2011 Anniversary Newsletter - 6 Crazy, Awesome Years!

Greetings Family & Friends!!!

Man, these Anniversary Newsletters sure get sent out later and later these days, but each year with good reason as we always seem to be waiting on big news to share with everyone. And this year was no exception as we’ll get to that big news in a little while (and no, we’re not pregnant...I think).

Actually, there have been a lot of big things going on for us this past year. Gwen turned 1 last October and is already creeping up on two years of life, which is actually quite the feat as she plays hard day in and day out. She always has a new bump, cut, or bruise, most of which are self-inflicted (insert predictable comment about brotherly love here). Nowadays, Gwen likes to

spend her time reading books, dancing, drawing and painting (see above picture), playing outside, climbing on everything (and jumping off of most things), eating popsicles, singing songs, and playing with her big brother. She is still quite the fireball at times, but she is also the sweetest thing I have ever held in my arms. She is so full of life, gets excited about the little things, and brings so much joy to our family.

Cole has had a very momentous year as well. He turned 3 in June, got to go on a real train for his birthday, and shortly after mastered the art of going on the potty. After 20 months of having two in diapers it was nice for all of us to reach this accomplishment. Cole’s New Year’s resolution was to ditch his pacifier, and after giving it up cold turkey, he hasn’t asked for it back. A few

months ago Cole was diagnosed with a super-intense peanut allergy, as well as asthma, which when combined could make for a fun trip to the ER (although none yet). So if we ever make our way to your house, no PB&J for our little guy. Cole had a great time taking swim lessons this summer (even though his little sister was there, too), and he also completed his first real game of bowling. Cole loves playing with his trains, riding bikes outside, doing crafts, and going to preschool two mornings a week.

This past year Emily finished her third full year of studies at Denver Seminary and will graduate in December with a Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Last fall she took and passed her comps (short word for really big, important test). In January she began her internship at a local church and in September added an internship at a local school. She has really enjoyed getting to put her counseling skills to use with real clients. She is now gone four

days a week and the kids are always telling me how much they miss their mommy. Apparently they don’t say the same thing to Emily when I’m at work. I think it is because Emily sneaks them candy all the time. But seriously, we are so excited about Emily’s sprint to the finish as this accomplishment will come as a result of a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Other Emily highlights from the year include getting pneumonia for a couple months, completing a 10K run, getting to see the Rockettes Christmas show, and finally getting to live out a lifelong dream of attending the Iowa State Fair, which we did when we were in Iowa for the Yeager Family Reunion.

I have spent most of my time this past year either taking care of the kids while Emily has been doing her counseling thing, watching copious amounts of football, lamenting over turning 30, or being the General Manager of the Jefferson Village Chick-fil-A here in Littleton, which actually segues into our big news. In last year’s newsletter we mentioned that we had begun the process of working towards getting our own Chick-fil-A restaurant, and a lot of good things have happened in the past year to move us in that direction. In July, I was given the opportunity to apply for Chick-fil-A’s Interim Manager Program, in September I flew to Atlanta to interview for the program, and a couple days later I found out that I have been accepted into the program. As an Interim Manager I will become a corporate employee and Chick-fil-A will move us to different CFA restaurants that do not currently have an owner/operator. I will run the restaurant for corporate while they look for a permanent operator, and it will also give me the opportunity to prove to them that I would make a great operator myself. I will be in Atlanta from October 9th through the 28th for training, and then we will be sent off to our first assignment sometime in November or December. So while it is still unknown where we will living this next year or so, we do finally know what we will be doing and that is very exciting! And maybe when the time comes around to send out next year’s newsletter we will have more great news to share with you all regarding our future with Chick-fil-A.

We feel more and more blessed each year as God continues to pour out His blessings on our marriage and our family in ways we never could have imagined. As we have been walking in obedience to His calling on our lives, it is encouraging to look back and to see how He has been guiding each step. We love each other, we love our kids, and we love each and every one of you. Thanks for being a part of our lives.
All Our Love, Ryan, Emily, Cole, and Gwen Roberts

May & June 2010

Shockingly there haven't been many updates for a while from deep inside the Roberts Portal. Emily finished up her semester strong but is now taking summer classes. If all goes according to plan, Emily should be graduating by December of 2011. Emily is going to make an incredible counselor and I can't wait for her to use her gifts to help other people. A lot has happened in the past 2 months including celebrating Mother's and Father's Days, saying goodbye to some of our closest friends, entertaining visitors, and celebrating Cole's 2nd birthday.

