Thanks to a loyal fan for sending this in.

Aloha from Hawaii!

Our dog Hoku (means star in Hawaiian) is a huge Matt Roloff fan…….she can be sound asleep on the couch, soon as Matt starts talking her eyes open up, forces herself to stay awake……..anyone else speaks and she passes out again…..Matt says one word…..boom…. her eyes open wide…..it’s the funniest thing……”who’s that, is that Matt?”…..tail wags……so hilarious…..

If you are ever in Hawaii, I don’t think my dog could stand seeing you in person, her tail might fall off from wagging too fast…….just wanted Matt to know, there’s doggy love in Hawaii.

Aloha from Hoku

Matt sits down and takes some question from the fans

1. Do you, and Amy allow the kids to listen to music that has explicit
lyrics in them, or, are they only allowed to listen to clean music?

Matt’s Answer:

Well, you know, Jacob we keep from listening to stuff that has explicit lyrics in them but Jeremy and Zach are 19 and they can listen to what they want. Fortunately they choose, as far as I know, not to listen to such music. That’s just not their kind of music. They listen to a lot of Gospel and Christian music. They do listen to a variety but they like Country. Their favorite, well I think all my kids’ favorite band may be Alabama. But if Jeremy and Zach wanted to listen to explicit music they certainly could. Molly doesn’t choose to listen to such music I know for sure because she doesn’t like it. And of course Jacob we don’t allow.

Matt

2. Chance grabbed everyone’s heart I am sure. I eagerly await to see how he is
doing. The last I remember his mother was saying they were hoping to hear his
voice and his laugh. Has there been progress with him?? I too want to hear his
laugh so much after seeing how his life had began! I am also wondering how your
friends who have had surgeries at times are doing. Could you give updates on all
of these.

Matt’s Answer:

I’ve seen Chance quite a bit during conferences and such and he’s doing really
well. But as far as how his voice is coming along, I really don’t know for sure.

Matt

3. I recently watched an episode of LPBW in which one of our suppliers, Fiskars,
was doing what it could to adapt their product to the needs of little people. As
one of the buyers for the leading US art supply companies, I wondered if there
are fine art products that Little People Artists would like to see.

Matt’s Answer:

The best thing to do would be to contact the Little People of America. Maybe
they could show up at one of the conferences and take measurements and whatnot.
I think it would be awesome.

Matt

4. Is there any little people conventions close to Mississippi or do you plan to
visit anywhere close?

Matt’s Answer:

Well, we’ll be in Nashville in July.

Matt

5. How are the kids from Iraq doing?

Matt’s Answer:

The kids from Iraq are doing ok. They have a lot of serious problems. They are
actually in the US right now and you will get to see that in an upcoming show
soon.

Matt

6. Hey Matt, in one of the lost episodes they panned the camera to the pumpkin
field and there, I spotted in that moment a white cross. Was this a pet that
died or ????

Matt’s answer:

Oh, you must have just seen the cross from the top of the church because we
don’t have any crosses in the ground. It was probably the cross on the church.

Matt

7. I have a vision problem called Macular Degeneration, and, I was born with it.
I am sometimes shy about talking about it in front of people who don’t know
anything about it. What advice would you give to me to be more confident about
speaking to people about it?

Matt’s Answer:

You have to be comfortable with yourself. It just takes practice. You have to
speak about it. Then speak about it a little more. But at the same time you
don’t want to make that the topic of every conversation. Because people, ya
know, want to hear about everything else you got going on in your life. Not just
your problems.

Matt

8. Matt, are you going to have a behind the scenes episode?

Matt’s Answer:

We’re talking about. That’s definitely a possibility.

Matt

9. I’ve often wondered whether there have ever been discussions or plans for Jon
and/or Kate and the kids to visit the farm (and be filmed by TLC of course!)?
And what do you think of what Jon and Kate are going through? Why has being on
TV worked out for you, Amy and your family and not Jon and Kate?

Matt’s Answer:

Well, we have sat down and had dinner with Jon and Kate and discussed the
possibility of them coming here. But we were never really able to come up with a
schedule that would work for all of us and the kids. But yes, we have had that
discussion before and talked about how fun it would be for the little kids to be
on the farm.

As for why it’s worked out for us and not them, I can’t answer what’s going on in their life because we don’t know. But, we certainly empathize with them. We know how stressful it can be to be on a show and to have cameras in your house. It’s very, very, stressful and difficult and not an easy task at all. We certainly feel very, very bad for what they’re going through but we certainly understand living in this life we both have chosen to live in.

