The Roberts in Korea

Danika!

Sarah has not lived in the USA for the past seven years.  She has made many friends in South Korea and throughout East Asia, but her time away from the USA has left her with few close friends in America.

However, Sarah has kept in close contact with Danika.  Danika is Sarah's "one" friend in America.  Danika is amazing and this post is about Danika!

Every summer Sarah looks forward to hanging out with her good friend Danika.  Together they enjoy movies, sleepovers, shopping, eating out, concerts, coffee shops and lots of laughter and fun.

Danika has a car and a driver's license and Sarah doesn't.  (That explains why Sarah is so reluctant to get her license...as long as Danika is Sarah's transportion she gets to hang out with Danika.)

Danika is a treasure to the Roberts family.  She is a highlight to our summer break in America.  Her friendship to Sarah and our family is so appreciated--and it has stood the test of time and miles.  We are thankful for Danika.

Becca--the traveler

We haven't seen much of Becca this summer.  Her summer job as a member of the NNU Covenant Group has kept her busy.  She has been singing and playing keyboard in churches and leading worship and engaging with junior high and senior high students at church camps in Oregon and Washington. 

We have missed hanging out with Becca this summer, but we are glad she has had a good summer with Covenant.  In mid June we attended a Covenant concert in Yakima and gave Becca a ride back to Nampa with us on her day off so she could attend the wedding of some of her college friends.  At the wedding she got to see Brittney and Adam and Cody, and many others.  That was our last chance to see Becca until Christmas. 

We miss her, but are keeping in touch via Facebook and Skype.  I (Ryan) wanted to include her in our summer blog posts so I "borrowed" some of these pictures from Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fifty-mile ride (and more)

This summer I (Ryan) enjoyed the opportunity of riding lots of miles on my mountain bike.  Every day that we spent in Southern Idaho was perfect for riding.  I did most of my riding with Chris.  We rode many of the trails in the Idaho Foothils.  We logged some miles on the Boise Greenbelt and we even spent a day riding the roads and trails up at Bogus Basin.

The biggest ride of the summer was with Chris, Randy and Shawn.  We took off on a road ride that was supposed to be "about" thirty miles long.  It turned out to be a fifty-mile ride.  It was a blast.

It was great to experience a bit of Idaho on a bike this summer.  The many miles made for great memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

friends and family

Because we live overseas our summer visits are a bit nutty.  We catch up on doctor and dentist visits.  We do some traveling to see grandparents and extended family and we make every effort to see as many friends and family members living in the Boise area as possible.

This year we didn't get the chance to see all of the people that we wanted, but we saw some and it was good.  We spent some time with Aunt LaVonne, Randy, Rhonda, Lukas and Brock and that was fun.  And, we enjoyed the opportunity to share a meal with Ernie and Virginia Thompson.  We also loved the chance to spend an evening with Shawn and Sherry Nord and family.

We are thankful for friends, family and the opportunity to make some memories.

Fun Times and Activities

Some of our fun this summer included a visit to a rodeo and to a semi-pro baseball game.

We spent one warm summer evening at the Boise Hawk's ballpark watching baseball with our friends Chris and Dick Johnson.  The Hawks easily beat the team from Everett, Washington.    The weather was beautiful and the company engaging.  It was a great night for baseball.

Another of our summer nights was spent at the air conditioned Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho.  We attended the Snake River Stampede Rodeo with our friends, the Zickefooses.  From the Mutton Busters to the Bull Riders, the rodeo was a real treat.  We had a blast.

After the rodeo we were hungry, so we all went to Sonic for half priced milkshakes.  It was a great night!

Sarah's College Visit

Sarah will be a high school senior this year.  Yipes!  So, we made a college visit to Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) this summer.  Sarah previously (2 years ago) walked through this visit with her sister, but now it was all about her. 

The NNU visit was great.  For starters we met Carly, an admissions counselor, at the Flying M (a "famous" NNU hangout) for a time of Q and A and then we went to the campus for a tour.

Sarah's tour guide was Katherine and she gave an excellent tour.  She showed Sarah all the sights of the campus and answered all of her questions.  Sarah was most impressed with the Brandt Center (the performing arts center on campus).  She visited the freshman girls dorm and liked the idea of living there someday. 

At the end of the tour Sarah got a free t-shirt.  Maybe Sarah will go to college at NNU!

Lukas!

One of the great parts about being in Idaho in the summer is the chance for us to celebrate with Lukas on his birthday.  He turned eight this year and we enjoyed partying with him at Pojos arcade and at Red Robin for some good food.  Lukas is a brilliant, engaging little guy.  He brings joy to the room with his bright smile, kind heart and fun personality.

We so enjoyed celebrating with Lukas and with Brock too!  They are both a blessing to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

minus 4 wisdom teeth = Sarah

We got "home" from Denver and early the next morning Sarah went in to have all four of her wisdom teeth extracted.  She did well and under the effects of anesthesia she provided Dina and I (Ryan) some hearty laughs on the drive home from the doctor's office.

Sarah spent three days resting on the couch, eating pudding and icing her "chubby bunny" cheeks.  She is now back on solid food and doing well.

visiting the Olivers in Denver

It was our pleasure to hop a plane to Denver and spend some time this summer hanging out with Roger, Dana (Dina's twin sister) and the rest of the Oliver family.  We had a great time catching up on the past year.  It was fun to attend a youth worship service where Jordan played the drums and Josh played electric guitar.  They are good!

We enjoyed watching Jordon play in a lacrosse game and we ate lots of good food in Denver.  I (Ryan) especially like the gluten free pizza!  We spent one day at the Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park.  "Not to see Elitch's is not to see Denver."

The twin sisters, the cousins and even the brothers -in -law had a good time in Denver.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Letha

 

While we were in the Magic Valley we enjoyed a brief visit at the home of Uncle Bill and Aunt Letha.  They are my Dad's (Robin) Aunt and Uncle.  It was a great visit--complete with Aunt Letha's kind hospitality and Uncle Bill's hilarious jokes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great visit with Mom and Dad in Twin Falls.