Here are just a few pictures of the fun and festivities. I'll post some more pictures on Facebook when I get a chance.

Emily got some great Mother's Day gifts from Cole & Gwen, including some new pjs for the summer!

Ryan had an incredible opportunity to fly to Clearwater for a couple of days to hang out with some of our former youth kids. Many of our kids are graduating seniors and so Ryan got to put on one final "youth group" for them before they head off to college. It was a great trip!

We have tried to get as much time as possible with some of our friends before they head off to bigger and better things after graduating. We have had to say many tough good-byes, but thus is the reality of seminary.

Emily's parents flew up for a visit over Memorial Day Weekend. Cole and Gwen loved the time they got to spend with Grandpa and Mimi.

While Al & Kris were in town we also had a dedication ceremony for Cole and Gwen. It was something that we kept putting off for various reasons but were finally able to carve out the right time and place for it. We asked our friend, Matt, to officiate over the 10-minute ceremony on-campus by the pond. We invited all of our friends and then had a bar-b-que afterwards. It was a very special day of commiting our children to the Lord and celebrating with our community of friends.

After 6 months of looking we finally bought a new(er) car! Yes, it's a minivan. And yes, that makes us super cool. Ryan is still rockin' the Explorer back and forth to work so that Emily and take the kids around in the Sienna. It will be nice to have all that room when we roadtrip it to Michigan this summer.
Cole turned 2 on June 11th. We had a huge party for him and the whole neighborhood showed up! It was a little crazy as the weather did not cooperate and he had to move the party into our breezeway/apartment. So amidst all the craziness to didn't snap too many pics of the party. So here is a picture of Cole playing with one of his favorite birthday presents --- a Slip 'n Slide!

I just love our little angel, Gwen. She is 8 months now and is sitting up like a champ, rolls all over the floor, and has 2 teeth! She loves being around Cole, except for when he accidentally kicks her and steps on her.

I like to give her a mohawk when mommy isn't around :)

An Average Tuesday....

Here are just a few pictures from what life is like when I am home taking care of the kids on Tuesdays. I try to do everything I can for the kids so that Emily can focus solely on her classes and getting school work done.

So, much of these days are filled with feeding the kids...entertaining the kids.... and teaching the kids about the finer things in life.
But our favorite part about Tuesdays is when mommy visits us in-between classes, studying, and meeting with her mentor.

Finally, head over to Cole's blog for a new video of our favorite little man.

Daddy At Home Day

Tuesdays will officially be my day "off" from Chick-fil-A so that Emily can go to class. Therefore, I get to be home with the kids all day, enjoying all the wonderful things that come along with parenting a 19-month-old boy and a 3-month-old girl. Hopefully on these days I will have a few minutes to blog a little, especially since our blogging hasn't been quite up to speed recently.

Cole started out today day by eating a great breakfast. A couple hours later, he threw it all up, right onto the Pooh Bear that Stephen and Amy got for Cole when he was still a fetus. We'll throw it into the wash to see if it can be salvaged.

We have all been getting over various illnesses in the past few weeks, most recently a 24-hour bug that spread throughout the family, including Mimi (Emily's mom) who was here for 9 days to help with the kids while I worked and Emily took a 2-week intensive class.

Speaking of class, Emily didn't allow taking 9 credits and having a baby mid-semester deter her from getting a 4.0 this fall. We celebrated with pizza and Emily's favorite candies.

Gwen is 3 months old now and it turning into quite the lovely young lady. She isn't quite sleeping all the way through the night, but she's getting close and takes pretty good naps throughout the day. She is still a little fussy and prefers being held, but we force her to the ground once in a while for some tummy time and to give our arms a break.

Here is a video, taken today, of Gwen playing and smiling.

We are headed to Florida next Wednesday for a fun-filled adventure featuring Stephen & Emily's wedding, Chris & Colleen's Baby Shower, a Trip to Clearwater, a visit from Steve & Lindsay, and showing off Gwen to many people that haven't met her yet, including Grandma Joanne who is flying in from Arizona! I am sure a blog will be in order to summarize the trip once we get back, so check back in a couple of weeks!