Matt

10. Have you had any trouble with weird fans? Any stalkers?

Matt’s Answer:

Yes, we have. And on a number of occasions fans have just pushed themselves and
the FBI had to get involved in a couple of our investigations.

Matt

11. Matt or Amy, what do you think of people on other boards and blogs who post
really mean things about you and your family? Do you read any of that anymore?

Matt’s Answers:

We don’t really read any blogs and sites because we’re mainly busy. But we know
they’re out there. There’s just some mean spirited people. It always surprises
us how some people think they’ve got it all figured out about us and, more often
than not, we chuckle because they have it so wrong.

Matt

12. What size T-shirt do you wear? And if the board fans sent you a shirt would
you wear them on the show? These would be shirts from all the different states
we are from. ( starting with mine of course, Cutefamily!)

Matt’s Answer:

Sure, I wear a men’s medium. While I can’t guarantee that we will wear every
shirt that’s sent to us, if we like it we certainly would try. We wear all sorts
of shirts people send us all the time.

Matt

13. Still some confusion about this topic. Matt, at this time, are you using
Twitter or not? If so, what is the correct name? If not, someone else is
impersonating you.

Matt’s Answer:

I do have a Twitter account. It’s called Matt Roloff. I use it very rarely. But
I have written a few things a couple of times. TLC has been encouraging us to
use it more frequently. It’s nice to just type in something quick every now and
then about what’s going on. But I’ll never really be a twitterhead or tweethead
or whatever they call it because I don’t, you know, spend too much time online.

Matt

14. What do you enjoy the most about Pumpkin Season?

Matt’s Answer:

What I enjoy the most is meeting all the different people. The hustle and bustle of it all. And of course, pumpkins! But mostly seeing all the neat people that come to the farm.

Matt

Continued on our message board here…

Exciting News!!  Look what Amy is doing!!  She is hosting and putting on a Charity Tee Off Dinner at Roloff Farms and a Golf Tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club September 13th and 14th 2009.  Check out the website for more information – if you want to participate in either event, donate auction item(s) or make a contribution to the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation.  The Tee Off Dinner and Golf Tournament benefits DAAA – Dwarf Athletic Association of America.  If you have seen TLC Little People Big World you know how valuable and important DAAA has been in Amy and Zach’s life.  Check it out at www.amyroloffcharityfoundation.org

I would like to thank all who attended, it was a pleasure being in San Jose and sharing my experiences with you.

What a Summer!  It feels like the entire Roloff clan has been running hard in every possible direction these past few months.

The thousands of miles of travel has been fun and rewarding and we have created memories that will last a lifetime - but it sure feels great to have my feet firmly planted at the farm again.

Many of you have asked why we travel so much - but even before the show, Little People Big World, the emphasis on the “Big World” has definitely expanded our horizons.  Wait until you see our new season of episodes starting October 13th…  they’re my favorite so far!

Fall seems to have arrived, and with it a shifting of our family back to a more familiar and hopefully, more laid-back schedule.  But…not until we get through our most exciting (& stressful) time of year “Pumpkin Season”!

Pumpkin Season is the one time of year that we are blessed to be able to share our farm and home with you.  With the growing number of visitors it was obvious that we needed to expand our hours and days of operation.

We open for business on Saturday, September 27, and thereafter, Roloff Farms will be open every Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 am - 6:00pm.  We will close for the season on Sunday, October 26, 2008.

As usual we have added new attractions this year that are sure to keep things exciting for everyone!

Sven has been working feverishly to complete “The Pumpkin Family Funhouse”.  I don’t want to give away too much… but Sven has created the perfect home environment for a family of pumpkins!  Trust me, Seven is a mad artistic genius and everybody is going to love it!

To keep me from micro-managing Sven, I decided to keep myself busy building a new bridge.

As things often go - my idea of a small bridge quickly expanded from its original design and was suddenly a structure to beat all structures!  I’m soooooo proud of this bridge and I can’t wait to show it off!  (Maybe we will poll our visitors to see which attraction was their favorite)?

Our long lines from last year just had to be fixed.  We have doubled our tour capacity - going from three tour wagons we had last year to as many as eight this year.

But…enough about pumpkins!

It’s hard to believe that Zach and Jeremy have begun their senior year of high school.  I wonder how long it will be before it sets in that they will soon be graduating and moving on to a new phase of their life.

It is amazing how much they have grown and also how fast the time has gone.  It is a cliche, but it seems like only yesterday that they were babies.  Amy and I are starting to accept that our boys may soon be leaving the nest…or maybe not! 

Molly is a smart, poised articulate, A+ student.  She is truly my pride and joy.

