Holiday greetings to our family and friends!
Just a quick note to catch you up on the Oklahoma Roberts happenings and touch base with you all in your
“neck of the woods”. Mark still directs ORU’s Holy Spirit Research Center and teaches. He is associate editor for Encyclopedia of Christian Literature (pub. ‘07) and Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization (‘08). He’s started Word & Spirit Press (WandSP.com) and is excited about it long-term. In ministry he oversees adult education for our church and for a ministry network (global-ministries.com). 
He enjoys blogging (op-eds: mark-up.blogspot.com; family pics: crosser-roberts-fam.blogspot.com) and breaking out the pop-up and canoe to camp, paddle, and fish a little. 
I have just finished another semester of nursing school at ORU and am currently lying on the floor panting from exhaustion (which is real tricky to do and type at the same time). It was an amazing semester (including a nursing mission to Mexico, illustrated with 3 photos below; dates on them are incorrect), but I have to
admit, I am glad this one is behind us. They tell us the next one will be the hardest, but I think I keep hearing that over and over and am wondering when the easy one will come. Anyway, I stay in awe of how incredibly God has made our bodies and urge you all to take care of yourselves
—life is too short to spend it in a hospital bed. There, that’s the end of my public health announcement. Now on to the really cool parts of our lives—the kids.
Erika has finished up her next-to-last semester of University of Tennessee College of Law. She also has moments of lying on the floor panting or banging her head against really thick, complicated books, but she looks really good doing it. She is getting practical experience in courtrooms and has been involved in trying a few cases.
She and Andy love to support their Vols during football season—take a look at their creative blog to see what they’ve really been up to: http://andyanderika.livejournal.com. Andy has completed all his preliminary 
college requirements to begin training as an air traffic controller and is just waiting for the FAA to give him a call and let him know they are ready for him. [Breaking news: Early in January '07, Andy got unofficial word that FAA will post him to Memphis, TN, in about six months, after he jumps through several more admin hoops.] He’s a great guy, is lots of fun, and takes wonderful care of Erika. We love having him in the family.
Daniel is in his countdown as a senior at ORU with a degree in Advertising/PR. He’s had a pretty hectic semester since he lost a little time by attending the Focus on the Family Institute last spring and so has had to make up a few classes this 
semester. He is itching to be out and on his own but today is content to be out on the slopes in Breckenridge snowboarding with some of his buds. 
He is a youth pastor at our church and also continues to be on staff at Shepherd’s Fold, a Christian camp that hosts summer camps, ongoing retreats, etc.
Anna—our drama queen—continues to be involved in drama and music. She is part of her school’s select girls’ chorus, the Treble Tones, and they just finished their holiday performances. She is gearing up to be an assistant director for her freshman class play as well as
to perform a role in the same play. She loves it, and we are constantly surrounded with music from Broadway plays and musicals, with the newspaper section continuously open to what plays are being performed in Tulsa. (Oklahoma’s Centennial is 2007, so Oklahoma is being performed a lot.) She’s good, too. 
She’s the typical 14-year old who lives on the phone, dyed her hair a beautiful red, and loves to borrow my jewelry. She is constantly full of new ideas—none of which seems to involve keeping her room clean.
And Nathan: he’s the Roberts’ resident musician. He is playing the piano and the French horn and doing really well, scoring high marks for each in different competitions. We love to hear him play
(except Tootsie, our dog—she howls quite a bit with the horn). He’s also a prankster with his latest thing 
being listening for me to come through the laundry room after a study session and jumping out at me—one of these days he’s going to get it, and I’ll have to practice some of my newfound nursing knowledge on him. He’s a great kid and makes me laugh. He is still involved in baseball and has a lethal arm at first base.
Well, that’s it in a nutshell. We really hope you all have a Merry Christmas and pray that this coming year will be filled with moments of hilarious laughter, peace, and a new sensitivity to God and all His wonders.
Blessings on you all!
