Mariah has been keeping busy as is her practice. Last year she helped organize the Girl Scout cookie sales for her troop, and this year she organized the cookies sales for all the troops in the county. The problem with knowing that you could do a better job than the people currently in charge is that it’s difficult not to take over. At the same time, Mariah was elected to be the Governor for the Iowa Section of the Math Association of America (MAA). The timing was convenient, because Brian’s term as past Chair just expired. The biggest consequence is that she has to attend the large national meetings which occur twice a year. She was at the meeting in Columbus, Ohio this summer and will attend another in Atlanta in January. Additionally, Mariah was elected to Wartburg Faculty Council. This is the committee that makes all kinds of decisions regarding institution need and strategic planning. This is an especially challenging committee to serve on during our current climate of declining enrollment. Of course, Mariah still sings at church in one of the music groups to fill her free time.
Brian was fortunate enough to spend his Winter semester on sabbatical. He helped establish the new Actuarial Science major at Wartburg e few years ago, and spent his sabbatical studying for and passing the Financial Math Certification Exam. This does not mean he is planning on becoming an Actuary, he just wants to do a better job helping prepare his students to find jobs in the industry. He did take advantage of his sabbatical to join a local friend on a geocaching road trip to Texas and back in March and try out a one-way RV rental to Las Vegas to visit his parents in May. In the summer he rode his bike across Southern Iowa as part of RAGBRAI for the second year in a row.
In April, Mariah and Brian took a trip to Hawaii for an early celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. Rather than travel in August when the weather in Iowa is warm, they went away while it still cold back home. This was the first trip for both of us and we visited both Maui and Oahu. We drove the road to Hana visiting black and red sand beaches and drove up to the top of Haleakala, as well as a visit to the USS Arizona memorial. We enjoyed learning about the history of the island and attending a traditional luau. It was a great trip.
Jeri is in her junior year of high school and her parents are trying to help her prepare for college. She accompanied her mother to a math conference in Boston and spent a few days afterward visiting various New England colleges. Brian took her to visit the local Iowa liberal arts colleges, but Jeri was unimpressed. She has made it clear she wants to leave the Midwest when she goes to college. She is taking a challenging selection of college prep course while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
Zac is having lots of fun in eighth grade. He plays percussion in stage band and has started taking drumming lessons through Wartburg. He has a drum set in his room, but doesn’t practice so much that he will be disowned anytime soon. He is also in High Flight, the honor choir at school and well as the regular choir. As a result he often has to get to school early or stay late for practice. Boy Scouts is going well as Zac works on earning the last few merit badges to become Eagle Scout. Brian and Zac have become regular attendees of the local board game group, known as the Friendly Meeple. A few evenings a month they play a few hours of games; Brian probably enjoys it more than Zac, but they have a good time.
Carrie is in fourth grade this year and is a never ending font of knowledge. Mariah and Brian see many of their strongest personality traits in their youngest daughter. She is very intelligent, an avid reader, and incredibly stubborn and devoid of social grace. Given a willing audience she will expound on zoological facts, mathematical tidbits and pretty much anything that comes to mind. She struggles completing her homework assignments; she loves doing the research and the learning, but she resists writing up her results. Her latest homework project had her researching a famous Iowan and she chose John Atanasoff (inventor of the electronic computer). Her reward for finishing her project was to have Brian explain binary numbers to her (which she learned about during her research). At the beginning of summer, Jeri dyed her hair blond and dyed Carrie’s pink. Jeri’s hair later became blue of various shades, but Carrie’s hair just faded to a shade of red.
In December we made a family trip out to Louisville for the wedding of Jake Mackey, Brian’s oldest nephew. Carrie was pleased to serve as a flower girl for the wedding. Many people commented that despite standing outside in the relative cold weather for pictures, Carrie had no complaints. She shrugged it off, saying “I’m from Iowa.” Zac was given the opportunity on the drive to Kentucky to practice his freeway driving skills. He only tried to kill us twice, but we are hoping he learned about the importance of checking his blind spots. We had great fun seeing the Birgen clan and dancing until our legs shook. It is always a special opportunity for Brian’s parents and all their children to gather.
This year was relatively calm, but we anticipate more travels next year. Mariah is taking Zac to the British Isles on her May Term class. We have a wedding in Southern California in June. We also foresee some college visit trips for Jeri before her senior year. Those are just the trips were know about, and there are sure to be more surprises in store for the coming year.
May your coming year be full of happy surprises and joy. All the best to you and your family.