front of the bottle. Voila!







A useful and personalized gift. I took the idea from a blog that I enjoy: http://www.mymixofsix.blogspot.com/
She had made them on small bottles of sanitizer, you can also put them in soap bottles. I just enlarged them to fit the big bottles so they would last longer. I love giving gifts that are useful as well as creative and thoughtful.

Kiss My Cookies

Tonight I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Blossoms.  I used Hugs as well as Kisses for a festive look.

Hershey Kisses (or Hugs)
1/2 cup shortening (I used half butter, half shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unwrap Kisses.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk, vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into butter mixture. 
Shape dough into 1 inch balls (TBS size).  Roll in granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Then cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

So far, I've been choosing cookies that freeze well and I am storing them in the freezer until we are ready to put together our Christmas plates for sharing.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Today I made a double batch of Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.  I chose to make the glaze white, but you can color it with food coloring, or use a bit of Jello powder to make a sprinkled effect in the glaze.   Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 TBS milk
1 TBS melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flatten slightly. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cool cookies, then dip into the glaze to coat the tops. 
To make the glaze: combine confectioner's sugar, milk, 1 TBS butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.  Makes about 36 cookies.

Cookies!

My first cookies this year are Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles.
Our family doubles this recipe so we have lots of cookies for sharing:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 TBS soft butter
1 cup of sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup cream cheese (or sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
colored sugar or edible glitter

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and butter.  Gradually mix in the sugar.  Beat in the egg until blended, then the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. 
With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture half at a time, until evenly mixed.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. 
Shortly before baking, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease one or two large cookie sheets (or cover with parchment paper).  Put the decorative sugar into small bowls. 
With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick balls.  Roll the balls in the colored sugar and place them on the baking sheets spaced about 3 inches apart.  Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 15 minutes.  Do not over bake or they will be as hard as rocks.  Let cool.

I hope to make 5 or 6 more types of cookies over the next 2 weeks.  I'll post all the recipes on my blog with a picture of how they turn out.

Keeping up on my Goals!

Adin and Mitchell visit with Santa at the Mall.  Adin was  a bit too shy to get much closer than this:)

This is probably the most difficult time of year to keep any goals at all.  Thankfully, most of my goals fit in with the season.  I've been reading my scriptures nearly every day.  I'm already in the middle of 2 Nephi.  This has really helped me stayed spiritually at peace during what is pretty much a stressful time for me.  I have been using my new Droid phone to read the scriptures and track my progress.  It's a great little tool. I am also using it to read a book on Kindle.  I'm reading the classic fairy tales which are fun to read and easy to fit in here and there.  On my bedside table I have A Patriot's History of the United States.  It's amazing, unfortunately it's also very long and will be due back at the library next week.  I'm going to have to give in and buy this one, but it's worthy of my bookshelf.

 

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Me and Elijah on the Roller Coaster at Amazing Jake's!

Stuart and I were able to attend the temple in Mesa last week.  We brought all the kids up with us and they stayed at their Aunt Laurie's house.  We did sealings in the temple, bringing some of my ancestors together forever through the wonderful priesthood power.  What a wonderful feeling that was.  After our temple visit, we took the kids to a fun place called Amazing Jake's.  It is an indoor wonderland. It has lazer tag, rock wall climbing, mini golf, bumper cars, a mini coaster and lots of video games and other stuff.  It also has an all you can eat buffet.  I think that counts as  one of the "local attractions", even though it is in Gilbert.

Chad and Greg's team

Elijah and his teammates with Flat Stanley-who visited for a few weeks.

Flag Football for the boys is going to be over today!  They have their tournament games and then we get to rest until next year.  They have all done well and had fun playing.  On Wednesday they had night games.  Chad and Greg had 2 games to play, but I only let them play 1/2 of the second game as it was bedtime for Elijah.

Mitchell in front of our tree.

Almond Butter Bars, Yummy.

Last night we attended a live children's Nativity that a local family puts on each year in front of their barn, complete with a donkey, alpaca (for the camel) and sheep.  It was beautiful.  I love Christmas time. We also did our first baking yesterday. The famous (or infamous if you are a waistline) Almond butter bars!  We are taking them to a cookie party tonight with Stuart's work associates.  Sunday is Stuart's 41st birthday and his sister is coming with her family to help us celebrate. We are then keeping their 4 kids with us for a few days.  It's going to be a fun week!  I can't wait until Christmas.