At the end of February, we had an opportunity to travel to Germany with a group of faculty from Wartburg College. In an attempt to help new staff become more familiar with the school’s Lutheran heritage, the college helped subsidize a trip to Wittenberg and Eisenach among other sites. The biggest problem was that both of us wanted to go. Luckily it was Grandma Judy to the rescue. She used her precious vacation to come to frozen Iowa to stay with Jeri while her parents went gallivanting across Europe. Zac came with us, still being less than six months old. He even got a passport for the trip.
The trip to Germany was great fun. Brian enjoyed the chance to use the German he learned in school twelve years ago. We could have easily spent another week or two exploring the cities and seeing the sites, but we were with a tour group and had a schedule to keep. We especially enjoyed seeing the Wartburg castle, were Luther translated the Bible into German while hiding from the Pope’s wrath. Zac was an angel the entire time. We carried him around everywhere, which he thought was a great idea. The rest of the tour group was a little nervous at first; no one was looking forward to sharing a crowded bus with a screaming child. But with the exception of the evening one of our tour mates offered to watch Zac while we went to the ballet, Zac hardly cried at all. All in all, it was a fabulous trip that we were very fortunate to take.
While we were gone Grandma Judy got to know Jeri very well. We learned that Jeri is not shy about telling Grandma how it is. Once while driving around Waverly Jeri announced, “Grandma, I think you’re lost.” Of course, Jeri was right. As Grandma was stopped at the stop sign trying to decide if this was the street to take back the house or the next one Jeri informed her, “Grandma, you need to make a decision.” They made it home safely, but Grandma knew that she would not be able to fool Jeri into thinking she was in charge. When the snowstorm arrived in the middle of the week, Grandma decided that she was not driving in that mess. Jeri and Grandma got to spend lots of time playing games in the house. By the time we returned, Jeri was tired of playing games and wanted to play with someone her own age (so did Grandma).
We returned home to good news: Mariah received tenure. Now she can start that long slow slide to retirement like all good academics in the ivory tower. Unfortunately this also makes her eligible for a number of committees that she wasn’t eligible for previously, most of which she would like to avoid. It will still be four more years until Brian’s final tenure decision, so that’s one committee she doesn’t have to worry about.
Last Christmas, we knew it was time to find a new place for Jeri during the day because our childcare provider, a friend with a daughter Jeri’s age, was expecting twins in April. It took some looking, but we managed to find someone just before we left for Germany. Then we had to start looking again two weeks later when she quit the business. Some time around April, Zac started crawling. He was no longer content to just be carried everywhere; he wanted to explore. This meant we could no longer bring him to campus with us and hope to be productive. We are pleased to have found a stable in-her-home care-provider where Jeri and Zac are both doing well.
During the summer we made a family trip out to Colorado and California. We had a Math conference in Boulder that we attended, followed by another conference in San Jose. Grandma Judy watched Jeri and Zac with minimal help from Grandpa Don and Katie, Aunt Willow, Uncle Torrey and his fiancée Anj. Mariah and Brian enjoyed the super-fancy conference hotel and were reluctant to retrieve Jeri and Zac. Does that make us bad parents? Did we mention that we drove out in our car? Two days driving from Waverly to Boulder, three days from Boulder to San Jose means five days driving back. On the drive back we were hauling a trailer full of furniture from Mariah’s Grandpa Stubby estate. Brian and Mariah would like all their friends and family to know that driving across the desert hauling a trailer with a station wagon packed with a three year old and an infant for five days is highly overrated, even with a VCR in the back seat. Mariah is particularly impressed that Brian’s family made any trips to visit their kin in South Dakota and Ohio when he was small.
Around this time we started working on adding an attached garage to our house. When we say “we” what we mean is “our money”. It turned out to be a rather momentous undertaking. First “we” had to tear down the barn and remove a number of trees. Then “we” had to tear off the mud room off the back of the house where the garage would attach to the house. “We” built a one-and-a-half story two-and-a-half car garage, which means it costs 3.75 times as much as a garage should cost. There is a lot of storage upstairs, plus a little extra room downstairs. “We” built it to match the rest of the house, so it has the steep roofline and wood siding painted to match the house. It was finally finished a few weeks before our first snowfall.
Zac’s personality is starting to emerge. He isn’t talking yet, but he is understanding basic directions (“take this to Daddy”). We are still working on getting him to obey directions. It seems that he got the Birgen fearless-gene; not only does climb on top of stools, but once he up there he starts dancing. Bonking his head at the bottom of a slide does not deter him from trying again. He is an interesting combination of easy-going and demanding. If he has what he wants, he can be content for an hour playing by himself. But if you take something away from him, his wrath is unrelenting.
Jeri has become a good big sister. Whenever she takes something away from Zac, she gives him something in exchange. She gives him crushing hugs and only knocks him down occasionally. She lets her parents know when he is crying, even in the middle of the night. She shares her food with him, even if it means that she has to have something else (like cookies) for dinner. Jeri started pre-school this September one afternoon each week. She loves it and wishes she could go more often.
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. May you have time with your family and friends to treasure the gifts you have been given. We have come to appreciate the joys of a crowded family bed on cold mornings, of Jeri’s friends keeping her entertained, and of sharing our son’s excitement when he realizes that he can reach the knife on the top of the table. We are thankful for all of our family and friends. May your coming year be filled with friendship, love, peace, joy, excitement and wonder.