Another fun pumpkin season is behind us ….Every season has its own unique feeling and this year it was how much our family enjoyed meeting so many of YOU. A heartfelt thank you to the thousands of wonderful visitors we had. Papa & Honey (my folks) who greeted guests in our Western Town, kept track of where everyone traveled from. We could not believe we had visitors all the way from Hong Kong, Italy, Canada, Australia & more. We had guests from every state in the USA (except Delaware), too. It was truly humbling!

Today… as Fall moves silently into Winter, it is the perfect time for our family to reconnect with one another and take inventory of the past six years of our lives. With the filming of just over 200 episodes under our belt we feel the magnitude and accomplishments of this journey more than ever before. Currently we are not in production and are taking a much needed (and may I add) well-deserved break from the hustle of our oftentimes hectic filming season.

The show continues to air to a world-wide audience and we will be forever grateful to our loyal fans who have stuck by us. We are also blessed with the seemingly never ending stream of new viewers to Little People Big World. Both Amy and I sincerely thank you and take to heart the feedback (both good and bad) that you have given to us over the years. Keep it up!

We are so excited about the current season that is being aired and hope you’re looking forward to so many more episodes thru Spring 2010….

Family Updates!

Amy and I are enjoying and making the most of this unique quiet time. We realize more and more how essential spending uninterrupted time together is. It is wonderful to just catch up with each other and plan private evenings going out to dinner or a movie.

We also continue to help & advocate for little people everywhere. Hot on the heels of her hugely successful golf charity event (I am so proud of her), Amy continues to bolster her Amy Roloff Charity Foundation (check out her upcoming cruise) www.amyroloffcharityfoundation.org. I’m busy working on a local Grant for CoDa www.coda-lp.org that would ultimately provide customized bikes for Little People Kids who cannot afford them. Wish us luck!

Both Jeremy and Zach are busy taking a variety of college courses and seem to have re-found their academic focus (even getting grades to be proud of)! Zach’s one true passion remains his job teaching & coaching youth soccer. Could Zach own & operate his own business (perhaps sooner than anyone might think)? Jeremy recently got bitten by the “photography” bug and is seriously thinking about how to infuse this hobby into his plans for the future.

Molly knocked out yet another quarter of straight A’s !! There is not much she can’t do when she puts her mind to it. She is enjoying her newfound freedom that comes with being able to drive (but true to her nature, she can most often be found here at the farm absorbed in a good book or baking something delicious in the kitchen with mom).

And… the baby of the bunch… Jacob George. Never a lack of being a BOY in his system. (LOL) As the youngest, he’s had to work extra hard to find his place but just like his brothers and sister he won’t stop until he’s made his own mark on our family journey. Jacob and I spent the entire day together just last week and he was so incredibly helpful to me. He continues to grow by leaps & bounds on all levels.

Farm Updates….

– Need a unique holiday gift idea? Check out our new “cool” pumpkin soldier items! And…..during the month of December, “Our gift to you” ….Get a FREE Roloff Farms Logo safety clip light with minimum purchase of $30.00 or more. (visit our on-line store at: www.mattroloff.com/shop for details).

–”Private Farm Tours” ~ With so many visitors traveling from far away & with encouragement from the local visitors bureau we have decided to extend our Golden Pass Private Farm Tours. Please visit our website at www.mattroloff.com for more information.

– Speaking Website Launch ~ The honor of speaking to groups, universities & corporations across the country allows me to share my personal stories & messages of hope & resiliency. It also enables me to connect face to face with so many of you that inspire me. Though still under construction…be sure to visit my new speaking website at: www.mattroloff.com/speaking.

From our house to yours… we wish you a very happy, beautiful & blessed holiday season. Spend time making memories with those you love most!

Matt

Enjoy a beautiful 30 minute behind the scenes private tour of Roloff Farm given by either Matt, Amy, Jeremy or Zachary!

See the farms many amazing structures up close & personal (including some exciting stops along the way including the Western Town & Castle)!

Cost is $300 for up to 3 people ($50 for each additional person), children age 2 & under are free. Limited Availability ~ Reservations Required

Contact Katie at katie@mattroloff.com for reservations and/or additional information.

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

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…

Please click  www.coda-lp.org for more information or donate now!

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

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

Yesterday afternoon, as I finished up the summer newsletter and set it to be sent out this morning, I had no idea I would be announcing such tragic news several hours later.

It is with the deepest sadness and devastation that we must inform our friends and fans of the passing of our extended family member, Mike Detjen.

For the past eight years Mike has been a business partner, brother, coach, friend, and confidant.  He was truly like an uncle to our kids.

It was with complete and sudden surprise last evening when Mike was rushed to the hospital from his soccer club board meeting.  At the time, it was believed he was having a heart attack.

Amy and all our kids rushed to the hospital to be by his side.   Coherent and alert, Mike was rushed into emergency surgery for a torn aorta.

An aortic dissection is very serious, but the prognosis was that they would be able to repair the rupture in the 5+ hour operation.

Unfortunately, Mike did not make it through the procedure.

Mike passed with many loved ones and friends that cared deeply for him.  We especially extend our condolences to Mike’s family.   Our kids are all devastated and beside themselves with grief.  We will miss Mike dearly as a friend and loved one.

We celebrate Mike’s life as one of compassion and service to those he cared about.  He was the driving force behind the area soccer club.  He dedicated countless hours and his personal resources to his love of soccer and the local kids that enjoyed it.  Mike not only taught my kids to play but how to love the game and practice good sportsmanship as well.

Mike was a deeply faithful man, and though we mourn his loss, we take solace in the knowledge that he has gone to his heavenly home.

Condolences may be sent to kaitlin@mattroloff.com.  We will be gathering the responses to give to Mike’s sons, Tim and Jason Detjen.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the organization Mike was the most passionate about, the Hillsboro Soccer Club.

Hillsboro Soccer Club
2074 NW Alocleck Dr., Suite 415
Hillsboro, OR 97124

We are in the process of setting up a donation fund through PayPal.  You should be able to give online through our website in the next couple of days.

Thank you for sharing our grief and sorrow in this time of earthly heartache.

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

First of all, I can not thank you enough for all the support and encouragement over the past few months. You have no idea how appreciative I am to all of you who wrote emails, sent letters, defended me on message boards, and kept me in your thoughts and prayers. Your faithful backing has meant so much to my family and me. We are deeply grateful.

Jeremy, Zach, Molly, Jacob, and especially Amy have been so strong throughout this entire ordeal. I am so glad it’s finally finished so I can go back to spending more time with them. It feels as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, not only because the facts of my case have now been made public, but also because I can now speak to those issues on which I was forced to stay silent about for so long.

You know how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut normally!–imagine how difficult it was to stay quiet amidst false accusations, ungrounded speculation, and malicious rumors. The even greater challenge was not being able to lay out the truth to my friends and fans who deserved to know what really happened. I’m sorry I had to keep you waiting all this time.  I will share more details as I can in the coming months.

Right now, my top priority is to spend time with my family, but I look forward to answering your questions, writing more frequent newsletters, and getting back into the office with Mike, Sven, Becky, and Kaitlin. There’s work to be done!

Thank you again. Your loyalty and moral support have given me unknown strength. May peace and prosperity find you all in this New Year.