Carol and the fam (scroll down)
Just a quick note to catch you up on the Oklahoma Roberts happenings and touch base with you all in your
“neck of the woods”. Mark still directs ORU’s Holy Spirit Research Center and teaches. He is associate editor for Encyclopedia of Christian Literature (pub. ‘07) and Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization (‘08). He’s started Word & Spirit Press (WandSP.com) and is excited about it long-term. In ministry he oversees adult education for our church and for a ministry network (global-ministries.com). He enjoys blogging (op-eds: mark-up.blogspot.com; family pics: crosser-roberts-fam.blogspot.com) and breaking out the pop-up and canoe to camp, paddle, and fish a little. I have just finished another semester of nursing school at ORU and am currently lying on the floor panting from exhaustion (which is real tricky to do and type at the same time). It was an amazing semester (including a nursing mission to Mexico, illustrated with 3 photos below; dates on them are incorrect), but I have to
admit, I am glad this one is behind us. They tell us the next one will be the hardest, but I think I keep hearing that over and over and am wondering when the easy one will come. Anyway, I stay in awe of how incredibly God has made our bodies and urge you all to take care of yourselves—life is too short to spend it in a hospital bed. There, that’s the end of my public health announcement. Now on to the really cool parts of our lives—the kids.Erika has finished up her next-to-last semester of University of Tennessee College of Law. She also has moments of lying on the floor panting or banging her head against really thick, complicated books, but she looks really good doing it. She is getting practical experience in courtrooms and has been involved in trying a few cases.
She and Andy love to support their Vols during football season—take a look at their creative blog to see what they’ve really been up to: http://andyanderika.livejournal.com. Andy has completed all his preliminary 
college requirements to begin training as an air traffic controller and is just waiting for the FAA to give him a call and let him know they are ready for him. [Breaking news: Early in January '07, Andy got unofficial word that FAA will post him to Memphis, TN, in about six months, after he jumps through several more admin hoops.] He’s a great guy, is lots of fun, and takes wonderful care of Erika. We love having him in the family.
Daniel is in his countdown as a senior at ORU with a degree in Advertising/PR. He’s had a pretty hectic semester since he lost a little time by attending the Focus on the Family Institute last spring and so has had to make up a few classes this semester. He is itching to be out and on his own but today is content to be out on the slopes in Breckenridge snowboarding with some of his buds. 
He is a youth pastor at our church and also continues to be on staff at Shepherd’s Fold, a Christian camp that hosts summer camps, ongoing retreats, etc.
Anna—our drama queen—continues to be involved in drama and music. She is part of her school’s select girls’ chorus, the Treble Tones, and they just finished their holiday performances. She is gearing up to be an assistant director for her freshman class play as well as
to perform a role in the same play. She loves it, and we are constantly surrounded with music from Broadway plays and musicals, with the newspaper section continuously open to what plays are being performed in Tulsa. (Oklahoma’s Centennial is 2007, so Oklahoma is being performed a lot.) She’s good, too. 
She’s the typical 14-year old who lives on the phone, dyed her hair a beautiful red, and loves to borrow my jewelry. She is constantly full of new ideas—none of which seems to involve keeping her room clean.And Nathan: he’s the Roberts’ resident musician. He is playing the piano and the French horn and doing really well, scoring high marks for each in different competitions. We love to hear him play
(except Tootsie, our dog—she howls quite a bit with the horn). He’s also a prankster with his latest thing 
being listening for me to come through the laundry room after a study session and jumping out at me—one of these days he’s going to get it, and I’ll have to practice some of my newfound nursing knowledge on him. He’s a great kid and makes me laugh. He is still involved in baseball and has a lethal arm at first base.
Well, that’s it in a nutshell. We really hope you all have a Merry Christmas and pray that this coming year will be filled with moments of hilarious laughter, peace, and a new sensitivity to God and all His wonders.Blessings on you all!
Carol and the fam (scroll down)
Nathan is standing near the tail. 