Molly just took the test to get her driver’s permit.  I’ll reserve the details of that for a future episode (but did I mention she is a straight A student)?

I am bracing myself for the day when a young man knocks on the door to take her out to the movies or dinner, or wherever kids go out these days.  I don’t know exactly how I will react or what I will say, but I wouldn’t want to be the kid on the hot seat when that day comes.

Jacob is now in middle school!  He keeps busy playing soccer and doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to grow up.

The highlight of Jacob’s summer was the week he spent in Space Camp in Alabama.  He’s always loved astronomy, space and NASA; and his time at Space Camp seems to confirm that it is not just a passing fad for him.

His greatest passion this summer was spending as much time as he possibly could in our swimming pool.  I’ve never seen anybody spend more time in the water than Jacob and I enjoyed our many warm summer night swims together.

Amy continues to schedule and book speeches and public appearances and is loving every minute of it.

For many years, I traveled endlessly, and Amy stayed home with the kids.
Now, more than ever, Amy enjoys getting out there and exploring the world.  She is especially fond of small town middle America, and always returns to the farm with great stories of the places she has seen and the wonderful people she has met.

I realize more than ever how much I love our farm.  Most of my time these days is gearing up for pumpkin season, and considerable energy is being given to re-organizing D.A.S. to ensure the companies on-going success and expansion into new markets.

Recently I was contacted by a friend of mine serving in the military.  He had run across an Iraqi family with three children with dwarfism (similar to mine) who were in desperate need of medical care.

This amazing story will be highlighted on the season opener of Little People, Big World airing on TLC on Monday,  October 13th, 2008.  Don’t miss it!

The opportunities “Little People, Big World” has given my family cannot be overstated.  Four years ago, we started out making a show that was primarily about our family’s life on our small farm in Oregon.  And although the majority of our episodes still revolve around our day-to day life - I think it is a testament to the power of television that we are able to engage in good works that can change lives.

Warmest regards to you and yours,
Matt

Happy belated Independence Day and summer greetings from Roloff Farms!

First and foremost, we would like to express our deep, heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming response to the sudden passing of our dear friend, Mike Detjen.  We received over 3,000 emails and letters of condolences.  Messages of sympathy and support poured in from every corner of the globe.

Mike’s family would like to extend a personal thank you as well for your kind and comforting words.

While we all continue to grieve and deal with Mike’s palpable absence around the farm, please know what a large role your responses have played in helping us through the grieving process as we remember and relive the many fond memories we have of Mike.  Roloff Farms will never be quite the same without his kind demeanor, dry sense of humor, and engineer’s approach to problem solving.

We have been out of town with limited phone and internet access, but thought often about the need to send out this update and let everyone know how much your support and condolences mean to the family.

The entire Roloff family recently had the opportunity to spend time together on some exciting summer travels.  The LPA conference in Detroit was a huge success.  Amy and I enjoyed reconnecting with old friends we have known for years and Zach got to catch up with some of his LP buds that he knows from past conferences.  The entire family enjoyed making new friends and checking out all the activities offered at the conference.

After that, we were off to America’s heartland to steam our way up the Mississippi on The American Queen Riverboat.  I have always been fascinated with Tom Sawyer, and it was incredible to be in the midst of Mark Twain’s homeland with the chance to have my own river adventure.  History really came alive for the kids as they were able to visit many of the places they had previously only read about in US history classes.  But if there was anyone who really took to the area, it’s Amy.  She has always been fascinated by the American South-the food, the music, the rich cultural history-she loved it all, and is already planning a return trip!  Both Amy and I have always been drawn to small-town America and really enjoyed connecting and talking to people from all walks of life.

Here on the farm, we’re already busy preparing for pumpkin season and managing the Roloff Farms Online Store.  Shoproloff.com has really taken off–our t-shirts are just flying off the shelves.  Thank you to everyone who has ordered!  If you haven’t checked out our online store yet, we invite you to take a peek!

We’ll wrap things up with a few odds and ends:

• It has come to our attention that a petition has been started with the hopes of getting the Roloff family on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  The petition was started by Kim and Alessandra, two great, enthusiastic young women who are committed to increasing awareness about the LP community.  Click here to help them out!

• Recently, we’ve also received many emails recently wondering about the status of the show.  Don’t worry!-”Little People, Big World” will be back for another season with new episodes this fall.

Please accept a final note of thanks, and we hope your Independence Day was filled with fireworks and fun for you, your family and friends.

Safe summer wishes,

Matt, Amy, Zach, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob

For all the guys who took photos of Matt, please email them to Military@mattroloff.com so I can post them on the site.