Well, time has certainly run past us. We’re already more than halfway through the year, and we haven’t had any time to update the website!
Emily finished fourth grade and spent the last semester in “Girls on the Run,” an after-school program that trains girls for running. At the conclusion of the training, Beth and Emily ran a 5K race on Mother’s Day to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.
Ethan finished second grade and enjoyed playing his second year on the Oakland A’s baseball team. The season finished in June and his team came close to playing in the championship game. In their playoffs, they made quick work of the Chicago Cubs to make it into the quarter-final game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Against the Cardinals, the A’s played much of the game behind; down by one run in the bottom half of the last inning, the A’s won when Ethan hit a walkoff single to bring in the tying and winning run in! Unfortunately, they came up short in the semi-final game against the Texas Rangers, whom they hadn’t beat all season long, but lost by only two runs.
The family spent Memorial Day weekend in Washington, DC to celebrate the marriage of Beth’s sister, Sarah, and Joe Pierce. They were officially married in January, but had the “re-enactment” and celebration over the Memorial Day weekend. We also were able to spend time with Eugene’s uncle and his family, who live in the DC area and the kids got to meet a number of their second cousins.
The academic year has been a tough one for Beth. After playing for over 20 years in the Maia Quartet, the decision was made to end the quartet after the 2011-12 season. With the high turnover rate in quartet personnel over the last few years, it became clear that the current model could not sustain a thriving quartet. Over the next year, we will evaluate our options here in Iowa City and see where the opportunities exist.