Blizzard '09

Well, maybe "blizzard" is blowing it a little out of proportion, but we have had about a foot and a half of snow in the past 24 hours and it is still snowing as we are about to head off to bed. I didn't go in to work and Emily's classes got cancelled today, and the same may happen tomorrow. My parents are supposed to be flying into town tomorrow evening, so hopefully the snow will let up by then and that the runways and roads will be clear.

Cole and I took full advantage of the white out by heading outside to play in the snow. Here are some pictures of us before heading out into the cold.

Cole is intrigued by, and loves to say, "gloves".

Here he is showing off the awesome snowsuit that Uncle Chris & Aunt Colleen got him for his birthday. Thanks guys!!!

We threw some snowballs, ate some snowballs, fell over in the snow, and did some sledding. Here is a video of me pulling Cole and some of the other kids in a sled.

As you may remember from last winter, we have a hill right outside our apartment that is ideal for little kids to sled on. So Cole and I made 6 or 7 trips down the hill until Cole's face was frozen, which was our cue to head inside. Here is some video of one of our runs.


And no blog post is complete without a new picture of Gwen. She's a keeper!

1 Month ---- 1 Blog Entry

Well, it has been a good month or so since our last blog entry, but for good reason. We've been having too much fun! Well, I wouldn't label it all "fun", but life has been full, interesting, and exciting. Emily has been hard at work finishing up her semester. She is kickin' butt and taking names -- Cole and I are super proud of how well she is doing. She has also been feeling much better from the pregnancy as she is almost 18 weeks along. We will find out on June 1st if we are having a boy or a girl, so be on the lookout for another blog post in the near future.

We had been having a fairly mild winter here in the Denver, and then suddenly we got three snow storms in a week. Here is some video of some of the snow falling (not too exciting, but will give you an idea).

Early in April we were able to spend an evening with the Bush family as they were visiting Ann's parents in Highlands Ranch. Daryle was the pastor at the church we were at in Florida before they moved to California. Daryle couldn't make the trip, but we did get to hang out with Ann, Katie, Caleb, and Kirsten. Cue pictures:

We had a wonderful time at Easter celebrating with some of our friends here at the seminary. We had a pot luck Easter lunch and watched the final round of The Masters. Emily and I dyed some eggs as well.

Cole checks out his Easter basket from Grandpa & Grams. He goes straight for the cash in the Infamous Golden Egg.

Yay for late-night egg dying.
Easter morning picture.

The seminary put on an end-of-the-year event called the Selah Gala a couple weeks ago. We all call it "Seminary Prom". Emily and I got all dressed up, dropped Cole off at the free childcare, and enjoyed a fun evening with our friends. We had a delicious dinner in a very cool banquet hall and we got to do some dancing as well.

The pregnant ladies at the Gala.

Finally, we'd like to wish all the moms out there (and especially our own) a Happy Mother's Day! Emily got to celebrate her first Mother's Day with a child out of the womb. Cole bought her some flowers and Daddy made her some breakfast in bed (which turned into breakfast on the couch since she woke up too early).

We are headed to Seattle in 10 days to visit with some friends, which we'll be sure to blog about when we return. Until then, head over to Cole's blog for the latest on what he's been up to. There are lots of fun, new videos to check out.

Our Apartment

Some people (mostly Emily's parents) have wanted to see what our on-campus apartment looks like. Well, after 2 1/2 months we finally feel somewhat settled and are ready to give you all the grand tour. So, if you're interested in seeing where we live, watching the three videos below will give you a pretty good idea. Enjoy!

Moving to Denver

Emily and I made our move to Denver official this past week as I resigned from my position at the church. It has been a sad week of telling the church staff, the church members, and especially the youth kids about our decision. We have loved pouring our lives into these kids and into this church, but we feel that God is calling us to something new.

We will be hitting the road the second week of August and moving into our 2-bedroom, on-campus apartment at Denver Seminary on August 15th. Emily will begin working full-time towards a Counseling degree at the seminary, while I will be a working full-time as a stay-at-home dad to baby Cole. I will eventually get a "real" job, but until we get seminary life and life in Denver all figured out, this seems like the best option for our family.

Please be in prayer for us as we say our goodbyes here in Clearwater, pack up our junk, and start a new phase of life in Denver.